book/movie comparison

Firestarter

Firestarter is the 8th novel written by Stephen King /Richard Bachman and the 10th to be adapted into film . It came out in 1984 right on the heels of four other adaptations of King works released between 1983 and 1984 namely Christine , Cujo , The Dead Zone and Children of the Corn Unfortunately , the commercial success of the book did not translate into box office receipts in spite of how closely it followed the book . Then again , it could also be said that its faithful adaptation diminished the impact it could have

since film is a different medium altogether

The book 's plot followed a formula - that of a government experiment gone wrong . An experimental drug code-named Lot Six was administered by The Shop , a shady government agency , to twelve college volunteers . They wanted to see if psi ability can be stimulated by drugs and bring about telekinesis , thought transference and mental domination . The action in the film and in the book started when The Shop decided to bring in the McGee family particularly Charlie McGee , the eight-year old child who was the result of the union of the only two remaining relatively healthy subjects who took Lot Six . The others had died or lost their minds and maimed themselves during the experiment or later committed suicide . Far from being an ordinary child , Charlie could make fires with her mind

As in the book , the movie used flashbacks to provide the background on how things came to be . In the book , this approach was used effectively since it can put in as much detail as it can not merely to explain the how and why , but also to gain sympathy for the characters ' plight . In the movie , however , this approach limited the development of the character . As it was , the characters became mere representations of the institutions they stood for . Perhaps , it was assumed that the stellar cast and their acting reputations would create audience empathy . It failed to do that , however

Stanley Mann 's script paid homage to the original lines found in the novel . It was necessary to create closer affinity to the book . No updating was necessary since the setting and context was still relevant at the time the movie was made such as the anti-Russian comment against warrant less searches . The Cold War was still very much felt in the 1980s . Aside from being a King novel , one other reason that this was made into a movie was its potential for spectacular effects of fire and explosions . Its target audience were obviously the fans of the Stephen King 's books who would most likely be curious how the fiery scenes would be pulled off . This was why the script followed the book as faithfully as it can so as not to alienate the purists as Stanley Kubrick did with The Shining . However , the book Firestarter is in itself not compelling The origins of Charlie 's extraordinary ability was explained early on hence there was not real...