Topic: "The Road"

[fj40mojo]

Anybody see the movie with Vigo Mortenson? I just read the book and was wondering how the movie compared and how closely it followed the book.

[Scarecrow]

I haven't seen the movie, but I did read the book this past week.  It's an easy read, straight forward and simple.  I'd reckon that even if you weren't too fond of reading you could manage this book pretty well.  The story itself is not about the end of the world or post apocalyptic survival or SHTF or anything like that.  It is very, very much about what a father will do for his son.  There are some very nice touches that lend some verisimilitude to the story, especially in the dialog.

Based on random internet dribblings it appears there are more flashbacks with the mother in the movie and at least one of the scenes involving the preperation of long pork was omitted.

Even if the movie had rampaging zombies and chainsaws and giant robots, if it drove one more person to read the book I'd be completely satisfied.

[fj40mojo]

Agree with you, there were some visuals I got from the book that I'm not sure I care to see in all the glory of Hollywood there on the big screen. The book certainly paints an ugly picture of what we are capable of in a survival situation. Having small kids myself it made me think that I'd just as soon not survive and not have any of my family survive either in a similar situation. I did like that the book never came out and said exactly what had happened leaving it to the readers imagination instead.

[Kcboats]

Lots of this stuff out now...The Road, Book Of Eli, 2012, Terminator Series, Left Behind, I Am Legend, Legion, Waiting For Armegeddon...Sex And The City 2 (WTF is up with that!!!!? If that is not saying the world is gonna blow up, nothing is).  Lots of biblical related stuff...Revelations and the end times.  Also lots of new books on the subject.

[Rhino]

I thought the book was a pretty good description of what a father would do to make sure his son was safe. I am hesitant about the movie. I like Viggo and Charlize, but I'm not keen on seeing Hollywood botch up another great book. Is the Movie even released yet? haven't heard anything. My 2 Pence

[fj40mojo]

Didn't read the book but saw the movie last night. The movie was easy to follow, left some to the imagination in an effort not to be too obvious. Some hokie moments but hey, it's fiction. Not gory, no mad max, probably not a young kids deal but a 14-19 with a little maturity, sure. There was enough of a plot to keep you interested. I did catch an elbow for laughing out at an what was apparently not supposed to be a humorous moment.

Vigo and the boy were the main characters, Charlize not so much...

Well, I'll avoid any spoilers. See it at the dollar movie if you've read the book. Spring for the matinee and I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Thanks RG, that's what I was looking for. Which theater did you see it at?

[quadidaho]

I read the book and then saw the movie-- both excellent. Movie was pretty true to the book.

[NGO]

http://www.watch-movies-online.tv/movies/the_road/

[scoob]

My uncle always used to say that the movie was just a commercial for the book.  How likely I am to pick up a book after I've already watched the movie of it... it's hard to say.  What he said made sense though.

[Jeff]

I hate the authors writing style.  The only way I'd consider "reading" this is via an audio book.

[Nomad]

 Gaining any ideas from others is still learning even if you don't like their style knowledge gained......
or ideas....

[Jeff]

True.  But a book is a marketing vehicle for a message.  His message doesn't make it (to me) because his marketing vehicle sucks.

[crj]

I hate the authors writing style.  The only way I'd consider "reading" this is via an audio book.

Really?  I like the way he writes. He doesn't follow the proper way, I suppose, but the book was fun to read. Having a young son, I think he did well in capturing the simple, but meaningfu,l dad/son conversation. My only issue with the book is they never seem to get too cold in their long winter journey, which would be a MAJOR problem, in reality.
Haven't seen the movie yet.

[Country]

Anybody see the movie with Vigo Mortenson? I just read the book and was wondering how the movie compared and how closely it followed the book.

Late showing up here...

After reading the book when it first came out, I honestly didn't know if they could even pull it off.  I guess you could say that is how much I liked the book, the visual landscape of gray doom that McCarthy's prose captured was pretty somber and intense.  I liked it for many reasons, but one of them was that it all seemed REAL, there were no mad max camaros or aliens or some hero vs. villain type setting.

There were just a couple minor differences, and when I mean minor I mean, there was a scene from the book that dealt with cannibalism that was not in the film, but the idea or hint of that scene was definitely there, and what they replaced it with was good enough.  As someone else said, there is a scene or two from the book that would probably not make it to the final cutting.

Anyway, my 2 bits.  Considering the location issues they had that resulted in the film taking a much longer time to complete (or contract issues, something stalled it for a bit) it was really good.  So many times Hollywood takes a great novel and destroys it in the film adaption, but fortunately for this great book, this was not one of those cases.