You've just proved my point. Patrick is neither referenced as Patrick, nor is he even used as a protagonist against the Losers, or given any proper screen time with Bowers in the miniseries. Its undeniable that the 2017 movie utilized him more faithfully than the miniseries.
Bowers has a plethora of scenes that make the Losers lives a living hell in the book. Take out the breaking Eddie's arm scene, and he's still every bit as effective a bully. The breaking of Eddie's arm is important because of the effect it has on Eddie as a character, not how it got broken. That's just a plot device.
What difference does it make if its the pharmacist, or his b*tch of a daughter who tells Eddie he's getting placebos? Again this is another case of the effect it has on Eddie, not who it is that told him. The outcome is still the same. Second of all that girl is not a bully of Eddie's. She has a beef with Beverly. Not Eddie. That is the first and only time you see her and Eddie interact in the movie.
No, the leper scene is very much given context since Eddie is paranoid about diseases and germs, and the leper is, in Eddie's very own words like a walking disease. That's what the leper represents to Eddie. A disease ridden infectious person trying to attack him. That was rather obvious.
Neibolt was a very important element of the book with many crucial scenes happening in it, so that was a major missing element from the miniseries. As for why did most of them keep watch, because if things go wrong in there then there is more of them to act to help save those that went in. Again they were being smart.
If you say the whole summer, how many ways is there to take such a comment? Second of all, you are factually wrong. It is not Bill's primary motivation. He doesn't even get that motivation until late in the book after the Losers have all conferred on their encounters with Pennywise, and pieced together what he has been doing. The movie doesn't suffer at all for that because whether Bill thinks Georgie is alive or dead, he still believes Pennywise is responsible for his disappearance and seeks to kill It.
I'm not focusing on the surface, I'm focusing on the facts. We never see Mike's parents in the miniseries either, but he is no more seen as the adult than Stan is. Stan is the skeptic of the Losers. He's the one who tries to bring rationality to an irrational situation, but is forced by the reality of the situation to accept that Pennywise is real.
Who says Pennywise's marks aren't visible to the adult eye? When did the movie state that an injury inflicted by Pennywise is invisible?
The final confrontation is not a mess just because Beverly is taken hostage by Pennywise. In fact Beverly is the character that shows Pennywise's ultimate weakness when he cannot touch her because she is not afraid of him. So he is forced to use his dead lights to subdue her. But he can't kill her. As for Bowers, the movie never shows him killing his friends. So I don't know what you're talking about there. As for Mike trying to kill Henry.....it was blatantly self defense since Bowers was trying to murder him and the others. So what exactly is being glossed over here?
The swearing is a good thing because its an accurate depiction of the kids in the book who swear quite often. Richie is every bit as crass and obnoxious regarding his humor in the book, even going so far as to making jokes about Stan being a jew and how his people killed Jesus Christ. In comparison to making a nailing Eddie's mom joke, which kids make all the time as mom jokes are common as rain with kids.
Your argument that the miniseries gave the better version of Derry is based on the look of the Barrens, and the building the dam sub plot? Ok facts check. First of all the visual look of the barrens isn't even remotely important to the depiction of Derry and how its residents are portrayed, and the whole ignoring of Pennywise. Second of all what is wrong with Derry being depicted as sunny and pleasant looking? Quote me the lines of the book that describe Derry as a dark miserable looking town.
You don't have to defend the miniseries because its the inferior less faithful adaption. No question about it. The only real strength of it is Curry's performance.