Film Movies and Shows That Completely Missed The Point of the Source Material

[Mr Pigeon]

This is going to seem like one of those shitty clickbait articles by those useless twats at What Culture or The Sun, but feck it, square go laud.

What films or TV shows have you seen that completely missed the point of their original source material, so much that you wanted to rant about it on the interwebs but couldn't find a place arsey and moany enough for it? Luckily, as we've seen in recent weeks, this place is amazing for those of us that are just grumpy old arseholes.

For me the ever classic I Am Legend stands out as the biggest misfire in modern Hollywood since it not only takes a big shit on the message of the original book but also completely missed the point of the titular Legend that Will Smith is meant to be, but I think we all know about that one.

I watched Cell the other day because it was on Prime and I couldn't be arsed switching back to live TV, and I quite enjoyed the Stephen King novel so I thought I would give it a go. Whilst the book hasn't got a great message by any means (it's basically just Stephen King finding excuses why he doesn't like modern technology) the film takes the mystery of what is causing a bunch of folk to go apeshite after answering their phones and just flat out says at the start "oh shit look, they've gone mad!". Except it also takes it another step into insanity by making said "mad bastards" just be zombies. Because it's a horror film from the last 20 years so of course it's about zombies. It's got less subtlety than a, well, a Stephen King book, and that's saying something.

 

[SteveJ]

An underwhelming film, despite a great cast (Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman, Alice Krige etc) of Peter Straub's novel Ghost Story. The book, in my view, is the greatest modern supernatural tale; not only because of its particular theme but also because it references and embodies everything from tribal myth and campfire tales to classic Horror literature and cinema.

I'm sure there are better, and better written, Horror novels out there - as I'm far from being any kind of expert - but, for me, Ghost Story is the greatest & the movie fails its source.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Story_(1981_film)

 

[lsd]

Wasn't there a film with Jeff Bridges based on the Spooks Apprentice books that changed pretty much everything to do with the book ?

Saying that don't the authors have to give their consent to films based on their books so the blame should be on them for taking the money for something that craps all over their work

 

[lsd]

An underwhelming film, despite a great cast (Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman, Alice Krige etc) of Peter Straub's novel Ghost Story. The book, in my view, is the greatest modern supernatural tale; not only because of its particular theme but also because it references and embodies everything from tribal myth and campfire tales to classic Horror literature and cinema.

I'm sure there are better, and better written, Horror novels out there - as I'm far from being any kind of expert - but, for me, Ghost Story is the greatest & the movie fails its source.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Story_(1981_film)

Loved that book only one I read by that author. Never knew there was a film

 

[Ish]

Hey bro @Mr Pigeon. On your point about I am Legend. What were the big(gest) changes? I’m asking because i don’t know anything about the books/source material. I just watched the movie and outside of knowing they had alternative endings, I’d like to know a bit more.

 

[Oggmonster]

Hey bro @Mr Pigeon. On your point about I am Legend. What were the big(gest) changes? I’m asking because i don’t know anything about the books/source material. I just watched the movie and outside of knowing they had alternative endings, I’d like to know a bit more.

In the book

Spoiler

The story is flipped on it's head a bit, the main character (Will Smith in the film) is essentially the bad guy and the monsters are basically scared of him. He gets captured by them and then realises they he is infact the bad guy all along as the monsters are the new race so throughout you think he's the hero and it ends up he's actually not and is doing harm to them. I think it was the original ending to the film as well but they changed it cos it's not Hollywood enough. Shame really cos it is a good twist.

 

[The Cat]

I seem to remember quite a lot of differences in The Shining - was a very long time ago I read that though.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Neither of the Judge Dredd films really managed to capture what its about. Dredd isn't supposed to be the good guy.

The most recent one is a decent action film (though seems to be a little derivative of The Raid) but the point of the character is missed.

 

[Fingeredmouse]

In the book

Spoiler

The story is flipped on it's head a bit, the main character (Will Smith in the film) is essentially the bad guy and the monsters are basically scared of him. He gets captured by them and then realises they he is infact the bad guy all along as the monsters are the new race so throughout you think he's the hero and it ends up he's actually not and is doing harm to them. I think it was the original ending to the film as well but they changed it cos it's not Hollywood enough. Shame really cos it is a good twist.

Also the ridiculous "faith in the Lord" will save the day crap at the end. It's dreadful.

Speaking of Will Smith adaptations, "I, Robot" is almost as bad.

 

[Fingeredmouse]

Neither of the Judge Dredd films really managed to capture what its about. Dredd isn't supposed to be the good guy.

The most recent one is a decent action film (though seems to be a little derivative of The Raid) but the point of the character is missed.

Rather than being derivative I believe it is incredibly unfortunate coincidence.

 

[Neil_Buchanan]

World War Z was a terrible zombie movie which was supposed to be based on the surprisingly well written book of the same name. They did such a terrible job of adapting it, they had to reshoot and rewrite it so much that nothing was left of the source material except the title.
It should have been a tv show, it would have pissed all over the walking dead.

 

[Fingeredmouse]

"The Golden Compass" movie adaptation, whilst looking great, utterly missed the point of the books. I suspect this was deliberate however: removing the intellectual weight and controversy to appeal to the studio's idea of what we idiots want.

 

[SteveJ]

Loved that book only one I read by that author. Never knew there was a film

Have to admit, I'm certainly not claiming that I could do a better job than the film-makers did. It is, after all, pretty difficult to express the atmosphere and depth of a book in a movie.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Rather than being derivative I believe it is incredibly unfortunate coincidence.

You're right, just looked it up, looks like they were both developed around the same time. Production on Dredd started first, but The Raid was released a few months earlier.

I had it in my head The Raid came out much earlier than Dredd, but there wasn't much between them. Hell of a coincidence.

 

[Fingeredmouse]

"The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" is such an utterly horrendous adaptation that it snapped something in the head of Alan Moore.

 

[DoomSlayer]

In the book

Spoiler

The story is flipped on it's head a bit, the main character (Will Smith in the film) is essentially the bad guy and the monsters are basically scared of him. He gets captured by them and then realises they he is infact the bad guy all along as the monsters are the new race so throughout you think he's the hero and it ends up he's actually not and is doing harm to them. I think it was the original ending to the film as well but they changed it cos it's not Hollywood enough. Shame really cos it is a good twist.

That definitely sucks, I prefer the movie and the good guy Will Smith, along with the good doggy.

 

[Fingeredmouse]

You're right, just looked it up, looks like they were both developed around the same time. Production on Dredd started first, but The Raid was released a few months earlier.

I had it in my head The Raid came out much earlier than Dredd, but there wasn't much between them. Hell of a coincidence.

Weird isn't it?

It's a shame though because that Dredd movie was pretty good.

I think it's a difficult adaptation to pull off, especially by an American studio. The veneration of Police culture in the US as heroes and the depiction of rogue cops (To Hell with the rulebook!) makes it fairly hard to sell a movie built on a dystopian nightmare with a fascist cop as your lead. They'll instinctively try to make him admirable.

 

[Fingeredmouse]

That definitely sucks, I prefer the movie and the good guy Will Smith, along with the good doggy.

Then you're the god damned monster.

 

[pierrethesnack]

Biggest one for me has to be Starship Troopers. The book is a serious political thought experiment on how a global society could be organized, while the adaption completely misses the point and thinks it's a satire on fascism.

And even then it fails to portray anything fascistic in the movie - except for the fact that some humans wear what looks like SS uniforms, which just seems like a joke considering that they aren't really doing anything remotely sinister.

 

[DoomSlayer]

Then you're the god damned monster.

True, I have to check myself before going to bed.

 

[OnlyTwoDaSilvas]

Weird isn't it?

It's a shame though because that Dredd movie was pretty good.

I think it's a difficult adaptation to pull off, especially by an American studio. The veneration of Police culture in the US as heroes and the depiction of rogue cops (To Hell with the rulebook!) makes it fairly hard to sell a movie built on a dystopian nightmare with a fascist cop as your lead. They'll instinctively try to make him admirable.

I agree. They might have better luck with the Mega City One series, if it ever happens, as they'll have more time and space to explore the setting, rather than try and cram everything into 90 minutes.

 

[Fingeredmouse]

Biggest one for me has to be Starship Troopers. The book is a serious political thought experiment on how a global society could be organized, while the adaption completely misses the point and thinks it's a satire on fascism.

And even then it fails to portray anything fascistic in the movie - except for the fact that some humans wear what looks like SS uniforms, which just seems like a joke considering that they aren't really doing anything remotely sinister.

...as opposed to an advocation of?

 

[balaks]

"The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" is such an utterly horrendous adaptation that it snapped something in the head of Alan Moore.

That was an utter stinker

 

[pierrethesnack]

...as opposed to an advocation of?

No, it's neither a satire nor an advocation of it. If anything it's more an advocation of some sort of limited government libertarian capitalist utopia and how it deals with an existential threat.

 

[lsd]

This is going to seem like one of those shitty clickbait articles by those useless twats at What Culture or The Sun, but feck it, square go laud.

What films or TV shows have you seen that completely missed the point of their original source material, so much that you wanted to rant about it on the interwebs but couldn't find a place arsey and moany enough for it? Luckily, as we've seen in recent weeks, this place is amazing for those of us that are just grumpy old arseholes.

For me the ever classic I Am Legend stands out as the biggest misfire in modern Hollywood since it not only takes a big shit on the message of the original book but also completely missed the point of the titular Legend that Will Smith is meant to be, but I think we all know about that one.

I watched Cell the other day because it was on Prime and I couldn't be arsed switching back to live TV, and I quite enjoyed the Stephen King novel so I thought I would give it a go. Whilst the book hasn't got a great message by any means (it's basically just Stephen King finding excuses why he doesn't like modern technology) the film takes the mystery of what is causing a bunch of folk to go apeshite after answering their phones and just flat out says at the start "oh shit look, they've gone mad!". Except it also takes it another step into insanity by making said "mad bastards" just be zombies. Because it's a horror film from the last 20 years so of course it's about zombies. It's got less subtlety than a, well, a Stephen King book, and that's saying something.

Isn't the Omega Man with Charlton Heston the original film based on that book and the Will Smith film a remake of that ?

 

[Fingeredmouse]

No, it's neither a satire nor an advocation of it. If anything it's more an advocation of some sort of limited government libertarian capitalist utopia and how it deals with an existential threat.

It's a long time since I read it but I found it be disturbingly right wing and I certainly, as a 13 year old, never felt that was in any way ironic. I'll read it again soon.

 

[hungrywing]

The Hannibal TV show was amusingly tone-deaf wrt to the messages of Silence of the Lambs and its namesake novel.

Rather than being derivative I believe it is incredibly unfortunate coincidence.

You're right, just looked it up, looks like they were both developed around the same time. Production on Dredd started first, but The Raid was released a few months earlier.

I had it in my head The Raid came out much earlier than Dredd, but there wasn't much between them. Hell of a coincidence.

Don't believe everything you read. (#irony #doasisay)

Idea theft happens all the time.

https://www.today.com/popculture/million-dollar-ideas-often-stolen-hollywood-wbna15641336

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/last-samurai-zwick-herskovitz-win-lawsuit-309268

In the latter case, the plaintiffs testified the defendants had a meeting right after theirs and that they witnessed the meeting through the glass windows of the office; read between the lines and one presumes their lawyers only thought it worth suing because they were able to prove the meeting times.

That being said: Game of Death. And Kung Fu the game. Also last years Us, The Platform, and Parasite, which are all the same story.

 

[Fingeredmouse]

The Hannibal TV show was amusingly tone-deaf wrt to the messages of Silence of the Lambs and its namesake novel.





Don't believe everything you read. (#irony #doasisay)

Idea theft happens all the time.

https://www.today.com/popculture/million-dollar-ideas-often-stolen-hollywood-wbna15641336

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/last-samurai-zwick-herskovitz-win-lawsuit-309268

In the latter case, the plaintiffs testified the defendants had a meeting right after theirs and that they witnessed the meeting through the glass windows of the office; read between the lines and one presumes their lawyers only thought it worth suing because they were able to prove the meeting times.

That being said: Game of Death. And Kung Fu the game. Also last years Us, The Platform, and Parasite, which are all the same story.

Idea theft is of course real (The Wachowskis really should have been taken to court by Grant Morrison) but, in this particular case, it does seem to have been bad luck as far as I can tell.

 

[Yagami]

Pretty much every American movie based off an anime. Namely Dragon Ball Evolution and Netflix's Death Note.

 

[Fingeredmouse]

Pretty much every American movie based off an anime. Namely Dragon Ball Evolution and Netflix's Death Note.

Netflix's Death Note was so utterly terrible.

 

[AaronRedDevil]

The movie Doom. I never played doom growing up till I got the last 2 games. Looking back at that movie which I do somewhat enjoy. But what the hell are they thinking when they made the movie. The whole point is that your some badass dude killing demons in hell. Very very easy premise. Yet they completely missed the whole point. They obviously never looked up the game or any research. They must have just seen the name and thought “oh that’s a cool title for a movie That have nothing to do with it”. It’s like they D&D’ed it. Only not as bad.

 

[Redlambs]

The remake of Robocop completely missed any of the point of the original iirc.

 

[AaronRedDevil]

Netflix's Death Note was so utterly terrible.

And way too much diversity pushing. L is nothing like that in the Anime. He doesn’t even seem like the guy who wears sneakers and fecking earphones. Which is annoying considering how amazing Ryun looks with Willem Defoe’s voice.

 

[GazTheLegend]

Honestly, the dungeons and dragons film.

A proper d and d film could be SO good but nobody seems to get it.

 

[Wumminator]

Watchmen. Completely misses the point of the text.

 

[Fingeredmouse]

Honestly, the dungeons and dragons film.

A proper d and d film could be SO good but nobody seems to get it.

It's an appalling film but D&D is a pretty free form role playing game. What point is a role playing game driving at that an adaptation could miss? Unless they adapted a campaign surely they had a pretty blank canvass? Which, admittedly, they chose to shit on.

 

[pierrethesnack]

It's a long time since I read it but I found it be disturbingly right wing and I certainly, as a 13 year old, never felt that was in any way ironic. I'll read it again soon.

Do you remember what you found right wing about it?

I didn't read the book until I saw the movie and was very confued as to why I was having the opposite reaction of what I felt like the movie was trying to make me have.

Especially when I saw the director openly saying it's about fascism and how "war makes fascist of us all", meawhile I felt like mankind in the movie was simply fighting a defensive war that they had in no way prepared for or sought.

 

[Cloudface]

Biggest one for me has to be Starship Troopers. The book is a serious political thought experiment on how a global society could be organized, while the adaption completely misses the point and thinks it's a satire on fascism.

And even then it fails to portray anything fascistic in the movie - except for the fact that some humans wear what looks like SS uniforms, which just seems like a joke considering that they aren't really doing anything remotely sinister.

Watching this again as an adult I was surprised by how easily I was taken in by the simple action story when I was about thirteen. The society in the film is dripping with overtly bizarre militarism and Nazi style propaganda. The success of militaristic dictatorship over democracy was even one of the lessons in school at the beginning of the movie.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Watchmen. Completely misses the point of the text.

The show is great, though.

Another recent example is Ready Player One. Turned a great, geeky novel with themes about how climate change, social media, VR etc. could affect the future world and completely ignored it all in favour of a childish, PG-13 CGI fest romp.

 

[Vidyoyo]

The Man in the High Castle seems to have very little to do with the source material. They only used the Nazis taking over Murrika theme.