Differences Between Snowpiercer Series and Adapted Film

On May 25, I compiled the differences between the Snowpiercer series, which met with the audience on Netflix, and the 2013 movie adapted.

The series adaptation of Bong Joon-ho's 2013 sci-fi movie Snowpiercer, which faced many problems in the production process and was therefore delayed many times, finally met with the audience. The series, which was broadcast on the TNT channel in the USA, met the audience on Netflix in the rest of the world.

The Snowpiercer series, adapted from both the film Bong Joon-ho and the French comic book series Le Transperceneige, which originates from it, takes place in a future where the world is under ice as a result of an experiment made to prevent global warming, as in the film, turned into a disaster. The series tells about the survival struggle of people who survived the disaster in a train that never ceases, divided into sections according to class order.
Although the series carries a significant resemblance to the 2013 movie with both the production design and the characters at the center of the story, it actually leaves the film in many subjects. You can find these differences between the Snowpiercer series and the adapted movie below.

1.As in the movie, the series takes place in a post apocalyptic future, where the world is under the ice after an opposite experiment. However, while the movie takes viewers 17 years after the disaster, the series passes 7 years after the disaster.Although the first part of the queue section is shown briefly at the beginning of the first section, we learn that this journey started 6 years 9 months ago when the main story was passed. Although the series takes place before what happened in the movie, it does not actually describe what happened before the movie. Instead, it starts the story of the movie earlier with a different interpretation.

2.Although the characters at the center of the series have important similarities with the characters in the movie, almost all of them are made up of different characters. Curtis, who led the rebellion in the movie, is replaced by Andre Layton. Although the two characters undertake similar missions in terms of story flow, Curtis' being more harsher because of his dark past distinguishes the two main characters as personality. Although there are some characters in the side roles that resemble the people we see in the movie, none of them are exactly the same as in the movie.

3.Although there are important similarities between the characters in the series and the characters in the movie, it is noteworthy that the number of passengers in the series is not as international as the movie. South Korean actress Kang-ho Song brings life to Nam, one of the main characters of the movie, and speaks Korean throughout the movie. He uses a tool that simultaneously translates to communicate with other people on the train. The presence of this instrument, which is used for the communication of people who speak different languages, and the characters from different nationalities we encounter throughout the movie suggest that there are people around the world on the train. Based on the first two parts, it can be said that there is a passenger mass consisting mostly of American characters in the series.

4.The fact that the series takes place after 7 years, not 17 years after the disaster, makes the connection with the pre-disaster world stronger. While the engineers in the locomotive use the old satellites to control the road, it seems that the characters, especially Andre Layton, are not able to fully detach from their old lives. Layton remembers his days before the disaster when he met his ex-wife on the train.
While it is impossible to focus on anything other than the struggle for life in the film, the fact that we see the traces of the old world in the series causes us to move away from this struggle. This causes the impressive atmosphere set up by the movie to never be established in the series.

5.One of the important changes in the series is conveyed to the audience during a dialogue in the first episode. While the people living in the tail department talk about why they should start a revolt, the management is said to have sterilized them and that no children were born in the tail department for five years. This suggests that the foundations of a problem that can be covered in more depth have been laid in the later parts of the series.

6.Although the train management is sterilizing people to keep the population under control in the queue section, it does not go directly to massacre for population control as in the movie. In fact, when we look at the general of the first two episodes, it is seen that more importance is given to human life in the series. Whether people are easily killed, whether in the queue or on the front wagons in the movie, even having trouble waking up the people in the prison section is seen as a serious problem. While those in the front car live in luxury, they are disturbed by the slightest rumor of danger. Train management is also trying to eliminate these ailments. In the movie, figures such as the teacher who opened fire to Curtis and his friends as well as the children who came from the front wagons to suppress the rebellion have no place in this world set up by the series.

7.Although the series has changed the story flow by bringing the events about 10 years forward, it actually refers to an event mentioned in the movie. Layton says that in the 3rd year of the train journey, they were trying to rebel, but many people were killed as they could not go any way. The film also mentions a riot in the third year of the journey. In the film, this departure is referred to as the Revolt of the Sevens, and in the third year of the journey, seven passengers started a revolt and escaped from the train, but they died after freezing a few meters away. Although the series refers to a similar revolt, it significantly changes the events.

8.One of the most important surprises in the film is that we learn that all this rebellion was actually organized by train management. Throughout the movie, Curtis receives hidden messages inside the shell casings, which makes it possible for him to move between the wagons. These messages from Mr. Wilfred play a key role in the rebellion's growth.
Although the first steps are taken for a similar rebellion in the series, secret messages from the management do not play a role in this rebellion. Instead, Layton tries to gather information about the front wagons and deliver that information to the queues.

9.While adapting a movie about 2 hours to the series, many changes are made to extend the story, and these changes are not only limited to how the story progresses, but also to the structure and type of the series. While the movie appears as an action movie that focuses on a rebellion, the series stands close to the crime type. Layton, a former murder detective, is chasing clues to solve serial murders committed on the train. It is estimated that this mystery, which was laid in the first two chapters, will have an important place in the story during the first season.

10.The series's 10-year-forward feature changes the situation in the world outside. At the end of the movie, we see that the outside world is starting to return to normal and it is possible to live outside the train. The series takes place in a world where even spending a few seconds outside the train is deadly. In the second part, we clearly see this in the scene where the cattle freeze and die.

11.Perhaps the biggest difference between the Snowpiercer series and the movie it adapts is embodied in the character of Mr. Wilfred. In the film, Wilfred appears as an old engineer brought to life by Ed Harris. In the series, we learn that Mr. Wilfred is actually Melanie Cavill, played by Jennifer Connelly. The series not only changes the gender of the character, but also makes significant changes in its position on the train and its attitude towards people.

Wilfred appears as a divine figure in the movie. A brutal god figure that looks at people from the top and can comfortably approve the massacres of hundreds of people to bring their plans to life.
The series also offers passengers a Mr. Wilfred figure that keeps everything under control. However, this is a fully created persona. Actually, "Mr. Wilfred", Melanie is not a cruel and disconnected character as in the movie. Instead, he is a leader who is closely interested in what is happening on the train and that, at least in the first two parts, values ​​human life.