Thread: Books and movies based on them - Книги и их экранизации

Originally Posted by Ramil

There's a book and two movies that were based on it I'd like to write a review about - Dune by Frank Herbert.

I just watched the film and yes... I am aware the books are supposed to be very good, but I have not read them.

I agree the story depicted in the that film was nothing special. The costumes were quite good, I thought. I am not sure about choice of actors. It was a mix of American, British (different accents) and Australian people in the lead roles. It's very distracting with different anglo accents in a sci-fi film! As usual most of the heroes spoke American and most of the baddies, British. All the supporting actors were from somewhere in Eastern Europe, probably Czech Republic. Also confusing! Very distracting. Stick with one accent for people who supposedly grew up together.
I think I must have missed out here because although it was reasonably entertaining it was nothing special.

My favourite Sci-fi books remains the "Foundation" series by Isaac Asimov.
That has never been filmed and I doubt any film could live up to the experience of reading the books.

Originally Posted by Hanna

My favourite Sci-fi books remains the "Foundation" series by Isaac Asimov.
That has never been filmed and I doubt any film could live up to the experience of reading the books.

Asimov is a great Sci-fi writer indeed. My favorite foreign Sci-fi writer is Clifford Simak but I never heard about movies based on his novels too.

Since it's New Year's eve I've remembered "Чародеи" movie (it's shown at Russian TV every New Year, like "Irony of fate"). I have no idea why this movie is so popular. I would not recommend it at all. But the book it's based on ("Понедельник начинается в субботу" , "Monday starts at Saturday") is one of my favorites and without doubts a MUST-read! I think it's the best book by Strugatsky brothers. The humor is so brilliant that I'm laughing my a$s off every time I read it although I know it almost by heart.

P.S. Although the movie itself is bad, there are some pretty good songs:

Basil77, how could you?! This is a great New Year movie!
It has almost nothing in common with the book, but it's good on its own.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Basil77, how could you?! This is a great New Year movie!
It has almost nothing in common with the book, but it's good on its own.

Yes, I watched Charodei (the Sorcerers) first when I was a little boy, but read the book much later. I didn't even know they are related (I don't watch titles usually). Of course, they have nothing in common and if you don't know it, you'll like both.

I think you have to be born and bred in Russia to appreciate "Sorcerers"....

But what about Inhabited Island? (Обитаемый остров).

I watched it and wrote a review on this forum. I thought it was good. But I have not read any books by the Strugatsky brothers so I have no idea how it measurs up with the book.

Originally Posted by Hanna

I think you have to be born and bred in Russia to appreciate "Sorcerers"....

But what about Inhabited Island? (Обитаемый остров).

FFFFUUUU...
The red toy tank was more than I could bear ...

There was Stalker by Tarkovsky based on the Roadside picnic by Strugatskie brothers. It's a rather good movie except for the fact its final was changed for some reason which I didn't like.
Here's the first version of the scipt (in Russian): http://rusf.ru/abs/books/mzh.htm I wish Tarkovsky shot this movie.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Basil77, how could you?! This is a great New Year movie!

Sorry, but I never liked this movie somehow, even when I was a kid. The storyline is too stupid for my taste.

Originally Posted by Hanna

I think you have to be born and bred in Russia to appreciate "Sorcerers"....

I was born and bred here but do not appreciate "Sorcerers" at all.

But what about Inhabited Island? (Обитаемый остров).

I watched it and wrote a review on this forum. I thought it was good. But I have not read any books by the Strugatsky brothers so I have no idea how it measurs up with the book.

I didn't watched the movie (after reading some bad reviews) but the book is good.

I watched "Trainspotting" the other day. The film is incredible. Now I'm going to read the book. I'm looking forward to it already.

Ok, I've read the book. I don't mean to say that I've been reading it for three months, it's just that now I both have enough time and am in the mood to write about it.
First of all: I liked the book. I was expecting more, because of the effect the film had on me, but still I liked it.
One of the aspects of the film that appealed to me was the voice-over. The narration was done in the first-person voice of the main character. Of course, it was only logical to presume that it was taken from the book, more or less, and that was the main reason why I wanted to read the book. My expectations were fulfilled. I did like his reflections and rants, ironic or sarcastic comments. You see, he's entrapped in his way of life (which includes heroin addiction) and he has all sorts of explanations and excuses ready, but at the same time he knows it's self-destructive, and he wants to live, but then again he doesn't know what for.
Speaking of narration, the book is more diverse in the sense that there are chapters that have other narrators. Actually, the novel is a collection of short stories that share the core group of characters.
Another thing I want to say: I am not recommending this book to anybody. Read it at your own risk and be prepared that it is anything but "nice".
As for me, I still have the audiobook to listen to. I do love those accents.


I don't really want to talk about the film, but here's an episode from it. I think it's a good illustration. It has a piece of narration, a piece of dialog, it's quirky, and it has my (second?) favourite scene - the OD scene accompanied by the "Perfect Day".

YouTube - Trainspotting - Scene 11: "A Visit to the Mother Superior"

I read To Kill a Mocking bird in Russian (Убить пересмешника) and it was interesting, I liked it.

One of mine and my older daughter's favorite movies to watch over and over again, especially when we are not feeling well, is the 2005 version of Pride & Prejudice; however, I feel more of it has to do with the cinematography and musical score than anything else as I also have the score on my phone as the my girls created a playlist entitled "to make mom not vomit."

I just discovered that the director Joe Wright, actress Kira Knightly, and Dario Marianelli who created all the original music for both P&P and Atonement are all working together again on Anna Karenina due out in November 2012. Here is an article about the movie with some stills.

I have never read the book.

So, what is your favorite screen adaptation of the book? If you can find it online (with English subtitles would be nice) please post a link to it.

Who do you believe has done the best ENGLISH translation of it?