levens Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 What was the best adaptation you saw and what was the worst? I was disappointed with Timeline made into a film, a Micheal Crichton book, I think I should have watched it years later when I forgot the plot... Lord of the rings is brillant but then I found the books heavy going, would you belive I brought the whole thing for a pound two years before filming and now you need to fork out the best part of a tenner.. Shutter island not bad at all book and film... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 I'm going to have to go with the Lord of the Rings series; it was brilliantly well done, and I'm looking forward to the adaptation of The Hobbit as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
levens Posted July 9, 2011 Author Share Posted July 9, 2011 yeah, it's been a long while getting sorted, I think I will have to watch the film then read the book of things because I usually remember the main plot, Mystic river by Dennis Lehane when made into a film lost a critic piece for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JellyBeans91 Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 I dunno how many adaptations I have seen but the one I know and remember is Stormbreaker, adapted from Anthony Horowitz. I loved the book, but the film was disappointing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleW Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 I don't often know the book and the film, but mostly the film misses the depth of the book. I saw The pillars of the Earth, but the films disappointed me a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 I barely ever think the film as good as the book version. I think it's because a film adaptation can never live up to our own imaginations. The Reader was one that disappointed me. It wasn't a bad film but I just didn't think it had nearly the same emotion as the book. I loved the Lord of the Rings films too but haven't read the books so I can't really compare (although I have read the Hobbit so I'm prepared for the next one) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted July 9, 2011 Share Posted July 9, 2011 Some of the really good ones are Sense and Sensibility, Howards End, A Room With A View and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. I also have a soft spot for films loosely based on or inspired by books, such as Clueless which was loosely based on Jane Austen's Emma. I think most of the ones I haven't liked have been from romcoms, probably the second Bridget Jones and the Shopaholic films stick in my mind as being pretty disappointing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 ^ Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Is the worst Harry Potter adaptation to my mind, because it misses a lot of subtleties of the plot and as a film is confusing in its own right (it makes little sense if you haven't read the book before hand). The Lord of the Rings is one of the best book to film translation to my mind. Also, Starter for 10 and Stardust both work better as films than the books they were based on. Isn't there a thread on this already, btw? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicodemus Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 I don't often know the book and the film, but mostly the film misses the depth of the book. I saw The pillars of the Earth, but the films disappointed me a little. I always believed that a film could never match its book in quality,until I think it was about 1993 two films came along that I thought outshone the books they were adapted from, they were Schindler's List and Shawshank Redemption. While Shawshank was just a run of the mill King short story, Schindler's Ark was a powerful story and for Spielberg not only to match it but to better it was a work of genius. Although I struggle to make best of lists These two films would both be in my top ten films and Ark would be high up in my books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Of some of the films already mentioned: Timeline - I liked the film, but then, I've never read the book. Lord of the Rings - I cannot read these books. Ihate Tolkien's writing. However, I loved the films. Shutter Island - Haven't read the book, but found the film very predictable and therefore very dull. The Hobbit - hated the book (again, the writing style, rather than the story), but am looking forward to the films. The Reader - I saw the film first and then read the book. I enjoyed both, but the book was WAY better. The film was very bland by comparison. A Room With A View - Saw the film first, then read the book years later BECAUSE I'd loved the film so much. The film managed to perfectly capture everything that is wonderful about the book. The Prisoner of Azkaban is the film that convinced me it was finally time to try reading the Harry Potter books, mostly because I thought there were some leaps made nearer the end that made me think something important was missing. I enjoyed the film, but had to go back and read the first two books in order to get to the third one and the book definitely explains things better. However, since then, I think the films have been rathr disappointing by comparison, losing more and more of what is fun and interesting about the books. Stardust was definitely better as a film. The book was a little light on sparkle for me - it fell a bit flat after I'd watched the film first. The Shawshank Redemption is an example of a stunning film from good but slight matrial. The novella is very short, but brilliant. the film is awesome. Schindler's List is one I've been meaning to read, but keep puttnig off because I know how harrowing I will fnid it. I love the movie, but it wrenches me apart every time I see it. Films worthy of mention: Stand By Me is another King novella that made for a wonderful film. It is such a wonderful version of the story that I think it actually surpasses the source material. The Princess Bride is, for me, the perfect adaptation. It's got almost everything tha tthe book had, dropping only those little bits that were a little duller (and mentioned as such in the actual book - read it and you'll know what I'm talking about!). The cast were all brilliant - perfect for the roles - and gave sterling performances. The direction was sublime, and, well, just watch it. It's marvellous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 I'm probably a bit biased about Prisoner of Azkaban as I absolutely adore Alfonso Cuarón, and it's my favourite book in the series and having read it or listened to it many. many times, it was difficult not to know what was going on, if you see what I mean. It's definitely the best of the Potter films as far as I'm concerned, and although I can usually disassociate the book from the film, with this one, and I used the audiobook version to get me through a particularly difficult time in my life, so it's all too deeply ingrained for me to be objective. Like Kell, I loved The Lord of the Rings films, and although I did read the books before hand, I struggled through a lot of them (and completely ignored any made up languages). But this raises an interesting point - if the film is significantly better than the book, does this still make it a good adaptation? Is the fact that the film is true to the book the benchmark against which to judge it? I think I've seen this happen most often when scriptwriters have made contemporary films of historic fiction, such as the film I mentioned earlier, Clueless and another I can think of is 10 Things I Hate About You (loosely based on The Taming of the Shrew). And thinking about the faithfulness of a film to a book brings to mind Chocolat which strays quite significantly from the book, but I like them both as separate entities. The Princess Bride is, for me, the perfect adaptation. It's got almost everything tha tthe book had, dropping only those little bits that were a little duller (and mentioned as such in the actual book - read it and you'll know what I'm talking about!). The cast were all brilliant - perfect for the roles - and gave sterling performances. The direction was sublime, and, well, just watch it. It's marvellous! We watched it a couple of weeks ago, but it's starting to make me feel old - we watched it in tribute to Peter Falk who died recently, and then I was looking at IMDB yesterday and Fred Savage, who played the little boy in the film, was on the front page of the website in the birthday section because he was 35 years old ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
levens Posted July 10, 2011 Author Share Posted July 10, 2011 I forgot about stand by me, with the ever young River Phoenix, Brillant film, haven't worked my way through all of Stephen King yet, have found some are better than others, which brings me to Along came a spider written by James Paterson. The movie was very different from the book, the casting of Morgan Freeman I wasn't sure about as I imagined a younger man, Freeman is a great actor but I imagined Denziel Washington when I read the book, Talking of Pelham one two three anyone? as I have not read the book or seen the first adaptation.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sofia Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 Shutter Island - Haven't read the book, but found the film very predictable and therefore very dull. I loved Shutter Island (the book, not so much the movie) I never saw that ending coming...shame about the movie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 10, 2011 Share Posted July 10, 2011 LA Confidential is the best adaptation I've seen, I think. The novel spans a decade and contains hundreds of characters, so to take that and condense it down into two hours and still have it equal - if not better - the book was a triumph. I loved Fellowship of the Ring, as well, and thought it was the best actual adaptation out of the three LotR films. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 LA Confidential is the best adaptation I've seen, I think. The novel spans a decade and contains hundreds of characters, so to take that and condense it down into two hours and still have it equal - if not better - the book was a triumph. I really muct get round ot reading this. I loved the film and I've heard nothing but good aout the book too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 (edited) I agree with Howard's End and Room With a View, both beautifully done. Others I have loved are The English Patient, Dr Zhivago, The Great Gatsby, Gone With the Wind, The Reader and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Just thought of another one, Brokeback Mountain. In a way the movie had more depth than the book as the latter was very short. Edited July 11, 2011 by poppy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I loved Shutter Island (the book, not so much the movie) I never saw that ending coming...shame about the movie I'm starting to think I'm a wussie, I could only watch this movie so far, it got too creepy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I agree with Howard's End and Room With a View, both beautifully done. Others I have loved are The English Patient, Dr Zhivago, The Great Gatsby, Gone With the Wind, The Reader and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Just thought of another one, Brokeback Mountain. In a way the movie had more depth than the book as the latter was very short. Ooh, yes, Gone With the Wind and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest are both brilliant adaptations. I enjoyed The Great Gatsby too. I've never seen or read The English Patient or Dr Zhivago yet though... I did START readin gTEP, but I wasn't getting into it, so I shelved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I forgot to mention Winter's Bone - a terrific adaptation of the Daniel Woodrell book. Also the two Cormac McCarthy ones, No Country For Old Men and The Road, excellent and very good respectively. Going back a bit, Jaws is one of my favourite films, and it's a good book, but there are quite large differences between them. I'm not sure whether that makes it a good adaptation or not ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Easy Reader Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 Some of the really good ones are Sense and Sensibility I'll second that. I watched the film first then read the book and it was almost like watching the film again. The Girl with the Pearl Earring film pails in comparision to the book. The Other Boleyn Girl I thought the film was awful really wish I hadn't watched it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sofia Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I'm starting to think I'm a wussie, I could only watch this movie so far, it got too creepy read the book instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
levens Posted July 11, 2011 Author Share Posted July 11, 2011 Poppy I think thats a good sign considering there wasn't big special effects like guys jumping off exploding things etc! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleW Posted July 11, 2011 Share Posted July 11, 2011 I always believed that a film could never match its book in quality,until I think it was about 1993 two films came along that I thought outshone the books they were adapted from, they were Schindler's List and Shawshank Redemption. While Shawshank was just a run of the mill King short story, Schindler's Ark was a powerful story and for Spielberg not only to match it but to better it was a work of genius. Although I struggle to make best of lists These two films would both be in my top ten films and Ark would be high up in my books. I've also seen Schindler's list as a film and tried to read the book afterwards. but I couldn't find my way into the writing. Spielberg made a very clear and emotional film out of a dry and somewhat chaotic book. Trial and error! THAT'S not how to make a quote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelley.s Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 (edited) I was discussing this with my partner the other day. Films will never be able to give as much description as a book however there are films that fit into the very good representation of the book category and then there are films that fit into the down right awful category which are really poor represent of the book. Which books do you think had the worst film made? For me is has to be ‘The golden Compass’ based on Phillip Pullmans trilogy, the film was truly awful in my opinion and did the books no justice at all. I also think the ‘Eragon’ film based on Christopher Poalini’s trilogy was complete rubbish too which was such a shame as its one of my favourite books! Edited September 1, 2011 by Michelle merged with existing thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawnbirduk Posted September 1, 2011 Share Posted September 1, 2011 I think Lord of the Rings is one of the best book to film adaptations, the characters was just as I imagined them, it was like bringing my imagination to life, a brilliant portrayal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.