DaVinci Code: Read the Book & Watched the Movie -- Thoughts?

Ok this thread is dedicated to the members who have already read the book & watched the movie.

Not to discuss the validity of DaVinci Code
Not to debate whether or not it goes against any religion, cult, secret society etc.

I am merely trying to have a thread where members can compare and contrast the book to the movie.


Possible Spoilers!


I read the book in about 48 hours, was absolutely captivated and amazed. The way the book carried me through from the opening scene to its breathtaking conclusion was well done. The book is deffinately something everybody should take the time to read.

Now the movie I thought was better than good, but not as good as the book. The movie is going to seem to fall short, simply because the book was so damn good. I watched it today and was impressed, but left alittle empty. My girlfriend who had not read the book absolutely loved the movie. So in my opinion, those who have not read the book are going to love DaVinci for the movie alone, but those who have read the book are going to see the movie coming up alittle short.

I thought certain aspects that Brown tied up perfectly in the book, were left alittle loose on the part of Howard and Grazer.

My main complaint of the movie, was that it breezed over aspects that made the book so great. The opening scenes in the Louvre was only a matter of minutes in the film, I was slightly dissapointed when I realized this.

Looking back I seem to have more complaints than applause for the movie, which might not be a fair indication because I really did enjoy the film. But in this members opinion, the film does not top the book in this case.

Any other members view the movie & read the book? What are your thoughts on the two?

If you have not read the book or saw the movie, please refrain from posting for now. I really hope to have an open discussion on both aspects of DaVinci.

I thought over-all it was a fairly good movie. At the beginning it was moving a little slowly, but once it picked up it was great. For those who haven't read the books, however, may have a hard time understanding it. So in order to view the movie to it's fullest, I think it's necessary to have read the book. Other than that, I think it was a great movie. Better than what I expected after seeing it's average rating was a 48/100. It was seeing actual scenery from the book, and comparing them to how I viewed them in my head.

DH...

Did you feel that alot of major details were kind of skipped in the film? Not entirely skipped, but little emphasis put on them. The code on the Louvre floor, (Oh Draconian Devil.. etc) was in the movie for only mere seconds. In the book, this was alittle prolonged and had me at the edge of my seat.

Im realizing that my criticisms of the film, are not exactly against the film itself. I was just dissapointed that certain aspects were not focused on alittle more.

Although we could of ended up with a LOTR Trilogy if Howard had of focused on every little detail.

I have not seen the movie yet. But have you ever watched a movie after reading the book and not felt let down.

Read the book, saw the movie. Thought they were both good. Actually, I think I might've had a hard time following what was going on in the movie had I not read the book first.

I think it's one of those things where if the subject matter interests you, the movie would be a positive experience, even if you haven't read the book. If you read the book and didn't like it, I'd say save your money and wait for the DVD, if you see it at all.

If you haven't read any of Brown's work, I'd recommend reading Angels & Demons first, then The DaVinci Code, then see the movie.

BTW, if you saw and liked DaVinci Code, rent National Treasure. I love that movie.

Good recommendation on National Treasure. I enjoyed that movie and they aren't that far from one another. Minus the religious aspect.

Angels and Demons is something I plan on reading this week.

Be prepared to be hooked. In my opinion, it's a better read, and more absorbing, than DaVinci Code.

The book is always better then the movie. We should not compare the movie to the book, but compare this movie with other movies based on books.

I think that this one turned out great.
Dan Brown's book is loaded with details and it was difficult to chose which ones to shorten or omit entirely and still keep the main plot line going. They managed to do it quite well, I think. Actually it is one of the best book adaptations I have seen so far.

Sometimes this fails miserably, example: Sum Of All Fears or Timeline. Both books are amazing, specially Crichton's Timeline, fantastic book. Movies were not that great, some major plot elements were totaly left out.

Another thing I noticed was that people laughed during the movie, just like the all-mighty Cannes Film Festival folks, only they laughed at actual jokes in the movie, which were quite funny! Maybe Cannes critics didn't even realise those things are supposed to be funny

Ian McKellen's preformance was briliant. He was exactly like I pictured Sir Leigh Teabing while reading the book. Paul Bettany (Silas) was fantastic too.
I was skeptical about Hanks as Langdon though, but after seeing the movie I think he really did a great job.


So to sum it up, I loved both the book and the movie.

i liked the movie

but heres the thing, when hollywood makes a movie based on a book, it will ALWAYS fall short. look at starship troopers. that movie fell way short of being anything as good as the book.