The Five Worst Movie Adaptations

In entertainment circles, the age old question is often "which is better- the book or the movie?". It's really a false question as they are two completely different types of media. Books can invoke a richness and depth of context that a movie cannot. However, a movie can offer visual ecstasy that complements the story line.

The translation of a novel or short story into a movie is not always a smooth ride. Something is always lost and it is not always made up by what it gained. Here are my picks for the five worst movie adaptations:

The Da Vinci Code

Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code was a guilty pleasure for many readers, including me. I was able to look past the stilted and clichéd prose and simply enjoy the story. The movie was hotly anticipated and many A-list actors lined up to audition. Unfortunately for Tom Hanks, he got the role. It was not one of his career's finest moments. The movie was plodding and sleepy and lacked the break-neck pace of the book. Too much explaining and not enough doing.

Maximum Overdrive

This was a hard one for me. I am a rabid Stephen King fan. For the most part, however, his books have not translated well to film. I had hoped for better with this one as he directed it, but it remains one of the smelliest movies ever made. The movie cannot decide if it is a horror flick, a parody or a cartoon. It does none of them well, but I fully expect to see it disseminated in an advanced theatrical course a hundred years from now.

Simon Birch

John Irving's A Prayer For Owen Meany is one of his best books and definitely on my Top Ten list. The story about a dwarfish odd boy who was destined to change history was subtle, humorous and dark; three things that rarely translate well to the big screen. The movie became Simon Birch and morphed into a sappy coming-of-age story about two friends. Without the book's name in the movie credits, you would have a difficult time recognizing the connection.

The Running Man

Can Stephen King be on this list twice? Oh, yes, he can! The Running Man was a big budget adaptation of King's novella of the same name. The movie starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and told the basic story of a man caught for a crime he didn't commit and ends up on a reality TV show to win his freedom. The story is told brilliantly by King and is a satirical indictment of our public thirst for voyeurism. Once the screenwriter got hold of it and pruned it with a chainsaw, it became 101 minutes of Arnie running.

The Handmaid's Tale

Margaret Atwood's futuristic sci-fi book was ground-breaking when it was released. It painted a world where procreation was a privilege, not a right and personal freedoms were a distant memory. The movie version focused more on plot than message and so many brilliant observations were lost in the rush to tell the story of the escape.