The Mist: Movie Vs Book

[Damaris]

I loved the hope of the novella ending ... which is a King staple and one of the things I love most of his work. (Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, right?) But still, that was an awesome movie ending. I don't consider it better than the written ending, just different, a peek at one possibility of what might have happened down the road. It's not much different than what Darabont did with The Shawshank Redemption, carrying the story beyond what was actually written. The biggest change was that Shawshank ended more optimistically. It could as easily have ended with Red behind bars again, which would not have been bad, necessarily, but would certainly have put a different spin on the end. All in all, I think The Mist was extremely well done as a movie, stayed true to its written predecessor, and offered just enough twist to be really provocative. I still give it two thumbs up.

[RJD]

Here's the link for The Woman in the Room. Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6XuCbpmc6Q

One other point -- Frank Darabont, the director, has had a long association with Stephen King's work. He directed The Mist, Shawshank, Green Mile, and wrote an adaptaton (that I'd love to see) of "The Woman in the Room" way back in 1983. I'd figure he's got carte blanche after his track record of both commercial success and respect for the source material.

[Seangier]

Bottom line, David Drayton never would have killed his son Billy. This rewrite/adaptation of one of King's best works turned out tragic.

[bryantburnette]

There are numerous King works which feature the death of children: Cujo, Pet Sematary, The Gunslinger , 'Salem's Lot, and It are probably the most obvious examples, but child death is also a major motivating factor in "The Body" and Roadwork, as well as The Green Mile, and the threat of it looms large over Storm of the Century, Bag of Bones, and The Shining, to name just a few.

In other words, this is one of the major themes within King's work.

With that in mind, Darabont's ending not only seems completely logical within the context of the movie itself, it also seems completely logical within the context of the larger body of Stephen King's work. It's a stronger ending than the one King himself wrote for the novella, and while I've got a few small-ish problems with the movie, the ending is definitely not one of them: it's a masterpiece of a conclusion, one which people will continue to talk about for decades to come.

[The Goremet]

One of the reasons I love the film's ending over the novellas ending (which is a great and typical King ending) is that it shocks the viewer. Hollywood is not known for leaving an audience with such a pessimistic conclusion, but under Darabont's masterful hand he gives us an ending that you can hate and be stunned by but is just as open to discussion as King's original. When David see the woman with her kids (the lady who everyone in the market told to stay with them) it opens up the whole film for debate. Was Mrs Carmody right?? Was this faith at work? Or is is just bad luck? The fact that in the book it seems the creatures are trying to get away from the humans is also a poignant and interesting thing. AND FOR YOU DARK TOWER FANS, this story is tied to the DT saga since it is believed the creatures came from Mid-World.

[Ronin87]

Well, lets see here...The movie was interesting, not a horror but a science fiction, not scary but entertaining - yes. i did enjoy the movie a bit. The book, went a little more in depth with some parts i questioned which i liked. Again not scary but im sure it wasn't supposed to be. To each his own i know, but i have to give it 2.5 out of 5 stars. Well written yes, i just wasn't as hooked as say, cell or bachman's running man. Good read though. On to IT!

[The Paladin of Eld]

I remain torn over the ending. I would have LOVED it had Sai King written the movie ending in his original story, but I hate that they made such a fundamental change to a movie that otherwise stayed very true to the original work.

[91rewoT]

Didn't see the movie, just listened to the audiobook - which was fantastic, IMO. Glad I didn't watch it though, after reading the posts and learning the ending was changed.

[Chuggs]

I am one of those fans I'm afraid. I preferred the slightly more optimist open-ending of the book over the complete pointless and to my opinion tacky ending of the movie. But of course, it's just an opinion

I think that the ending of the movie was a very realistic take on what someone in such a situation might do. It was heartbreaking, but I thought it worked. The books ending is great too. Just my two cents, and maybe a penny thrown in for good measure.

[fushingfeef]

Really though does anyone remember how the original story ended? It is a more open-ended ending that would not be satisfying for having sat through 100 minutes.