dls@hocse.UUCP (04/20/84)
from a friend of mine off the net: The BBC version of THE DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (which recently ran on the Arts and Entertainment Channel) was a exceptionally faithful adaptation of Wyndham's novel. Most SF films made from novels are not. What are some films that HAVE been faithful to the original work (novel, short story, etc.)? (Stick to SF, fantasy, or horror, please.) I am NOT talking about novelizations, nor am I asking for which films are 'best'. IT HAPPENS EVERY SPRING is very accurate to the novel (I've been told), but it isn't particularly high-quality. Two suggestions are TERROR OF FRANKENSTEIN (a 1974 Swedish-Irish co-production) and the BBC version of COUNT DRACULA (with Louis Jourdan). They each diverge somewhat from the original work but are closer than any other adaptation of each that I've seen. I haven't read the book THINGS TO COME, but I would guess that the film might be faithful--Wells wrote the screenplay. Has anyone read it who can tell me? Evelyn C. Leeper hocse!lznv!ecl
rfg@hound.UUCP (R.GRANTGES) (04/21/84)
"When Worlds Collide" was pretty close to the book by Balmer (or was it Wylie?...or both?). Of course, many sf films are "right on" the book because the book was written after (or as part of) the film). Sometimes sf films are based on elements of several "books" hooked together. I used to be able to demonstrate that thesis with "2001" but I have forgotten, now. hound!rfg
barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Barry Gold) (04/21/84)
Fantasy films that were faithful to the source?
For TV viewers, I recommend Chuck Jones' "The Selfish Giant" (based on the
Wilde fairy tale) and "Ricky Ticky Tavi" (based on Kipling).
Most non-F&SF films are also not faithful to the source. I have not yet
seen a faithful version of THREE MUSKETEERS or IVANHOE.
--Lee Gold
--
Barry Gold
usenet: {decvax!allegra|ihnp4}!sdcrdcf!ucla-s!lcc!barry
Arpanet: barry@BNLkcarroll@utzoo.UUCP (Kieran A. Carroll) (04/23/84)
* The first film that comes to mind when "sf films that are faithful to their book versions" is mentioned is, of course, "2001: A Space Odyssey", by Arthur C. Clarke/Stanley Kubrick. In this case, the novel and the movie were made simultaneously. The novel went through severlal re-writes, in order to get a story that would work as a film. There's at least one major discrepancy between the two, though. In the book, the Discovery is sent to Iapetus, in the Saturn syste,m. In the movie, it is sent to Jupiter instead; Kubrick decided that animating Jupiter was hard enough; animating Saturn would be even harder, as it'd be like Jupiter, except with rings. So, Jupiter it was! -Kieran A. Carroll ...decvax!utzoo!kcarroll
LS.SRB%MIT-EECS@MIT-MC.ARPA (04/26/84)
From: "Stephen R. Balzac" <LS.SRB%MIT-EECS@MIT-MC.ARPA> How about Colossus: The Forbin Project? That's one of the most faithful to the book, that wasn't actually written to be made into a movie, that I've seen.
dls@hocse.UUCP (04/27/84)
Here is a response from another off-net friend of mine concerning the orginal posting of SF films faithful to the novels. > ecl is a little confused about THINGS TO COME in its various forms. > There is a book called THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME by H. G. Wells. > It is non-fiction and is speculation about the future. Wells then > wrote a screenplay for a story set in this future to be filmed by > Alexander Korda. That was the film THINGS TO COME. The screenplay > is also available, so there really is a book called THINGS TO COME, > but it is merely the screenplay of the film. The film does diverge > from the screenplay occasionally, but in general they are pretty > close as one would expect. The characters and the story of the > film do not appear in the book. There is also a lousy Flash Gordon > imitation that had the gall to call itself H. G. WELLS' THE SHAPE > OF THINGS TO COME, but in spite of a character being named Cabal, > it has nothing to do with the earlier film or any book by Wells. > That film was made in Canada about 1979. > Mark Leeper > hocse!lznv!mrl
fish@ihu1g.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (05/03/84)
(oo)
Another that comes to mind was "The Last Man on Earth," with Vincent
Price. Despite the lurid and misleading title, this was a fairly
faithful adaptation of Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend," which was
a novel of an Earth taken over by, of all things, a vampire plague.
--
Bob Fishell
ihnp4!ihu1g!fishalle@ihuxb.UUCP (Allen England) (05/03/84)
+ > Another that comes to mind was "The Last Man on Earth," with Vincent > Price. Despite the lurid and misleading title, this was a fairly > faithful adaptation of Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend," which was > a novel of an Earth taken over by, of all things, a vampire plague. This movie was remade with Charleton Heston playing the main character. It was called "The Omega Man." --> Allen <-- ihnp4!ihuxb!alle
jdb@qubix.UUCP (Jeff Bulf) (05/03/84)
How about The Incredible Shrinking Man? I don't rmember Richard Matheson's
novel that well, but I think they were pretty close, save that Matheson's
title was simply "The Shrinking Man". Perhaps he wanted to make this shrinking
as credible as possible :-)
--
Dr Memory
...{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!decwrl!qubix!jdbntt@dciem.UUCP (Mark Brader) (05/04/84)
Just one further note of confusion about `Things to Come' vs. `The Shape of Things to Come': The movie known here by the first title was also released in Britain by the second one. Mark Brader