In the 80's in high school, I read quite a few novelisations of movies, like "Spaceballs" and of course a lot of Dr Who novelisations.
Did anyone else read this kind of book?
Posted by StevenHW (Member # 509) on :
I have one for "Wall Street", "Blue Collar" (a 1978 Richard Pryor-Harvey Keitel movie), and a few others.
Posted by The Mouse Avenger (Member # 4406) on :
Quite a few for GMD.
Posted by raggedyman (Member # 4065) on :
man, I LOVE collecting film tie/ins / novelisations - they are often adapted from the original script and therefore contain stuff not included in the film. I've got too many to list but here some of my 80's favourites that I've collected over the years -
ALIENS - Alan Dean Foster
THE TERMINATOR - Shaun Hutson
THE ABYSS - Orson Scott Card
ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK - Mike McQuay
MAD MAX 2 - Terry Kaye
DRAGONSLAYER - Wayland Drew
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK - Campbell Scott
THE DARK CRYSTAL - A.C.H. Smith
THE THING - Alan Dean Foster
... lots more and I'm still looking for LABYRINTH and THE LOST BOYS...
Posted by pettyfan (Member # 2260) on :
I had the "Toy Soldiers" one, but I never really got into reading it.
Posted by rocksteadyflamethrower (Member # 1065) on :
Of the *80s* movie/book crossovers (I had to put an emphasis on *80s*), my favorite would have to be "The Blues Brothers".
That's the perfect example of a book adapted from the original script. A lot of the footage was cut out by Universal Pictures and junked in the mid-to-late-80s along with footage from other favorites like "Fast Times At Ridgemont High".
I'm getting off-track, though. The director's cut of this movie was only able to restore 12 minutes of footage. If you want to see what the movie would've been like, track down this book. Characters and their backstories are changed and there are at least 5 sub-plots that didn't make it to the screen.
Another interesting thing to note is that some of these adaptations were written in England and therefore have Brit-centric references and spellings. A perfect example is mentioning Margaret Thatcher at the beginning of the adaptation of "Ruthless People".
Sincerely,
John Kilduff
Posted by Mane1980 (Member # 4240) on :
I have License to Drive but I have never been able to read it tough.
Posted by Tobey (Member # 2275) on :
I hated these kinds of books. Now, I haven't read any of the books mentioned here, so they could be the exceptions to the rule. But the ones I did read, or try to read, were really bad. I steared away from "First Blood" because I thought it was a novelisation of the film. Then my father told me that wasn't the case, and he had the book and gave it to me to read. That novel was great, but I do believe it was so only because it wasn't a film turned novel.
Posted by The ModGod Formerly Known as Paul (Member # 1022) on :
Great timing guys....
I just received in the mail this morning the novelisation of the movie of the 80s..... Some Kind Of Wonderful
It's based on an early shooting script, and so from what I hear it differs from the movie in a number of ways. Give me a chance to read it (say, tonight!) and then I'll let you now how good it is......
Posted by The ModGod Formerly Known as Paul (Member # 1022) on :
OK - just finished the book..... and as I'm sure you've all been waiting for my review, here it is:
Great as the movie is, the book showed me a number of things that aren't quite explained fully by the final cut that we all know. Stuff like
Why does Duncan go from being so against Keith (who landed him in detention) to liking and helping him so quickly?
Where did Duncan and his friends get their drawing implements from for detention?
What was Watts' first name?
How did Watts know Duncan was going to be at the club?
If Watts was stood way back down by the car, how could she have seen the showdown as she claims to have done?
The book (based on an early shooting script that you can download from this Gold-Rated site) explains all these small anomalies and more - such as why some people are credited with names that are never spoken during the movie, and why some names are missing from the credits. They all make an appearance in the initial script.
Best bit? All the favorites are there, including the craps game between Watts and the parking attendants, the showdown between Keith and Clifford over the money, and of course the kiss in the garage. But my favorite scene (which never made the final cut, but which I hope they actually shot, because it would make for a superb addition for the John Hughes Director's Cut) was a scene between Duncan and Clifford as the latter leaves the school after his meeting. Go get the script and read page 34.
Overall - I was a little concerned that it would change my views on the movie. I need not have worried. I enjoyed it, I learned more about the characters, and I can't wait too long to put the movie on screen again.
