Stupid Hollywood

I had thought they were learning. Harry Potter is recognizable; Lord of the Rings was not too far from the source; the Christian Bale "Batman" movies are very close to the comics; "300" is the comic, panel for panel.

I had some hope for "Without Remorse", a Tom Clancy book, being made into a movie.

Um, dash all hope all who enter here?

The book is set in 1970. The movie will be set in today.

When I am reading the synopsis of the screenplay you can see all the plot holes that are introduced by setting it today rather than in 1970.

The rescue mission in 1970 is of a Wild Weasel pilot who's been declared dead by the Vietnamese and is being interrogated secretly. The Admirals and CIA have a strong motive to rescue this guy and using the military is not incongruous. Today the Robin Zacharias character is some CIA operative being held by Generic Middle Eastern Terrorist Organization (GMETO) in Indonesia. Using our military in Indonesia to rescue a CIA dude does not survive suspension of disbelief.

Kelly being a former SEAL works in both settings. His vendetta against the drug dealers works in both. The 1970 version is more artful, heroin smuggled inside US servicemen's corpses. "American Gangster" even told us the story of a real drug dealer who did this in real life!

I am not sure why they felt the need to change the setting so radically. I just have the same sense of dread I had since "Clear and Present Danger" about Hollywood and Tom Clancy.