the reason behind why they were all terrible, is the awful actors that portrayed the real characters. The first movie was made in the 1930s, and the actors and actresses were just so bad. They made such an effort to follow the script by the book, and that made it look so unnatural. Good actors improvise, and add their own twist on scripts. They make it their own. Sadly, none of the adaptations’ actors did this, and that’s why the movies are so awkward. Some directors believe they can make a movie better if they change some things in the book, but unfortunately, changing many things can overall ruin a movie. An example is that in the third movie we watched, Rainsford and Ivan were black. Racism isn’t the underlying principle here. It just happens to be that readers don’t usually imagine the characters like that, and it doesn’t go with the story to have the characters be black. In a similar manner, in the first movie we watched, the director added two more characters, Eve and her brother Martin. This straight up confuses the person who has read the book and is now watching the movie. There are other several changes that were added in the movie that directly disturb the person. The directors from the movies also beyond alter the events in the stories which make the movies terrible.
For example, in the third movie version we watched, as Rainsford was trying to escape from Zaroff, he was forced to cut his hand off. This part was repulsive, revolting and repelling, but also lame. The viewer feels pity as they watch a guy act terribly and even more pity for the director who incorporated this scene. Sometimes it is just better to leave things as they are, like the original story. Another example is how in the last version we watched, Zaroff actually mourns Ivan’s death. This totally and completely ruins the effect of Zaroff’s cruel personality. It confuses the viewer, since in the original version, Zaroff couldn’t care less about Ivan. There is concrete proof that an adaptation to a book can often become something hideous, just like in The Most Dangerous Game. If someone wants to make a good adaptation, many things should be taken into consideration. Some of these are: hire good actors, stick to the story, and don’t overdo the drama. Many directors are able to pull off adaptations. This original short novel was great, with lots of action and mystery. Then came along a few overconfident souls who decided they were good enough to remake Richard Connell’s
story.