As a book lover I do love to see the written word turned into something visual. I'm apprehensive about the movie because many times it doesn't compare to the book. I do have lower expectations of the movie and then I can be pleasantly surprised when it becomes something better
What makes a excellent book turned into a movie ??
I have seen good adaptions of books turned into movies and I wonder if you agree with me or can add to it.
Good:
Like Water for Chocolate
The Joy Luck Club
The Shawshank Redemption
The Stand
The English Patient
PS I Love You
Pride and Prejudice ( Colin Firth movie)
The Time Travelers Wife
Anne of Green Gables and Avonlea
Worst adaptions :
Twilight-- this is coming from a fan
Shopaholic
Flowers in the attic
Are there any others that are either BEST or Worst that I have missed ??
2005 Pride & Prejudice
I thought The Notebook was a better movie than book. I loved Atonement but admit I haven’t read the book so I can’t compare the two.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with all of your worst adaptions. The Shopaholic movie was painful to sit through. I think it’s the reason I haven’t read past the first book.
The ONLY movie I've seen where I like the movie BETTER than the book is that one with Edward Norton and takes place in China in the 20's. Of COURSE I can't think of the title.
ReplyDeleteGreat: The Green Mile - wonderfully done.
ReplyDeleteFail: Hearts in Atlantis. I threw things at the screen. Sad but true.
Both are Stephen King books of course.
I don't think there is any movie that I like better than the book. I think the HP series translated well to movie and enjoyed those, but the books are of course better. Worst adaptations...hmmm Queen of the Damned maybe. The Vampire's Assistant, and while a good movie, The Lightening Thief deviated so much it was so different.
ReplyDeleteGood ones, you forget The Lord of the Rings, Narnia, television shows, Vampire Diaries...Pretty Little Liars
I LOVE Like Water for Chocolate :)
ReplyDeleteOh Interview with a Vampire was good with Tom C (he sucks but the ashes scene still gets me) but Queen of the Dammed? It made me wonder if they even knew there was book about it and if they did they must not have read it. thanks for reminding me Para.
ReplyDeleteI think the only movie I liked better than the book was PS I Love You and The Notebook......
ReplyDeleteI think The Lord of The Rings was excellent from book to movie also Dear John was done well...(hmmm I may have a thing for Nicolas Sparks)...and most of Jane Austins book make nice flims I loved Pride and Pred as well as sense and sensibility
The worst book to movies Ive seen......
Nights in Rodanthe
My Sisters Keeper
IT
The book to movie that I thought was good was The Counte of Monte Cristo. (The one with Guy Pierce and Jim Caviezel.) I hated that book. When I finished I thought I can't believe I wasted my time reading 900+ pages of this when I should have been studying. Edmund Dantes is pretty flat and one-dimensional. But I liked the movie. I know there have been several book to movies I didn't like, but none are coming to mind.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Narnia's Prince Caspian was a good movie, it drove me crazy since I read the book the day before. I kept noticing the differences while I was trying to watch and I had a hard time with it.
ReplyDelete~Karenof4
I liked Narnia, LOTR (1st movies for both)Pride and Prejudice, The Notebook.
ReplyDeleteYour worst list is right on...Shopaholic was horrible!! and Twilight - how can you make so many good looking guys so ugly in one movie?? Jaspers hair?? Carlisle?? Edward is wearing more lipstick than Bella!!
Flowers in the Attic was so bad it WAS good. :)
ReplyDeleteI would agree with you on some of the Good ones and also I hate to love and love to hate the Twilight movies.
For me, it takes the cast to make or break a book to movie adaptation. Some actors are just more believable. But I'm weird about that. I try to read the book first before I see a movie but sometimes it doesn't happen. More often than not I don't go back and read it once I've seen the movie.
bad..i know. like cold mountain, that's one of my regret. but i couldn't resist jude law any longer. sorry.
Even though I liked the movies, I was hugely disappointed because they changed major plot points: Dear John and My Sister's Keeper.
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