Best and Worst Book Adaptions Ever

The Common Room Film, Television, Music & Books
#61

My God, I watched a clip of Twilight online.

It’s like they TRIED to get the worst teen actors out there.

“I like watching you sleep.” WTF? I know it’s supposed to sound “hot,” but seriously, the way the guy said it it was just awkward. Like something a guy on Myspace trying to get teen girls would say. Most of the Twilightists in my school are in denial about the movie, though. I tell them that a movie isn’t good of the only people who seem to be able to like it are the people who’ve read the book. I don’t think I’ve heard 1 person who hasn’t read the book say they liked it.

#62

That’s interesting because actually felt the Prisoner of Azkaban was the worst of all the Potter movies, which is a shame seeing as its one of the better books. The scene with Sirius at the end was just extremely terrible. I honestly don’t know what they were thinking with that one, it didn’t gel with the book at all. Then there’s the fact that the director completely changed the set of Hogwarts after it had been established in two previous movies. As if the movies weren’t confusing enough for non-fans, let’s change the scenery on them. Finally, I think it had the worst display of the biggest flaw in all the movies, and that is and emphasis on magic and special effects as opposed to the story. The shruken head on the Knight Bus? What the heck was that? Why would they waste all this screen time on some majical character who isn’t even in the book? Not only was it not in the book, it was really stupid, and you could of taken all his screen time, and used to show something small from the books that was cut out. Maybe a mention about who the Marauder’s were? Cause that was cut too. All the Potter movies have been bad, but I’d say there was probably a reason the director wasn’t asked back for Goblet.

#63

Best: The Dark Knight (XD do comic books count?)

if not then best would probably be the first Narnia movie, the lion, the something…, and the wardrobe

Worst: Twilight…
Did not read the book and don’t plan to…

Exactly

#64

The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe was great…Prince Caspian…not so much.

Voyage of the dawn treader should be really good if Fox stays to the script and doesn’t lollygag like Disney did…they totally ruined the respect i have for Susan.

By the way…Caspian get a new girl-friend :wink:
And Susan stops believing in Narnia and Caspian :frowning:

#65

I’d just like to clear a few things up because i’m a dorky batman fan with the time to do so :stuck_out_tongue:

I’m not entirely sure whether The Dark Knight can count as a good adaptation or not. Mainly for the reasons of the movie being rather unfaithful in places. Not to mention that there wasn’t a story in particular that the movie was trying to adapt.

The Joker was changed for the movie, what with the make-up and scarred face. Which is fine, but it does lose the dynamic of the relationship that batman and the joker have in the comics. Who is more insane? The one who wears a mask? or the one whose face and skin was forced to be a mask? Also two face didn’t become two face by being blown up in a warehouse :laughing: He got acid thrown in his face during a court case.

With this all said though, Heath does put in a great performance as the clown prince of crime, and Two face is shown to be a great symbol for the perversion of justice.

On a technical level in terms of content, The Dark Knight is not a great adaptation. Tonally, however. The Dark Knight is probably the best batman film you can get.

This is very much a condensed version of what i originally wrote before the site went down for maintenance
:cry:

#66

Coraline is my new favorite. It stayed true to the book on the most part, and they were creative on their twists. The effects were smooth and awesomely done. It got me abosrbed into the film- even if I didn’t see it in 3-D. I L-O-V-E-D IT! :smiley:

#67

Um… someone said that they liked The Bridge to Terabithia.
WORST MOVIE EVER!!! It had no plot, was totally just scrambled all over the place, and [spoil]they killed the main character!!! WTF!!![/spoil]

#68

Dan*E- I agree they scrambled all over the place in the movie to add more action (in the book they don’t do all that imaginary fighting beasts and all that) but the fact that [spoil]they killed Leslie[/spoil] is a major thing in the story. In fact, it’s the main point. She gave him the courage to speak out and defy his fears, and when she died he realized that courage and the meaning of her friendship. Without that point, the story would have no plot.

#69

When it comes to book-to-film adaptions, I am extremely picky about whether or not a novel’s on-screen counterpart matches up to standards, and I do mean extremely. Taking into account the fact that I’m a rabid reader of anything that has words in it, I usually make it a point to read a novel/novelette before I see it interpreted into a film, partly because I love books to death… and partly so as I can make a fair judgement on whether or not the film is true to its paperback predecessor.

It is because of this viewpoint that I dislike most of the Harry Potter films, Prince Caspian, and The Mouse and the Motorcycle. Simply put, they don’t do their book counterparts justice. I rarely like a book-to-film adaption, since I prefer that every single detail from the novel be included in the movie, and I hate it when various events in a book are omitted in a film. (A perfect example of this is the Quidditch match at the beginning of “Goblet of Fire”. I know that it was inevitable that that sequence would get cut to save on time, but still.) There is the occasional exception, of course, such as the inclusion of Wybie in Coraline. Although he isn’t in the book at all, his appearance in the film is an acceptable one, as he is a fairly likable character.

A couple of films that I thought really hit the nail on the head were The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. (I literally stood up and clapped at the end of the latter film, and that’s the only time I’ve ever done that in a theater.) The Lord of the Rings omitted a lot of little details as well, but that’s understandable since that particular novel is so thick; overall, Peter Jackson did a pretty fantastic job of keeping it true to the book, I thought.
Come to think of it, The Hound of the Baskervilles wasn’t too bad of a film either, although I loved the book much more…

So, yes, I’m just really picky. Books are things which are not to be tampered with. :wink:

That actually did happen in the book…

– Mitch

#70

I’m not really one for film adaptions, if film studios can’t be bothered making their own stores and would rather use someone elses that’s fine, but if they do it to such a sub-standard level that it tars the original book then it wasn’t worth the effort.

I’ve read Eragon and quickly came to realise that it was little more than a collection of tired fantasy cliches.

the Harry Potter series started well but has declined noticebly as it continued, the 6th book was surprisingly thick for something which contains basically no plot content. The films are equally distressing.

#71

I can be really picky when it comes to book to film adaptations, but I have taught myself to look at them as two entirely different things. The movie isn’t going to be as good as the book. It just won’t happen. So as long as I can look at it as just a movie and not attach much from the books, I can enjoy it as a movie.

As a huge Harry Potter fan I can find a million things to complain about with the movies, but looking at them as just movies, I think they are pretty good. I’m really liking what David Yates is doing with the movies and I’m glad he’s directing the rest of them.

The Lord of the Rings is one of the best adaptations I’ve seen. The worst? Hard to say. I try to find good in every adaptation, but the one that come to mind now is Twilight. One of the most pivotal scenes in the whole book was ruined in the movie; the meadow scene.

Mitch: I too prefer that every single detail from the book be included in the movie, and I dislike it when events in a book are omitted in a film. That’s why I try really hard not to think about that stuff when watching a movie adaptation. Although that is quite hard!

#72

I actually loved Bridge to Terabithia. It is a great family film, and the ending is exact to the book. The CG creatures were their imaginations. The acting was also good. The film dealt with important and mature themes, and shows them in an emotional and heartbreaking way. I respect that you didn’t like it, but there are some pretty bad movies out there, so to call every film you don’t like the worst ever, is kind of pointless.

#73

I watched plenty of Disney Classics in the recent past, as some of you know. And most of them are based off books, fairy tales and legends, so would they count? If they do, then I could say I’ve seen a lot of movies based off books (and famous stories). :laughing:

I mean, all of these were based off great stories:
-Mary Poppins, 101 Dalmations, Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Alice in Wonderland , Aladdin, Hercules, Sleeping Beauty, Tarzan , Beauty and the Beast , The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid , Peter Pan , The Fox and the Hound, Meet the Robinsons , Robin Hood , The Hunchback of Notre Dame

And Disney also did a cartoon tribute to The Ugly Duckling (which I loved).

Not to mention the ones with the big twists:

-Treasure Planet (Treasure Planet)
-Oliver and Company (Oliver Twist)
-The Lion King (Hamlet)
-The Lion King II (Romeo and Juliet)

And Annie’s story came from a comic strip.

And Disney Channel did a few,too.
Read it and Weep, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, and A Ring of Endless Light were all based on novels.

As was the first movie of The Cheetah Girls and Twitches (book series).

#74

Hannahmation - Ha-ha. Exactly. I’m glad I’m not the only one. :wink:

– Mitch

#75

So I was in the library recently, and I came across these eye-catching advertisements on the shelves. They were ads- movie posters of the films: Race to Witch Mountain, Coraline, and Hotel For Dogs.

At first I was like “Huh?” What were they doing advertising movies here? Then I realized that since they were all based on books, they were encouraging people to find the books as well as watch the movies.

(I didn’t know Hotel for Dogs was based on a book.)

I have yet to see Hotel For Dogs and Race to Witch Mountain. Hopefully, I can also find the books!

#76

Best- The lord of the rings {My favorite movie besides WALL-E :wink: }
Holes- Probably one of the best books I’ve ever read and the movie was brilliant.
Harry potter- Especially the first one, all of these films are like masterpieces to me. :laughing:
Shrek- I did’nt really like the book but the movie is four stars! :stuck_out_tongue:
Shrek 2- Not a four starer. Still pretty good though.

Worst-
Hoot- The best book I’ve read. The crappiest movie I’ve seen. Let’s just hope they don’t make a movie out of Flush.
Shrek the third- The first two shreks were magical. 3 is below zero. The whole thing is filled with Pop culture references and fart jokes.
Twilight- If this haden’t been a book it might of been better. They just ruined it so much.
Cloudy with a chance of meatballs- Although this movie hasen’t come out yet it looks terrible. It seems like Sony is taking the same path Dreamworks did. :confused:

#77

I think we can consider it a semi-realistic version of Batman’s universe. Batman becoming cinema.

Are you sure that wasn’t in the film?

And waht’s the problem? This way it worked better for this story. And they paid hommage to the court chase scene also.

One thing I liked from that film was a certain alanmoorecomic feeling in some parts., like some Joker’s dialogue, or Dent’s story which is like Rorschach’s. It was pretty clever. It also made me think on an V for Vendetta quote, that about the two sides of anarchy, I can’t remembert it right now.

I’ve always thought some of the best adaptations ever are those which change the form, but take the tone and the ideas. For example, Lord of the Rings.

I love what the did to LOTR. I’m one of the few who think that some plots were better done in the films than in the books. For example Arwen’s appearance, éomer at the Helm’s Deep, and not many secondary characters with no function like in the book.

This said, I prefer most of the times original, well written films lol

#78

Best:

Lord of the Rings (especially parts 1+3)
Legendary.

Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Not my favourite Narnia book, but the adaption splendidly captured the spirit and atmosphere of the novel.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Definitely the most true to the book of all HP adaptions, and it shows.
And Dobby just rocks. :sunglasses:

Worst:

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Iif it wasn’t for the brilliant casting and acting as far as Luna and Umbridge are concerned, I would have totally hated this one.
Music, cinematography, screnplay, Michael Gambon’s performance and even the end credits were rather lackluster.

I’m so glad they are going to make a two-parter out Deathly Hallows, so they have a chance to do the book justice, but OOTP would have deserved this as well.

#79

I’m wondering just what they’re going to put in the Half Blood Prince film, for a book which is 300+ pages long there’s very little actual plot in it. You could just read the last two chapters and you wonldn’t have missed out on anything spectacular…

I think that the best book adaption was probably Holes, the only time I have ever seen a film surpass the book it is based off.

#80

I agree… and that’s very bad for an adaptation… maybe they will concentrate on Tom’s story…