Has anyone read the novelisation?
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Habu974 — 19 years ago(October 22, 2006 09:19 PM)
I remember being a little irritated that the novelisation was a little cheaper and cornier than the film - a few Joan D Vinge touches that grate on the eye. A few things about Phillipe, and the character of Imperius. Whether they were Joan's changes or in the screenplay and then changed for the movie is anyone's guess.
I noticed the differences - Phillipe's lies, pinching the jewel, and the Bishop changing into a wolf at the end. Nowhere near as good as the filmed ending
As for getting the novel, it was in my local lending library from 1985 and I never thought to search for it when the movie was shown here on TV in 1990, and I rented it on VHS after that. Then bought copies once they were available - it was rereleased on VHS in 1995 and on DVD a few years ago.
Very much a 'curl up with your honey on the sofa of a friday night after a steak and pasta meal' type of movie!
It's interesting how different a tone the trailer on the DVD has, compared to the film. You'd get quite a different impression of what to expect if you didn't know the film.
I eventually photocopied the novelisation complete from the library copy when I found it to my surprise in the library catalogue in the middle 1990s.
Plus the photos were good too. There was no amazon or eBay back then!
Irritating that I had never thought to look for it in the catalogue system before that!
Ian, Tasmania
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runswithscissors86 — 17 years ago(March 02, 2009 09:51 AM)
Yup, I have an old and treasured copy, which I have taped and laminated many times, and no one is allowed to borrow it! I was always interested in how it would have looked if the Bishop had become the old, scrawny wolf at the endwonder if it was ever shot that way and is deleted footage somewhere??
Screws fall out all the time, the world is an imperfect place.
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IFeelPossessed — 15 years ago(March 23, 2011 01:43 PM)
I still have my copy from the 80's. I love the book (not read it for years though), and love the film just as much. It's on film 4 now, and I must admit the soundtrack does sound more than a little dated!!!
I'm wondering now whether the film was made before the book or if the book was written first - or they were created in conjunction with each other.does anyone know? -
Clusium — 15 years ago(March 23, 2011 08:50 PM)
I think the movie may have been written first. I must confess, I didn't like how it ended in the book(with Philipe stealing a gem out from Navarre sword, when he knew how much it meant to him, & giving it to woo some girl).
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Seymour-Pats — 14 years ago(April 13, 2011 10:38 PM)
It is a novelisation of the movie. The movie was made first and the novel was written after it, and intended to accompany the movie. The movie was actually made in 1983, but didn't get released until 1985 (which is when the book came out too).
Having a companion novel based on a movie isn't particularly uncommon, and was recently done with Red Riding Hood. The author of Red Riding Hood wrote it based on the screenplay, and that's why it diverges. The same thing might have happened here. -
wherever — 14 years ago(April 25, 2011 01:35 AM)
Ladyhawke was my favorite movie as a teenager. I saw it in the theater more than once and I had the novelization, which I read over and over.
One thing about the novelization that I think must have been in the original script but cut out of the movie, was the rest of the conversation between Isabeau and Phillipe after they were chased by the trapper in the forest. The next day Navarre says "Tell me everything she said. And I warn you, I will know if the words are hers" and Phillipe goes on to say "She talked about the day you met, and she cursed it". And when I saw the movie, I thought he was still making things up because we had not seen her actually say that, but in the book she did. So I'm thinking it was in the script and either was never filmed or was filmed and ended up on the cutting room floor. I wish they had left it in, it would have been nice to see that moment with Isabeau and Phillipe. -
Seymour-Pats — 14 years ago(April 28, 2011 03:36 AM)
I'm not sure it was in the script and cut out. I think the book was written from the movie, not from the screenplay. The movie came out two years after it was filmed, and the book was released at that time. Therefore, it seems that the movie would have been available to the writer of the novelisation.
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Cacri — 13 years ago(September 13, 2012 01:35 PM)
I had a copy of the book years ago and it dissapeared from my house. God only knows. Anyway I liked the fact that in the book you can see Phillipe getting together with a girl, after apparently "taking" one of the stones from Navarre's sword. I wish this had been in the movie.
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CGSailor — 9 years ago(October 29, 2016 10:55 AM)
I wonder if the Imperius in the novel was the original plan for the character in the original screenplay, and that this was later calmed down by Leo McKern or Richard Donner to create the character we know from the film. Perhaps Joan D. Vinge decided to amplify Imperius bitterness to emphasise his grief at what he had done, and to also create more of a contrast between his and Phillipes relationship when they first meet to how it is at the end
I have not read the novelization for Ladyhawke, But I have read a large number of various film novelizations as well are original scripts of various films.
Here's my take on the two possibilities
The Author of a novelization rarely if ever "alters" anything from a film into something else for the novel. They "add to" by way of fleshing out parts in more detail and adding in what has been skipped over for film length and pacing but rarely will they alter anything.
Scripts on the other hand are constantly being revised even as shooting is taking place. Rarely is there ever a "final draft" of a script as much is altered on the fly by the director or ad libbed by the actor.
So of the two proposals you wondered about, The far most likely is that the more bitter Imperious you see in the Novelization is the original intent and the softer Imperious we see on screen, was revised during shooting, script revisions since the script the novelization was taken from, or by the actor himself and his artistic leeway.
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