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Post by I own a cylinder on Jun 8, 2005 18:28:03 GMT
I don't know if anyone else gets a bit miffed by this but there seems to be a complete lack of understanding of the text by Hollywood or American Film makers. I recently read an article about the Paramount movie and they said that one of the parts Steve liked was the bit in the house when the narrator gets trapped with and i quote here, 'the Curate, Ogilvy, the guy from the country club.' What the F**k!! As fans of the text they should be able to distinguish between characters. And it seems TImbo has done the same. This is the one bit that gets me when i saw the trailer. When the Cylinder hits the house. Even in Victorian times Mortlake was a town. A suburban town. This isn't from the book. Its from the 1953 film. Just shows how much they do their research.
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Post by FALLINGSTAR on Jun 8, 2005 18:33:34 GMT
It's because Timbo and Spielberg are just thinking about one thing - BIG BUCKS and couldn't care less about us fans, or the book.
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Post by I own a cylinder on Jun 8, 2005 18:36:58 GMT
Shame really.
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Post by FALLINGSTAR on Jun 8, 2005 18:46:13 GMT
Yes you could say that!
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Post by dudalb on Jun 8, 2005 20:18:29 GMT
So a movie is to be judged by how closely it adheres to the text? ?? Actually, Timbo's film adheres for the most part closely to the text and it still sucks.
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Post by D.A.V.E on Jun 8, 2005 21:22:25 GMT
To be honest, I cant say ive ever seen any film, based on a novel, that followed the plot exactly! It's a fact of life we just need to deal with.
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Post by Lensman on Jun 8, 2005 21:23:57 GMT
Actually, Timbo's film adheres for the most part closely to the text and it still sucks. Yup.
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Post by nervouspete on Jun 8, 2005 21:25:27 GMT
Redweed is right, look at Bladerunner. Rather different in many respects to 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?', but the directors cut is an amazing classic.
Still oddly peeved that such an obvious mistake could be made by Spielberg and company in an interview - it doesn't relate at all as to how good the film will be, but it's still an annoying stumble. I reckon they must have some secret self destruct drive in interviews that drives them subconciously to make such howling errors.
Pete
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Post by D.A.V.E on Jun 8, 2005 21:49:58 GMT
To be honest, I reckon this movie will prove whether or not spielberg still can be the amazing director he has been in the past. His last few movies have flopped (AI, Minority Report..).. its understandable for him to be a bit tense, and some of us will make silly mistakes when under pressure. The same goes for Mr Hines. With the pressure of a bigger movie studio producing a movie of the same name, he had to do something, and on the way, he's goofed, and from what we have read so far, made some mistakes, and made a not so great movie. But he is human after all. We should give these people a break. They're just doing their job.
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Post by I own a cylinder on Jun 8, 2005 22:11:57 GMT
I think part of the problem is thet in a way LOTR trilogy showed the way that adapting a book should be done. Even if it didn't stick close to the original text (and quite frankly good job: couldn't have stood Tom Bombidill) but the settings were correct. Its not how close it sticks to the text, but how it presents the settings. That cylinder hitting the house was based on 53 movie and not the book.
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Post by I own a cylinder on Jun 8, 2005 22:18:11 GMT
As for spielberg, he might make a cool blockbuster but he sometimes demonstates his ignorance of Wells' novel
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Post by quaderni on Jun 8, 2005 22:34:09 GMT
Actually, Timbo's film adheres for the most part closely to the text and it still sucks. Yup. Good point, but authorial intent still matters.
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Post by Lensman on Jun 8, 2005 22:44:00 GMT
That cylinder hitting the house was based on 53 movie and not the book. That's another place where this movie just gets it wrong. Wells' novel got it right: The cylinder hit a short distance from the house the Narrator was in, and it was the concussion wave plus the earth that splashed out of the crater which smashed the house. If the red-hot cylinder had come into direct contact with the house, it would have set fire to it. Nevermind it was made of stone; there are plenty of flammables inside any house. And even if by some miracle it didn't ignite the house, the release of that much heat over several hours would have baked the men alive.
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Post by I own a cylinder on Jun 8, 2005 22:56:55 GMT
Not to mention the concussion wave would have been too great anyway
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Post by Lensman on Jun 8, 2005 23:02:48 GMT
Hines doesn't show the cylinders hitting with a meteoric impact, as Wells describes; he shows the egg-shaped capsules grazing the ground and then sliding for a long distance. So there wouldn't be a huge concussion when it finally came to rest against the house.
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Post by BrutalDeluxe on Jun 9, 2005 0:42:20 GMT
I think we tend to judge book adaptations more harshly if their PR blatantly states that: a) they are big fans of the book or b) they are sticking close to the original text
I ripped into the movie Dreamcatcher after seeing it, the main reason being that the first half of the movie was so close to the book it was like my imagination coming to life and then they started taking "artistic licence" with it. I don't know why I bother getting my hopes up sometimes. A lot of people tell me that it is a good movie but unfortunately I can't divorce the movie from the book. At least I know with Speilberg's WOTW that it is an adaptation and I am prepared to cut them some slack as long as the essence of the story remains true.
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Post by recumbentrider on Jun 9, 2005 0:44:11 GMT
As I read these comments, I feel really bad for those of you who are British fans that have to wait to see this movie, and only see our reviews saying how horrifically bad this movie is. If I were in your shoes, I think I would be going nuttier than a curate trapped in a house with Martians outside.
One thing I will say is that although I thought the movie was bad, I will give credit to Tim Hines for following the book as closely as he did. But trust me on one point: after most of you in England see this movie, you will be so astounded at how bad the movie turned out that you won't even care whether the cylinder was supposed to hit the house or not!
Remember the Thunderchild! May she and her invisible crew rest in peace!
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Post by RustiSwordz on Jun 9, 2005 12:20:14 GMT
Ahem (Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy) need i say more?
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Post by Ashe Raven on Jun 9, 2005 12:26:34 GMT
Actually the book was based onthe radio show, and not one version of HGTG has been exactly alike. But all have been written by Douglas Adams. The ending in all of them have been different, so the HGTG film follwed suit pretty well really.
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Post by RustiSwordz on Jun 9, 2005 12:32:20 GMT
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