My son loves the Alex Rider series (think young James Bond). I bought him the Alex Rider movie for Christmas. I was so…strange. The plot was an Alex Rider plot, but the characters and direction were all cartoonish. We couldn’t identify with any of it. Haven’t watched it since.

My book(s) to film: The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. He’d give Harry Potter a run for his money. The visuals would be killer, and the characters would rock the big screen.

No kidding–there are TV episodes based on the Dick Francis books?!? That just went on my DVD wish list. Along with the Lovejoy series (which is pretty pricey).

Nigel Bruce was a bumbling Watson, but I loved him anyway.

Gash was in Chicago a few years back. I should have went. *sigh*

I didn’t really like the Rathbone Holmes movies – but that was mostly because Nigel Bruce’s Watson always seemed weak and doofus-y.

I do understand that sometimes a picture really goes off kilter with characters and plot points – the 2005 War of the Worlds is a good example. That’s one movie I went to see because of the book’s story and was very unhappy with it trying to use H.G. Wells as a marketing partner.

You offer so many good thoughts, there’s material here for several discussions.

I really like the point you make, when you say that a director or script writer can retell a tale from a fresh point of view, bring something new to it, change it, and that change alone isn’t bad.

I’m with you there, 100 percent.

I do have a problem with a script that destroys the spirit of a story or the integrity of a character. In the example Elizabeth mentioned, a film essentially rewrote a character and made him do something he’d never do in the book. Why not introduce a new character to the film, have him play that part? If I had to guess, I’d say the screenwriter made Buddy the killer solely for the “aha-gotcha!” moment.

Stories can support that kind of twist, but they need to set it up really, really well, and take a long time subtly adjusting the character arc.

I love the Bond books. And I really enjoy the films. But I never walk into a Bond flick expecting to meet Fleming. That said, I think Casino Royale did a fine job of putting Fleming back in the story. And it was my favorite Bond movie since Connery played the part.

I thought the Holmes movie was right on the mark. And I just had to shake my head at the folks who said it wasn’t really Sherlock Holmes. How many times in the stories did Holmes reference some act of derring-do? The only difference here: The film put all of those acts on screen.

I’m a sucker for Brett and Rathbone, both. And back in the day when A&E was about Arts and Entertainment, I found the Lovejoy books via the TV series. Now, when I read Gash, the narration is always Ian McShane.

LOL! Remind me to never dabble in a story-world that’s near and dear to your heart. Or if I do, I’ll be sure to have a full tank of gas before I pass through your town.

I’ve seen part of DUNE. It didn’t work for me at the time, but it’s been a lot of years twixt now and then. I should give it another go. It would be an interesting exercise.

I think Kevin Anderson has taken a lot of heat for adding to the DUNE series. That frustrates me, because he’s a genuinely kind person, and his passion for DUNE is what drew him to write in that world.

Your wish list of books to film reminds me of how little I’ve read in the mystery and thriller genre. I need to focus.

Two examples – James Bond movies are usually very different from the books whose titles they use – and yet, because they’re plain old entertaining, we accept them for what they are.
Sherlock Holmes is both a larger-than-life character, and in many ways a very precisely drawn one. But because of the many, many allusions to other cases, and many quirks in Holmes character that Watson hints at, it’s easy to imagine that there could be more to ‘his’ story. I loved the new movie version of Holmes and Watson for many reasons, but the biggest one was that I like more ‘flesh and blood’ characterizations because it’s even easier to live in that world in my mind. And while I know and admit that Jeremy Brett’s version is perfectly accurate down to the last details – and I do appreciate that to a point – I resent that his striving for nit-picking accuracy helped drive him to destruction. (Yes, I know he had other demons, but still….)