Screenwriting : Books : The Good The Bad And The Ugly by Karen Stark

Karen Stark

Books : The Good The Bad And The Ugly

Of the books you love, what's your good, bad and ugly adaptations.

Good : When I was a child I read The Outsiders by S E Hinton, I loved that little story and I loved the film too. Not least for the rather dreamy Matt Dillon! Yes I liked bad boys.

Bad: I also read The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham as a child. It was inevitable I suppose that walking killer plants might not play out well on screen.

Ugly: Later in life I read The Spooks series by Joseph Delaney to my son. What I have to say about The Seventh Son would know doubt get me banned for profanity.

James Barker

Good: The Body/Stand By Me. It's no secret, novellas tend to make better adaptations to film because they can be expanded upon whereas their much longer siblings, novels, often need to be paired down. Stand By Me just hits all the right notes.

Another good is Harlan Coben's Tell No One (Ne Lis Dis A Personne) which managed to actually correct some of the issues with the novel itself. Still can't believe it hasn't been remade into an English version 11 years later now.

Bad: Lovely Bones. It wasn't necessarily a bad movie, it just... I don't know... didn't capture the spirit (or translate it) onto film? Perhaps it's the case of using your own imagination and seeing someone else come up with something different.

Ugly: I'd agree with The Hobbit. I never even bothered watching the last movie. There are a lot of stinkers out there, but my mind seems to have repressed them at the moment, lol.

Dan MaxXx

Good: Clockers

Bad: Bright lights, Big City.

Ugly: The Bonfire of the Vanities.

Jason Farley

Good: Holes - About as perfect as it gets.

Bad: Ready Player One - Great book. It's too bad they didn't make the movie about it.

Ugly: Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Why would you simply invent a new antagonist?

Pete Whiting

good - nothing lasts forever which became die hard. Hunt for red October. The falcon and the snowman.

bad - z for zachariah

ugly - gosh so many.

Juhani Nurmi

Yes, I have something of an uber-pulpy taste. Sue me.

Good -- J.R.R. Tolkien's LOTR + The Silmarillion. The War of the Worlds and The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series. Eric Van Lustbader's Nicholas Linnear series, especially The Ninja. Most of Alistair MacLean's novels, especially the earlier ones.

Bad -- Can not compute. Still collating data.

Ugly -- Can not compute. Still collating data.

Travis Knox

Good: No Country For Old Men -- they nailed McCarthy's book... that rare adaptation that is great to watch as it was to read

Bad: Striptease -- don't judge... Hiaasen's book is a hilarious, thrilling political-charged ride, but his brand of satire just has never translated to the screen

Ugly: I Am Legend -- They stripped out Matheson's ironic ending, which made the novel so brilliant (and lost the tone of the source material)... a waste

Rutger Oosterhoff

Good: Jaws

Bad: Riverworld

Ugly: Der Prozess

Other topics in Screenwriting:

register for stage 32 Register / Log In