MovieChat Forums > Impostor (2002) Discussion > Problems with Short Story Adaptions

Problems with Short Story Adaptions

posted 22 years ago by mavmaramis
17 replies | jump to latest

The real problem with this movie ios that it is based on a 6 page short story. Unfortunately 6 page short stories don't make good 90 minute movies however great the story is to start with.

Much of the middle of the movie (the part where Sinise meets Phier) is not in the original story and was added fror (I guess) "dramatic purposes".

Plus the fact that the story didn't have a wife for the character at the end either (it was just him alone in the woods).

A poor film from a good short story. A pity really.

[–] BB-15 22 years ago

Hi mavmaramis: I liked this movie. The plot felt like Total Recall, also based on a Phillip K. Dick story that was also expanded. I liked the added material in the middle of the film and the ending. To each his/her own.

Have a good one, BB ;-)

[–] vincenzonatali 22 years ago

i have read this short story in thai version . it is not 6 pages long but it is about 25-30 pages long

[–] Brainpiercing 22 years ago

As I wrote in the other thread:

A short story is an idea in a needle-tip, without the usual waffle of a novel. Filming a novel mostly makes poor movies, because too much of the original idea becomes twisted. You can extract the idea and a lot of plot from a short-story and make a great movie by adding to it in a way that makes good movies. All you need to keep is the idea and a bit of plot.

Compare this movie to Heinlein's "Starship Troopers" and its adaption, tell me which is the better movie?

[–] ipal 22 years ago

I didn't like the middle, IMHO it just does n't fit.

Also the wife part also does n't fit, not every story needs romance,
as the story is kafka-esque, imagine the Trial with the wife crying on the side...

Fact is Hollywood is desperate for a good story & 30 min short films can't be marketed.

[–] arousey-1 22 years ago

Actually Miramax's plan was to market 3 to 4 30 min sci fi shorts into a major release. All directed by different directors, etc. Impostor, Danny Boyle's "Alien Love Triangle", "Mimic" (which was never made as a short and released as a full length feature instead) and another called "Needle in the Hay" (which I don't think was ever made), were all to be part. Apparently Miramax liked the Impostor short so much they decided to make it into a full length feature thus adding the middle scenes.

[–] avortac 13 years ago

"Also the wife part also does n't fit, not every story needs romance, "

Thank you!

Almost every hollywood movie HAS romance, no matter what the main point/idea/theme of the movie is. Whether it's war, simple action, space exploration, time travel, adventure, detective story, racing, UFO story, or a movie about robots - it ALWAYS, always, always has a stupid, injected romance.

It is so idiotic and frustrating - you are 99% guaranteed to be watching a 'romantic' movie, regardless of which hollywood 'blockbuster' you watch.

The most annoying part of this is that it doesn't seem to bother most of the people, and they take it as "normal", like something that SHOULD be there. Unbelievable.. someone even said that a movie was bad, because it didn't manipulate his/her emotions enough (well, I am paraphrasing, but 'emotions' was mentioned as if every movie must be 'emotional').

There -are- some rare gems that do not have a romance, but they are very rare, or awful movies, and mostly in the 'horror' genre, which I don't like (I mean, this world isn't horrifying enough without trying to ADD horror to your life?).

Like someone said;

"What if in some parallel universe every movie had to have a subplot where people square danced? That would be absurd, right? It's no different than EVERY last American movie having a random romantic subplot. It's absurd and pointless."

I agree completely with this sentiment. Romance is stupid, absurd and pointless. I don't have anything against making ROMANTIC movies, but you don't see them filled with forced gunfights or action scenes! So why must every single action movie have to have romance in it?

Stop worshipping women so much and make a movie that doesn't lick their asses all the time! Make a movie that's about a good story, and if women or romance aren't needed, DO NOT PUT THEM IN THE MOVIE.

That would make a great, refreshing change in the world of movies..

I can mention a few movies that do not have a romance:

- Stand by Me (although the name sounds like it definitely would)
- Misery
- Bad Taste (this doesn't even have female characters, although it has woman actors (though not noticeably)

Can someone add to the list?

[–] indalay422 12 years ago

Yes, I can only think of a few right off the top of my head, but I know there are many! The Thing, Alien, Aliens, Predator, Borderline, Scary or die, etc. I like romance sometimes, but not every time, either.

[–] martinkh 21 years ago

Same thing with me: The German version in a small font size is 20 book pages long.

[–] Speedy_Lube 21 years ago

I agree the middle felt different from the rest of the movie, perhaps if they had added some scenes where reality is played with a little, i dunno.

[–] dissin 22 years ago

Well, I for one, thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this movie. For those of you that did not, I'd like to know what movies you do enjoy, cause you're being very picky, in my humble opinion. I thought the wife thing fit quite nicely, considering he was so in love with her, he wouldn't just forget about her would he?

Considering the movie is a MOVIE and NOT a short story or a book, simply BASED on a short story, who says it has to stay true to the story? can't it do it's own thing?

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing.

[–] Xerofall 22 years ago

I liked the movie as well. It fits in nicely with Minority Report and has really good effects.

The part when he was hiding in the building and the police were using that scanner was cool.

The domes covering the cities were nicely done.

All in all a great movie.

[–] HyperPup 22 years ago

For what it was I thought the movie was good. I knew going in to see it in the theaters that there were going to be some "rough" moments thanks to Miramax and their indecisiveness with this movie at the last moment. This being one of my favorite shorts from PKD, I personally didn't feel cheated, as it pretty much was faithful from begining to end. I think if they (Miramax)had acted on the impulse to just make a full 90 minute picture instead of waffling for so long with their stuipd "Alien Love Triangle" deal, they could have produced a more audience friendly film that may have grossed more in theaters.

The angle on the wife was in part due to the relationship of the Olhams in the short story so I was alright with their focus on that in the film. And I don't know who read a six page version of this story, in english its more than 30 pages.

[–] KurtNIN 21 years ago

I'm pretty sure that there was a completely different middle to this story in the short story (I read it a while ago so if I'm wrong sorry) I thought there was a big scene in it where he goes to the moon with his friend who wanted to shoot him. and the end was a little different, his wife not being there, just him... But then again it may have been in the movie I really can't remember, but I don't think it was. help me if I'm crazy....

[–] wolson-2 19 years ago

Amen mavmaramis -- in the USA you should watch this on the Director's Cut DVD in its short film form --- waaay better than what Disney made Fleder come up with -- Fleder's a good director but whoever wrote that extended chase scene nonsense for the middle is certainly no Philip K. Dick.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] meneldil 19 years ago

Impostor is 15 pages long in "Selected stories of Philip K Dick". I just read it and liked it better than the film.

[–] brucedgo 17 years ago

I've been reading and loving science fiction short stories (by that I mean anything shorter than a novel) for more than 50 years. I much prefer them to novels. Not that there aren't any novels that I like a lot.

I just wish there was a market for short movies. And in a way, there used to be, back when half-hour shows on TV were common.

Padding this story out with chase sequences is just plain boring. Thousands of movies already have chase sequences. For me, a story like this really should stay focussed on the issue of identity/reality. Just like P. K. Dick's stories do.

I guess the bottom line is that movies have to try to appeal to the masses, not to the small number of science fiction fans like myself.

"I choose to think there is no free will..."