An adaptation completely botches the original theme and message

[u/Morr4Seiya]

Mulan(2020)-They give Mulan superpowers which is not only lame it goes against the message of the original about equality and struggle,plus they removes Shang because apparently having Mulan date her superior was "problematic" even though Shang genuienely respected Mulan and their rank was never brought up

I am Legend(2007)-You know why the story is called "I am legend"? SPOILER ALERT the protagonist is the actual monster,humanity is gone and the vampires have a actual society and the protagonist kills and terrorize them

Animal Farm(2026)-On the very slim chance that Andy Serkis ever sees this,here's the thing Andy,Animal Farm was not a children work it was not supposed to have a happy ending,you never heard of cautionary tales before?

[u/farceur318]

I think the V For Vendetta movie is well made and a fun time but it is wild that the movie doesn’t mention anarchy* at all when it is the driving philosophy of the comic. The movie is anti-authoritarianism, whereas the comic is anti-government as a whole.

(*Not anarchy as in chaos, but anarchy as in the political theory of a society without rulers)

[u/Asheyguru → u/farceur318]

The comic is also, I feel, much less decided on whether V is sane and whether his ideas will work out after the story ends.

[u/MGD109 → u/Asheyguru]

Oh easily. It's also important that in the comics things are much worse. The world is recovering from a nuclear war; there is little left, and there is even some argument that perhaps some of the authoritarian measures might have actually been necessary.

Part of the appeal of the ending is that they might have either saved or damned humanity.

[u/rrschch85 → u/Asheyguru]

And that's why Moore's the goat

[u/zedascouves1985 → u/farceur318]

The movie is about a liberal bourgeoisie revolution, which is palatable for Hollywood to sell. The comic book is about anarchism, which does not sell well to average movie goer.

[u/Neurotic_Marauder → u/zedascouves1985]

It was also decidedly anti-Bush/anti-War on Terror. Since the War in Iraq had become a disaster along with Bush's sinking approval ratings, making the story more American made it even easier to sell.

V was also made to be more of a Robin Hood-esque character, rather than the morally ambiguous anarchist he is in the comics. The revelation that Dietrich is secretly gay and possibly a follower of Islam was completely original to the movie. In the book, Gordon was a random guy who Evey was briefly romantic with.
They also made the fascist government in the movie a bit more over-the-top, instead of the relatively grounded version in the comics.

[u/Outside-Fondant-7064 → u/farceur318]

Indeed, and in the comic as a consequence it’s a more tricky dichotomy - anarchy and ruin vs evil authoritarianism - whereas the movie is good, but a much clearer moral line

[u/KilltheKraken8 → u/farceur318]

I always loved the movie. But eventually I got around to reading the comic and oh my god it’s so much better

[u/sobrique → u/KilltheKraken8]

I like both for different reasons. The comic does it's thing well enough, and the film does too.

Both are a product of their time as well, and I don't think the '80s' context would have worked at all in a 2005 film.

[u/JLHSMG → u/farceur318]

Indeed. The movie ends with a crowd all dressed as V, all of them removing their masks at once.

A lot of people in the same place, wearing the same clothes, and doing the same at the same time? There's a name for that, and it's anarchy.

[u/MGD109 → u/JLHSMG]

Yeah, I have to admit, even ignoring the anarchy stuff, for a film preaching for individual freedoms against authoritarianism, I kind of felt having them all adopt V as their icon to the point of them all dressing exactly the same and marching in lockstep, kind of undermined the point.

[u/sobrique → u/farceur318]

Now on this I think I disagree. They're different stories, yes, but they're set in different times, and I think the both work with the right context.

They're not the same story - but they couldn't be. The 80s context comic book would NOT have worked at all in 2005.