Dumbing it down

[Evisse the Blue]

Originally Posted by Essex

Davem, a simple equation for you, that works in most cases....

Film totally faithful to the book = film that does not work

My example, Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone - a brilliant book, well crafted, great plot, great characters. The film followed this almost word for word and look how dull it is.

Sorry I can't let this go by even if it's slightly off topic. HP and the Philosopher's Stone is one of my favourite movies of this decade! Not that I didn't like the other two very much as well, but I remember being so happy with seeing this first movie of the series because it was exactly like I imagined it would be. 'No alarms and no surprises' Just watching a world I have previously only seen with my mind's eye develop on screen. I remember giving it as a positive example to what FOTR should have been. I realize of course we have stepped into the misty realm of the highly subjective.

In the end I think it may come to whether you're a 'film buff' or a 'bookworm'.
Weird as it may seem in these modern times, there are still some who go by the saying 'I'd rather read the worst book ever written then sit through the best movie ever made'. (ironically this quote is from a movie, the x files). So, our different viewpoints on what should be, according to us, cinematic quality are very influenced depending on which of these - artificial - categories we are more likely to subscribe to. Especially when we judge movies made after books.