Which movie was better as a series and what series was better as a movie?

[Doctor Amadeus]

Which movie was better as a series and what series was better as a movie?

For it comes down to a few different things, first a film in my opinion is meant to be more of an experience condensed down into a shorter format for either summing up the over all plot or setting one up for the future.

Here are my picks for Films that became great as a series, and series that became great as a film.

Film to Series:

1. Stargate Honestly couldn't have been a more perfect match of Sci-Fi, action and suspense. I also like to say it spring boarded it into a successful Franchise and series. I think both by making it a film first it gave a vision of what it should eventually be as a series, and I think at least the first few seasons of SG1 remained faithful to that or tried. I think Limited Series on platforms such as HBO or Showtime now days gives a lot of these kinds of stories the freedom to work. I think Stargate is part of starting that trend.


Series to Film:

1. Star Trek I think in some ways the tie in to the series was always a risk for Stat Trek TOS films, but in some ways I think it really helped flesh out the stories a bit similar to say Harry Potter films except or Marvel films where they were enhanced by reviewing the source material.


Follow up:


What Movie currently would you like to see as a series or what series on now would you like to see as a movie in the future?


Call me Crazy but I can't wait to see Ghostbusters Afterlife and would really love to see if they could make it into a series. I think an established lore could be better fleshed out.


What do you think also don't be afraid to mention some films or series that were a swing and a miss for you when they tried to cross over and why.

[Dread Pirate Phayde]

Honestly I think most would be better served as a series, simply because there is more time to tell your story, especially if you are adapting from something like a novel.

The only movie coming out that I would have preferred been a series, that I can think of at the moment is Dune. The new film will hopefully do a better job adapting the novel, but I think it would have been better served as a GoTesque series.

I also think the main Dragonlance saga would be prime for a series, they tried to do an animated film years ago, with an amazing cast, but 90 minutes (mixed with questionable animation) just couldn't do it justice.

[TheRainman]

TV Series > Movie: Hannibal
Although I liked the original Silence of the Lambs, and Hopkins' performance in it was fantastic, I have grown to prefer Mads Mikkelsen's rendition of Lecter. I also enjoyed Red Dragon, though the movie sharing the series title "Hannibal" was awful.

TV Series > Movie: Aeon Flux
Weird series for sure, that era of MTV was out there, but love the series or not, the movie just didn't capture what the show did.

TV Series> Movie: Avatar - The Last Airbender
Don't watch the movie. Just don't.


Movie > TV Series: Any Batman movie that didn't include George Clooney
Talking live action...the animated series was great.

Movie > TV Series: The Fugitive
Not a whole lot to add here, the movie was just more concise and Harrison Ford killed it.

Movie> TV Series: Maverick
Could be a generational thing, but I liked the movie more than the series. Could be because I strongly dislike Roger Moore.

Movie > TV Series: The most recent Reboot of the Star Trek movies staring Kirk vs Original Series
Shatner got worse and worse the longer he played Kirk, and honestly the original series was just so...absurd and

Just YouTube: Star Trek - Kirk vs. Gorn and you will see my latter point.

I mean...lol


Anyways, that's off the top of my head. I'm sure there are plenty more in both directions.

Edit* - Youtube is ridiculous.

[Indigenously Abled]

Stargate

This immediately popped into my mind before I even opened the thread.

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Movie > TV Series: Any Batman movie that didn't include George Clooney

You almost had me frothing.

Talking live action...the animated series was great.

[schwank05]

I think that Series are better, Id rather see the entire series released at once.

[Doctor Amadeus]

TV Series > Movie: Hannibal
Although I liked the original Silence of the Lambs, and Hopkins' performance in it was fantastic, I have grown to prefer Mads Mikkelsen's rendition of Lecter. I also enjoyed Red Dragon, though the movie sharing the series title "Hannibal" was awful.

TV Series > Movie: Aeon Flux
Weird series for sure, that era of MTV was out there, but love the series or not, the movie just didn't capture what the show did.

TV Series> Movie: Avatar - The Last Airbender
Don't watch the movie. Just don't.


Movie > TV Series: Any Batman movie that didn't include George Clooney
Talking live action...the animated series was great.

Movie > TV Series: The Fugitive
Not a whole lot to add here, the movie was just more concise and Harrison Ford killed it.

Movie> TV Series: Maverick
Could be a generational thing, but I liked the movie more than the series. Could be because I strongly dislike Roger Moore.

Movie > TV Series: The most recent Reboot of the Star Trek movies staring Kirk vs Original Series
Shatner got worse and worse the longer he played Kirk, and honestly the original series was just so...absurd and

Just YouTube: Star Trek - Kirk vs. Gorn and you will see my latter point.

I mean...lol


Anyways, that's off the top of my head. I'm sure there are plenty more in both directions.

Edit* - Youtube is ridiculous.

So in your opinion what does it take for each respective vehicle to be successful or good for a franchise?

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This immediately popped into my mind before I even opened the thread.

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You almost had me frothing.

Yeah Stargate really came along as something different with the film, the series I thought was really ambitious considering as a follow up. However I think they made it work mostly as I said because they were given more freedom with Showtime which Aired SG-1 the series at first. I thought Stargate was really doing something different than other Sci Fi Franchises.

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The Handmaid’s Tale TV series is much better than the movie.

Is the series just better fleshed out as it connects the story to the different elements like character or time and setting?

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This immediately popped into my mind before I even opened the thread.
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You almost had me frothing.

You ever see Equilibrium or Fifth Element. I always wondered about those as well.

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I think that Series are better, Id rather see the entire series released at once.

Yeah, I am, with you on the entire series thing, Netflix has ruined me to that access now.

[Hellobolis]

honestly, recently when i watch series i think "they could have told that story just as well in 25% of the runtime" all the time.

maybe it has something to do with the rise of netflix/hbo and they way they fund series.

especially egregious when a first season has that much filler content, but honestly i think "oh so this season is just to set up the story, there is no actual story yet" often too.

[Weeps]

Movies are good for telling one story.

What I don't like about movies, after years of watching series, is how little time there is for character development. If you loved the first movie and hated the second movie, it is because you enjoyed the character development that was set up in the first movie.

[Shadowferal]

I also think the main Dragonlance saga would be prime for a series, they tried to do an animated film years ago, with an amazing cast, but 90 minutes (mixed with questionable animation) just couldn't do it justice.

We are never going to get that done well. Too well-written; producers could use the books directly as a script. And the acting...might find the talent, but I doubt getting the right director.

[Kokolums]

If every episode of a season of a TV series is released on Netflix at the same moment, is that really a TV series or just a really really long movie?

[Beefhammer]

Which movie was better as a series and what series was better as a movie?

For it comes down to a few different things, first a film in my opinion is meant to be more of an experience condensed down into a shorter format for either summing up the over all plot or setting one up for the future.

Here are my picks for Films that became great as a series, and series that became great as a film.

Film to Series:

1. Stargate Honestly couldn't have been a more perfect match of Sci-Fi, action and suspense. I also like to say it spring boarded it into a successful Franchise and series. I think both by making it a film first it gave a vision of what it should eventually be as a series, and I think at least the first few seasons of SG1 remained faithful to that or tried. I think Limited Series on platforms such as HBO or Showtime now days gives a lot of these kinds of stories the freedom to work. I think Stargate is part of starting that trend.


Series to Film:

1. Star Trek I think in some ways the tie in to the series was always a risk for Stat Trek TOS films, but in some ways I think it really helped flesh out the stories a bit similar to say Harry Potter films except or Marvel films where they were enhanced by reviewing the source material.


Follow up:


What Movie currently would you like to see as a series or what series on now would you like to see as a movie in the future?


Call me Crazy but I can't wait to see Ghostbusters Afterlife and would really love to see if they could make it into a series. I think an established lore could be better fleshed out.


What do you think also don't be afraid to mention some films or series that were a swing and a miss for you when they tried to cross over and why.

Well Stargate had one solid move while Star Trek had many solid and some great movies. SG had 1 good to great series, ST had a few great series.

So ST wins both your questions.

However, both were better as series than their respective movies. There is so much depth and quantity of things to get into, movies just quite can't encapsulate the grandness of either fully.

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If every episode of a season of a TV series is released on Netflix at the same moment, is that really a TV series or just a really really long movie?

A series. Not a hard concept to grasp. While they may film it all together like a movie the are produced to be episodic not one long movie cut up into smaller viewing parts.

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Movies are good for telling one story.

What I don't like about movies, after years of watching series, is how little time there is for character development. If you loved the first movie and hated the second movie, it is because you enjoyed the character development that was set up in the first movie.

Are you talking going from series to movie or just movie to movie in sequels?

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honestly, recently when i watch series i think "they could have told that story just as well in 25% of the runtime" all the time.

maybe it has something to do with the rise of netflix/hbo and they way they fund series.

especially egregious when a first season has that much filler content, but honestly i think "oh so this season is just to set up the story, there is no actual story yet" often too.

Part of the problem is the antiquated paid tv format along with shows lasting 20-40(old days) episodes. They needed filler and thus had the time to slowly flesh out characters and present interesting arcs.

Today it seems like 8-10 episodes is all creators get(maybe that's all they want), so a lot of the fluff and character development gets shelved to tell the main story. Sometimes it works, more often it doesn't. I mean X-files would have been boring as fuck if it were just 2 seasons(if there was even that much) that only focused on the conspiracies and aliens stuff. Scully and Mulder would have never grown as people or never gotten close to each other. Or they may have but it would have seem shallow and rushed. I the case of WandaVision it works because the main characters have been fleshed out by the movies and this is a bridge to something else.

[exochaft]

Movies are good for telling one story.

What I don't like about movies, after years of watching series, is how little time there is for character development. If you loved the first movie and hated the second movie, it is because you enjoyed the character development that was set up in the first movie.

I think your disdain is actually the result of terrible writing and what's passed off as a good movie nowadays. While there are time constraints with a movie that a series generally doesn't have in terms of development of characters, there are many movies where the character development is done well or in a manner that fits with the movie model. Much of mainstream cinema (series are not exempt) has devolved into CGI, memberberries, and political/social platforming replacing solid writing because people accept it and pay for it.

That being said, I'm trying to think of a series <-> movie scenario that hasn't been mentioned yet. Unfortunately, any series that comes to mind are lost to obscurity, as the resulting series was based upon a movie that hit popularity... but the series was made purely for making quick money and not crafting a good narrative. Also, we're reaching a hybrid scenario in this day and age where content is being developement in the middle: one-shot episodic features that are longer than a movie but shorter than a standard series run. As someone already mentioned rather tongue-in-cheek concerning Netflix and the release of an entire series at once, in some aspects this is actually true.

Anyways, I can think of some where they're equal or good in their respective genres: the original Karate Kid movies and Cobra Kai, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie and series by Whedon (although the series might have an edge over time, but the movie has its own charm).

[Coolascancer]

His Dark materials is a much better series than the golden compass movie

[Ivanstone]

Batman. Series > Movies

The series stars the real Batman. A fun loving costumed hero fighting delightfully over the top villains.

The movies have a "Batman" but its just some appalling edgelord in a bat-inspired costume.

Justice League. Series > Movie

Ok there isn't a real live action JL series but all of the Arrowverse shows are effectively the Justice League and their cross overs are much better than the actual Justice League movie.

[Fencers]

Star Wars is the only thing that comes to mind. I think all but two of the Star Wars films are poor, but the SW series have been decent to good mostly.