Disappointing Adaptations from Literature
by dan_dassow | created - 15 Dec 2013 | updated - 28 May 2014 | PublicWhich film adapted from a novel or short story is the most disappointing?
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1. I, Robot (2004)
PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
In 2035, a technophobic cop investigates a crime that may have been perpetrated by a robot, which leads to a larger threat to humanity.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, Alan Tudyk
Votes: 575,810 | Gross: $144.80M
The film bears little resemblance to the original short story. Susan Calvin, a brilliant roboticist, is marginalized as a love interest.
2. Nightfall (1988)
PG-13 | 83 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi
On a planet with perpetual daylight, nightfall's arrival brings destruction. A dramatic depiction of Asimov's award-winning story, exploring the clash between science and superstition as darkness looms.
Director: Paul Mayersberg | Stars: David Birney, Sarah Douglas, Alexis Kanner, Andra Millian
Votes: 773
The screenplay is tedious and fails to capture the spirit of a profound short story.
3. Paycheck (2003)
PG-13 | 119 min | Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
What seemed like a breezy idea that would net an engineer millions of dollars ends up leaving him on the run for his life and trying to piece together why he's being chased.
Director: John Woo | Stars: Ben Affleck, Aaron Eckhart, Uma Thurman, Michael C. Hall
Votes: 113,314 | Gross: $53.79M
The movie generally follows the story at first but then it completely messes up the climax. It turns what was originally an interesting and subtle conclusion into a generic action scene in which everything explodes with a cheesy "happy ending".
4. Dune (1984)
PG-13 | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A Duke's son leads desert warriors against the galactic emperor and his father's evil nemesis to free their desert world from the emperor's rule.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Kyle MacLachlan, Virginia Madsen, Francesca Annis, Leonardo Cimino
Votes: 179,785 | Gross: $30.93M
The heavy rains at the end implied that the stark dryness was finally, miraculously ended in contrast to it a long slow process of greening the planet in the book. "Water discipline" was not as thoroughly depicted as in the book.
5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
PG-13 | 166 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with consequences.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Julia Ormond
Votes: 696,086 | Gross: $127.51M
It changed things that didn't need to be changed and failed to capture the intellectual philosophies that Fitzgerald presented.
6. Animal Farm (1954)
Approved | 72 min | Animation, Drama
A successful farmyard revolution by the resident animals vs. the farmer goes horribly wrong when the victors create a new tyranny among themselves.
Directors: Joy Batchelor, John Halas | Stars: Gordon Heath, Maurice Denham
Votes: 19,021
The "happy ending" where the rest of the animals revolted against the pigs did not happen in Orwell's story. In the original, the animals succumbed to the new order with the new boss being the same as the old boss.
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