Does it do the book justice?

I would say it includes a lot of the book, but if I had not read the book I would have been confused. You get the feeling that Billy Pilgrim is not moving in time, rather he is having flashbacks. It also implies that his vistit to Tralfamadore is the result of the plane crash and subsequent electro-shock treatment.

I would say that this film is a good visual-aide to the book. I almost felt that it had been made with the assumption the viewer had in fact read the book already.

.......okay. so i haven't seen the movie or read the book, but what does the title mean? is there a reason why it's called slaughterhouse-five?

well after reading some of kurt vonneguts other books im inclined to think that billy really was traveling in time because that seems like a kurt vonnegut kind of thing to write about.
however i couldnt stand the movie. if i hadnt ever read the book it would have been entertaining in the weird cheesey 70's movie kind of way. but it just bugs the hell out of me when they make a book into a movie and totally change them in every way possible. almost nothing in the movie was the same in the book and that changed some of the characters into totally different personalities than i had imagined in the book.
so no i dont think it did the book justice whatsoever but as a movie by its self it was pretty entertaining.

Here is a quote by Vonnegut:

"I love George Roy Hill and Universal Pictures, who made a flawless translation of my novel Slaughterhouse-Five to the silver screen. I drool and cackle every time I watch that film, because it is so harmonious with what I felt when I wrote the book."

This is from the preface to the book "Between Time and Timbuktu or Prometheus-5" which is a photo book of the PBS television movie with the same title, based on several different Vonnegut stories. I guess this at least proves that Vonnegut was happy with the film adaption.

I love both the book and the film, but readily admit that the film is not for everyone. However, if you are a fan of the book, there is no reason not to give the movie a chance. This is one of those films that strongly divides people, so it's best to take a look for yourself and come to your own conclusions.

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you guys should know that Kurt Vonnegut himself said that this movie was a PERFECT adaptation of his book and that he watched it many many times with great pleasure, i think i dont need to add anything else.

I think that a movie can come no where near showing all the complexity and beauty of the book. Some of the most important things in the book cannot be portrayed in film, such as Vonnegut's repetition of certain symbols, all of the Christ imagery, and of course Vonnguts insertion of himself into the novel(Chapter one of the novel was not included in the movie). These clever literary devices are what make the book so great.
In short, I didn't much like the movie because it ruined the vision of everything I had in my imaginartion which did not come through onto the screen. No offense to the actors or directors of course, I just think this is one book where you're better off not seeing the movie. Especially not before you read the book.

It is true to the plot of the book, but I don't remember hearing the phrase "so it goes" even once in the movie.