History Film / TheBFG

* AdaptationalVillainy: Not quite villainy, but a slight omission of guilt. [[spoiler:In the book, Sophie is horrified when seeing the dream she and the BFG have whipped up for the [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen]] is a massive nightmare, though necessary to explain the danger of the giants. In the film, she openly encourages the BFG to make the dream as scary as possible, to get across the danger of the giants.]]

* WeaksauceWeakness: As powerful and intimidating as they are, the evil giants are all terrified of water. Presumably' they leave and return to the Giant Country by jumping. [[spoiler:The British Military imprison them on a remote abandoned island in the middle of nowhere where they can't get off.]]

* SatelliteCharacter: The rest of the evil giants. Unlike the book and animated film, they just serve as onlookers who occasionally parrot whatever the Fleshlumpeater says. And unlike the book and animated version, wherein each giant goes to a different location in the world to feed on "human beans", these giants are so far from characterization that '''all nine of them''' go to the human world ''together''.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Unlike the book, [[spoiler:the giants [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regret their actions]] when BFG and Sophie give them the same nightmare specifically meant to torment them with guilt. The exception is Fleshlumpeater, since he's the only one of the giants ''not'' to experience the dream.]]

* SatelliteCharacter: The rest of the evil giants. Unlike the book and animated film, they just serve as onlookers who occasionally parrot whatever the Fleshlumpeater says. And unlike the book and animated version, wherein each giant goes to a different location in the world to feed on "human beans", these giants are so far from being individuals that '''all nine of them''' go to the human world ''together''.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Not quite villainy, but a slight omission of guilt. [[spoiler:In the book, Sophie is horrified when seeing the dream she and the BFG have whipped up for the Queen is a massive nightmare, though necessary to explain the danger of the giants. In the film, she openly encourages the BFG to make the dream as scary as possible, to get across the danger of the giants.]]

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: The book was released and set in the 1980s, as shown by the [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen]] being fairly young and brown-haired then. In this film, the cars seen are rather old-fashioned, but the Queen is much older and looks like her [[TheNineties 90’s]] self. Adding to the date clouding is a scene where she calls "Nancy" on the phone and asks if "[[UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan Ronald]]" is there, right after speaking to a "[[UsefulNotes/BorisYeltsin Boris]]".

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: The book was released and set in the 1980s, as shown by the [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen]] being fairly young and brown-haired then. In this film, the cars seen are rather old-fashioned, but the Queen is much older and looks like her [[The90s 90’s]] self. Adding to the date clouding is a scene where she calls "Nancy" on the phone and asks if "[[UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan Ronald]]" is there, right after speaking to a "[[UsefulNotes/BorisYeltsin Boris]]".

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: The book was released and set in the 1980s, as shown by the Queen being fairly young and brown-haired then. In the film, the cars seen are rather old-fashioned, but the Queen is much older and looks like her present-day self. Adding to the date clouding is a scene where she calls "Nancy" on the phone and asks if "[[UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan Ronald]]" is there, right after speaking to a "[[UsefulNotes/BorisYeltsin Boris]]".

* AdaptationalHeroism: Unlike the book, [[spoiler:the giants [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regret their actions]] when BFG and Sophie give them the same nightmare specifically meant to torment them with guilt. The exception is Fleshlumpeater, since he's the only one of the giants ''not'' to experience the dream.]]

** Downplayed with Mrs Clonkers, the owner of the orphanage. She's a cruel matron in the book and she's eventually punished by [[spoiler:having to be the giants' keeper]]. The film downplays her cruelty and presents her as a bumbler, to the point where Sophie calls her incompetent.

** The Queen's maid Mary is pompous and crabby in the book. Notably when she first sees Sophie on the window sill, she yells at her. The film has her as prompt PA who is kinder to Sophie and [[spoiler:is implied to have adopted her at the end]].

** While the book Fleshlumpeater is the biggest and strongest giant, the giant who serve s as a personal antagonist to the BFG (barging in and stealing his stuff) is the Bloodbottler, who is more TheDragon in the film.

* EurekaMoment: At [[spoiler:the hideout of the BFG's previous playmate]], Sophie finds a portrait of the Queen of England, inspiring her to go to her for help.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Mr. Tibbs, the Queen's butler, can't seem to decide if he's English, American, Scottish or Irish.

* SkywardScream: The mean giants let lose a scream to the skies when [[spoiler:opening a crate full of snozzcumber seeds, realizing it's all they have to eat on the island they've been stranded on]].

* WillOTheWisp: Dreams take the form of glowing light orbs, born from starlight filtered through a dream tree's leaves. Nightmares look more monstrous and spider-like, and are often clawing to break free and attack. This is a bit contrary to the book where the dreams are invisible unless placed inside a jar, and the BFG uses his hearing to catch them.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Sophie's first scene has her up at 3 am in the orphanage, where she collects the mail missed by the uncaring headmistress, defiantly tells off several drunks outside to knock off the ruckus, and stays up to read her book by flashlight.

** Mary is a middle-aged woman in the book, but is played by the very pretty Rebecca Hall.

* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: A small line from the book is left out of the film, but it raises a little plot hole with the ending. In the book, the BFG has only snozzcumbers to eat because he refuses to steal fruits and other foods from human lands, to which Sophie responds that [[MoralMyopia he was fine with stealing her]] and he rationalizes it as "[[SkewedPriorities I did not steal you very much, you is only a small girl]]." The ending of the film establishes him having planted lots of human fruits and vegetables in Giant Country, but doesn't explain why he hadn't done that before.[[note]] Though it's likely that, considering how dickish the other giants are to the BFG and his habits, they would have ripped up the gardens just as a manner of spite.[[/note]]

** Downplayed with Mrs Clonkers, the owner of the orphanage. She's a cruel matron in the book and she's eventually punished by [[spoiler: having to be the giants' keeper]]. The film downplays her cruelty and presents her as a bumbler, to the point where Sophie calls her incompetent.
** The man-eating giants. In the book and the animated movie, not only are they more frightening in appearance but they are ferocious, sadistic (they constantly boast about the killing "human beans" as well as the taste of them) and much more abusive to the BFG. Their antagonism is heavily downplayed in this film, reducing them to just big stupid bullies.
** The Queen's maid Mary is pompous and crabby in the book. Notably when she first sees Sophie on the window sill, she yells at her. The film has her as prompt PA who is kinder to Sophie and [[spoiler: is implied to have adopted her at the end]].
* AdaptationalHeroism: Unlike the book, [[spoiler:the giants regret their actions when BFG and Sophie give them the same nightmare specifically meant to torment them with guilt. The exception is Fleshlumpeater since he's the only one of the giants NOT to experience the dream.]]
* AdaptationalVillainy: Not quite villainy, but a slight omission of guilt. [[spoiler:In the book, Sophie is horrified when seeing the dream she and the BFG have whipped up for the Queen is a massive nightmare, though necessary to explain the danger of the giants. In the film she openly encourages the BFG to make the dream as scary as possible, to get across the danger of the giants.]]

* AmbiguousTimePeriod: The book was released and set in the 1980s, as shown by the Queen being fairly young and brown-haired then. In the film the cars seen are rather old-fashioned but the Queen is much older and looks like her present day self. Adding to the date clouding is a scene where she calls "Nancy" on the phone and asks if "[[UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan Ronald]]" is there, right after speaking to a "[[UsefulNotes/BorisYeltsin Boris]]".
* BatmanGambit: After the BFG [[spoiler:leaves her at the orphanage, Sophie lures him back by calling for him, deducing he can hear her if he can hear as far as the stars. When that doesn't seem to be enough, she jumps off the orphanage balcony expecting him to catch her, and he does.]]

* ButNowIMustGo: [[spoiler:At the end of the film, the BFG goes back to live in Giant Country, now cannibal free and full of fruits and vegetables, while Sophie stays with the Queen in her palace (unlike the book where the two are given a new house to live in.)]]
* ChekhovsGag: The BFG's frobscottle drink is demonstrated early, which due to its bubbles traveling down has... [[{{Fartillery}} unusual effects]]. Later on, [[spoiler:it gets offered to the Queen and her staff, all of whom are most unaware of what it does and think it's just another toast. How very wrong they are.]]

** The nightmare the BFG and Sophie catch [[spoiler:is used at the climax to induce guilt on the giants.]]
** Sophie's blanket [[spoiler:is dropped outside while the giants are first seen bullying the BFG. The giants later find it and grow suspicious that the "runt" has a human with him.]]

* CoolGate: Traveling to Giant Country apparently involves passing through a particular cloud filled with lightning, though when BFG takes Sophie it's kept somewhat vague that a CoolGate is involved. [[spoiler:Later, when the military follows BFG to Giant Country, the gate is made more obvious by showing helicopter instrumentation going crazy for a few seconds before returning to normal. BFG comments that even though they're following him now, they wouldn't be able to find Giant Country again, suggesting that the cloud/gate moves.]]
* DemotedToExtra: The Bloodbottler suffers criminally from this. In the original book and the animated movie, not only is he the secondary antagonist but also the one who barges into the BFG's home, not the Fleshlumpeater. In this film? Good luck even guessing which one the Bloodbottler is...
* DesertedIsland: At the end of the film, [[spoiler:the giants are dumped by the military on a small uninhabited island off the maps of the world, where they're trapped for the rest of their lives (unlike the book where they were imprisoned in an enormous man-made pit.)]]
* DueToTheDead: After finding [[spoiler:the home in the BFG's hideout where the boy he raised before lived, Sophie takes off the red coat and places it on his bed.]]

* TheEvilGenius: The unnamed skinny, disheveled giant whom is always at the Fleshlumpeater's side (apparently this movie's version of the Bloodbottler.)

* GoldColoredSuperiority: Sophie's dream of a fulfilling life resembles a GoldenSnitch
* GracefulLoser: The Fleshlumpeater. While just as pissed as the other giants are at the prospect of having to live on snozzcumbers for the rest of their lives, he appears to accept this fate albeit sulkily.
* GroinAttack: When bullying the BFG, the other giants make a game of putting him on a dump truck and throwing him off a hill, while another giant skis down another hill on two cars and sees if he can pass over him. Unfortunately for that giant, he isn't able to leap over the BFG in time and ends up getting smacked right in the bangers.
* HappilyAdopted: [[spoiler: Implied that what happened to Sophie in the end, by being wakened up by Mary.]]

* InASingleBound: The BFG can leap great distance, even in proportion to his gigantic size. Presumably the other Giants are capable of it too, as it seems to be the only way into and out of Giant Country.
* JumpScare: En route to Dream Country, the BFG is trying to sneak past the nine sleeping giants. However, his plans go awry when one of the giants suddenly awakens, grabs hold of his ankle and screams: "'''''RUNT!!'''''"
* KleptomaniacHero: The BFG has many human sized objects in his home.

* MasochistsMeal: Snozzcumbers, a gigantic, horrid tasting cucumber that looks like it's rotten and filled with worms, are the only things the BFG has to eat. [[spoiler:At the end, the other giants are left with only snozzcumbers to eat and their seeds to plant if they want to keep living.]]

** The BFG starts to feel guilt over kidnapping Sophie, fueled by [[spoiler:having taken in another kid who was eaten by the other giants]]. Eventually he [[spoiler:returns Sophie to the orphanage, until she demands him to return.]]

* NothingIsScarier: The only scene of a kid being eaten is a nightmare the BFG gives Sophie, which ends the moment she lands in his mouth, however we see newspaper articles about mysterious disappearances. On their way home from giving out dreams, the BFG senses someone react to discovering their child is missing and they see the evil giants heading home...
* OhCrap: The BFG's response when [[spoiler: the Queen's guards aim dozens of rifles at him.]]
* PapaWolf: The BFG definitely has shades of this in his feelings toward Sophie, most notably when [[spoiler: he saves Sophie from being crushed by Fleshlumpeater by grabbing his arm. He's already been established as being scared of the other giants, Fleshlumpeater in particular.]]

* SkywardScream: The mean giants let lose a scream to the skies when [[spoiler:opening a crate full of snozzcumber seeds, realizing it's all they have to eat on the island they've been stranded on.]]
* ShoutOut: Sophie finds [[Film/SchindlersList a red children's coat]] amidst the clothes the BFG gives her, [[spoiler:which also turns out to have belonged to a dead child.]]

* VillainousBSOD: Invoked: [[spoiler:the BFG and Sophie use the nightmare that Sophie caught earlier, namely one of tremendous guilt, on the giants. While Fleshlumpeater manages to avoid it, the others are pretty much crippled by guilt as a result of it.]]
* WeaksauceWeakness: As powerful and intimidating as they are, the evil giants are all terrified of water. Presumably they leave and return to the Giant Country by jumping. [[spoiler:The British Military imprison them on a remote abandoned island in the middle of nowhere where they can't get off.]]

* AdaptationExplanationExtrication: A small line from the book is left out of the film, but it raises a little plot hole with the ending. In the book, the BFG has only snozzcumbers to eat because he refuses to steal fruits and other foods from human lands, to which Sophie responds that [[MoralMyopia he was fine with stealing her]] and he rationalizes it as "[[SkewedPriorities I did not steal you very much, you is only a small girl]]." The ending of the film establishes him having planted lots of human fruits and vegetables in Giant Country, but doesn't explain why he hadn't done that before.

** While still ugly by human standards, the evil giants are much less hideous and more human-like.

* FaceHeelTurn: The BFG mentions that giants used to be "gentries".