The NZA Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 Been meaning to do this, cause lately, between Room 1408 & The Mist, i think King's on a roll, insofar as adaptations working out for him - i loved both. Still, King's had his hand in non-horror as well, as you can see up there. I know it makes for an odd poll, what with Shawshank and the like, but you know what? just fucking vote. that said, im looking at this list and i can honestly say i dont recall having seen/finished It, The Stand, Tommyknockers, Lawnmower Man, Children of the Corn or even Carrie. Odd. Quote
soldier of fortune Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 Not seen a lot of those, but the Shawshank Redemption and Green Mile i thought were really good. Would Kingdom Hospital count or was that one of his productions written by someone else? Quote
The NZA Posted July 1, 2008 Author Posted July 1, 2008 hmm...wiki says King developed it, but it was written by Lars von Trier, so im thinking not. But the list isnt a complete one by any means, just his bigger ones. was that one you mentioned good? Quote
soldier of fortune Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 Yeah i thought it was good, pretty fucked up to be honest. Not bad for a tv serial, not as good as the stand, but good. Wasn't Misery one of his? Cos that was a seriously disturbing film. Quote
Maldron Posted July 1, 2008 Posted July 1, 2008 Only one I ever really watched through was "Riding the Bullet," which is both not up there and horrible. Quote
Iambaytor Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 Apt Pupil was pretty damn good despite the fact that it wasn't half as dark or fucked up as the story Carrie was pretty much a faithful adaptation through and through. Children of the Corn was meh and only served to get shittier with sequels, the story was much more powerful. Cujo was pretty par for the course. Firestarter was decent, the sequel was absolute shit. Green Mile faithful adaptation but not the best movie, it was good but not anything incredibly special. It, possibly the best TV miniseries ever made. Lawnmower Man is probably the worst movie ever made, even Jeff Fahey wasn't able to drag that one out of the fire and Stephen King himself ordered to have his name taken out of the credits. Also it has fuckall to do with the story it was based on. Misery was just as good as the books, Rob Reiner is always good at bringing Stephen King movies to life. Pet Sematary, a very sick and twisted movie that made you feel depressed afterwords, it captured the book's message perfectly, the sequel was also pretty good. Running Man was a very very loose adaptation of the novel but good in its own right. The Shawshank Redemption well, everybody knows by now that this movie's great, one detail, Morgan Freeman's character in the novel was an Irishman, hence the name, "Red" The Shining, fuck Stanley Kubrick he ruined this story by taking all the elements that made it good out and doing some horrible casting for the part of Jack Taurrence. Sleepwalkers, not actually based on a book, Stephen King wrote the screenplay specifically for film. Stand by Me, as I said, Rob Reiner can do no wrong, any changes made were acceptable and didn't take away anything from it. The Stand, Mick Garris' best work, very creepy and good. Tommyknockers I have never watched all of this, it confused me somewhat, nor have I ever read the book, I can't say. Room 1408, not quite as creepy as the book, but still a solid adaptation. The Mist, the best out of all of them, Frank Darabont did a perfect adaptation and improved the ending by 100% over King's already solid ending from the novella. Others of mention, Silver Bullet, Maximum Overdrive (the only movie King has ever directed), Graveyard Shift (bad movie based on a bad story but it's entertaining in a bad 80s sorta way), The Mangler (and underrated story and film), Riding the Bullet (pure shit), Desperation (Good so long as Ron Perlman is onscreen) Quote
alive she cried Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 i'll never agree with you on the shining. the film is magnificiant (the best horror i've ever seen), regardless of the differences to the book. the book is brillaint, but personally i prefer the movie. stand by me is top notch stuff misery is another great movie, as is shawshank and green mile. carrie is'nt bad, and It is the only movie/show i've ever seen to be simultaniously shit and great Quote
Silent Bob Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 Yeah frankly I think this is going to be a battle between Frank Darabont and Rob Reiner. Neither of them can do any wrong as far as Stephen King is concerned. Quote
Aartemys Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 Funny...I've read loads of his books, but rarely have seen one of his films...I'm such a chicken shit when it comes to horror mvies...that being said: I've seen The Stand loads of times and will still sit there and watch the entire thing in one sitting... Two others worth mentioning are Needfull Things & Storm of the Century... Try as I might, I've never been able to see The Shining (although it's my favorite King book, by far) and It (the only King book that I was forced to put down by fear)... Quote
The NZA Posted July 2, 2008 Author Posted July 2, 2008 that said, im looking at this list and i can honestly say i dont recall having seen/finished It, The Stand, Tommyknockers, Lawnmower Man, Children of the Corn or even Carrie. Odd. so uh, baytor/jumbie (in the past) say It = must see, what else on that list? i read somewhere the last Children of the Corn was somewhat watchable, not sure bout the first. You know, i didnt finish Misery either somehow. Quote
TulipO Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 Personally, I like the non-horror adaptations the best-except Hearts in Atlantis. They could have done SOoooooo much more with that one. I mean we live in an age where indie film styles have become mainstream. He could have taken a page out of Altman's book for a story about a bunch of seemingly unrelated people who are tied together by common experience and aquaintances. Anyway, I never feel that the films are as scary/interesting as his books, and there is always a horrifying casting chocie that ruins an otherwise decent script i.e Molly Ringwald in The Stand, all 3 lead actors in the TV mini-series re-make of The Shining-seriously that was just unwatchable. Between the guy from wngs and that little mouthbreather moron of a kid, I have never gotten past the part where they take the little fucker to the doctor. Everytime I've seen it I hope they're having him put to sleep. Then, it was set in the goddamned 90's! Which practically renders the story impossible. The internet would have saved them. Anyway, I'm gunning for an HBO mini-series of The Dark Tower personally. Quote
Iambaytor Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 so uh, baytor/jumbie (in the past) say It = must see, what else on that list? i read somewhere the last Children of the Corn was somewhat watchable, not sure bout the first. You know, i didnt finish Misery either somehow. The first Children of the Corn was the only watchable one, after that they slowly but surely just became new Omen movies only with corn. Misery's a bit slow, you have to be in the right mood to watch it but James Caan and Kathy Bates' performances are probably the best of their career. Quote
MetalHeart Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 All of these are pretty good, but The Mist fucking blew me away. Perfect in every way. The ending ruled. Quote
Lycaon Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 All of these are pretty good, but The Mist fucking blew me away. Perfect in every way. The ending ruled. It was good. I'll have to read it. Quote
Iambaytor Posted July 2, 2008 Posted July 2, 2008 Yeah the Mist did what all of these movies only dreamed of doing. Quote
soldier of fortune Posted July 7, 2008 Posted July 7, 2008 voted misery saw The Mist there on Friday and was quite impressed, what a fucking ending though! Quote
Aartemys Posted July 8, 2008 Posted July 8, 2008 Can someone spoil the ending of The Mist for me? By PM, of course... Quote
MetalHeart Posted July 8, 2008 Posted July 8, 2008 Can someone spoil the ending of The Mist for me? By PM, of course... YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO RENT IT AND WATCH IT YOURSELF <333333333333333333333333333333 Quote
Iambaytor Posted July 8, 2008 Posted July 8, 2008 Trust us Aarty, this is the one ending that no one should spoil ever. Quote
soldier of fortune Posted July 10, 2008 Posted July 10, 2008 For sure, my god i totally wasn't expecting it! Quote
La Lindsay Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 i hadn't read the mist so i thought that's how the original story ended since it was so very king-esque. i really disagree with apt pupil being a good adaptation. i thought it was complete shit which really pissed me off since the story was so well done. with that being said, different seasons was awesome source material (except for "the breathing method," which was really, uh, unadaptable-ish). knocking 2 out of 3 out of the park isn't bad at all. Quote
Dark Kaniggit Posted July 12, 2008 Posted July 12, 2008 (edited) Green Mile and Shawshank are great movies, but they are also straight-forward stories grounded in reality. So although they are done very well, adapting King's horror and suspense stories are much more of a challenge Definitely The Shining is the best screen adaptation! When Jack Torrance loses it, is truly one the greatest suspenseful chilling moments in cinema. You truly have no idea what horrors he is capable of. I have read numerous stories that Kubrick and King did not see eye to eye as to their interpretation of the story. Kubrick changed the denver croquet mallets, which he thought did not work in the film, to a huge honking axe! In 1997, Warner Bros. produced a TV miniseries version of The Shining starring Steven Weber, as Jack Torrance. King helped write the screen play to this one, and produced it. He kept everything very true to the book the croquet mallets returned, as well as the garden maze coming truly to life. To prove how superior Nicholson is to Webber. When Webber's Jack loses it, he uses make-up and contact lenses, and picks a croquet mallet. When Nicholson loses it, he simply shows a new facial expression and grabs a huge axe! The 1997 Shining was very poorly received. I am sure letting Kubrick adapt his work was hard for him. But, in the end writing is one media, and film is another. Edited July 12, 2008 by Dark Kaniggit Quote
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