Ok so I recently saw the movie I am Number Four after I read the book. I did this on purpose because I have been noticing lately that a lot of great books are being turned into film. This is a great thing for those who aren't that into reading but they can still enjoy the same story that we do. Now I find that turning books into film can either be really good or really bad because I find that it is extremely hard to turn a book into a good film. There is just to much descriptions in the books that it does not transcend onto film very well, depending on the book.
I find that I will always try to read the book before I see a movie because as everyone know's the books are usually much better than the film only because you just cannot put a 350 page book into an hour and a half worth of film. Well you can but you have to leave out a lot of the good stuff and that's what bothers me. I find that when a book is made into a movie they always leave the best parts of the books out of the films. I also find that they don't or can't include all of the information that they need to.
Just like with I am Number Four. I read the book and I loved it. I watched the movie shortly after and I absolutely hated it only because the movie was nothing like the book at all. If anyone has read the book and then seen the movie they know that I am talking about. I was going through the entire movie shouting "That Did Not Happen!!" it really annoyed my husband but I couldn't help myself. The movie was nothing like the book and it bothered the heck out of me.
I find that for reasons like this for people who don't read but watch movies to say "oh I hated that movie the book must suck" it is such an assumption to make and it bugs me because 99% of the time the books are nothing like the movies and the books are usually much much better only for the reason that they can put more into a book than they can a movie. I know that a lot of people have done it with Twilight. For all of those who have watched the movies and mock them without having read the books pisses me off. The directors of the Twilight movies have done a decent job of sticking to the storyline but the books were so amazing and the story was so great that people just do not understand the entire story by just watching the movies.
Ok so what is my whole point to this gigantic post you may ask?? My point is for those of you who love to watch books being turned into movies Yea!! because I do as well.I love watching my favorite worlds come alive on screen. I just plead with everyone who watches a movie before reading the book, do not judge the book by the movie because 99% of the time the book is much more enjoyable then the movie because it is impossible to stick 350 pages worth of literature into 1 and a half of film. Just keep an open mind about a story and don't fluff it off just because you watched the movie first and didn't like it that much. Who knows? You might read the book and change your mind completely.
What do you think? Have you read an amazing book that has been turned into a movie and the movie was absolutely horrible?? or have you watched a movie before the book and enjoyed the movie more?
I've had both happen. Anyone remember the movie for Flowers In The Attic. OMG so awful and destroyed the book. Pat Conroy's Prince Of Tides was one that was done well, but the parts that were left out killed me.
ReplyDeleteOddly, I liked Coraline better than the book.
It's kind of crazy to see this post today because I was just going through my saved drafts and I was also working on a books vs. movies post. I personally try to read the book first, I usually find that the movie is a bit of a disappointment. If I have watched the movie first, I often avoid the book because I find it too hard to separate the two and am constantly comparing them. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI'm really hard on movies based off my favorite books, too. Inkheart was a DISASTER, but then you have the Harry Potter movies and Neil Gaiman's Stardust which are so well-done. Hopefully Water for Elephants will be good. Anyway, interesting post and lots of great points made! :)
ReplyDeleteSometimes I read the book first and sometimes I see the movie first. It's hard to watch the movie after reading the book though because at times the movie is a big letdown. I read Beastly and absolutely loved it, but I cringed when I saw the trailer. The director took too much artistic license in my opinion, which is why I probably won't see the movie. ^_^; I'm hoping that Shiver will be good in film form when it comes out in 2012, so we'll just have to see.
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