Page 1 of 5 12345 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 66

Thread: Under the Dome (TV series) - Stephen King

  1. #1
    Just been bitten Morto Vivente's Avatar
    Member

    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    224
    Scotland

    Under the Dome (TV series) - Stephen King

    Come on Robin, to the Bat Cave! There's not a moment to lose!

  2. #2
    Webmaster Neil's Avatar
    Administrator

    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    nr London
    Posts
    16,282
    England
    13 weeks? Was there enough material in the book?
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

  3. #3
    Team Rick MinionZombie's Avatar
    Super Moderator

    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    The Mandatorium
    Posts
    24,165
    UK
    Yep ... I'll give this a watch.

    Don't know much about it - I take it that this is a one-off mini series? Looks good to me though.

  4. #4
    Webmaster Neil's Avatar
    Administrator

    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    nr London
    Posts
    16,282
    England
    The book was good, although the ending flagged a bit! But can't see 13x45mins of story there!?
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

  5. #5
    Feeding LouCipherr's Avatar
    Member

    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Hell
    Posts
    4,029
    United States
    I was just going to come in here and say "I have no idea how they'll cram all of the book into a short mini-series" - but now that I read it's going to be 13 weeks?! Holy hell, that's a long mini-series!

    Sounds like they'll have enough time to get it all in there, but I have my doubts as to how good this will be. To be honest, there's only been one director who is able to get SK books from page to screen properly: Frank Darabont.

    Other than him, who else has got a SK book properly on screen? None that I know of. When King himself is involved in the productions, they usually turn out 'better', but Frank so far has hit a homerun on every adaptation he's done (sans the last 5 minutes of The Mist. Don't get me started!). So unless he's got his hands in this, I seriously have my doubts as to how good it will be.

    I will remain cautiously optimistic, and will certainly check it out.


    ***edited to add: checked the wiki, looks like King is an executive producer. That's a plus. I hope. lol
    Last edited by LouCipherr; 09-May-2013 at 01:16 PM. Reason: .

  6. #6
    Webmaster Neil's Avatar
    Administrator

    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    nr London
    Posts
    16,282
    England
    "The Stand" (mini-series) was good!

    Again though! 13 episodes? Assuming each is about 40mins, that's nearly 9hrs long! That's nearly as long as Ben Hur!!!!
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

  7. #7
    Feeding LouCipherr's Avatar
    Member

    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Hell
    Posts
    4,029
    United States
    Quote Originally Posted by Neil View Post
    "The Stand" (mini-series) was good!
    Well, The Shining was good too, until you compare the movie to the book.

    I did kinda like The Stand, but as far as adaptation, ya gotta admit, Darabont is the best at it.

    Quote Originally Posted by Neil View Post
    Again though! 13 episodes? Assuming each is about 40mins, that's nearly 9hrs long! That's nearly as long as Ben Hur!!!!
    When I "read" Under the Dome, I actually kinda cheated - I listened to the audiobook. ALL 35 HOURS OF IT!!! So 9 hours is a walk in the park!

  8. #8
    Team Rick MinionZombie's Avatar
    Super Moderator

    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    The Mandatorium
    Posts
    24,165
    UK
    Now, I've not read The Mist, but I really dug the ending of the movie - indeed, didn't SK himself say that he preferred FD's ending?

    I do agree though, FD knows how to bring SK to the screen, but there have been other good adaptations of his work (e.g Stand By Me), and a bunch of enjoyable adaptations too ... The Shining was really more Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, than Stephen King's, and in that regard it's perfect.

  9. #9
    Feeding LouCipherr's Avatar
    Member

    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Hell
    Posts
    4,029
    United States
    Quote Originally Posted by MinionZombie View Post
    Now, I've not read The Mist, but I really dug the ending of the movie - indeed, didn't SK himself say that he preferred FD's ending?
    You should, it's barely over 100 pages long and is a great read.

    I don't know if SK "preferred" the movie ending of the mist, but Darabont did say SK gave him his blessing on the ending. MZ, trust me, if you read the book, that ending was EXTREMELY disappointing, not to mention one of the most unrealistic endings for a movie I've ever witnessed. I know there are some who have read the book and still like the ending of the movie, but I can't understand that at all.

     
    They could have waited a simple 5 minutes and help would've arrived. MAKES. NO. SENSE. You wouldn't put a bullet in your own child's brain unless there was no other way out and you waited 'till the last minute. They did not do that in the movie. They ran out of gas and suddenly it's "fuck it, let's just kill ourselves" - no thought to wait for a few minutes to see what happens?! That's just flat-out lame.


    Quote Originally Posted by MinionZombie View Post
    I do agree though, FD knows how to bring SK to the screen, but there have been other good adaptations of his work (e.g Stand By Me), and a bunch of enjoyable adaptations too ... The Shining was really more Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, than Stephen King's, and in that regard it's perfect.
    Not so hot on Stand By Me. It was ok, but I'm an odd man out on that one as it seems everyone else liked it more than I did.

    What other adaptations do you feel were worthy based on book vs. movie? I can't think of one. The Stand was the closest without Darabont that I can think of, but even that I had issues with. Remember, I'm an avid King book reader, so proper translation of the story - to me - is necessary.

    The Shining - oh, I like the movie. Love it, in fact. If it's just looked at as a Kubrick movie of weirdness with tons of hidden stuff in the flick wrapped around the core "idea" of the book, then it's great. However, if we're comparing book vs. movie? Fail. But that's not what Kubrick was going for, so I get it. And I like it.

    BTW: I finally caught Room 237 two weeks ago. Talk about a MIND BLOWING documentary...
    Last edited by LouCipherr; 09-May-2013 at 05:01 PM. Reason: .

  10. #10
    Team Rick MinionZombie's Avatar
    Super Moderator

    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    The Mandatorium
    Posts
    24,165
    UK
    Still to watch Room 237, will get to it sometime.

    I suppose you can react to the ending to The Mist in different ways.

     
    One man's "stupid! they should have waited a couple of minutes!" is another man's "oh my god that's so tragic, if only they'd waited a couple of minutes!" It's a very bleak ending, and I rather dug it. It's incredibly haunting (helped in no small measure by Dead Can Dance's "Host of the Seraphim".

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmzTFVlES_I">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmzTFVlES_I" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="395" height="331">


    I feel that the characters thought they'd be dead in seconds, or at any moment, and there was a sense of utter hopelessness - they can't see a damn thing through that mist, they could be anywhere, and anything could be right in front/behind/above them swooping down to chomp on their bones as an appetiser. As such, with such total hopelessness, and not wanting to be eaten alive in a slow and painful manner, they choose that way out ... plus the heart-breaking and oh-so-fucked-up idea of having six people but only five bullets. So the one who has to kill the others to spare them potential agony, will have to not only suffer the impending agony they believe is coming, but also murder five people - one of whom is their own son - now that's some messed up stuff right there ... ... and then the army rock up and the tragedy of the situation gets even worse.

    I remember my Dad not liking the ending of the movie - because it's so unrepentent in its bleakness - but also probably because, being my Dad, he's a Dad, you know? It's like I keep telling him to read Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" (I thought it was a superb and deeply moving book), but he won't read it because it's too bleak.


    Anyway ... other King adaptations? Erm, I enjoyed "Pet Sematery" - it's not a classic, but it is memorable, and one of the better second-tier, non-FD adaptations. I can enjoy a lot of the slightly iffy ones too - like Maximum Overdrive and Graveyard Shift (a fuck-off-big rat in a mine from what I recall) ... ... but then there was Dreamcatcher which was horseshit. It started off okay, and then just became a load of bullshit of the highest order.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...y_Stephen_King

    In my view, some good ones:

    Carrie
    Creepshow
    Stand By Me
    Misery
    The Shawshank Redemption (perhaps the best one of them all)
    The Green Mile
    1408
    The Mist

    Good-but-not-amazing:

    Cujo
    Christine
    Secret Window
    Maximum Overdrive
    Graveyard Shift (just hanging in there)
    The Shining (1997 Mini Series)

    And as I've said before, The Shining (1980) was really more "Stanley Kubrick's The Shining" (and ruddy excellent).

    Looking at that Wiki entry - good lord no - there's a Creepshow 4 in the works! As if Creepshow 3 (Creepshow-in-name-only, too) wasn't enough of a cinematic arse-battering, now there's a fourth!

    I've certainly not seen them all, and I certainly don't want to either.

  11. #11
    Just been bitten Morto Vivente's Avatar
    Member

    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    224
    Scotland
    Nine times out of ten the books are better. IT has to be one of the worst adaptation of King's work to date in comparison with the book. IMO it didn't work at all, a challenging adaptation to be sure. I would love to see another attempt to try and do it justice, the book was so good.

    For me Salem's Lot, Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me have been the best adaptations so far. I preferred the on screen Master to the novel version. I realize the original had much more depth of character, but for me that was the problem. The on screen version was completely alien and impossible to relate to; the one in the book was too human. A direct transfer to screen wouldn't have been as effective IMO. I like my vampires with a more monster less human approach. The visual element aided the storytelling with Salem's Lot, with IT; a complete disaster and Tim Curry's performance didn't help to say the least.


    Had a quick check and it looks like a remake of IT may happen. Anyone heard anything about this?

    http://www.inquisitr.com/250764/step...t-remake-2012/
    Last edited by Morto Vivente; 09-May-2013 at 07:58 PM. Reason: update
    Come on Robin, to the Bat Cave! There's not a moment to lose!

  12. #12
    Feeding LouCipherr's Avatar
    Member

    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    Hell
    Posts
    4,029
    United States
    Quote Originally Posted by MinionZombie View Post
     
    I feel that the characters thought they'd be dead in seconds, or at any moment, and there was a sense of utter hopelessness - they can't see a damn thing through that mist, they could be anywhere, and anything could be right in front/behind/above them swooping down to chomp on their bones as an appetiser. As such, with such total hopelessness, and not wanting to be eaten alive in a slow and painful manner, they choose that way out ...
    My response:

     
    I can't give this one a pass. What gave them the idea they'd be "dead in seconds"? There was nothing that was an immediate threat whatsoever when they ran out of gas - if there was, they wouldn't have spent all that time debating on what to do before killing each other. And, seeing as how they were protected in the car (no one else in the movie was killed inside a car), what would make them feel so 'threatened'? Even aside from all that, human beings have built into them the "will to survive". We will do whatever it takes to continue to live, even in the most extreme conditions and I feel the ending of The Mist was nothing more than a cheap way to "end" the movie (again, a lot of this has to do with diverting from the original book ending). I mean, to each his own, and this is just my personal opinion (although I do enjoy the debate! ), but it felt nothing short of a coarse way to end a movie because... well, it 'needed an ending'. I don't think it takes away from anything at all from the reading experience or spoils the book, but in the book itself, the story is left "open ended" - so Frank and SK must have figured "well, we have to end it somehow - we can't leave a movie like this open-ended!" so they went for the quick, cheap way out. For me, that was unacceptable and so unrealistic it detracted from the massive amount of greatness that preceded that event.



    Graveyard Shift? next you'll be telling me you liked The Mangler! Speaking of which, that wasn't on your list - that wiki needs an update! Can you believe they did a sequel to The Mangler?

    Three of the ones on your list are Darabont - The Mist, Green Mile, and Shawshank (which you are right, is THE best adaptation of any King story on screen hands-down) which I thoroughly enjoyed. The rest just disturb me because for the most part, while they may take the "idea" of the story into consideration, a ton of details were changed which bends the story a bit too far out of proportion for me.

    Again, just my opinion, and I do totally respect yours and everyone else's. This is just coming from the viewpoint of an avid reader of his books. I just have never cared for any King adaptations to screen unless it was done by Darabont with only a few minor exceptions that I could count on one hand.


    So, swinging this back to Under the Dome (sorry for the excursion from the topic at hand), I am hoping they do this pretty much by-the-book. Seeing that King is an executive producer does give me a little bit of hope, but then again, he's been involved directly with some stuff that were total stinkers.. 'Kingdom Hospital' anyone?


    Morto - Hmmm, a remake of "IT"? Done properly I wouldn't mind, as I didn't really care for the original shot at it with Curry as Pennywise. I wonder who they'll cast for the part this time? Whoever it is needs to play up the 'evil' of Pennywise, not be a jokester for most of the movie.
    Last edited by LouCipherr; 10-May-2013 at 01:46 PM. Reason: .

  13. #13
    Team Rick MinionZombie's Avatar
    Super Moderator

    Join Date
    Feb 2006
    Location
    The Mandatorium
    Posts
    24,165
    UK
    @Lou:
     
    Just because we saw nobody die inside a car, doesn't mean it's impossible. There were people inside the market and loads of people died.

    Part of the reason though is that they have nowhere to go - as you say, out of gas - and there's just this thick mist out there. Nothing could be out there, or a hideous and painful death could be 20ft away - another human instinct is to avoid pain and suffering, and again I circle back to the sense of "hopelessness". Rather than, in their view, wait for an agonising blood-soaked end (The Sherminator has a horrible exit via that tentacle thing in the loading dock), they choose to end it themselves.

    They could have waited for a monster to arrive before they did so, and it could have been a little one, but it could have been a huge one (like the one that walks nearby as they leave IIRC - the legs rising way up high to a vast alien beasty) and you might kill off a couple of the group, but the others would die horribly - or - the gun-holder might get capped first and then everyone dies awfully.


    Graveyard Shift - yeah, only an okay movie - but I enjoyed it when I saw it a couple of times. Perhaps me today would find it awful, who knows.

    I have seen The Mangler though - stylish in some regards, but the movie was pretty dull most of the times ... plus it's a fucking mangler. There never really seemed to be enough happening in the movie to keep it going, and a massive mangler is a bit naff ... just don't go near the mangler, ha!

    I will state that I'm not a Stephen King book reader ... I kind of dabble here and there and hop and skip about ... recently I've been making my way through James Ellroy's 'L.A. Quartet' (four books in a series, which are The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, and White Jazz) - I've just finished L.A. Confidential this afternoon, so I've got one more in that series of four left to do ... but yeah, I do tend to hop around a bit. I do like to read books that have become films and see how they compare (e.g. High Fidelity - practically identical except for the location and certain UK/US cultural idiosyncracies ... or on the other hand L.A. Confidential - which cuts a vast amount of side plots, characters, and back stories out to make a very successful 'boiled down version' which is not only an excellent movie, but puts the essence of the book on-screen ... but then you also have the inverse in The Black Dahlia where the book is far superior to the utterly confusing movie.

    I'm getting off-track here ... so I'll shut up.

    Yeah ... not really a SK reader, but that doesn't mean I won't become one in-time. So for now anyway I'm just going on the movies themselves - I'm sure in many of the 'lesser' adaptations that the books are, naturally, superior.

  14. #14
    Just been bitten Morto Vivente's Avatar
    Member

    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    224
    Scotland
    Another trailer with a bit more footage.


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyDMR1zrulQ
    Come on Robin, to the Bat Cave! There's not a moment to lose!

  15. #15
    Webmaster Neil's Avatar
    Administrator

    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    nr London
    Posts
    16,282
    England
    Looks interesting... Fingers crossed!

    At least it'll be something to watch when Game Of Thrones finishes
    Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. [click for more]
    -Carl Sagan

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •