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bookant t1_j60keuc wrote

Reply to comment by cbaker817 in Why is Jack Ryan S3 so terrible? by khroshan

>S3: What country can we make be the bad guys without hurting overseas views?

This has basically been a huge problem with spy fiction since the end of the Cold War.

Bond films have floundered, too, not knowing what to do with themselves. Central American drug cartels? Works for a movie or two. Ditto the Russian mob. Then it's basically variations of the "Dr. Evil" - private villain who wants to take over the world. Rupert Murdoch standin is trying to start a war because it would profitable or something.

By the last few Craig movies we're down to soap opera garbage like "the villain is Bond's long lost brother."

The huge mistake Bond films made IMHO was not making "Casino Royale" a reboot back to the proper time period. They could be doing cold war period pieces now. Maybe even actually faithful adaptations of the original books.

Ditto Jack Ryan. How much cooler would it be if the series worked up to "Red October" and beyond. Work your way through the books faithfully and you've just created the action/espionage equivalent to "Game of Thrones."

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Why_Did_Bodie_Die t1_j62fatc wrote

Something I have never understood at all is why so many movies based on books change the whole story around. To me it is so confusing. You have a great book. There is. Whole story in there and all you have to do is film it. It is just so weird.

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staedtler2018 t1_j63bog9 wrote

>You have a great book. There is. Whole story in there and all you have to do is film it.

You cannot, in fact, do this. Certainly not for any book that is actually "great."

Even for simple books there are budget considerations, pacing, clarity, the interests of the actors, etc.

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cbaker817 t1_j60su3l wrote

that would have been a great idea. it would have given years of stories and conflict that are baked in. reference the movies that already were made as you progress through the timeline. The world building is there, it just takes someone willing to commit to it. I imagine they could have done most of the same character's stories and arcs in a modern timeline without losing the character.

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