Martian ChroniclesThe Book The Movie essays

Martian ChroniclesThe Book The Movie essays The Martian Chronicles, written in 1950, was produced in 1979 as a made-for- television mini-series. As with most adapted screenplays, the movie differs from the novel. These differences are not that drastic and do not circumvent the overlying message of the piece. The first noted difference is the opening scene of the movie. It begins with the landing of the Viking probe on Mars. This change is possibly an attempt to explain away the results of the Viking probe. The audience of the 1970s knew that the Viking probe had given definite proof that life on Mars did not exist. This gives the audience the ability to relate to the movie more than the The Rocket Summer scene of the novel. In the book, Bradbury writes of the launching of rockets actually affecting the climate around the launch area. By the 1970s, it was evident that such an event was in no way feasible. These changes enable the modern day audience to more readily associate with the movie. Another difference is the use of a mission control in the movie. The book deals mainly with the expeditions on Mars themselves. The Taxpayer scene is the only place that Bradbury tries to give the reader an idea of what the human response to the expeditions was. The mission control scenes offer the audience a way to connect with the movie. Mission control may have been used to make up for the inadequate narrative used in the movie. Bradburys vivid narration is what pulls the readers into the book and the movie could not make full use of this very effective tool. So, often the changes made were a result of the producers not being able to effectively relate the novel to film. The changing times also influenced the changes in the movie. The use of a black Spender may have been a direct result of the social changes that had occurred between the 50s and the 70s. In the 50s, this may have met with strong resistan ...