Movies that insulted the book they were based on.

[cmore]

The all time worst, I think, is Fletch.
Fletch was a great book, the movie was garbage.
Chevy Chase as the main character was terrible, with
his typical stupid "comedy". bleh

 

[CATI1835]

To Have and Have Not. Decent movie but has nothing in common with the book but the title.

 

[Trooperdan]

"Starship Troopers", by far the worst movie from a terrific book!

 

[6518John]

This thread could easily surpass the thread drift one--the examples are so numerous.

 

[muddocktor]

The Hobbit book was a great youngster's book and the movies were a bloated mess, to put it mildly!

 

[Triathloncoach]

The Whiz, with Michael Jackson.

 

[30-30remchester]

The Revenant was an insult to history.

 

[Dennis The B]

I like the British spy movie genre.

"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", John LeCarre's masterpiece just wasn't done justice a couple of years ago. In fact, none of LeCarre's novels can be compressed to the screen. Even Alec Guiness' superb performance on the BBC mini-series lacked a bit.

Any of the James Bond movies after "From Russia...". Too much whizz bang, not enough real suspense.

Even though re-released as a trilogy, "The Godfather" was a great read. Movies could not do justice to the subplots.

"The Right Stuff". Great historical book. Not so much on the screen.

 

[johngalt]

I usually don't go into a movie with high expectations that it will be as good as a book. A 2 hour movie can't have everything.

Most of the movies based on Tom Clancy movies are rather poor compared to the books.

 

[Tom S.]

I usually don't go into a movie with high expectations that it will be as good as a book. A 2 hour movie can't have everything.

Most of the movies based on Tom Clancy movies are rather poor compared to the books.

Exactly! Unless the movie is based on a short story, it's impossible to include everything that was in the book, unless it's done as a mini series like Band of Brothers was.

Still, many movies for some reason, completely abandon or ignore the main thesis of the book, which results in disappointment from anyone who read the book before seeing the movie. Producers/directors who do that are puzzling to me. Did the not read the book, or are they that stupid?

 

[petepeterson]

I usually don't go into a movie with high expectations that it will be as good as a book. A 2 hour movie can't have everything.

Most of the movies based on Tom Clancy movies are rather poor compared to the books.

Exactly. My first thought was "The Stand" by Stephen King. Even though they made it into a mini-series, to actually explore the depth of that book would require thousands of hours of film.

 

[BigBoy99]

I think every movie based on a book is distorted to make it fit the movie screen which not a good thing. Movies are lots of visual action and much color to draw people ($$s) who wouldn't normally read the book into the movie theater.

Is it any wonder why I have a large library and haven't been inside of movie theater in over 35 years?

 

[NYlakesider]

A a kid growing up in the 50-60s I really enjoyed the work of Jules Vern. To me his best book was Mysterious Island and I read it in comic book form in what I believe was called Classics Illustrated many times. Also went to the library and checked it out in hardcover a bunch of times over a 5-7 year period. I just really got into that book.

Well A few years later some ding bat made a movie with that title and even gave credit to Vern, of course I had to see it. Started OK but soon it went totally crazy with monsters and other hollyweird things. I got out got a hold of the manager DEMANDED my money back, and after a while I got it.

That to me was the worse, though as stated above they have managed to make a mess of many of the Tom Clancy books put to film!

 

[Inusuit]

In a reversal of the usual progression, the movie MASH was much better than the book and the TV series was better than the movie.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

Raise The Titanic and Contact come to mind.

 

[billwill]

The Jack Reacher movie, where the lead was played by a little short actor (no offense to our shorter members).....but Lee Child's character ...Reacher was 6' 5". That was part of the appeal of the character to me, a big guy like that trying to lay low in his lifestyle.

 

[Wyatt Burp]

I think "The French Connection" was a great film, but about 95% fiction compared to the book it was based on by Robin Moore. The book was gripping, and the way it really happened was much more dramatic than the movie. Why do film makers think a book is so good it should be a movie and then completely rewrite it? I think it turns into a scriptwriter's ego trip.

 

[tompehret]

Sniper with mark Wahlberg. An OK movie but it doesn't hold a candle to the book "Point of Impact" it was based on. It would be really cool to see a movie/mini series based on one of the Bob Lee Swagger novels by Stephen Hunter but sadly, not very likely.

 

[CAJUNLAWYER]

Fifty Shades of Gray.
Sorry........shrug.....

 

[soFlaNative]

Most of the movies based upon Stephen King's books; Cujo, Pet Semetary and Firestarter come to mind.
Stand by Me (The Body) was decent.