Book/Movie Comparison: Game Over

            My next book to movie comparison came via a suggestion from my friend John Fredrickson who I have known since High School. He wanted me to compare the book and version versions of Ender’s Game. The book was written by Orson Scott Card and the movie version was directed by Gavin Hood.

            Orson Scott Card knows how to write an entertaining science fiction story that keeps you entertained from beginning to end. Though the book is almost thirty years old it was interesting to see how the main character was bullied similar to children today. The descriptions of the different training activities and games made the book very easy to follow. It made me kind of wish I could go to a space age military training school or at least experience the activities and games that Ender and the other cadets did. The reasoning behind the training reminded me a bit of the movie Starship Troopers but with more tactics and less military combat.

            When the movie originally came out last fall I was not very interested in seeing it because I didn’t have much hope for Hollywood doing a good job of adapting a young adult novel that was originally released when I was just a child. I finally watched it after it was released on video and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. The movie does move along at a very fast pace so some characters and not developed very much and while that doesn’t hurt the majority of the movie it does hurt the viewer’s chances of connecting with certain ones. The special effects help bring Card’s words to life and that is clearly evident in the zero gravity battle simulations. It might look like laser tag in space but it is so much more.

            Ender’s Game was the first movie I watched this year before reading the book. I think watching the movie helped me when reading the book because it was easier to picture a number of the characters based on who played them in the movie. My biggest qualm with the movie was the fact that it all but ignored the storyline about Ender’s brother and sister from the book. Once Ender is taken to training we only see his sister one more time. The political commentary plot between Peter and Valentine Wiggin play a larger part in the book and its later sequels. Possibly Hollywood knew they were only going to make one movie from the series thus decided not to include that part. I personally would have liked to see it and it would have only added another 15-20 minutes to the movie. I would gladly recommend both the book and movie to people if asked for a suggestion. In the years to come I can see the movie becoming one I watch on an annual basis.

Book/Movie Comparison: A Stormy Comparison

            My next book to movie comparison came about because of a sale at Best Buy. My friend John mentioned I should check out The Perfect Storm which was written by Sebastian Junger. He was going over an excerpt of it with his students. He also mentioned to me that the Blu-Ray of the movie directed by Wolfgang Petersen was on sale for a really good price. I am always looking for good Blu-Ray deals so it was a win win situation for me.

Sebastian Junger’s book focuses primarily on the crew of the Andrea Gail and their families. The book did a great job of describing the community and its residents in Gloucester, Massachusetts. It was very easy to picture that bars they would visit and looking out at the dock waiting to see a boat come in. The book also goes in to detail a number of other people that were trapped in the storm and those tasked with rescuing them. I’m not sure why but I always get excited with a book when they name drop somewhere I have been before. A couple of the Andrea Gail’s crew had homes in Bradenton Florida and I have been there multiple times as my Aunt and Uncle live just outside of it.

I remember when the movie version of The Perfect Storm originally came out. I didn’t know anything about the events it was based on, I just liked the cast and thought it looked interesting. The movie primarily focuses on the crew of the fishing boat. It does cut away to other parties trapped in the storm but the majority of the movie is about the fisherman and their experiences on the boat. Of course there has to be some turmoil between crew members, it wouldn’t be the Deadliest Catch I mean the Andrea Gail without it. Seeing the wall of fishermen lost at sea over the years was a very strong moment that I think drove home the point that this isn’t just a game, and numerous men have lost their lives over the years.

I enjoy both the book and movie because they both tell an interesting story. While the movie focuses more on the crew of the Andrea Gail, the book spends more time with the families of those on the ship and others trapped in the storm. I don’t think the movie would have turned out as well as it did had it been a directed adaptation from the book. The “movie quality” story was with the men on the boat and not with those back home waiting for news about their safety. One thing I wish the movie would have included was the “bad vibe” feeling that some crew members had, including one that decided to back out on the trip all together. That was a part of the book that I found to be interesting, especially when they talked about it toward the end of the book again. I would recommend both the book and movie to people but I must include as a warning, the story while the same is told in completely different ways.

Book/Movie Comparison: America’s Pastime

Recently I asked my friends on Facebook to help me pick my next book to movie comparison. The choices were Moneyball and Catch Me if You Can. Moneyball was the overall favorite with my friends. The book was written by Michael Lewis and the movie version was directed by Bennett Miller. I was glad when this option was picked because I have been a baseball fan since I was a little kid.

The full title of the book is Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game and it gives a very in-depth look at how the Oakland A’s created a successful team with a budget not even half of the New York Yankees. The GM of the A’s Billy Beane has been involved with the major leagues since he was just a teenager. Once a player, then a scout he is now in charge of putting together a winning team. Instead of looking at the big stats of a player he with the help of Paul DePodesta use sabermetrics to help find players that while costing much to sign can get on base just as much as all stars. I really enjoyed the breakdown of all the different player stats and how sabermetrics were originally created. The book would also jump back and forth from time to time to Billy’s past and different times of his baseball career whether they be in high school or the minor leagues. The book also does a really good job of helping you picture the excitement of a player when they make a big play or are even told they are being signed.

I remember reading that this movie was a passion project for Brad Pitt shortly before it opened in theaters. I am a fan of Brad Pitt’s movies and if he is passionate about one I am usually immediately interested in it. Bennett Miller did a good job of directing a movie with baseball in it, but at times it didn’t feel like the focus of the movie was about baseball and analyzing stats to find players. Billy’s family life is not a big factor in the book but in the movie it is referenced at multiple times even in the closing minutes of the movie. Another big difference in the movie is the inclusion of Peter Brand. Peter Brand does not exist in the book but is created for the movie to resemble Paul DePodesta who did not want his name used in the film. The cast of actors for the movie do a very good job in their roles. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Chris Pratt both turned in very solid performances along with brad Pitt and Jonah Hill.

While the movie is enjoyable for a sports fan there are a number of items missing from it that make the book such a better option. The movie primarily focused on the offensive side of the Oakland A’s and not the defense, namely the pitching staff. Yes they talk about pitcher Chad Bradford and show him in the movie a bit, but they don’t discuss his pitching style and history at all like in the book. The addition of a family life for the main character was not necessary. This is supposed to be about Baseball, not dealing with a tweenage daughter who plays guitar and sounds like she could have a song on the soundtrack to the movie Juno.

One of the two biggest things that I missed in the movie version was the discussions about the upcoming player draft and who they would want to sign. In the book you can feel the excitement as Billy waits to see if he can get the players he wants and in what order. One moment he is disappointed that a player he was hoping to get will no longer be available, but as soon as a team makes a move that they couldn’t have predicted he is elated once again because his player will be available. I also missed the bantering and deal making on the day of the trade deadline. There is a scene in the movie that covers that day for about five minutes but in the book it is a lot more intriguing as you picture Billy calling different teams to try and make multi team trades. Billy’s history of trading for players one year and trading them away the next is also included and I think helps show what a General Manager really does when it comes to player management. 

 The epilogue for the book is one part I went back and went through multiple times. Getting to read about Jeremy Brown a player that no one wanted except for Billy and Paul hitting a big time homerun was a perfect way to end it for me. The movie tried to include it at the end but by then too much had changed from the book to the movie. If someone was to walk up to Redbox and pick up this movie without knowing anything about it, they will probably enjoy it. As a fan of baseball movies I did enjoy it, but it was missing too much of the book to be a truly good adaptation of the book.

Book/Movie Comparison: Go for a Drive

Next up in my series of book to movie comparisons is Drive. Drive was written by James Sallis and the movie version was directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. I didn’t know that the movie was based on the book until after I had seen it. I got a copy of the book after finding out it existed, but never got around to checking it out until now.

This is not a very long book but it sure packs in a lot of story. Right from the start you are thrown in to the world of the lead character. No backstory setup, that comes later during the book. The main character Driver is a stunt driver by day and at night or in his off time he is a getaway driver for criminals. I like the fact that book is not very long because James Sallis does not include any filler to carry the story along. The action and violent scenes are very descriptive and help the reader picture what is going on and what drives Driver to seek revenge. In a short time you come to care about the character and root for him even though technically he is a bad guy.

In the last few years Hollywood has fallen in love with Ryan Gosling. Gosling was a perfect fit for the role of Driver. He is very clean cut and looks like someone who could be your neighbor. The movie like the book is very fast paced. There is a bit more character setup and development in the movie but it is worth it in the end. One thing I really liked about the movie is that there didn’t seem to be very much if any CGI used throughout. The driving scenes seemed very natural and not overly flashy. The movie while set in California could very well have been set in any other state in the country because it didn’t rely on the surroundings to sell the story.

It is very hard to pick which one of these forms of the story I prefer. The book is a very well written character story that pulls you in from the beginning and doesn’t let you go until the very end. The movie follows the key points of the book very well. There are some differences from the book to the movie that are necessary. Without the changes I don’t think the movie would have been as good. For example, the backstory and development of some of the characters in the movie are important to help the viewer connect with them. In the book the development is not as crucial with the pace of it. One thing I do wish they would have covered in the movie is where Driver came from and how he really got his start. That was a very interesting part of the book and I think helps shed light on the person that is Driver and what leads him to do what he does.

Book Worm: Weeks 1-4

This is my first weekly update of the year for the books I have started and finished. From this point going forward I will be posting my updates on a weekly basis.

Below are my finished books for the year:

January 1 – January 4

               Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10 (Written by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson) Going through this book it is hard not to imagine that it feels like an action movie. The problem is this is not a movie at all, but instead a true story told by the lone survivor of a military mission back in 2005.Besides just telling the story of what happened during the mission the book also includes the family aspect of the storyteller and what they went through waiting to hear whether or not their son was alive.

January 5 – January 9

               Infected (Written by Scott Sigler) My friend Rooster suggested this book and series to me and I am glad he did. The book follows multiple characters that are either infected by weird creatures that can control their mind and actions or are trying to track down the infected. As soon as I was finished with the book I wanted to move on to the sequel right away.

January 12 – January 16

               World War Z (Written by Max Brooks) This book is set years after a "Zombie Apocalypse" and follows a writer looking for people to hear about their experiences during the battles with the zombies. This book would make for a GREAT 10 episode TV Miniseries.

January 19 – January 23

               Contagious (Written by Scott Sigler) The second book in the Infected series is just as good if not better than Infected. As soon as the book begins you are thrust in to the ongoing battle to stop the infections from spreading. The characters all have their little quirks which helps you become invested in them as the book goes on.

Books Finished: 4