...."TV history"?......no, just no.........
11/22/63 miniseries disappointment SPOILERS
- Thread starter Dollarwise the clown
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It depends what perspective you have on things. From mistertime's 'point of view' ... i stand behind every word i put on the internet.
And i don't like or dislike JJ Abrahams...its not a steven Spielberg and never will be.. if i came on Stephen forum and actually bothered to register...it means something... i never done it before and he had some very good projects along the 20th and 21th centuries
I came when i felt it actually helps the human species even if you- the species.. still do not understand it.
Listen.. in this dimensional timeline (what you call universe) of yours there are few individuals who 'touched the face of god' and helped...literally HELPED bring about the change needed in the evolution of the human species, they are not many ...the list is quite short...Stephen is on this very short list for he has 'touched the face of god'. That's all.
Love the passion mistertime! We'll agree to disagree on this topic.
Keep posting on this forum.
Neesy
#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
That is good to hear. I recorded the whole eight episodes and I am saving them for the end of June so my husband and I can watch the series together (and he has not read the book either).
Robert Gray
Well-Known Member
I went ahead and watched it. It wasn't bad taken at face value and if you don't compare it to the book. I will give it credit for being one of the better adaptations of King's works in so far as capturing the essence of the story. That being said, it is a long way from being the end all be all. The book is still countless levels of the Tower better. I would still rather they been truer to the book. I think Hollywood underestimates the viewers a great deal when they feel they MUST change the story and celluloid it. I am of the firm opinion that the great books could be put on a storyboard and shot scene for scene. I think the average viewer would/could get it.
So, I didn't feel cheated watching it. I got some enjoyment. It isn't a fail.
So, I didn't feel cheated watching it. I got some enjoyment. It isn't a fail.
So I just watched the final episode. If that had been the only one I watched, I, and I think most fans of the book would have been fairly pleased. There were a few things..
...but there was enough of the original story to make it a very solid episode. Too bad all the preceding episodes were so "bastardized" as someone else put it.
Dead people hallucinations, Harry Dunning being the old man he runs into on his return to 2016. The Maine scene with Sadie, the yellow card man who was a totally different role in the move (not that I really understood his role in the book either)
...but there was enough of the original story to make it a very solid episode. Too bad all the preceding episodes were so "bastardized" as someone else put it.
Long – blah blah blah.
Yes, I’ve been a lurker for years, constant reader, and so forth. And yes, nobody like a new guy showing up on the boards who simply wants to whine. I extend my apologies and the hand of kindness in advance of my (hopefully thoughtful?) rant.
11.22.63 holds a special place in my heart. Besides being a nail biter down to the end, this book is truly one of the best love stories ever told – and it also conveys a sense of wonderment like no other King novel, as Jake travels back through time. I found that the mini-series seriously lacked these elements, and it was a great disappointment to me.
I would argue that King novels *have* been successfully translated to the silver screen on several occasions, my 2 favorites being The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile. I think these were so well done because of the thoughtful craftsmanship of Frank Darabont, who served as both writer and director for both projects. A single person’s focused vision.
Here’s an excellent interview with Darabont on The Green Mile (SPOILERS GALORE!)
Diary Of A Screenwriter: Frank Darabont: On Adapting Stephen King – II. The Green Mile
FROM THE INTERVIEW (DARABONT): “But for the most part, trying to mimic King’s voice; trying to speak in his patois – not just in terms of dialogue, but in terms of the characters. You’re trying to be very true to the author of the original material, as much as possible – at least I do.”
So my real complaint regarding 11.22.63 was the choice of Bridget Carpenter to adapt the novel. She’s a pure television writer (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood, etc) who has never really adapted something of this magnitude. I think it was easy for her to cut corners in many places, but worse – she literally throws the baby out with the bathwater in several episodes. Whole sections of the series were simply things she made up, or sections completely cut out. Frankly, I thought this was grotesquely negligent on her part.
In a perfect universe, King (or his handlers) would have brought Darabont back for this project, and I think the results would have been excellent.
On a brighter note – I do think they got Episode 8 (the final episode) right with its tone, feeling, and emotion. I thought the casting was quite good (at some times, exceptional). And my wife (who has not read the novel) enjoyed the series overall – even during the numerous times I was cringing <grin>.
Anyhow, my 2¢ for whatever it was worth.
Cheers,
Chris
Yes, I’ve been a lurker for years, constant reader, and so forth. And yes, nobody like a new guy showing up on the boards who simply wants to whine. I extend my apologies and the hand of kindness in advance of my (hopefully thoughtful?) rant.
11.22.63 holds a special place in my heart. Besides being a nail biter down to the end, this book is truly one of the best love stories ever told – and it also conveys a sense of wonderment like no other King novel, as Jake travels back through time. I found that the mini-series seriously lacked these elements, and it was a great disappointment to me.
I would argue that King novels *have* been successfully translated to the silver screen on several occasions, my 2 favorites being The Shawshank Redemption, and The Green Mile. I think these were so well done because of the thoughtful craftsmanship of Frank Darabont, who served as both writer and director for both projects. A single person’s focused vision.
Here’s an excellent interview with Darabont on The Green Mile (SPOILERS GALORE!)
Diary Of A Screenwriter: Frank Darabont: On Adapting Stephen King – II. The Green Mile
FROM THE INTERVIEW (DARABONT): “But for the most part, trying to mimic King’s voice; trying to speak in his patois – not just in terms of dialogue, but in terms of the characters. You’re trying to be very true to the author of the original material, as much as possible – at least I do.”
So my real complaint regarding 11.22.63 was the choice of Bridget Carpenter to adapt the novel. She’s a pure television writer (Friday Night Lights, Parenthood, etc) who has never really adapted something of this magnitude. I think it was easy for her to cut corners in many places, but worse – she literally throws the baby out with the bathwater in several episodes. Whole sections of the series were simply things she made up, or sections completely cut out. Frankly, I thought this was grotesquely negligent on her part.
In a perfect universe, King (or his handlers) would have brought Darabont back for this project, and I think the results would have been excellent.
On a brighter note – I do think they got Episode 8 (the final episode) right with its tone, feeling, and emotion. I thought the casting was quite good (at some times, exceptional). And my wife (who has not read the novel) enjoyed the series overall – even during the numerous times I was cringing <grin>.
Anyhow, my 2¢ for whatever it was worth.
Cheers,
Chris
Chris, you nailed it with great insight! I couldn't have said it better. Welcome to the site and keep posting.
Great first post Chris and I largely agree with your thoughts. The Hulu adaptation was frustrating because it got so many things right except for Jake and making him an active part of the past instead of a Fringe-like Observer.
I have only seen 5 episodes thus far. At first, I was a bit shocked with how different the miniseries is to the novel, BUT I quickly got over that and now I am enjoying it as a little story in it's own right.
I love the novel, I am obsessed with JFK anyway (I am British and wasn't even born then but hey ho) and I just accept that they're like cousins from the same family. They share the same DNA... but both have completely different personalities. Anyway who's to say they won't have him going back and forth through the portal in the next few seasons? The story could kind of start all over again, differently and multiple times, there is so much scope for all that kind of good stuff.
So yeah excited to see where it all goes in this season!!!
I love the novel, I am obsessed with JFK anyway (I am British and wasn't even born then but hey ho) and I just accept that they're like cousins from the same family. They share the same DNA... but both have completely different personalities. Anyway who's to say they won't have him going back and forth through the portal in the next few seasons? The story could kind of start all over again, differently and multiple times, there is so much scope for all that kind of good stuff.
So yeah excited to see where it all goes in this season!!!
I'm only about episode 4 (being shown tomorrow) and besides all the changes I'm enjoying it for what it is. So far there are no huge character changes....yes Bill is younger and helping far more in the tv prog than he did in the book but it seems to fit well. I have come to accept (very belatedly I admit) that it is going to a rare thing when a film/tv prog stays true to the book. At least the main characters have not changed their ethnicity completely.
I know this thread is a little older but I wanted to share some insight I was afforded regarding this topic of book to visual medium translation.
I resisted, for some reason I can't remember now, watching The Walking Dead. It really is a show made for me, but I resisted. Finally last summer, I decided to binge watch the first 5 seasons. I loved it and was left wanting more after my binge. So I started reading the comics. I burned through them in about a month. And something occurred to me when Season 6 returned. I didn't have any of those frustrations with the two versions. I have with other things, especially some of the SK adaptations. Under the Dome the TV show shall not be discussed in my home, for instance.
So I started thinking about it. Why didn't it bother me? The it hit me. Both provide an IMAGE of the characters, the surroundings, the expressions, etc. I wasn't able to form what MY version was in my head with these comics. Now does that mean that everything is the same in both? Not really. But because I wasn't judging either by my internal "perfect" version, I didn't have an EXPECTATION that it should be this or that. Suddenly it's just 2 versions of the same story. Maybe parallel universes.
Anyway, thought I'd share that as it was related.
As to the series, I enjoyed it. I saw the expansion of Bill's role to be how they explained a lot of internal dialogue Jake had figuring out the case in the novel. It took some time to play those scenarios out. This was a way of boiling that down to fit in the time constraints of the mini series. Also it would've been a lot of Jake sitting around alone talking to himself or "the ghost of Al" or some other target. I was mostly disappointed they cut out the Derry portions of the novel, though I understand why.
For the record, The Walking Dead comic is WAY better than the show.
I resisted, for some reason I can't remember now, watching The Walking Dead. It really is a show made for me, but I resisted. Finally last summer, I decided to binge watch the first 5 seasons. I loved it and was left wanting more after my binge. So I started reading the comics. I burned through them in about a month. And something occurred to me when Season 6 returned. I didn't have any of those frustrations with the two versions. I have with other things, especially some of the SK adaptations. Under the Dome the TV show shall not be discussed in my home, for instance.
So I started thinking about it. Why didn't it bother me? The it hit me. Both provide an IMAGE of the characters, the surroundings, the expressions, etc. I wasn't able to form what MY version was in my head with these comics. Now does that mean that everything is the same in both? Not really. But because I wasn't judging either by my internal "perfect" version, I didn't have an EXPECTATION that it should be this or that. Suddenly it's just 2 versions of the same story. Maybe parallel universes.
Anyway, thought I'd share that as it was related.
As to the series, I enjoyed it. I saw the expansion of Bill's role to be how they explained a lot of internal dialogue Jake had figuring out the case in the novel. It took some time to play those scenarios out. This was a way of boiling that down to fit in the time constraints of the mini series. Also it would've been a lot of Jake sitting around alone talking to himself or "the ghost of Al" or some other target. I was mostly disappointed they cut out the Derry portions of the novel, though I understand why.
For the record, The Walking Dead comic is WAY better than the show.
Overall, I really, really like this adaptation. In fact, as I wrote in another thread, it's the best thing I've seen James Franco in in a long time.
That said, there are a few things that were a little disappointing. (SPOILERS, of course.)
I missed that Jake made several trips through the time-warp before he settled in. It seems that in the tv version, he made just the one major trip.
I missed the Mimi from the novel, for one thing. I think the Mimi they presented worked fine for the tv production, and the actor who played her did a wonderful job, but I still would have liked to have seen the character drawn closer to the one in the novel.
Sadie's facial wound looked much less severe in the tv show than what I envisioned from reading the novel.
I would have liked to have seen more of Oswald's mother, whose relationship with Marina played a much larger role in the novel.
Jake's and Sadie's dancing was underwhelming in the tv version, compared to what I had envisioned based on the novel.
The scene where Jake saves the Dunnings on Halloween was surprisingly low-key in comparison to how it played out in the novel. For a Stephen King story, I think that was one of the biggest misses of the tv production. I wonder how that scene might have been filmed for the screen by Hitchcock or Kubrick or De Palma.
There are a few other things, but those are some of the main ones that come to mind.
On the other hand, I have liked what they did with the Bill Turcotte character. And I have liked the fact that several of the sets fit very well with how I had imagined the scenes to look when I was reading the book.
That said, there are a few things that were a little disappointing. (SPOILERS, of course.)
I missed that Jake made several trips through the time-warp before he settled in. It seems that in the tv version, he made just the one major trip.
I missed the Mimi from the novel, for one thing. I think the Mimi they presented worked fine for the tv production, and the actor who played her did a wonderful job, but I still would have liked to have seen the character drawn closer to the one in the novel.
Sadie's facial wound looked much less severe in the tv show than what I envisioned from reading the novel.
I would have liked to have seen more of Oswald's mother, whose relationship with Marina played a much larger role in the novel.
Jake's and Sadie's dancing was underwhelming in the tv version, compared to what I had envisioned based on the novel.
The scene where Jake saves the Dunnings on Halloween was surprisingly low-key in comparison to how it played out in the novel. For a Stephen King story, I think that was one of the biggest misses of the tv production. I wonder how that scene might have been filmed for the screen by Hitchcock or Kubrick or De Palma.
There are a few other things, but those are some of the main ones that come to mind.
On the other hand, I have liked what they did with the Bill Turcotte character. And I have liked the fact that several of the sets fit very well with how I had imagined the scenes to look when I was reading the book.
I'm fascinated by the idea of Hitchcock directing a Stephen King movie! Maybe if we can find Black Thirteen, we can find the world where that's possible.
First post!
I must admit, I have not yet read the novel. I regret to say that I wasn't even familiar with this fine work by Stephen.
I got through the Mini-Series in about 2 days, and oh boy! It really was something. Being someone who has not yet read the novel, I got really attached to the Mini-Series and cannot wait to give the novel a read.
To those who say that the series has no comparison to the novel, is this not the case with most films/tv-series which sparked from novels? I don't think it is humanly possible to make it as accurate as we would like it.
Can't wait to read it!
I must admit, I have not yet read the novel. I regret to say that I wasn't even familiar with this fine work by Stephen.
I got through the Mini-Series in about 2 days, and oh boy! It really was something. Being someone who has not yet read the novel, I got really attached to the Mini-Series and cannot wait to give the novel a read.
To those who say that the series has no comparison to the novel, is this not the case with most films/tv-series which sparked from novels? I don't think it is humanly possible to make it as accurate as we would like it.
Can't wait to read it!
Neesy
#1 fan (Annie Wilkes cousin) 1st cousin Mom's side
Welcome Marcus!
Yes - I think you are right - it would be hard to make it as accurate as the book as it is such a complex book. I have a copy of the paperback book with me right now and it is 1089 pages!
Great book - I think you will like it - I am on my second time around, having read it the first time in 2011 or 2012.
Great to hear!Welcome Marcus!
Yes - I think you are right - it would be hard to make it as accurate as the book as it is such a complex book. I have a copy of the paperback book with me right now and it is 1089 pages!
Great book - I think you will like it - I am on my second time around, having read it the first time in 2011 or 2012.
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I'll have to order the book soon. I must admit I've just been hooked with the whole story for about a week now!
Welcome to the boards.
Enjoy the novel. You might want to have a pack of smokes handy and a cold mug of root beer.
Lordy, that root beer description, I had to right out and get one. Wasn't the same.
And a tissue or two.
I'll have the smokes and root beer at hand I can assure you.