re: 3 Body Problem - Netflix

quote:

---

It's a running theme with film adaptation of books. Every director is terrified of doing a proper job. They instinctively are moved to change things here and there, to put their own spin on a story. And that's in the best scenario. Worse, we get those who don't respect or even hate the source...

The best book readers can hope for is the overall theme of the story is kept even if some things are added or altered.

---

I just finished the Chinese adaptation, free on Prime, which reportedly is pretty close to the book (I haven't read it). There were some pretty significant changes made to the Netflix series, but I don't hate most of them if your goal is to make this a main stream show for Western audiences.

The biggest difference was time and the friend group of main characters. The Chinese version was 30 episodes and I believe it just covered book 1. The Netflix version was 8 episodes and it jumped ahead to use information from other books. I don't feel like the Chinese version had filler, but they focused on things that made it a lot more SciFi genre and not aimed at the main stream.

The friend group of main characters is nothing like the Chinese version. But I don't hate the choice for Western audiences, especially if you only have 8 episodes to tell the story vs. 30. The Chinese version brought a bunch of strangers together but they did form relationships as they went along because they had time to.

A few other key differences:

The handling of the Judgement Day in the Panama Canal. In the Netflix version they made the betrayers of humanity seem innocent and sympathetic and made using lethal force on them a moral dilemma. In the Chinese version they went out of their way to dirty them up even more. They weren't just betrayers of humanity that hated humans, they also worked with despicable, blood thirsty Western mercenaries. I'm not saying killing them wasn't a big deal, it did seem to impact the scientist behind the nano fiber some, but it wasn't like the Netflix version. In the Chinese version the nano fiber killing every single person on board silently and quickly before they could sound the alarm and destroy the data was what made it a good plan.

Wall facer, space brain, I guess they're coming in future seasons, but they weren't in the first season of the Chinese version.

Look and Feel. The Netflix version felt like an extended movie, the Chinese version felt like a KDrama. I don't see that as an insult to the Chinese version at all, it just wasn't as slick and shiny, focuses more on story and character development, and there are subtitles.

For those wondering which to watch, I've actually liked both. If you like scifi and can handle subtitles, I'd give the Chinese version a shot, even if you've already seen the Netflix version.