I know there is a few readers on here and there is a regular gimme a book to read stuff.
Has anybody read Lee Childs Jack Reacher stuff? ex soldier lives on the streets kinda thing, gentle giant, equalizer cum a-team type character. In the books he’s a 6′ 4″ ex military police hard guy, just read online somewhere that Tom Cruise is due to play him in a movie.

Now I know people always say that films are not books there entirley different things, but please Tom Cruise?

On to a wider point then, which book have you read then the film has been made and the central or an important character has been totally micast in your opinion of course!

DiCaprio in The Beach.

I am Legend.

Oh god, every time I hear about cruise playing reacher I despair. Could have been such good films, but patently going to suck.

I am legend was just a totally different story wasn’t it? Apart from the post apocalyptic vampires bit and the title it might as well have had nothing to do with the book.

Just finished reading ‘the running man’ which is another one that bears little resemblance. God help us if they ever sell the rights to any gemmell books…

All of the versions of Wallander. Most of the versions of Rebus.

But the Ultimate Miscasting Award must surely go to Sylvester Stallone for his Judge Dredd.

And that’s a bit harsh on Tom Cruise he waa actually quite a good actor before he went all funny religious. Born on the Fourth of July.

Worst casting. Ever.

Child says that Reacher’s height and size are merely a metaphor, and Cruise brings his own version of unstoppability to the part. I’m guessing that’s another metaphor, for shitloads of cash.

Looks like Cruise is hopeful of turning this into another action film franchise – with a bit of luck it’ll die at the box office. Knew it’ll be bad when I saw the driving in the first trailer, first thing I thought of was that Reacher could barely drive a car.

After Neeson’s Taken roles I could kind of seen him doing it, but tom bloody cruise???
he was ok in samurai but everything else he’s done should be on the bonfire.

I read a James Elroy book years ago and then saw James Woods play the lead in an awful film, way off course

I saw a trailer for the Reacher film at Bond today, just seemed like another mindless action romp.

I hate watching films of books. There’s no way you can capture all the subtle details of the original book in a film, no matter how good. The film version of Empire of the Sun springs to mind.

ditto Dicaprio in The Beach. Wolverine X-Men. ‘Sposed to be stocky little old Canuck. The hippie shotgun guy at the end of ‘The Road’

Best Tom Cruise role was Magnolia. I think he’s a good actor – and he never spoils action films for me. Just kind of neutral everyman type. Not in real life obviously.

Rebus? John Hannah was poor but Ken Stott is pretty much perfect.

Really enjoyed the Reacher books but got to agree. A big deal is made in them about Jack Reachers size. I won’t be watching the midget.

I like stott, he fits for me. I asked Rankin once what he thought of the actors and he kinda ducked and asked what I thought. He had just signed about 100 paperbacks for my sisters bookshop so was possibly short on words.

I was thinking Liam Neeson would be a better Jack Reacher as well.

But the Ultimate Miscasting Award must surely go to Sylvester Stallone for his Judge Dredd.

I hear he’s slated for title role in the US remake of Billy Elliot

Damnation Alley. I guess nobody on here has seen it, but it totally blows goats. In Zelazney’s original story, the central character is Hell Tanner, the last of the Hell’s Angels, press-ganged by the local government to run life-saving drugs to the other side of America after a devastating nuclear war.
In the film, however, the character was a clean-cut, ex-military all-American hero. Zelazney’ was furious, and had all reference to himself removed from the film.
I’d love to see a remake, Ron Pearlman would be perfect for the lead rôle.