I went to see V For Vendetta last night. Excellent, just excellent in many ways, although I think a lot of the enjoyment stems from seeing something I really liked in book form made into a movie which seemed to capture everything I liked about it. The movie just seemed like as faithful an adaptation as it would be possible to make, every scene straight from the book.
I came home, thumbed through my copy and realized that I just don't remember the book at all. None of the scenes track from the book. Individual moments, yes, but pacing and scene length and placement have been completely reworked. I couldn't believe how much was changed structurally, and yet it all seemed completely faithful. That's how you adapt someone else's work, buddy. I'm even more impressed than I was watching it. I'm going to give it a thorough read through, then do the imax thing later this week.
Also, the one thing I definitely remembered not being adapted from the book was a scene where V lays out the basic tenets of philosophical anarchy. I remembered the scene being about a 2 to 3 page discussion. In reality, Moore devotes exactly 2 panels at the bottom of one page to it.
