For fans of any novel, it is disappointing to find out its film adaption is sometimes nothing at all like the book. In Douglas Adams’ 1979 novel, A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, he writes and portrays a multitude of hilarious situations as well as characters. John Singleton directs A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy movie version in 2005. Most people realize directors take creative liberty in relation to a novel and do not always produce the movie exactly like how readers imagine it, which in turn affects people’s perceptions of the movie. A few main differences between Douglas Adams’ A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy novel and John Singleton’s film version are Arthur’s character development, the team’s relationship with the Vogons, and …show more content…
the general ending. Due to these, Adams’ novel prevails as the better version in expressing the humor Adams wanting his novel to manifest. In beginning of the film, Arthur mentions conversing with Trillian at a party while he and Ford are at the bar, and shows Ford a picture of he and Trillian on his phone.
Yet, in the novel, Ford does not know about Trillian at all until the main characters meet on the Heart of Gold. I prefer the way it went in the novel, where there is an aura of mystery as to who Trillian is when she is first mentioned. Since viewers are told about Trillian and Arthur’s almost relationship beforehand, we see how much Arthur is hung up on her throughout the movie. He feels somewhat bitter that she ran off with Zaphod, which often makes some of their interactions awkward. Later, the two end up together in the movie even though Trillian barely pays him any mind in the book. “BOOK QUOTE AND …show more content…
COMMENTARY”. Additionally, Arthur’s character seems much livelier in the film and gets more character development than in the novel. Arthur’s character overshadows many characters, especially Ford, in the movie, something which seems ridiculous given his terribly dull personality in Adam’s novel. His relationship with Trillian forces him into a more up front role, whereas Ford Prefect dominates the novel with his odd humor and wit. It seems much of the Ford’s comedic dialogue becomes “lost in translation” during the film adaption to make way for Arthur to shine brighter. For example, the addition of the plot piece where the Vogons take Trillian prisoner is the perfect setup for Arthur to become her “hero” in leading himself, Ford, and Zaphod to getting her free. Viewers of the film see a resurgence of the Vogons after they release Ford and Arthur into space, which is the driving force behind the movie, especially for the development of Arthur and Trillian’s relationship.
In the novel, they are never seen again after that scene, because the Improbability Drive in the Heart of Gold picks them up. There is no need for the Vogons to appear again because their main deal is with the destruction of the Earth. One of the aforementioned “creative liberties” taken by Singleton is bringing back the Vogons into the spectrum of the story, with a big role at that. While on the planet of Viltvodle VI trying to get the coordinates to Magrathea, the team is attacked by the Vogons. This ends in them taking Trillian into their custody due to their beliefs that she has kidnapped Zaphod and stolen the Heart of Gold. Ford, Arthur, and Zaphod travel to the Vogon planet to free her. None of this actually happens in the novel. Adam’s describes the Vogon planet, but the characters do not visit the planet because “the planet Vogsphere whiled away…when the Vogons suddenly discovered interstellar travel”, so they know it is abandoned
(46). The endings are different in a few ways. A major one is Slartibartfast initiates the restoration of the Earth for Arthur in the film. Arthur is taken back to his home, where he meets Ford, Trillian, and Zaphod who are eating in his home, brainwashed by the rats. Slartibartfast has a crew rebuild it the exact same way it was, making it perfect for Arthur to live in again. However, Arthur and Trillian decide to forgo living on Earth 2.0 and instead opt to stay in space on the Heart of Gold. One thing that director John Singleton took out, which was unfortunate because it was my favorite scene of the novel, is the end fight between Ford and Arthur versus the space police who come to kill Zaphod. Ford’s argument with the cop becomes ridiculous, but that is why it is so funny, because they are in a battle situation, but fighting about how they could be social acquaintances in another situation. Especially with this scene gone, there is a lack of the novel’s original humor and absurdity being transferred to the movie. A crucial dissimilarity that fans of Adams’ A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy notice is how three of the actors hired for the film do not look at all like the characters Adams creates. Ford is written as having “gingerish” hair, which typically assumes he will be a white man (to blend in with humans even though he is an alien), whereas Ford in the film is a black man (10). A second is Trillian, whom is said to be “darkish” with “ridiculously brown eyes” and “look[ing] vaguely Arabic” (42). Her actress in the film is a pale white woman with bright blue eyes. Finally, Zaphod Beeblebrox is created by Adams to have three arms and two heads next to each other. Although, in the film, Zaphod sports only two arms, and his second head is below his first, as in if he tilts his head back the second head pops up. Little discrepancies like these can greatly impact the perception of fans who are so in love with all aspects of the way the novel was originally written.
The books, A Wrinkle in Time and And Then There Were None, both have many differences in the movie versions. The directors of both movies change the plot to make the movie see fit to what they may have imaged the book to be, while still keeping the story line the same.
In conclusion, details involving the characters and symbolic meanings to objects are the factors that make the novel better than the movie. Leaving out aspects of the novel limits the viewer’s appreciation for the story. One may favor the film over the novel or vice versa, but that person will not overlook the intense work that went into the making of both. The film and novel have their similarities and differences, but both effectively communicate their meaning to the public.
In 1967, Tom Stoppard wrote his famous play, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead after getting the idea while watching a production of Hamlet. Four years later, Douglas Adams got the idea for his Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy while lying drunk in a field in Innsbruck, Austria. In 1978, he would use this idea to produce a BBC radio show, which would be published as a novel in 1979. How can these two works be compared in their use of satire and cynicism?
The story Zora Hurston portrayed in her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God drastically changed in the movie that Oprah sought to make using her book. Many changes, such as the differences between the relationships like how Oprah sought to change it in the movie. The characters changes and how they didn't interact the same as they did or not shown at all. The symbols and how Oprah stressed some but didn't really throw in others images. The details she felt irrelevant had also removed such as entire parts of the book that didn't show at all in her movie. These changes brought with it a whole new feel in the movie than it did from the book changing it from the story of a young woman who the product of rape but, well brought up women
There are many differences between the book; To Kill a Mockingbird and the movie. Some differences are easy to spot and some aren’t. Many things that are in the book aren’t in the movie. Many of these things you don’t need, but are crucial to the plot of the book. Movies and books have differences and similarities, but many things in books MUST be included in the movie.
The Martian is a story that involves a visit to the mars, and after that, the astronauts come out of the Mars leaving behind Mark Watney who his real name is Matt Damon. The team assumed Mark was dead after a strong storm. He tried to survive with the remains of the supplier till he was able to launch his way back to the Earth (MacIsaac, 2015). The story is represented in the Novel, and a movie and these two platforms have some similarities and differences. The movie is the representation of what is happening in the book. Therefore, not everything that it is in the book is covered in the one and half film, therefore several scenarios are left out.
People do bad things; they could steal some money, break a mirror, or kill an entire alien race to save his people. One boy managed to do it in Enders Game which is a tale of a young boy who will soon find out what his purpose in life is. Ender Wiggin, a six year old boy, is asked to go to battle school to prepare for a 3rd war with an alien race. When all the war stopped; he finds and egg to produce more of the aliens and tries to find a planet for them to live on. This great story was made not just a book but also a movie and between the two, the movie shows more of a visual outlook on how Ender defeats an army of aliens.
Into the Wild, a novel written by Jon Krakauer, as well as a film directed by Sean Penn, talks about Chris McCandless, a young individual who set out on a journey throughout the Western United States, isolating himself from society, and more importantly, his family. During his travels, he meets a lot of different people, that in a way, change his ways about how he sees the world. There are many characteristics to describe McCandless, such as “naïve”, “adventurous”, and “independent”. In the book, Krakauer described McCandless as “intelligent”, using parts in his book that show McCandless being “intelligent”. While Krakauer thinks of McCandless as being “intelligent”, Penn thinks of McCandless as a more “saintly” type of person.
As most everyone knows, there are differences between a book and it’s movie adaptation. This is applicable to the book and it’s movie counterpart To Kill a Mockingbird, as well. But aside from the differences, there are also similarities between these two.
Whedon's production of Much Ado About Nothing is a modern, black and white retelling of the famous Shakespeare play of the same name which tells the story of love and deceit between two couples: Hero and Claudio, and Beatrice and Benedick. While Hero and Claudio court and prepare to marry each other, Beatrice and Benedick steal the show away with their wit, humor, and constant bickering. Though they both insist that they hate each other, the flashback presented at the start of the film suggests that there is far more to the story than meets the eye. While the style of the film certainly enhances the story being told, making it a timeless classic entangled with modern society, it is the ensemble cast that work both individually and as a unit which make the film a true masterpiece, as well as the genius idea of a change in scenery that propels a sense of realism not often found in your average Shakespeare adaptation.
Whenever books are adapted for film, changes inevitably have to be made. The medium of film offers several advantages and disadvantages over the book: it is not as adept at exploring the inner workings of people - it cannot explore their minds so easily; however, the added visual and audio capabilities of film open whole new areas of the imagination which, in the hands of a competent writer-director, can more than compensate.
The book, "Being There," is about a man named Chance, who is forced to move out of the house he lived in his whole life and his experience in the outside world. Based on the success of the book, the movie, "Being There," was made. The author of the book, Jerzy Kosinski, also wrote the screenplay for the movie. I think the major difference between the book and the movie is that in the book, we get to read what Chance is feeling and thinking, but in the movie, we only get to see his actions.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book by Douglas Adams and the movie with the same title describes a fictional and rather comedic account of an adventure of four traveler’s space travel and surviving the various planets and their different inhabits within the galaxy, following the demolition of the main protagonist Arthur Dent’s home planet Earth. Both the book and the movie begin with Arthur’s home in the countryside preparing to be demolished to make way for a new bypass. As Arthur is protesting the demolition of his actual home Arthur’s friend and one of the travelers Ford Perfect is introduced, he is man visiting from a “small planet neighboring the planet Beetlejuice”. (Hitchhiker’s Guide) and he saves Arthur from Earth’s demolition
Gullivers Travels Comparison Between Book and Movie It is common in today's media-driven society to reach into the past for inspiration and ideas. A trend has developed where original works are transformed into other mediums. For example: books are turned into movies and/or plays, movies are turned into weekly sitcoms, and cartoons will spawn empires (Disney). These things happen so often that an audience rarely stops to question the level of authenticity that remains after these conversions. Perhaps it is only when a project is not well received that people begin to think of the difficulties involved with changing a work's genre.
In this day and age, it seems that every successful book has a cinematic counterpart, but some viewers endlessly compare book to the film adaptation, looking for inconsistencies. With so many films being based off books, some are more accurate to the original text than others. Cinematic adaptations of books can be creative in some respects but should mostly stay literal to the original book that the film is interpreting.