Essay Database

Good Book, Bad Movie There have been many book to movie conversions, yet Rising Sun by Michael Crichton was one that had gone horribly wrong. Rising Sun, in addition to being a gripping mystery/thriller, functioned as a scathing attack on American apathy to Japanese economic aggression. In fact, in his afterward to the novel, Crichton says, "The Japanese are not our saviors. They are our competitors. We should not forget it." Statements like these …

…a bit too much "Hollywood" added, and a long, drawn-out scene with Snipes and Carrere that's pointless. Apparently the writers wanted to solve the one outstanding mystery of the film in the most idiotic way possible. In the final analysis, Rising Sun is yet another book-to-movie conversion that loses something in the translation. This is one adaptation that could have been done better but limitation on the audiences attention span just would not permit it.