Now as well all know, most films are a pale imitation to the source material; Books and comics are usually a better medium for in-depth characterizations and what not, but sometimes the films do get it much better than the book ever did... Which stories come to mind that were done better on film than in the books?
My top two are
Lord of the Rings - it stripped sooo much dead weight and streamlined the story; plus the amazing visuals make the films more memorable and give that story a higher replay value than the books ever could have
and
Watchmen - replacing that Squid with framing Doc Manhattan was a much much better ending, its always better to utilize characters rather than use some MacGuffin and Snyder really improved upon the coming book ending that was originally given to us.
__________________ "Happiness is a lie. Life is horror. The light is always dying all across the universe. The last star will flicker out someday, when it does, all that remains is shadow. And I will be its king!"'-Amahl Farouk
**** that. Snyder's Watchmen missed the entire point of the comic. Beyond that, using Dr. Manhattan for the ending made no sense. Dr. M is an American "asset" having him turn against humanity wouldn't unite the world anymore then if several American Nuclear bombs accidentally went off. In fact, the other nations would blame and condemn America (if not attempt to nuke America immediately after Moscow was destroyed). It would actually make everything worse.
Re: Re: Movies that did it better than the source?
spewing the same rhetoric I've seen a million times without an opinion of your own on the film... also how would it make more sense to use the squid? the world would just assume that Doc could handle it, using Doc as the scapegoat world well within the story presented; the last time anyone saw him he got pissed and took off from Earth, of course all nations would believe that he came back for vengeance after that with the explanation that the ambush with Jeanine and the rest at that interview would have tipped him over the edge.
The theme of the "greater good" was explored quite well in Watchmen, most of the group finding that keeping silent about Veidts ruse a better alternative; in other words, they were cool with sacrificing some to save many, the only one who wasn't paid with his life.
Both iterations lack a true hero, both explore human reactions to extraordinary situations and both lack a black and whit morality seen in most other works of fiction. Sure, a lot of the journals and such were left out of the film but that's what had to be done in order to fit the run time AND keep the flow going for the viewing audience.
Re: Re: Re: Movies that did it better than the source?
You literally just answered your question here. Doc left. Anyway, the reason why using Doc wouldn't work was already explained. Sure, they may believe that Doc came back with a vengeance but they would place the blame on America for losing control of him (and that's assuming they don't just immediately fire their nukes after Moscow is destroyed).
That's, uh, not the theme of the comic, or at least not the main one. Far more pivotal is the idea that violence and the threat of violence (and therefore by extension, superheroes) as a "peace" keeping tool is moronic. Snyder completely misses this when he glorifies the violence and the heroes.
Does it? Certainly, the comic has a lot of grey morality and lacks a hero; but I would argue this is not the case in the film. The film's version of Rorschach is presented in a far more heroic and "badass" light then his comic counterpart. By contrast, Ozymandias is presented as sneering and effeminate rather then the very all-american and heroic facade he presents in the comic. Hell, they cut out much of his development; most notably his confession to Dr. Manhattan which is one of the most poignant and important parts of the comic.
Wow, I thought the Jaws novel was fantastic. I couldn't put it down. Obviously the movie is great, too, but I wouldn't say one is way better than the other. They're very different mediums.
I wouldn't be surprised knowing some of King's writing. Darabont's film is amazing.
While I don't necessarily disagree, I was actually looking forward to seeing the Squid. Heh, but yeah, Watchmen is a good adaptation.
KMC Community Forums
Mar 6th, 2019 11:39 PM
that must be because you can’t read.
