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Logan 5
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The title says it all. I've been trying to find a list of all the 80's movies that had novelisation’s written. Because it looks like such a list doesn't exist, we should try and make it here!

Just to clarify, the list should be books that would never have existed without the film itself. You can give honourable mention to books that have been forgotten because of the films success (i.e.: 'First Blood'), and you can stray into other decades if you like, but let's try and keep it focused on the 80's (for the 70's list see here: 70's Movie Novelisations - The Big List!.

**EXPANDED LIST BELOW**

[ 02. April 2011, 13:21: Message edited by: Logan 5 ]

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Chris the CandyFanMan
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The library in town has the novelization for Dead Poet's Society.
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AdventuresInGooniesitting
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I know for a fact that there is an Adventures in Babysitting novelization. I've known about it since grade school, and I often see copies on eBay.

[ 03. February 2008, 02:03: Message edited by: AdventuresInGooniesitting ]

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evilash
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Battle of Endor
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intothesea13
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Friday the 13th Part 3 if you can believe it. Hilarious if you're a fan of those movies, which I am (shamefully).
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phatpants
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I have Howard the Duck by Ellis Weiner...and no, I'm not kidding! That is the author's name!
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Ronnie
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i was thinking about getting the one for ALIENS. (covers parts 1, 2 & 3).
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Logan 5
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It's worth pointing out that many of these books would be based on an early draft or the actual shooting script (before final edits). Therefore the books themselves can have scenes that were shot but never released, or scenes that they decided not to film at the last minute ('Back to the Future', 'Goonies' and 'Explorers' spring to mind). So if you're fans of any the films mentioned... pick up the novel!

**EXPANDED LIST BELOW**

[ 24. February 2009, 12:05: Message edited by: logan5 ]

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Helen_S
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I have The Karate Kid 1, 2 and 3 novels and also Ghostbusters 2 [Smile]
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Chris the CandyFanMan
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There were various times that I read the novelizations to An American Tale (this version starting with an introductory segment by a centenarian Fievel telling the tale to his grandson), Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Spaceballs, and The Little Mermaid (Ursula was still Triton's sister here, so that apparently was an absolute last minute deletion)

[ 18. February 2008, 20:40: Message edited by: Chris the CandyFanMan ]

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Logan 5
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Ok, we're really rolling now! I've done some more digging myself and the updated list is...

Absence of Malice
Abyss, The
Accused, The
Adventures in Babysitting
Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai, The
Agnes of God
Aliens
Aliens 2
Aliens 3
An American Tale
An Officer and a Gentleman
Annie
April Fools Day
Baby... Secret of the Lost Legend
Back to the Future/2/3
Batteries Not Included
Big
Blob, The
Blues Brothers, The
Bride, The
Bronco Billy
Buckaroo Banzai
Cannonball Run, The
Clash of the Titans.
Coca-Cola Kid, The (Woo-Woo Kid)
Cocktail
Cocoon
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Destroyer
Condorman
Creepshow
D.A.R.Y.L.
Dangerous Summer, A
Dead Bang
Dead Poets Society
Desperately Seeking Susan
Down and Out in Beverly Hills
Dragonslayer
Dressed to Kill
E.T.
Empire Strikes Back, The
Enemy Mine
Ewoks: Battle for Endor
Explorers
Exterminator, The
Fade to Black
Fame
Fatal Attraction
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Final Countdown, The
Flash Gordon
Fog, The
For Keeps
For Your Eyes Only
Fort Apache, the Bronx
Friday the 13th Part 3
Friday the 13th Part 6 (Jason Lives)
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters 2
Golden Child, The
Goonies
Grease 2
Gregory’s Girl
Gremlins
Gremlins 2
Halloween 2
Halloween 3
Harry and the Hendersons
Heartbreak Ridge
Heavy Metal
Herbie Goes Bananas
Honey I Blew Up the Kids
Honey I Shrunk the Kids
Honky Tonk Man
Howard the Duck
Indiana Jones: Last Crusade
Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark
Indiana Jones: Temple of Doom
Inseminoid
Invasion U.S.A.
Jake Speed
Jazz Singer, The
Journey of Natty Gann, The
Karate Kid 1, The
Karate Kid 2, The
Karate Kid 3, The
Killing Fields, The
King of the Mountain
Kitty and the Bagman
Krull
Labyrinth
Ladyhawke
Last Starfighter, The
Lean On Me
Legal Eagles
Lethal Weapon
License to Drive
License to Kill
Little Darlings
Little Mermaid, The
Living Daylights, The
Long Good Friday. The
Lost Boys, The
Mad Max 2
Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome
Manhatten Project, The
Mask
Meatballs
Melvin and Howard
Mona Lisa
Morning After, The
Music Box
My Bodyguard
My Science Project
Next Karate Kid, The
Nightmares on Elm Street 1, 2, 3 (1 book)
Nightmares on Elm Street 4 & 5 (1 book)
Nomads
Nuts
Oh! Heavenly Dog
Omen 3 – The Final Conflict, The
Outland
Outrageous Fortune
Over the Top
Platoon
Poltergeist
Poltergeist II
Porkys
Porkys 2
Predator
Predator 2
Pretty in Pink
Psycho II
Rambo III
Rambo: First Blood Part II
Resurrection
Return of the Jedi
Return of the Swamp Thing, The
Return to Oz
Return to Snowy River
Rocky III
Rocky IV
Ruthless People
Santa Claus the Movie
Scarface
Seduction, The
Short Circuit
Short Circuit
Some Kind of Wonderful
Southern Comfort
Spaceballs
Spacecamp
Spies Like Us
Splash
Star Trek II/III/IV
Staying Alive
Streets of Gold
Sudden Impact
Supergirl
Superman III
Survival Run
Terminator 2: Judgement Day
Thing, The
Three Amigos!
Time Bandits
Top Gun
Tough Guys
Toy Soldiers
Tron
Twilight Zone the Movie
Vice Squad
View to a Kill, A
Visiting Hours
Wall Street
Wargames
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Willie and Phil
Willow
Windows
Yellowbeard
Young Sherlock Holmes

Honourable mentions to books from which movies were made (some have been eclipsed by the movie):

Bladerunner (Originally ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’)
Fast Times
First Blood
Fletch
Honky Tonk Man
Outsiders, The
Princess Bride, The
Rumble Fish
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Tex
That was Then - This is Now
Thing, The (Novel based on film based on original novel)
Watcher in the Woods

I’ve included sequels from the 90’s if they’re spin-offs from 80’s originals.

Movies that had comic-book adaptations:

Annie
Big
Bladerunner
Buckaroo Banzai
Conan the Barbarian
Dark Crystal, The
Dragonslayer
Flash Gordon
Howard the Duck
Krull
Labyrinth
Last Starfighter, The
Little Shop of Horrors
Octopussy
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Robocop
Rock and Rule
Santa Claus the Movie
Sheena
Star Wars - Empire/Jedi
Supergirl
Superman III
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Willow
Xanadu

[ 13. January 2012, 19:58: Message edited by: Logan 5 ]

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P_a_u_l
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quote:
Originally posted by logan5:
It's worth pointing out that many of these books would be based on an early draft or the actual shooting script (before final edits). Therefore the books themselves can have scenes that were shot but never released, or scenes that they decided not to film at the last minute ('Back to the Future', 'Goonies' and 'Explorers' spring to mind). So if you're fans of any the films mentioned... pick up the novel!

This is so true of Some kind Of Wonderful. The early shooting script and the novel actually fill in a lot of gaps that the finished edit leave hanging (such as Watts' first name...!) and there's a whole deleted scene with Duncan and Cliff Nelson in the school corridor that adds loads of color to the relationship between Keith and Duncan.

If you've not read it, the shooting script can be downloaded from Robert's excellent SKOW shrine site here: WWW.SOMEKINDOFWONDERFUL.ORG

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Logan 5
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Exactly, when you're a fan of a film reading the novel can be a real eye-opener about how it could've been. That's part of why I wanted to put the list together: Pretty in Pink has the original ending; Goonies had scenes with the Octopus and Gorillas; Explorers has the birthday party scene; Back to the Future has the original intro set in high school. Novels aren't always that well written, but they're a great source of information for how a film was intended to be.
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Ronnie
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holy crap, i didn't know all of THOSE existed!

the last starfighter and some kind of wonderful? those sound great. [Smile]

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Logan 5
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I'm sure there are many many more! When (if) people add other titles I'll just update the list above, rather than reposting it.
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MooseCrack
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lost boys!
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JCWBobC
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I have these plus a ton more up in my attic. I'll try and make a better list but these are the ones I can remember off the top of my head.

Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica photo novel
For Keeps
Friday the 13th 6 Jason Lives
Grease
Grease photo novel
Gremlins
Halloween
Halloween 2
Halloween 3
Lost Boys
Nightmares on Elm Street 1, 2, 3(1 book)
Nightmares on Elm Street 4 & 5(1 book)
Porkys
Porkys 2
Some Kind of Wonderful
The Wanderers

Bob

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Ronnie
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oooh, battlestar galactica is good, i hear.

if i'm not mistaken, there is also one for HALLOWEEN 4, and supposedly.. it's really good as well.

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JCWBobC
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I found some more books in my attic:

Fatal Attraction
Fletch
Lords of Flatbush
The Thing
Vice Squad
Karate Kid 1
Karate Kid 2
The Jerk
Ben (the sequel to Willard)

Bob

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JCWBobC
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Forgot about:

Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai
Battlestar Galactica 2: Cylon Death Machine
(Gun on Ice Planet Zero)
Krull


Bob

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Logan 5
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Bumping this to say I've updated (with many thanks to Lovers With Cassie for his additions). I've removed the 70's stuff and will create a separate 70's list.

This is far from complete, and some of the movies will have been based on a source novel. Where possible I've removed the movie from the list and added it to the 'eclipsed' list at the bottom. Sometimes it's hard to tell which came first.

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Zach
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I actually have a copy of the Gremlins novelization that I bought from a used bookstore two years ago. George Gipes (the author) did a very good job of translating the movie into a novel, and as is the case with so many movie novelizations, based his upon an early draft of the screenplay. In the book, Mr. Futterman gets to explain more about the gremlins he and other pilots in WWII supposedly encountered on their planes. The movie only briefly touched on this, so it's nice to have the novelization as a companion.
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Veronica Sawyer
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I have the novelizations for April Fool's Day and Poltergeist 1 & 2. Haven't gotten around to reading them yet though.
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Logan 5
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Quite right Zack. As pointed out by you, and by some others (including myself) above; if you really like a movie it's always worth checking out the novel, because they often have scenes from earlier drafts which don't wind up in the final movie - some of which are really good.

quote:
I have the novelizations for April Fool's Day and Poltergeist 1 & 2. Haven't gotten around to reading them yet though.
The curse of the novelisation!
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