IT

[StickWarrior]

Did anyone read this book then watch the movie? There's more differnces then The Warriors!  I really like this book and I couldn't put it down. Did anyone else read it, how long did it take? I read it in a about a week. (many sleepless nights on that one)

[Storm86]

yea I read it a while back, took me a few months because it was so long I just got bored after a while but kept picking it back up. yes there are many many differences, but the movie was made for TV and therefore they couldn't put a lot of the stuff from the book in it

[Luther]

i never got a chance to read the book. by the time i was old enough to care for books, it'd dissappeared

i do happen to own IT on DVD though, great film. still gives me the creeps

[Marlboroprojects]

Yes, there are many differences between the book and the movie (just as with The Stand), mainly due to the length of the novel at some 1500 odd pages. Still, I thought this was a great translation of a Stephen King novel, as most movies made from his books just plain suck. Also keep in mind that this was made for tv even before NYPD Blue broke down the barriers of what could or could not be said or shown on network tv.


Some of the main differences:


* The kiddie sex scene. This wasn't gonna be in even if it was a theatrical release cause no movie will show a bunch of 11 year old boys gang banging an 11 year old girl. I won't rant on King like alot of people over this part of the book but I still can't really figure out why he had to include it.

* The "turtle that vomited up the universe". I thought this was a useless sub plot in the book and I'm glad it was left out of the movie.

* The pacing of the book vs. the movie. In the book, it switches between the kids vs. it and the adults vs. it right up to the very end. This is done because in the book, the adults don't remember everything about their childhood right up till the final battle with It. The movie is more half kids/half adults.

* In the movie, everyone except Beverly has a different encounter with It. They are also much scarier than in the movie. Eddie sees it as a leper at an old abandoned house (not in the shower like the movie), Ritchie and Big Bill are together in Georgie's room when the picture winks at them and the book starts to drip blood. Ben sees It as a mummy. Mike sees it as a giant bird.

* There is a whole part in the book where all the kids melt down some silver dollars and cast them into ball bearings in Bill's father's workshop to make ammo to use against It. In the movie ritchie just gives them a pair of his mother's earings.

* The kids first battle with It is not in the sewer but in the abandoned house where Eddie saw the leper. It comes as the Teenage Werewolf and this is when Bev shoots It in the head with the slingshot and It dives back down the drain.

* In the book, the kids do some sort of Indian ritual where they sit in a smoke filled room until they start to hallucinate. They then have a vision & learn It is an Alien that came to earth millions of years ago.


There are lots of other small differences, but like I said, most of what needed to be accomplished in the story was done well in the movie.

[Ranchgal]

Thank you Marlboro--I have never read the book, but now I may have to, I have a thing about werewolves anyway. LOL
I enjoyed your synopsis, and comparisons. 
I do watch the movie when it is on, but haven't ever made a special effort to figure it out, like knowing about the alien thing though, interesting.

[Ben]

It is probably my all time favorite book.

* The "turtle that vomited up the universe". I thought this was a useless sub plot in the book and I'm glad it was left out of the movie.

Please tell me you're joking..  I'm also glad it was left out of the movie because I doubt they could hae done it well on screen but the way the mythos of It & The Turtle worked in the book was brilliant.

[Cowboy Is Cool]

Yeah, the movie has terrified me since I was a little kid, but the book is even worse!

The most brutal part, in my opinion, was when

*SPOILERS*

Patrick Hockstetter got attacked by the flying leeches. DAMN that was brutal! The detail was so good, but it actually made me feel a little sick. Like when King describes how a leech got him in the eye, and how one blew up in his mouth. Ugh. I would love to see that scene in the movie though. Patrick's character was completely changed for the movie. :doubt: