The book is terrific, though. And NOTHING like any of those awful movies.
The thing is, to turn a good novel into a good movie is more work that making either a good novel or a good movie. I think the two different mediums have their own type of stories that they can only tell well. I think its rare that one story is able to be told well in both mediums. It's either going to be crap or just turn out a lot different, and you are then always going to have someone complaining either way.
I probably should read the novel at some point, but on its own, I enjoyed the movie, but then again I'm probably missing a lot more when it comes to movies than yourself.
Hey I even
enjoyed the new Star Wars Trilogy.