MovieChat Forums > My Side of the Mountain (1971) Discussion > How Close is movie to the book?

How Close is movie to the book?


I read the book a few days ago. Is the movie similiar to the book or just really different? I mean, is anything changed the way Hollywood likes to change things sometime? I would be disappointed if they changed things too much.

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I have not seen the movie, but I don't think it could do the book justice since so much of the story is first person point of view, with little interaction with other characters. If you see the movie, let me know what you think.

Fly you fools!

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Thanks. I'll check it out. I'm sure it has been changed, though...

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Brother, they changed so much in the film, it's embarrassing.

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That's what I was afraid of. Maybe someday they will remake it and keep it more true to the book. I think it would be a good movie, going more along the lines of the book.

Also, I always thought the book "Into the Wild" would make a good movie but as far as I know no one's ever done it. I would recommend the book.

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If the book you are talking about is "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer, then your in luck, because they ARE filming the movie as we speak!

Check it out at

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758758/

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Great! Thanks!

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In the book, the location was the Catskill Mtns. (just north of NYC) here in the movie it is the Luarentians (SP?!?!) in Quebec, just outside of Toronto.

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If I recall correctly, Frightful is shot and killed by a hunter in the movie, but not in the book. That was the change that angered me the most when I saw it as a child.

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Me too!
There's a third book in the series called Frightful's Mountain which I bought today - had no idea there was a 3rd one and saw it by chance. It's reading very well indeed!

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The murder of Frightful is by far the worst scene in the movie and the most egregious change from the book. Despite the other changes, would be a good movie otherwise.

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He's not "just outside" Toronto; his camp is outside Knowlton QC, which is almost 400 miles northeast Toronto.

I'm watching the movie right now; other differences:
a) Sam is doing some sort of algae experiment in the movie, which is part of his motivation for living in the woods. In the book, his only interest is survival.
b) He brings/buys a lot more equipment in the movie: he has a metal pan, a map, several books, a microscope and glass slides, binoculars, and he buys his leather gloves rather than making them.
c) "Bando" is what the guy calls himself in the movie, but what Sam secretly calls him in the book (since Sam thought he was a bandit). Bando is a folk musician in the movie, but an English teacher in the book.
d) In the movie, Sam has a pet raccoon (Gus) which he brings with him to the woods.
e) As I mentioned earlier, Frightful is shot by a hunter (accidentally) in the last 20 minutes of the movie, before winter. (It's 1:20 in, in case anyone else spends the movie dreading it. :)
f) The book ends in the spring with Sam's family coming to live with him; the movie ends at Christmas, when Sam decides to return to his family.

(There is of course a lot less detail in the movie, as is only natural.)

The tone of the two are actually rather similar; Sam is a very serious and intelligent boy in each, and the movie has a lot of monologue on his part, at least for the first half.

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If you have read the book, DO NOT see this movie. I repeat, DO NOT see this movie.

Check out this link for major differences.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Side_of_the_Mountain_%28film%29

I'LL BE BACK!! WITH WEAPONS!!

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"If you have read the book, DO NOT see this movie. I repeat, DO NOT see this movie."

Good Grief, It is still a good movie. There are pleanty of good movies that are very different than the book, this is one.

Lighten up.

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I liked the movie even better than the three books. As a matter of fact it's a wonderful movie, watch it and make up your own mind. Don't let somebody else talk you out of watching a really good film!

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I actually liked Gus, the racoon, best. Is he part of the books?

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About as close is as the east is from the west.

The movie is one of the worst I've ever seen in my life. How any screenwriter or director could take a magical book like My Side of the Mountain and turn it into a pile of garbage, I'll never know.

Avoid this movie at all costs!

"We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams."

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Was this a Hollywood movie??

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