These movie adaptations find a way to elevate their source material.

We asked The Atlantic’s writers and editors: What’s a film adaptation that’s better than the book?

The article explains why they consider the movies Jurassic Park, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, The Devil Wears Prada, The Social Network, and Clear and Present Danger each to be better than their source material.

  • hraegsvelmir@ani.social
    131·
    4 days ago

    Having just rewatched Jurassic Park the other night for the first time since I was about 6 years old, my takeaway was mostly that the park needed a total overhaul of their EH&S department. Probably every single death was avoidable with less than a day’s work to prevent it, starting with the very first scene when they release a raptor into the enclosure. That guy’s death could have been avoided by simply

    1. Installing some rings into the posts on either side of the gate, and securing the shipping container to them to prevent unplanned movement of the container.
    2. Attaching some support posts to the rear of the container that would dig into the ground, rather than letting the container shift backwards.
    3. Have a pulley rigged up over the gate that could hook into the top of the door on the container, allowing the crew to lift open the container’s door from a safe distance.

    And that’s literally the first scene. The entire main plot could have been avoided by not permitting a design with so many single points of failure, like only one individual being able to shut down critical safety systems without any additional oversight, and seemingly no fallback systems to account for either incompetent or malicious actors on the island.----

    • agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works
      11·
      4 days ago

      Probably every single death was avoidable with less than a day’s work to prevent it

      This is where I disagree with the idea that Hammond’s culpability as a representative of capitalism was downplayed. He keeps saying “We spared no expense” but basically every problem is because they spared many expenses. Sure, they spent money on the little luxury details to make it an attractive park, but they overlooked or cheaped out on everything that wasn’t directly part of the value stream.