The Lawnmower Man is the best Stephen King adaptation. While a lot of King's work has been used as inspiration for television and movies, a good majority of them fail to live up to their source material. The Lawnmower Man, while dated somewhat by its visual effects, is a highly interesting and thought-provoking film.
The Lawnmower Man is an entertaining film from beginning to end. When it was released in 1992, its CGI effects were cutting-edge. At the time it was thought that virtual reality was soon going to completely change lives and forever alter humanity's perception of reality. With this in mind, The Lawnmower Man asks some deep questions about the nature of reality, as well as the dangers of using technology to improve humankind.
One of the major issues with calling The Lawnmower Man a Stephen King adaptation is that it's really not much of one. In fact, it has almost nothing in common with the King story from which it gets its title. Still, it's a remarkable movie for a number of reasons. When its dated qualities are overlooked and minor flaws are forgiven—such as a few wooden lines of dialogue—it's truly a unique and compelling sci-fi horror movie.
What Makes The Lawnmower Man The Best Stephen King Adaptation
The Lawnmower Man has a lot of odd things going for it. For starters, it features James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) as a man who likes to drink, smoke, and play video games in his basement. It's also not afraid to use quirky and interesting storytelling techniques. In fact, the movie starts from the point of view of a chimpanzee using its newly-acquired intelligence to escape the research facility. On top of that, it has the distinction of having what is possibly the first CGI love scene ever put to film. These things, along with its interesting story, make The Lawnmower Man an important work in film history.
Still, is it the best Stephen King adaptation? Despite the list of bad King adaptations, there have been a number of good ones too. However, many of them are good either because their director took major liberties with the source material, such as Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, or they're based on King's non-horror stories, like The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and Stand by Me (based on "The Body"). It could be argued that It and It: Chapter Two manage their source material well. Doctor Sleep, especially the director's cut, was a solid accomplishment. Nevertheless, The Lawnmower Man manages to circumvent the issue of translating King's material to the screen by ignoring it almost completely and comes out better for it.
Seen today, The Lawnmower Man is a fascinating film. It explores the power of technology to help the less fortunate. However, it also explores the danger of taking technology so far that it forever changes the nature of reality. It's a powerful theme for a simple cyberpunk horror movie from 1992. Although its special effects are pretty bad by today's standards, that's part of what makes The Lawnmower Man interesting. When taken seriously, it brings up questions about the differences between the real world and a virtual one. Could virtual creations be melded into reality? If so, what truly is reality, and how long is it before everyone is living in a simulation? Any movie that gets people thinking and philosophizing is worth a look. It succeeds because of its quirks and flaws. The Lawnmower Man may just be the best Stephen King adaptation.