This is from my recent post in one of the orkut groups discussing about movies.
Stephen king has written a lot of novels, short stories that were adapted to the screen (nearly 50) and he is one of those writers who can elaborate a 5 minute story to 800 page book and still make it riveting. Most of his books are horror based but when he writes about real life drama, he can just get under your skin and make you cry, laugh and sometimes, insanely happy. I haven't seen all of his movies but from what I have seen, I have categorized them down below. This is purely my opinion and hopefully you will like them too.
The Great ones
1) The Shining: A great book and a great movie but completely different from each other. Stephen king was unhappy with the outcome of the movie when it came out in 1980. The director (stanley kubrick) has changed many key points of the novel and movie is very different from what the book intended to be. Shining has one of the greatest opening sequences ever and the haunting music adds an eerie effect when combined with the great camera work in the movie. Jack nicholson plays the role of the caretaker of the Overlook hotel, which is located on a mountain top, isolated, deserted and closed for the entire winter. Gradually, he develops a strange behavior and starts believing that he was there in the hotel before. Has he really??
2) Shawshank redemption: Based on a short story from King. Probably most popular among all the movies based on his books. Most people like the surprise ending of the movie and I love it too, but my favorite moment is when an old man who has lived all his adult life in jail is finally released, goes back to the city where he grew up and finds that life in city has completely changed and he feels like he is in the real jail. Morgan freeman excels and one of the best of King's works.
3) Misery: A chilling horror movie with absolutely no violence and bloodshed. A writer goes to a rural town on a holiday and gets stuck in the snow when his snowmobile dies on him. He gets rescued by a middle aged woman who happens to be a big fan of his books. The story takes a wild turn when he starts to find about her not so friendly side.
4) Carrie: First major success of Stephen king and a very typical story of King which he repeated in many other novels (dead zone, hearts in atlantis, firestarter, thinner,green mile) in which a lonely and a good person has a supernatural gift but he/she is not too happy with it. The movie was brilliantly shot and directed by Brian de palma and John travolta co-stars.
5) Dolores Claiborne: I saw this movie recently and till then I did not even know that there is one such movie. I felt that it was highly underrated and to me it was nearly as good as Shawshank redemption. The movie is about a mother-daughter relationship for over a period of 20 odd years. The daughter who has abandoned her mother visits her after a long long time and they dwell on their relationship over the years and the daughter finally knows about some hidden secrets about her mother which changes her opinions forever.
6) Green mile: Another movie set in the jail life and the rich characterization of various inmates almost makes one feel like we are living in the jail and we know these people. The movie was directed by same person who directed Shawshank redemption.
7) Stand by me: Best movie adaptation of any King's book, period. The movie made me sad and happy at the same time. Sad for realizing the fact that our childhood days have passed and gone and we can never have them back and happy for re-living and making me remember about those days. The movie is based on another typical theme of King's stories where a group of childhood friends meet during their adult life and remember about the good old days and one incident in specific which they will never forget.
Good ones
1) Rose Red : Rose red is a lengthy (4 1/2 hrs) horror movie, which was made as mini-series for TV, is about a group of scholars who plan to visit an old haunted mansion. The novel was loosely inspired by the real mansion called "Winchester mystery house" in Sanfrancisco, California. Thought the movie is very long and story line is wafer thin, it is very riveting and keeps the audience on the edge of the seat. The group on their visit to the mansion encounter the ghosts of the family who used to live in the mansion. The story of the family and the way they died is revealed in bits and pieces in flashbacks.
2) Storm of the century: Another movie made for TV (3-4 hours) is based in a small town in Maine, where many other novels of King are setup. When a blizzard hits the small town, the citizens of the town are visited by a stranger who knows the secrets of everybody in the town. After he kills an old man, he is jailed. Even after being in jail, he continues to kill people or force people to suicide by using his supernatural powers. The stranger keeps repeating "Give me what I need and I'll go away" and only at the end it is revealed what he needs. The ending of the movie might not be liked by many people for its abruptness and vagueness.
3) 1408: This movie is based on a short story that King used in his anthology "Everything's eventual". The movie stars Samuel L Jackson as a hotel manager and John Cusack as a writer who mainly focusses on haunted places. He comes to know about the room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel, Newyork where apparently many people lost their lives. Initially, the manager of the hotel tries his best to convince him to not to stay in the room. But, the writer refuses and enters the room. He later comes to face with the evils in the room and he has no way out.
4) Cat's eye: This movie along with Twilight zone is one of the main inspirations for Ramgopalvarma's Darna mana hai/Darna zaroori hai series. Apparently (courtesy:www.passionforcinema.com), RGV narrated one of the stories from this movie to Anurag kashyap. Anurag later, after many many years realized that it was actually a story from Stephen king. However, he modified the story that he heard from RGV and made it into "No Smoking".
Anyway, Coming to this movie, it is an anthology of three horror stories just like Darna mana hai. The first story is the best of the lot. None of them are scary but each of them is very weird and often very funny.
5) Creepshow: Another anthology like Cat's eye but a big hit during the time of its release. The movie has 5 episodes and Stephen king himself played the lead role in one of those stories. Each story in the movie like Cat's eye border on comedy and eeriness. The movie is no masterpiece but has a certain weirdly funny quality that I absolutely loved it.
6) The Dead zone: Christopher Walken plays the role of a normal young man in love with a girl and one day gets hit by a car. After that he spends years in coma and when he returns back, he is empowered by a supernatural power using which he can predict future. Like other King's stories, he is not happy with the powers he has but finds himself in situations where he has to put it to use to rescue others and sometimes himself. The movie was directed by David Cronenberg (History of violence) and it is an engaging movie.
7) Pet Cemetery: Stephen king says it his favorite among his works but the movie is not that great. It is nonetheless very interesting at times. The story is about a small family with a husband, wife and a 2 year old kid. When the kid dies in a brutal car accident, the father is crestfallen and decides to bury his son in the near pet cemetery, where it is believed that the dead things come alive. The kid comes alive as expected but he is not his son anymore but is devil/ghost/monster or whatever.
8) Hearts in Atlantis: A very good book but a mediocre movie. Anthony hopkins plays the leading role of an old man who comes to a small village from nowhere. He befriends a teenage boy and passes some of this supernatural powers to him. The kid (and us) never find out where exactly he came from but what we know is that he is on the run and the people who are looking for him are not very nice.
Not so good ones
1) Thinner: A successful lawyer on fine day kills a gypsy by running his car over him. The leader of the gypsies casts a spell on the lawyer that he would become thinner everyday for the rest of his life. The fat lawyer is intially glad to loose some pounds but slowly he realizes that something is not right.
2) Maximum overdrive: The only movie directed by Stephen king. He has once admitted that it is his worst work ever and he did not what he was doing while shooting the film.
3) Salem's lot: A successful tv mini series but an awful movie.
4) Needful things: Max Van sydow (Exorcist) is the stranger from nowhere in a lonely town who knows the darkest secrets of everybody in the town. He instigates one against other and creates a hell in the town.
5) Firestarter : A story somewhat similar to Carrie. Drew barrymore plays the role of little girl, where she and her father have the supernatural power of producing fires at their will. They are pursued by people from the "Shop" for the father-daughter are on the run.
Stephen king has written a lot of novels, short stories that were adapted to the screen (nearly 50) and he is one of those writers who can elaborate a 5 minute story to 800 page book and still make it riveting. Most of his books are horror based but when he writes about real life drama, he can just get under your skin and make you cry, laugh and sometimes, insanely happy. I haven't seen all of his movies but from what I have seen, I have categorized them down below. This is purely my opinion and hopefully you will like them too.
The Great ones
1) The Shining: A great book and a great movie but completely different from each other. Stephen king was unhappy with the outcome of the movie when it came out in 1980. The director (stanley kubrick) has changed many key points of the novel and movie is very different from what the book intended to be. Shining has one of the greatest opening sequences ever and the haunting music adds an eerie effect when combined with the great camera work in the movie. Jack nicholson plays the role of the caretaker of the Overlook hotel, which is located on a mountain top, isolated, deserted and closed for the entire winter. Gradually, he develops a strange behavior and starts believing that he was there in the hotel before. Has he really??
2) Shawshank redemption: Based on a short story from King. Probably most popular among all the movies based on his books. Most people like the surprise ending of the movie and I love it too, but my favorite moment is when an old man who has lived all his adult life in jail is finally released, goes back to the city where he grew up and finds that life in city has completely changed and he feels like he is in the real jail. Morgan freeman excels and one of the best of King's works.
3) Misery: A chilling horror movie with absolutely no violence and bloodshed. A writer goes to a rural town on a holiday and gets stuck in the snow when his snowmobile dies on him. He gets rescued by a middle aged woman who happens to be a big fan of his books. The story takes a wild turn when he starts to find about her not so friendly side.
4) Carrie: First major success of Stephen king and a very typical story of King which he repeated in many other novels (dead zone, hearts in atlantis, firestarter, thinner,green mile) in which a lonely and a good person has a supernatural gift but he/she is not too happy with it. The movie was brilliantly shot and directed by Brian de palma and John travolta co-stars.
5) Dolores Claiborne: I saw this movie recently and till then I did not even know that there is one such movie. I felt that it was highly underrated and to me it was nearly as good as Shawshank redemption. The movie is about a mother-daughter relationship for over a period of 20 odd years. The daughter who has abandoned her mother visits her after a long long time and they dwell on their relationship over the years and the daughter finally knows about some hidden secrets about her mother which changes her opinions forever.
6) Green mile: Another movie set in the jail life and the rich characterization of various inmates almost makes one feel like we are living in the jail and we know these people. The movie was directed by same person who directed Shawshank redemption.
7) Stand by me: Best movie adaptation of any King's book, period. The movie made me sad and happy at the same time. Sad for realizing the fact that our childhood days have passed and gone and we can never have them back and happy for re-living and making me remember about those days. The movie is based on another typical theme of King's stories where a group of childhood friends meet during their adult life and remember about the good old days and one incident in specific which they will never forget.
Good ones
1) Rose Red : Rose red is a lengthy (4 1/2 hrs) horror movie, which was made as mini-series for TV, is about a group of scholars who plan to visit an old haunted mansion. The novel was loosely inspired by the real mansion called "Winchester mystery house" in Sanfrancisco, California. Thought the movie is very long and story line is wafer thin, it is very riveting and keeps the audience on the edge of the seat. The group on their visit to the mansion encounter the ghosts of the family who used to live in the mansion. The story of the family and the way they died is revealed in bits and pieces in flashbacks.
2) Storm of the century: Another movie made for TV (3-4 hours) is based in a small town in Maine, where many other novels of King are setup. When a blizzard hits the small town, the citizens of the town are visited by a stranger who knows the secrets of everybody in the town. After he kills an old man, he is jailed. Even after being in jail, he continues to kill people or force people to suicide by using his supernatural powers. The stranger keeps repeating "Give me what I need and I'll go away" and only at the end it is revealed what he needs. The ending of the movie might not be liked by many people for its abruptness and vagueness.
3) 1408: This movie is based on a short story that King used in his anthology "Everything's eventual". The movie stars Samuel L Jackson as a hotel manager and John Cusack as a writer who mainly focusses on haunted places. He comes to know about the room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel, Newyork where apparently many people lost their lives. Initially, the manager of the hotel tries his best to convince him to not to stay in the room. But, the writer refuses and enters the room. He later comes to face with the evils in the room and he has no way out.
4) Cat's eye: This movie along with Twilight zone is one of the main inspirations for Ramgopalvarma's Darna mana hai/Darna zaroori hai series. Apparently (courtesy:www.passionforcinema.com), RGV narrated one of the stories from this movie to Anurag kashyap. Anurag later, after many many years realized that it was actually a story from Stephen king. However, he modified the story that he heard from RGV and made it into "No Smoking".
Anyway, Coming to this movie, it is an anthology of three horror stories just like Darna mana hai. The first story is the best of the lot. None of them are scary but each of them is very weird and often very funny.
5) Creepshow: Another anthology like Cat's eye but a big hit during the time of its release. The movie has 5 episodes and Stephen king himself played the lead role in one of those stories. Each story in the movie like Cat's eye border on comedy and eeriness. The movie is no masterpiece but has a certain weirdly funny quality that I absolutely loved it.
6) The Dead zone: Christopher Walken plays the role of a normal young man in love with a girl and one day gets hit by a car. After that he spends years in coma and when he returns back, he is empowered by a supernatural power using which he can predict future. Like other King's stories, he is not happy with the powers he has but finds himself in situations where he has to put it to use to rescue others and sometimes himself. The movie was directed by David Cronenberg (History of violence) and it is an engaging movie.
7) Pet Cemetery: Stephen king says it his favorite among his works but the movie is not that great. It is nonetheless very interesting at times. The story is about a small family with a husband, wife and a 2 year old kid. When the kid dies in a brutal car accident, the father is crestfallen and decides to bury his son in the near pet cemetery, where it is believed that the dead things come alive. The kid comes alive as expected but he is not his son anymore but is devil/ghost/monster or whatever.
8) Hearts in Atlantis: A very good book but a mediocre movie. Anthony hopkins plays the leading role of an old man who comes to a small village from nowhere. He befriends a teenage boy and passes some of this supernatural powers to him. The kid (and us) never find out where exactly he came from but what we know is that he is on the run and the people who are looking for him are not very nice.
Not so good ones
1) Thinner: A successful lawyer on fine day kills a gypsy by running his car over him. The leader of the gypsies casts a spell on the lawyer that he would become thinner everyday for the rest of his life. The fat lawyer is intially glad to loose some pounds but slowly he realizes that something is not right.
2) Maximum overdrive: The only movie directed by Stephen king. He has once admitted that it is his worst work ever and he did not what he was doing while shooting the film.
3) Salem's lot: A successful tv mini series but an awful movie.
4) Needful things: Max Van sydow (Exorcist) is the stranger from nowhere in a lonely town who knows the darkest secrets of everybody in the town. He instigates one against other and creates a hell in the town.
5) Firestarter : A story somewhat similar to Carrie. Drew barrymore plays the role of little girl, where she and her father have the supernatural power of producing fires at their will. They are pursued by people from the "Shop" for the father-daughter are on the run.
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