TV/Movie adaptations that are so much worse than the source material.

[foxwelljsly]

Did you read the "source material" (was it a comic or something?) before or after watching the series?

My son and I thought it was great. Definitely one of the best series I've ever seen.

Yeah, it’s from a comic book series by a guy called Garth Ennis. The TV series was great, but the comic book series was something else and well worth seeking out.

Cassidy was a perfect bit of casting in the TV series.

Bizarrely, it’s referenced in Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker’s 2005 Shoreditch-mocking sitcom ‘Nathan Barley’ when Julian Barrett is forced to dress as ‘Dan the Preacher Man’ for a party.

 

[foxwelljsly]

I think it's easier to count the film/TV adaptations that was a success, as there are very few I can think of.

- Brideshead revisited (the ca 1980 TV series). One of the best books written and the best TV-series ever!
- Bullit. Yes, there is a book and I tried to read it. Need I say more?
- The Martian. No, the film wasn't that good, but it put pictures of the Mars landscape to the story.

Everything else I can think of, the TV/Film is worse or far worse. Particularly Bond movies (have they even read the books?).

I think I’d add ‘Straw Dogs’ to that. The original film is a far more accomplished piece of work than the pulpy story it’s based on.

 

[tiggers]

I think it's easier to count the film/TV adaptations that was a success, as there are very few I can think of.

- Brideshead revisited (the ca 1980 TV series). One of the best books written and the best TV-series ever!
- Bullit. Yes, there is a book and I tried to read it. Need I say more?
- The Martian. No, the film wasn't that good, but it put pictures of the Mars landscape to the story.

Everything else I can think of, the TV/Film is worse or far worse. Particularly Bond movies (have they even read the books?).

The Godfather. Read the Puzo novel when I was 15 and saw the movies a few years later. It was like someone had put my vision of the book onto the screen. Stunning movie making and still my favourite duo (the third was poor) of movies to this day.

 

[gez]

The Godfather. Read the Puzo novel when I was 15 and saw the movies a few years later. It was like someone had put my vision of the book onto the screen. Stunning movie making and still my favourite duo (the third was poor) of movies to this day.

Never took to those films. Not sure if it was the cast (never been a huge Brando fan - not in his later years at least. On the Waterfront was good. Plus I've never rated Pacino as an actor), or just the subject matter. Plus the films are seemingly never ending in length, probably because I'm not enjoying them. Anyway, whenever they're replayed I always avoid them.

 

[Rodrat]

I thought the original Time machine film was very good especially given the lack of CGi some dodgy acting but the story was well told in relation to the book.

 

[Subito]

Perhaps showing my age here, but the film version of The Great Gatsby with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow was just painful, hardly my favorite book from school but it deserved much better than this.

 

[Tumeni Notes]

Having read the book at school, I found the BBC adaptation of Wyndham's 'Day of the Triffids' in the ... 80s? ... to be terribly disappointing. John Duttine in the lead role was depressingly wooden.

 

[JTC]

A recent one: Ripley. Having not read the original book, I can't comment on truth to source, etc., but found the recent 8-part series wonderful (and jaw-droppingly beautiful)...