300 is another adaptation from Dir. Zack Snyder and, again, a truely great one.
This is a Shot-for-shot adaptation of the graphic novel by Frank Miller and quickly became very popular. The story tells the story of battle of Thermopylae through the perpective of sparten, Dilios played by David Wenham.
I honestly can't think of anything bad to say about this adaptation, It's a shot-for-shot adaptation that expertly translates the style of the source material. Zack Snyder definately has a nack for these adaptations.
I highly recommend this for our archive.
Monday, 16 May 2011
Spider-Man (2002)
Now, I have been a fan of Spider-Man for a very long time, so I think it's appropriate that I talk about this film. Now this film is, at times ridiculous and often a lil' cheesey.
However I think it is a good adaptation of the comics, which are also often alil' cheesey and at times ridiculous. It remains true to the character and remains fairly faithful to the story. I admit, it's not the greatest or most orginal movie ever made but it's deffinately a good movie and, in my opinion, a good adaptation, and given the aclaim it has receved should definately be included in our archive.
However I think it is a good adaptation of the comics, which are also often alil' cheesey and at times ridiculous. It remains true to the character and remains fairly faithful to the story. I admit, it's not the greatest or most orginal movie ever made but it's deffinately a good movie and, in my opinion, a good adaptation, and given the aclaim it has receved should definately be included in our archive.
Sunday, 15 May 2011
X-Men (2000) dir. Bryan Singer
X-men is a weird film to write up about in an archive such as this. The script went through so many rewrites by so many different writers that its hard to distinguish where one withers influence came from and another finished. Based off the characters of the popular franchise is just a fun action movie to entertain and therefore I think over thinking a film like this is unnecessary.
However this film was a hit and due to the commercial success caused the reemergence of the super hero film after the millennium and therefore deserves some recognition. It was important to the genre as a whole.
X-Men Trailer:
However this film was a hit and due to the commercial success caused the reemergence of the super hero film after the millennium and therefore deserves some recognition. It was important to the genre as a whole.
X-Men Trailer:
Sin City (2005) dir. Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez
Sin City is a adaptation of the comic books of Frank Miller (who also co directed). From the very start of the project the film was intended to be a translation of the source material. This is quickly evident throughout the film where the shot composition is directly taken from panels of the comics. This is interesting because the shooting was filmed entirely using digital backdrops allowing the atmosphere and style that the original writer foresaw to remain intact.
I believe that this film should be put into our little vault because of the tireless consideration to remain true to the original works. As well as this Sin City also pushed the boundaries of what could be possible with digital filmmaking in the future and for this reason should also be commended.
Sin City Trailer:
I believe that this film should be put into our little vault because of the tireless consideration to remain true to the original works. As well as this Sin City also pushed the boundaries of what could be possible with digital filmmaking in the future and for this reason should also be commended.
Sin City Trailer:
Akira (1988) dir. Katsuhiro Otomo
Akira is a slightly diffrent addidtion to this archive due to the fact that its an animated feature. But this raises alot of interesting points. The fact that it is animated means that the film can closely represent the graphic novel in a visual standpoint.
However i am not choosing to put this on the list because of the likeness to the original. This is going up there because of the incredibly deep and moving story presented in the feature. One could write a dissertation on the influences and the references to post WW2 Japan and the cold war. It's brilliant, touching and heartfelt portrait of youth culture, delinquency, spirituality and Japan post war is something to be commended and these are my reasons for putting this onto my list.
Akira Trailer:
However i am not choosing to put this on the list because of the likeness to the original. This is going up there because of the incredibly deep and moving story presented in the feature. One could write a dissertation on the influences and the references to post WW2 Japan and the cold war. It's brilliant, touching and heartfelt portrait of youth culture, delinquency, spirituality and Japan post war is something to be commended and these are my reasons for putting this onto my list.
Akira Trailer:
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
The Crow (1994)
The Crow is the story of Eric Draven (played by the late Brandon Lee in his final role) , a rock guitarist, who's is murdered after he walks in on the rape of his fiancee, who later dies in hospital after 30 hours of pain, by a gang on the infamous "Devil's Night". A year later Eric is brought back to life by a supernatural crow and tracks down and kills each gang member in the order they had raped and beaten his fiancee.
The film is based upon the graphic novel written by James O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his wife at the hands of a drunk driver. Although the film does deviate from the graphic novel it remainsfairly faithful. It is a beautifully dark and tradgic film and trannfers the graphic novel's gothic, depressive and yet strangely up-lifting qualities that makes it so great.
This film has become a cult icon and rightly so in my eyes, I can certainly recommend it for our top ten.
The film is based upon the graphic novel written by James O'Barr as a means of dealing with the death of his wife at the hands of a drunk driver. Although the film does deviate from the graphic novel it remainsfairly faithful. It is a beautifully dark and tradgic film and trannfers the graphic novel's gothic, depressive and yet strangely up-lifting qualities that makes it so great.
This film has become a cult icon and rightly so in my eyes, I can certainly recommend it for our top ten.
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
The Punisher (2004)
"The Punisher" is one of three adaptations of the comic book character and personally one of my favourite graphic novel adaptaions. Looseley base upon the 'Welcome Back Frank' and 'The Punisher: Year One' stories, the movie follows the origin story of The Punisher. FIB agent Frank Castle, played by Thomas Jane, is on his last undercover case before retirement. When a mob boss' son is acidentally killed, the mob boss, Howard Saint played by John Travolta, has Frank's entire extended family killed. After miraculously surviving Frank begins a campain to gain revenge upon Howard Saint.
The reason I like this is so much is that it draws so much from the source material, a lot of the scenes are straight from the comic books and graphic novels ( as shown here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJOaS2w9TPQ and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqF2ustWSws ) This is exactly what I expect from an adaptation of a graphic novel and comic book adaptation, a great amalgam of various different scenes, storylines and characters from the comic books and grapic novel.
I think this is a truely great adaptation and I highly recommend it for the top ten graphic novel adaptations.
The reason I like this is so much is that it draws so much from the source material, a lot of the scenes are straight from the comic books and graphic novels ( as shown here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJOaS2w9TPQ and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqF2ustWSws ) This is exactly what I expect from an adaptation of a graphic novel and comic book adaptation, a great amalgam of various different scenes, storylines and characters from the comic books and grapic novel.
I think this is a truely great adaptation and I highly recommend it for the top ten graphic novel adaptations.
Thursday, 5 May 2011
V for Vendetta
I would like to start by saying, I really like the film V for Vendetta, however just because a film is enjoyable doesn't mean that it is a good graphic novel adaptation. As shown in this interveiw with Alan Moore (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QX7ehbE1vc0) The Graphic Novel of V for Vendetta was Moore's Ode to anarchy, detailing all of his beilefs on anarchy and facism ect and his response to Margaret Thatcher's administration.The plot of both revolves around an anarchist known only as V and his plot to take down the facist government that is in power and Evey, a girl who has been rescued by and acompanies V.
As with alot of adaptations, the film makers change a number changes to the story when adapting the source material. In the graphic novel V is a cold, emotionless mastermind who is always five steps a head of the government and who's only goal is only to create his "Better World" however in the movie he is a kind, pleasent, revenge fueled terrorist who is thoughtout the film only on par with the government and has a deep love and caring for Evey. Of course this treatment isn't reserved simply to V, in the graphic novel Moore goes out of his way to depict the Government officals as ordinary and sometimes even likable people, in the movie most are nothing more than a cartoonish characture of the nazi party. And possiblly worst of all in the movie Evey is a thirty something ordinary woman, with a good job who is rescued and romanced by V however in the graphic novel she is a sixteen year old who is so poor she is forced to become a prositute to get money and is rescued but then kidnapped and held against her will by V. In the movie she is perfectly willing to help V kill however in the graphic novel she out right refuses. (please see this interesting, if not abit rant-like, article for more differences http://www.scifidimensions.com/Mar06/betrayal.htm) The Movie tamed the story and made it more commerically likable, they removed all the anarchy and endless "shades of grey" and replaced them with romance and clear heroes and villians.
However as I said before i do like the movie, I find it is a good politically driven thriller and this artical (http://uk.comics.ign.com/articles/696/696867p1.html) makes a good point, although different from the graphic novel it is quite appropriate for the time it was made, there are clear references to american,soceity and government, the black bags akin to that from guantanamo bay and the news broadcasters that are alot like their real life american equivilant. The film isn't just some dumb action-thiller that you don't have to think about, it raises a number of policital points and makes a number of interesting comments upon the bush administration and as a film there is very little wrong with it.
But, in my opinion it only works as long as you don't compare it to the graphic novel, as good as the film is, like most adaptations of Alan Moore's work, it proves disapointing once you start to compare it with the source material. This in particluar as it could have been so much better and was tamed down so much. As I said the film is a good and enjoyable one, I can happily watch it again and again, however as an adaptaion I don't think I can call a particularly great one when the point of the story has been altered so much. I don't recommend this film for the top ten.
As with alot of adaptations, the film makers change a number changes to the story when adapting the source material. In the graphic novel V is a cold, emotionless mastermind who is always five steps a head of the government and who's only goal is only to create his "Better World" however in the movie he is a kind, pleasent, revenge fueled terrorist who is thoughtout the film only on par with the government and has a deep love and caring for Evey. Of course this treatment isn't reserved simply to V, in the graphic novel Moore goes out of his way to depict the Government officals as ordinary and sometimes even likable people, in the movie most are nothing more than a cartoonish characture of the nazi party. And possiblly worst of all in the movie Evey is a thirty something ordinary woman, with a good job who is rescued and romanced by V however in the graphic novel she is a sixteen year old who is so poor she is forced to become a prositute to get money and is rescued but then kidnapped and held against her will by V. In the movie she is perfectly willing to help V kill however in the graphic novel she out right refuses. (please see this interesting, if not abit rant-like, article for more differences http://www.scifidimensions.com/Mar06/betrayal.htm) The Movie tamed the story and made it more commerically likable, they removed all the anarchy and endless "shades of grey" and replaced them with romance and clear heroes and villians.
However as I said before i do like the movie, I find it is a good politically driven thriller and this artical (http://uk.comics.ign.com/articles/696/696867p1.html) makes a good point, although different from the graphic novel it is quite appropriate for the time it was made, there are clear references to american,soceity and government, the black bags akin to that from guantanamo bay and the news broadcasters that are alot like their real life american equivilant. The film isn't just some dumb action-thiller that you don't have to think about, it raises a number of policital points and makes a number of interesting comments upon the bush administration and as a film there is very little wrong with it.
But, in my opinion it only works as long as you don't compare it to the graphic novel, as good as the film is, like most adaptations of Alan Moore's work, it proves disapointing once you start to compare it with the source material. This in particluar as it could have been so much better and was tamed down so much. As I said the film is a good and enjoyable one, I can happily watch it again and again, however as an adaptaion I don't think I can call a particularly great one when the point of the story has been altered so much. I don't recommend this film for the top ten.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Ghost World (2001) dir.Terry Zwigoff
Ghost World is a little known adaptation. The graphic novel of the same name told the tale of two teenage girls finding their way in life after leaving high school and realising that their ambitions and hope went necessarily going to come true. It's a real coming of age story and in my opinion on par with the likes of "The Breakfast Club".
The problem faced with this as well as many other adaptations is that if the director was going to make a like for like copy to the original then films would likely last 3 hours and over. For this reason a lot of films make abridged versions of the original work. In Ghost World this is most obvious in the character Seymour, who is a character who was a mixture of various different characters from the graphic novel. What this technique allowed Zwigoff to do is manage multiple story arcs into one nicely packaged whole.
I believe due to its clever way of compositing the whole story together as well at the accolades it has received (it has made comic book film top lists from IGN, Empire and more) that it is a film in need to be archived in a list such as ours.
Ghost World Excerpt:
The problem faced with this as well as many other adaptations is that if the director was going to make a like for like copy to the original then films would likely last 3 hours and over. For this reason a lot of films make abridged versions of the original work. In Ghost World this is most obvious in the character Seymour, who is a character who was a mixture of various different characters from the graphic novel. What this technique allowed Zwigoff to do is manage multiple story arcs into one nicely packaged whole.
I believe due to its clever way of compositing the whole story together as well at the accolades it has received (it has made comic book film top lists from IGN, Empire and more) that it is a film in need to be archived in a list such as ours.
Ghost World Excerpt:
The Dark Knight (2008) dir.Christopher Nolan
The Dark Knight (2008) is a adaptation of the popular Batman franchise that has been revolutionised by Nolan with his remarkable take on the characters within. Nolans dark style and incredible scriptwriting made it stick out from previous attempts to put the franchise into a film.
Nolan took the story of this from various subplots from the Batman: The Long Halloween set of comics, as with a lot of films based off comic books it's very hard to write something that can contain every single plot choice that the original piece did. Also then again would we want to we already have the comics as a account of how it was originally ment to be seen. Also from a creative point of view as a director you wouldn't want a carbon copy that you cant put your own twist on. This is a adaptation, someone elses interpretation of the characters its not simply a version of the same story.
Because of this nolan truly must be one of the masters of this because of how creative he was with his character development giving these characters new life and possibly adding something needed to them to work in a film context.
Due to this and the critical acclaim it has received it should be put in any archive of graphic novel adaptations.
The Dark Knight Trailer:
Nolan took the story of this from various subplots from the Batman: The Long Halloween set of comics, as with a lot of films based off comic books it's very hard to write something that can contain every single plot choice that the original piece did. Also then again would we want to we already have the comics as a account of how it was originally ment to be seen. Also from a creative point of view as a director you wouldn't want a carbon copy that you cant put your own twist on. This is a adaptation, someone elses interpretation of the characters its not simply a version of the same story.
Because of this nolan truly must be one of the masters of this because of how creative he was with his character development giving these characters new life and possibly adding something needed to them to work in a film context.
Due to this and the critical acclaim it has received it should be put in any archive of graphic novel adaptations.
The Dark Knight Trailer:
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Watchmen
Okay, so i thought I'd start with one of my favorite adaptations, "Watchmen". Now I think this is a pretty good adaptation, a lot of it is as if it's straight from the graphic novel (Here's a nice little video Illustrating my point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ONqFE1x23w ) But It still remains new and interesting to those familiar with the graphic novel. I mean the only bad points I can see is that A) It seemed to be advertised as an action movie (One of the trailers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4blSrZvPhU ) when the majority of the plot is about morality est, and B), one or two parts were left out and the ending was changed, however you're always gonna need to shorten the story when adapting it to a movie, when interviewed by About.com ( http://movies.about.com/od/watchmen/a/watchmen072807.htm ) Director Zack Snyder said:
People have labeled Watchmen as unfilmable. How hard is it to make Alan Moore's story into a feature film?
“The truth is the graphic novel as a verbatim shot-for-shot version, is that filmable? Of course it’s filmable. It’s a six and a half hour movie. You can do that. Is there anyone who will pay the $200,000,000 to do that? Probably not. My job is to try and distill the movie down. Like I say, we’re not inventing anything. We’re just trying to get the movie [to a decent length]. The script’s still 140 pages long. It’s not like a flimsy little document. It’s not a brochure - it’s fricking phonebook.”
And to be honest although the ending is different in one aspect, It doesn't really make any difference, the main point and key events of the films final scenes are still the same, the point of the film is still intact.
I feel this is a film that could certainly make into our Top 10 movie adaptations.
People have labeled Watchmen as unfilmable. How hard is it to make Alan Moore's story into a feature film?
“The truth is the graphic novel as a verbatim shot-for-shot version, is that filmable? Of course it’s filmable. It’s a six and a half hour movie. You can do that. Is there anyone who will pay the $200,000,000 to do that? Probably not. My job is to try and distill the movie down. Like I say, we’re not inventing anything. We’re just trying to get the movie [to a decent length]. The script’s still 140 pages long. It’s not like a flimsy little document. It’s not a brochure - it’s fricking phonebook.”
And to be honest although the ending is different in one aspect, It doesn't really make any difference, the main point and key events of the films final scenes are still the same, the point of the film is still intact.
I feel this is a film that could certainly make into our Top 10 movie adaptations.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)