Saturday, June 5, 2010

The Book vs The Movie

What do you think?
I'm guessing that these days movies are generally more popular - especially when the book is one you're required to read for school!
However, in my opinion there really is no competition here.
For me the book is always better.
ALWAYS.

Think about the following...
  • Harry Potter ~ can the magic on screen really compare to the magic in your mind? Thanks to your incredible imagination you've already created your own Diagon Alley, your own Platform Nine and Three Quarters, your own Ministry of magic. Think of all the detail you'd be missing out on if you hadn't read the books.
  • Northern Lights (aka The Golden Compass) ~ I travelled so far into other worlds and became so involved in Lyra's adventure that I just about lost all connection to the real world while reading this. When I got to the final sentence I could have cried out, "No! How can it just END there?" And the movie never quite lived up to that experience.
  • The Twilight Saga ~ the movies are great but the books... still way better. That love story will never be as all-transcending as it was in my imagination!




Though now that I think about it, there may be one possible exception: The Lord of the Rings trilogy. 
NOW I know that all true Tolkien fans might want to smack me over the head with their largest copy of Tolkien's works (after all, the movies did leave out a fair amount of detail), but I have to say that I found the books a little difficult to get through, what with the extensive descriptions of the landscape and all the songs...

But I thought the movies were fabulously epic, especially on the big screen, and I have the boxset of all three DVDs - the extended editions (which are MARVELOUS!).

Having said all this, I must impress that I DO eagerly anticipate the arrival of any film adaptation of one of my favourite novels. I love to see which actors have been chosen to portray my favourite characters - and sometimes they are just perfect! And on June 30th I will be sitting in the cinema along with the thousands of other fans who have been waiting desperately to watch ECLIPSE!!

        

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ya, like in Harry Potter 6. Things happened in the movie that never happened in the book! Like why did the Weasleys' house have to go up in flames??

Unknown said...

True, I always believe that our imagination far outweighs what they can put onto a screen. Maybe one day in the future we will be able to plug into our imagination and view on a screen. Wouldnt that be awesome!

Miss T said...

That kind of technology would be really awesome!

Jenn said...

Haha, great picture! ;)

It's rare to find a movie that stayed true to the book, even when the author helps with the screenplay. But maybe that's the problem...what one person views as the heart of the novel another thinks is just fluff that can be edited out of the movie.

I think what 205508050 says is sooo true. What a cool idea!