Films that wouldn’t work as a book

faceman

We often here of films where the book is better and it always makes for interesting debate.

But what if the shoe was on the other foot. What films just wouldn’t work as a book and why?

I don’t means films that are based on terrible books, I’m talking about original films that just couldn’t translate well in a book even if you had the best writer out there.

Some films that spring to mind are “Possession”. But then again perhaps in a book format it could be told completely from Sam Neill’s perspective.

I was also considering “Amelie”, as the visuals are part of the storytelling and couldn’t be repeated in a book.

What are your thoughts?

Conall Cernach

Superhero/Marvel movies would probably make terrible books. Lots of flashy special effects, slo-mo and a cool backing track (as in Guardians of the Galaxy) would be very hard to write.

SimonTemplar

Pretty much all of Tarantino's movies where the soundtrack is a vital ingredient.

endacl

Conall Cernach wrote: »

Superhero/Marvel movies would probably make terrible books. Lots of flashy special effects, slo-mo and a cool backing track (as in Guardians of the Galaxy) would be very hard to write.

Heh?!?

http://marvel.com/comics

Conall Cernach

endacl wrote: »

Heh?!?

http://marvel.com/comics

Well, I assumed the op meant actual written books not comics. Like imagine trying to write a novelisation of GotG vol2.

valoren

2001 A Space Odyssey

One whole chapter would be something like this.

An orbital space port slowly rotates - da na na na na - nah nah nah nah - da na na na na - nah nah nah nah.......

Zaph

I think it would be impossible to capture the feel of Lost in Translation in a book. As an actual story it would be a very short book anyway, but the visuals and soundtrack are so essential to the film that you'd be wasting your time trying to put it on paper.

Sad Professor

Properly adapted I think most films could probably be made work as books, if not particularly great ones. If the Star Wars films can be adapted as novels almost anything can.

One major exception would be slapstick comedies or any film that contain a lot of visual comedy, like Edgar Wright's films.

GLaDOS

valoren wrote: »

2001 A Space Odyssey

One whole chapter would be something like this.

An orbital space port slowly rotates - da na na na na - nah nah nah nah - da na na na na - nah nah nah nah.......

Er, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a book, it was written concurrently with the film.

It's a damn good book too.

pixelburp

Isn't there usually a novel tie-in that comes with nearly every blockbuster anyway? Maybe they're not as popular as they once were, but I remember buying the Independence Day novelisation back in the foolish days of my teenage youth

I suppose if you were to 'properly' adapt a film, you'd have to work around the fact that books are not inherently visual, but they do take advantage of the readers imagination, as well as the potential of the so-called 'unreliable narrator' (so movies like The Usual Suspects would be a great fit for a novel adaptation) and other writing devices.

That said, I couldn't see Mad Max: Fury Road working as a book. It'd probably work as an expansion upon the world-building from the film, but the visceral thrills of the chase & visual splendour on show would be harder to work into the written word.

dr.fuzzenstein

GLaDOS wrote: »

Er, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a book, it was written concurrently with the film.

It's a damn good book too.

I need to read that.
"we see the universe racing past over the monolith in streaks of all colors of the rainbow and some not found in nature, weird music that sounds like a herd of donkeys destroying the instrument chamber of the London Symphony Orchestra plays and the special effects are only comprehensible to some who has been to the more abstract regions of hyperspace or at the height of a really intense acid trip. The scene shifts to a bedroom".


As for movies that'll make a terrible book, Yellow Submarine and Buckaroo Banzai

dr.fuzzenstein

Any Fast & Furious movie.

"Screeching tires, explosions, loud rock music with more screeching tires and explosions. A car jumping a 100 foot gap lands with absolutely no damage whatsoever. 17 gearchanges in quick succession with more explosions and rock music. The Rock leans out of the drivers side, picks up a torpedo that happens to be sliding alongside his car with one hand and hurls it effortlessly into a helicopter"

Transformers, I couldn't even attemtp to write that down...

Sabre0001

Conall Cernach wrote: »

Well, I assumed the op meant actual written books not comics. Like imagine trying to write a novelisation of GotG vol2.

I haven't read them, but they've certainly tried: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_novels_based_on_comics#Marvel_Comics. You can read an Amazon extract of a GotG story here.

Liam McPoyle

Transformers.

Tbf they are also films that don't work as films.

Splosions!

Kerchar!

Brakarr!

Tony EH

valoren wrote: »

2001 A Space Odyssey

One whole chapter would be something like this.

An orbital space port slowly rotates - da na na na na - nah nah nah nah - da na na na na - nah nah nah nah.......

It was already a story by Arthur C. Clarke.

Tony EH

'Blue'

By Derek Jarman.