As a consumer of visual media and not at all involved in any creation of visual media, I can imagine striking the balance of creating a version of a written story that works for a visual medium while remaining faithful to the source material, is an almost Herculean, if not Sisyphean task.
That being said, there are a few examples of adaptations done spectacularly right, where the visual medium truly embodies and encapsulates the original story’s spirit, even if it’s not exactly accurate. The thing with adaptations is that they have to be adapted, as the name suggests, and the best examples are those that keep the bits that work and work around the ones that don’t.
Before I get into that, there are some Substack authors you should definitely check out every Friday for Sci-Fi content:
Rudy Fischmann BrianAlfred1983 Carla Pettigrew Jeff Kinnard Kathryn Vercillo Alex S. Garcia Michael S. Atkinson Alejandro Piad Morffis Hefty Matters Scoot radicaledward Lausanne Davis Carpenter Cole Noble Jordan Moloney Edward Rooster John Coon Raptor VelocityCheck out Sci-Friday’s goth sibling too. Macabre Monday
Here are some of my favourite adaptations of Sci-Fi novels.
Blade Runner (1982)
As I remember it, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is quite different from Blade Runner. I’d seen the movie first and went back to read the novel. It wasn’t what I expected it to be, but it made me realise how much of a work of art Blade Runner was.
Yes, it strayed from the source material and invented story beats and characters and scenes, but Ridley Scott’s treatment of the source material was nothing if not reverential. All of its constituent parts script, cinematography, score, came together to create something special, inspired by Philip K. Dick’s original novel, but not beholden to it.
The Expanse
I’ve spoken a lot about The Expanse recently on Substack. And now, I’m gonna talk about it some more.
In contrast to Blade Runner, The Expanse TV show is one of the most accurate adaptations I’ve ever seen. Very few things were changed for the show. A couple of minor characters were smushed together, a few plot points shifted around a little. Maybe that’s because of the style in which the novels are written, that they just translate to screen very well. Perhaps it’s because the authors (Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck (collectively James S.A. Corey)) were as involved with the production of the show as they were.
Either way, the result is an undeniably faithful adaptation that speaks to the quality of the source material while bringing it to life in a new format.
On a side note, the novels are not only some of the best modern science fiction on the shelves, but they are a masterclass in world-building and character development. The setting Corey created is one of the most well-considered extrapolated futures I’ve come across, and it’s a real treat to see that universe on screen.
The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
Another Philip K. Dick adaptation worth mentioning, and one that
wrote about last month, is this retelling of a somewhat reigned-in short story. While the short story is fairly minimal, it deals with some lofty concepts, most notably that of free will.Sometimes, an adaptation can take the core idea of a story and run with it to create something new and exciting without diminishing the source. The Adjustment Bureau is a great example of this. It tells the same story as the short but elevates it to a popcorn movie-worthy status, complete with a sweeping romance that challenges the concept of illusory free will, and action scenes for those that like the kinds of movies that have actors like Matt Damon running a lot.
Dune (2021)
You probably knew this one was coming.
Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation is a triumph in many ways. The movie is brimming with spectacle and dripping with lore, and it tells the story (or part of the story) without getting caught up in either.
I, personally, can’t say the same for Frank Herbert’s original novel. I did enjoy the book, but jeez Louise, does the whole book not consist of Paul Atreides going to a place and thinking about stuff.
The adaptation, however, is something that deserves every bit of the praise it got. Especially for the otherworldly score and the award-winning sound design.
Altered Carbon (Season 1)
Almost every adaptation amalgamated a couple of characters into one, and Altered Carbon is no exception. It’s as if there’s an agreed-upon sentiment in movie and TV production spheres that believes there are just too many characters in books. Why don’t authors write fewer characters?!
That aside, this is an excellent adaptation of a great story, in a setting that is genuinely interesting and exciting to see on screen.
Oh, the reason I added the ‘season 1’ caveat is because the showrunners actually took the first book and adapted that story into something that worked really well on TV in all its gritty, neo-noire glory. The second season is a bit of a different story. Literally. They took bits and pieces from the following books and smashed them together into what turned out to be a bit of an incoherent, uninspired hodgepodge that just didn’t work.
Leave your favourite Sci-Fi adaptations in the comments and tell me why you recommend them!
I was just talking about how Philip K Dick's novels seem to translate the best to the big screen, out of all sci-fi authors. It's really a crazy impressive body of work, from Total Recall to the Man in the High Castle, that's a disgustingly sick range.
Great list! Your comments about Dune mirrors my own experience. I've read the book twice but can't say I really enjoyed the experience either time, which felt borderline blasphemous because it's considered a sacred sci-fi text. But the film took the best parts and elevated the story.