I saw GS when I was 18...long ago...it's fun to see other's opinions and information on old movies. New movies are all over the net, info-wise.
It will be a loss when IMDB pulls the plug. The trolls have ruined it for all.
Wish you were here.
Anyway, I read the book when it first came out. I was around 19 or 20. That was roughly in the mid 70s. Years later, when I found out that the book was being adapted for the screen I wasn't sure that it could work. When I found out who the four stars were, I was excited! Couldn't wait to see it!
I wasn't disappointed. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by the young actors who portrayed the older gentlemen at an earlier time in the story. Talk about perfect casting!
If people love a good ghost story, and haven't seen this, they should! If people have seen it, but haven't in a while, they should revisit it!
After that, you can all come back here to this board and talk to me. 😉
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I agree about Craig Wasson who played the son. I wish someone else had played the part.
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Yes. The sons were twins. This will sound all girly, but since I'm a woman, I don't care. You would think that a more dashing actor would have played the part of the sons since Douglas Fairbanks Jr. was playing his father.😊
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I also have fond memories of reading the book back in the day -- I found it deliciously terrifying! The book is genuinely eerie. I've long lost my copy but would like to read it again.
I think I recall that I liked the film well enough but kind of found the book more creepy.
Many here seem to have liked the book better. I usually like books better than the film adaptations too.
Maybe I didn't mind the changes in the film because it had been a number of years since I had read the book. I do remember being engrossed in the book. It was creepy.
I have seen the movie a few times over the years. Each time I like it better... except for the son flying out the window in the beginning. There was no need to show his pitiful attributes fluttering in the wind on his way down. 😊
Now there's an image I forgot about, lol!
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I agree, there was no need to show them. That being said, give the guy a break. A man's attributes are not going to be displayed to their best advantage whilst he is living the final terrifying five seconds of his life. It's kind of like laughing at George Costanza when he's just emerged from swimming in cold water. Shrinkage!
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I think The Shining was the same deal for me too - read the book first, saw the movie later, felt like I got more of a kick out of the book. Although that one is practically heresy and a punishable offense to Shining movie fans, lol!
shareThere is another book by Peter Straub. Julia. The movie adaptation is The Haunting of Julia starring Mia Farrow. I really love the movie. I have never read the book. I'd like to, but from everything I have read about it on the message boards, I think I'd like the film much better. Talk about strange atmosphere!
Like Prelude, I hated The Shining when I saw it in the theater. Like many who enjoyed the book, I came away wondering what Kubrick had done with those characters.
Over the years i have mellowed. I look at it as a fun horror story.
The TV movie wasn't much better, but I blame it on the kid who was cast as Danny.
Anyway, i digress. There really are cases where the movie is better. I felt that way about Carrie.
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Ah yes! It was you! I just looked on that board. We were discussing a month ago.
shareI agree, there are some cases where the movie is better than the book.
I have an unpopular example (lot of people hate this movie anyway, lol) but I liked the movie of The English Patient way more than the novel it was based on. The book was rambling and stuffed with uninteresting digressions and things that never made it into the movie. The movie "leaned up" the story and focused on fewer characters.
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Oh my........
I won't be mean about this. That movie obviously had it's fans.
You are one of them.
From one who did not care for it, I applaud your patience when it comes to sitting through that film.
I genuflect at your feet when I think of the time you wasted actually reading the book!
I am impressed!!!!!
Lol, I'm not such a fan that I can't bear to hear that someone didn't like it! ;)
I know lots of people can't stand that film; I even agree with some of their reasons. One friend of mine remarked how we're supposed to feel sympathy for some characters who are "horrible human beings" lol!
I agree, the main characters were both pretty obnoxious!
What I liked about the film was that it was beautifully made; even the sound design is very carefully evocative during the transitions between flashbacks.
But yeah, the book was even more patience-testing than the movie!
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I'll admit that it was beautifully made. Perhaps that is what the film makers focused on. Until you mentioned how patience-testing the book was, I assumed that more went into the technical details rather than the story.
Whew! Now I know that the story just just wasn't there!
Well, there was a story..... just not anything that interests me.
No, on the contrary, there was indeed a story, and it was a terrific one! :)
The story that ended up in the film was actually very meaty and interesting, and even convoluted. The story even deals with quite deep topics such as the very nature of identity and loyalty in times of world conflict.
It involved characters that were actually spies and not all they purported to be, other characters who were mistaken for something they were not, with tragic consequences. I consider the story depicted to be among the great World War II bits of intrigue about what went on in that war in various countries.
The book had that storyline too, but it was padded out with less interesting characters' back stories, and lots of boring waffling.
The makers of the film actually took the most interesting story with the more complex characters and issues regarding identity. Even the title of the film is a nod to how not all was as it seems for the people in this story.
The story is terrific and definitely one of the reasons I find it to be a good film. I related quite strongly to the themes of identity.
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