Discuss Murder on the Orient Express
Discuss → Movies → Murder on the Orient Express → General
Is the story/conclusion exactly the same as before?
posted by HarrySkywalkerSTAFFMOD on November 9, 2017 at 10:02 PM
Just say yes or no, don't put SPOILERS.
Didn't they change the story? Is everything all the same regarding previous versions of this movie?
Reply by thebarnman
on December 5, 2017 at 12:49 AM
The movie wasn't bad; it was just the very end that made the whole movie suck.
It was the ending on how they acted out the murder (and finding out who did it) along with no justice.
Reply by Philippe LeMarchand
on December 5, 2017 at 5:29 AM
A man who kidnapped and killed a child, an act that led to the death of both parents and their unborn child as well as their nursemaid, was killed as punishment for his crimes. Even Poirot couldn't decide whether it was just to let the police know who committed the crime or to let them go free.
Reply by Renovatio
on December 5, 2017 at 7:42 AM
Wasn't the execution of the ending different?
i have to rewatch the 1974 version, but i think the ending was less confrontational in the sense that Poirot doesn't come out and acuse everyone, rather he alludes to each person's involvement... Also, I don't remember them coming clean and confessing at the end in the original... More was left unsaid between Poirot and the train people, even though it was understood and the conclusions are the same...
I think the more confrontational, on-the-nose ending, with confessions and Poirot explaining how he feels and his decision not to report them is intentional... it is more symptomatic of the literalist culture we live in and the current mood for mob justice... Or am I reaching with that last bit?
Reply by Philippe LeMarchand
on December 5, 2017 at 8:26 AM
I can't remember much of the '74 adaptation, but Wikipedia suggests the typical "gathering of the suspects" but no confession followed by an unhappy Poirot agreeing to "turn a blind eye". Same source suggests a confession in the book (but doesn't mention Poirot's state of mind). Can't recall if there was a confession in the Suchet version, but there was certainly plenty of the feels from Poirot.
Reply by thebarnman
on December 5, 2017 at 2:30 PM
Your statement is dead on.
Reply by thebarnman
on December 5, 2017 at 3:10 PM
That tells me how much I was paying attention. I thought everyone on the train was pissed at him because of fake rugs they bought, and all of them somehow colluded to be on the same train as him (the seller) for the murder. That alone made the plot really stupid to me, but I was still in for the ride. I also thought it was coincidence they just happened to know or somehow be associated with the family members who all were either killed or died...I didn't make the connection and still don't understand the connection the people on the train had with those who perished; even though they explained that in the movie. What I did find interesting however is how they used true events (the original kidnapping) for part of the storyline in the movie, since I do remember learning about that incident some years ago. That would have been a more recent event for movie audiences in 1974, and even more recent for those who originally read the book.
Still; the lynch mob mentality of those people is no better than those who chased after those who were accused of something and hung. If the lynch mob knew who is responsible; the police would eventually come around. But even at that; I was still in for the ride.
Yes; it's just a movie (originally a story in a book.) However, the way the murder was depicted on the big screen with everyone lined all taking a stab at him...one at a time...till they all had their chance in doing him in left me in a state of disbelief. What's interesting about all of this; is when it comes to movies...I'm very quickly and easily (even at the starting credits which easily triggers me) to a state of suspension of disbelief. It's part of the fun of a movie. Hardly anything ever takes me out of that suspension except of course when the movie ends. The recreation of that murder scene jolted me out of that suspension of disbelief so fast it was like a realization of how silly the whole premise was from the start. Watching the rest of the end of that movie (at least for me) was hard to do since from that murder scene and on; nothing made sense because the movie lost me at that one point.
All the action movies with their unbelievable stunts; outrageous action scenes, unrealistic destruction of whole cities; incredible getaways and whatnot never takes me out of that suspension of belief. It took only that one scene in "Murder on the Orient Express" to jolt me out of it.
Reply by HarrySkywalker
on December 14, 2017 at 2:01 AM
That happens all the time.
Just copying the source is ridiculous.
Reply by HarrySkywalker
on December 14, 2017 at 2:03 AM
If you love to watch the same crap over and over again then that's your problem.
And these kind of movies are awesome due to their unexpected endings. Putting everything the same is ludicrous and redundant.
Reply by Philippe LeMarchand
on December 14, 2017 at 4:34 AM
If you want to watch something original, why are you bothering with remakes and adaptations?
Reply by HarrySkywalker
on December 16, 2017 at 10:18 PM
I just don't want copy-pastes of older movies. Then why bothering with remakes?
And you just mentioned adaptations... You know that you just proved I was right, right?
Reply by Philippe LeMarchand
on December 17, 2017 at 4:46 AM
No, because your post doesn't make sense.
There was a now-removed discussion on here where someone was upset that Le Fou in the recent live action "Beauty & the Beast" showed interest in a man at the end of the film; if people get upset about things like that which don't even change the plot of the film, it proves my point that people involved in remakes will be criticised whichever way they go as to "faithfulness" to the original/
Reply by Renovatio
on December 17, 2017 at 6:07 AM
Why perform Shakespeare over and over again? Why not record it once and just have it on streaming?
A big part of cinema is the theatrical experience... Seeing a newly released movie in the theatre is very different than your "tiny" 65 inch TV...
Reply by HarrySkywalker
on December 17, 2017 at 9:17 PM
No, it's YOUR Post that makes absolutely no sense.
Poirot movies have the particular aspect of the endings being the best and most exciting parts of the movies.
Not changing anything at all makes the movie redundant and irrelevant for many people. That's why there's adaptations. They keep changing things many times.
Reply by HarrySkywalker
on December 17, 2017 at 9:17 PM
What a terrible analogy.
Reply by HarrySkywalker
on December 17, 2017 at 9:17 PM
What a terrible analogy.