Name a film adaptation, that doesn't suck, of a good book.

[billyskank]

I don't have one in mind - I am thinking that generally film adaptations of good books do suck. But maybe there are some counter examples. Please post if you know of some.

[begin_within]

1. If anyone tries to say "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" I'll meet you in the alley and deck you.

[BarenakedLady]

2. It.

:scared:

[supernova]

3. LOTR

would be an obvious recent example.

The Original Wuthering Heights with Laurence Olivier (sorry forgot the year.)

edit: 1939 and costaring Merle Oberon, my mom's fav actress.

[billyskank]

9. Ah see, I disagree.

That was what made me start thinking about it. I am a big fan of LOTR, and eventually I came to the conclusion that Peter Jackson's film adaptations did indeed suck. But it took me a while to make up my mind: I went for a few years thinking that they were good, but I believe actually I was lying to myself. I wanted them to be good. But I don't believe they actually were.

[supernova]

15. Why do they suck?

Curious.

[billyskank]

28. The scenes don't flow

There are many scene changes that jarred with me, which should not happen. He changed much of the dialogue, but not for the better, and for no good reason that I could see. He also changed aspects of the story for reasons that I could not comprehend. I understand the desire to beef up Arwen's role - in the books all she does is look beautiful and marry Aragorn - but other things, some important, some not, that I just could not understand.

He took out the love story between Eowyn and Faramir: when Eowyn first meets Aragorn she falls in love with him - why would she not, she a valiant shieldmaiden and he a great captain of Men - but he cannot return her love because he is betrothed to Arwen. When she cannot have Aragorn she desires nothing except a valiant death in battle: this is why she goes in secret to the battle of the Pelennor fields. But in the Houses of Healing she meets Faramir, also recovering from his injuries, and he heals her heart and she falls in love with him. They marry and thus unite Rohan and Gondor with a new bond.

Jackson also changed Aragorn's back story slightly. He portrays Aragorn as a man who was running from his destiny. That is not the Aragorn of the books. Tolkein's Aragorn is like a superhuman: he never quails, and he never deviates from his duty. Jackson's Aragorn is more of a Hollywood reluctant hero. Of all the changes, that is the one I find hardest to forgive. But the greatest failing of the films is that they are not very well made. The effects are wonderful, but such basic things as the flow, pace and storytelling leave much to be desired.

Just my humble opinion. Others may and surely will demur.

[supernova]

31. Flawed hero

I dunno.

I think there you could argue about what creates pathos for a screen character versus a book character.

Practically perfect people don't elicit a lot of emotion, one way or another. They are just there and of course are going to do their job. That's what heroes do, after all.

By saying Aragorn was uncomfortable with his proscribed role, Jackson was able to provide a way for the audience to root for him to return to his kingship. Without that, how else would you build up sympathy for him?

[skygazer]

34. I have to agree with billyskank on that one

The sympathy derives from the fact that he has waited many generations of men for the time when he would come into his own. Not perfect, not even close, but not shying from his destiny. On the contrary, waiting patiently for the possibility that he'd be the descendant of Elendil who would once again be King.

The thing that always bothers me with LOTR is the change to Faramir's character. In the book, Faramir finds Frodo in the wild and Frodo is terrified that he will stop him, especially when he discovers he is Boromir's brother. But Faramir is different - he understands and he offers help and lets Frodo go, even though he knows he'll be rebuked by his father for it.

In the movie, though, he's another Boromir - no different. Determined to take the ring for Gondor. And there is no earthly reason to play it that way - it adds nothing and in fact detracts because it simply repeats the character of Boromir and then when Faramir has a change of heart, there's no real explanation for it. He just does.

It's poor storytelling. I enjoy the movies but only because they remind me of a story that I love.

[billyskank]

40. Tolkein took inspiration from the mythology of Atlantis

Aragorn is a descendent of the Numenoreans, the inhabitants of the land that foundered. They were sort of god-men; or more specifically they were more like the first-born Elves than other mortal men. They were still subject to death, but lived for a much greater span of years than other men, and they were wiser, stronger and more skilled in the arts. But they overreached themselves and the gods destroyed their land. The Numenoreans who survived the catastrophe settled in Middle-Earth and founded the kingdom of Gondor.

Faramir of the books also takes after the Numenoreans, but his brother Boromir does not. As you pointed out. The thing is that his father loved Boromir more than his brother precisely because he was not like this.

[skygazer]

46. One of the nicest compliments I ever got

I was hanging out with my bf, my daughter and her bf and we were idly talking about LOTR and what we'd be if we lived in MiddleEarth. My daughter would be an elf for sure, and I don't remember what we decided her bf would be. Mine would be a hobbit - loves to be at home, cook and isn't into adventures but when cornered, will fight like a dragon in a pinch. So I said, "What would I be?" and without missing a beat, my bf said,

"You'd be Aragorn." :loveya:

[Orsino]

90. Eowyn and Faramir are in there...

...in the extended versions. Not enough to suit me, of course, but I agree that their love story is important, symbolizing the healing after war (the Scouring of the Shire was also omitted).

I can't say that the movie(s) sucked though. I thought they were terrific action-adventure adaptations of an often-dull linguistic exercise. As much as I love the book, I can understand why my wife much prefers the film version; it plays like the real events around which Tolkien's novel could have been based.

[flvegan]

4. The Shining.

[Blue-Jay]

36. Which one?

The Kubrick version was awesome, but King was pissed off about the numerous "liberties" thast were taken with regards to his story.

He oversaw a 4-hour remake starring Steven Weber, which was OK. It didn't have the same "punch" as the Kubrick version (I mean, fuck, it was Kubrick after all), but it wasn't horrible.

I actually liked both of them, but it's impossible to beat the first adaptation. Those creepy girls in the hallway and the fellating furry still scare me.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

41. I would go with Kubrick

I know King didn't care for the Kubrick version, but I personally think Kubrick adapted it better than King ever would.

[Blue-Jay]

43. I agree. That was a classic.

The other one was interesting and *not bad*. It's worth a watch.

[ok_cpu]

82. "the fellating furry "

Someone had that fellating furry pic with GWB in their sig for a while. I'm sorry I can't remember who but that pic freaked me out every time.

Oh, and the chick from the bathtub in the movie too. That move scares the hell out of me.

[TCJ70]

115. There's so much wrong with that move, I don't know where to start.

So I won't, and I will just say I was disappointed when I watched it after reading the book.

[Broken_Hero]

5. The Stand

The Hunt for Red October....

[JoePhilly]

76. The Stand is pretty good ...

[southpaw]

126. Agreed on both counts

Surprising to see others who think The Stand was about as well adapted as one could hope for. Most thought it sucked hard.

[Solon]

6. Battlefield Earth...

:yoiks:

[Fire Walk With Me]

12. As someone who has had the misfortune to have experienced both, I say...

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J
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($GH
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_(_EGJ #G$H# G
_(#FH #(F_JH _(FJ Fjkorjefg})_(HJG})*HJ)(*J}FG






There, that feels a little bit better.

[Solon]

14. Better be careful, you could break your keyboard slamming your head against it like that.

I'm evil, aren't I? :evilgrin:

[Fire Walk With Me]

21. Not as evil as the book and film!

:)

[Solon]

26. Never read the book, saw the movie though...

Made me want to gouge my own eyeballs out with a teaspoon and jam hot iron pokers in my ears. I figure the pain would make me forget the movie. If that failed, using an icepick for a self inflicted frontal lobotomy was the next step.

[Fire Walk With Me]

30. You understand!

:loveya: :rofl:

[Solon]

35. Don't you just love it when the desire of self mutilation brings people together?

:loveya:

[Fire Walk With Me]

74. I believe that anyone who has had the discomfort of witnessing "Battlefield Earth"

would be more than happy to take an ice pick to whatever section of the brain it now resides in :7

[AllegroRondo]

13. the movie sucked about as much as the book

which is a LOT.

[ohiosmith]

7. Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now

[Jack from Charlotte]

57. Agree. (nfm)

*

[kwassa]

109. no way. Heart of Darkness was so different.

the analogy is very weak between Vietnam, and what was happening in the colonial Congo.

[NewJeffCT]

8. The Princess Bride

good book, great movie.

[Blue-Jay]

37. This is a correct answer. (One of many, but still correct)

[Jack from Charlotte]

59. Agree (nfm)

*

[Fire Walk With Me]

10. The World According To Garp.

Although I really missed the Grillplatz Penzioner section (probably just slaughtered the actual title).

[PassingFair]

44. I was going to suggest this one!

Not that it was perfect, but that it EVEN CAME CLOSE!

I was not expecting much, and I was VERY pleasantly surprised.

Glen Close was a miracle in this movie.

[BrotherBuzz]

63. It was pretty good, but Irving's 'Cider House Rules' made the transition very well.

[Fire Walk With Me]

69. I was unaware that this was a film from a book of his (I'm no expert on his work).

Thanks for that; I'll search it out. :thumbsup:

[BrotherBuzz]

70. One more Irving novel made it to film

A Prayer for Owen Meany was changed so much from John's story he insisted the name of the movie be changed.

The film adaptation of the novel was made in 1998, titled Simon Birch. Bizarrely changing the story (including Owen's feat of heroism), the movie is only vaguely based on the novel, and Irving would not allow his character's name to be (ab)used -- which is why Owen Meany becomes Simon Birch.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

128. That was very disappointing

I would love to see a more congruous adaptation with the book, if it could be done. Could it be done?

But Simon Birch was only a vague resemblance to Owen Meany and was entirely forgettable, unlike the book.

[LynneSin]

105. Seriously - what fricking crack are you smoking - the movie horribly sucked

Candy & Homer's relationship went from yearning, but confused love in the book to two horny kids fucking because her boyfriend was overseas in the movie. Charlize Theron was all wrong for that part and I think Ms. Theron is a talented actress.

[CBHagman]

79. That's the Pension Grillparzer.

If you'd spent interiminable hours in German lit class, you would have that stuck in your brain too.

By the way, I didn't like the film adaptation of The World According to Garp, though I thought Glenn Close and John Lithgow were very good. I wasn't crazy about the novel but really had some problems with the screenplay version. And don't get me started on the crammed-in animated segment and the obsession with Dad.

[Fire Walk With Me]

81. Thank you!

It's been years since I've either read it or seen the film. I'm sure that at this age, I'd be even more critical if exposed to them again.

The Pension Grillparzer section is what stuck in my head the most. It's like he'd written a wonderful short story, and not being able to find a home for it, dropped it into Garp, and it worked.

I had four and a half years of German but didn't study very hard...

[unpossibles]

11. Fear & Loathing was pretty good

as was Sin City (does a comic book count?)

Lord of the Rings was good, even though parts were left out, and I liked the last Harry Potter movie.

Generally, the movie is usually not as good as the book, and not even the same, but I wish people would remember that they are not the same medium at all, and that not everything that works in print works visually and vice-versa. I remember liking both the movie and book of Double Indemnity, but it's been a long time since I've seen/read either.

[skygazer]

16. This would be a lot easier if you asking for movies that DID suck

:P

[appal_jack]

17. Fried Green Tomatoes

Been years since I've seen the movie and even longer since I read the book, but I remember liking both. And it's really unusual for me to like a movie after reading the book.

I thought the LOTR movies were about as good as could be expected...

-app

[1gobluedem]

125. Second n/t

[MrCoffee]

18. Fight Club was a good adaptation

[southpaw]

127. I was going to post this one

I actually liked the movie better... though the part about making soap out of Marla's collagen trust fund was really a nice touch.

[ceile]

19. No Country for Old Men

Fried Green Tomatoes
The Color Purple

edited to add The Joy Luck Club

[Mad_Dem_X]

20. The Green Mile. nt

[Broken_Hero]

27. Good one,

very good book/to movie adaptation....

[TCJ70]

116. Agreed n/t

[underpants]

22. To Kill a Mockingbird

and that is saying something.

[Richardo]

42. This is the standout

I don't think there has been a truer adaptation of a book.

[underpants]

64. *

I hate to mention this in any connection to Mockingbird but "Dances with Wolves" is taken WORD FOR WORD from the book. I happened to have read the book before I saw the movie (not a big fiction reader) and I got half way through it and knew exactly what was about to happen next.

[BlueIris]

23. "The English Patient."

[LeftyMom]

24. Jaws. Great movie made from a forgettable book.

The Godfather is another Great Movie Forgettable Book adaptation.

[TexasBushwhacker]

39. And The Graduate N/T

[Forkboy]

48. Jaws was my first thought as well.

The movie is one the best ever. The book? Meh.

[underpants]

65. Jaws left out the entire affair with Hooper and Mrs. Brody

:shrug:

[JoePhilly]

73. And changed the end, where Jaws dies from ...

old age, no ...
Lack of health care, no, closer ...
All the other injuries, not an explosion ... correct!!!

[JoePhilly]

75. Ohhh!! And Hooper dies!!!

But still a good book to movie experience.

[PVnRT]

93. Personally, I thought that subplot was stupid

I came out of that book hating Brody's wife. In fact, I just wanted the shark to eat everyone.

[Iggo]

103. Funny.

I didn't hate Brody's wife 'til Jaws III.

[JoePhilly]

111. True ... I hoped someone would eat her.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

25. The Right Stuff

The novel by Tom Wolfe was excellent but you wouldn't expect it to translate into film. However, I think they did a superb job with the movie, even if it was different from what you expected from the book.

[Jack from Charlotte]

56. Agree. (nfm)

-

[supernova]

29. The Sharpe Series

are very well done.

Granted, they are a bit lighter in tone than the novels, and the novels give you more to think about Richard as a person, he's more of a guttersnipe than Sean Bean protrays him. But they still work as movies themselves. And the production values are sometimes shoestring, "armies" sometimes consisting of all of about 30 people. :P

They are fun, watchable films, though.

edit: One exception: Sharpe's Gold. It's a clunker.

[bikebloke]

96. I didn't care for the casting of Harper

In the book, I visualized him as this huge bloke.

Sharpe in the books was from London, while Sean Bean speaks with a Yorkshire accent.

Still I eagerly await Bernard Cornwell's books.

[supernova]

101. Yeah, me too

I thought Harper was bigger, since he makes such a big deal about the Knock gun. But Darrah O'Malley grew on me.

[SKKY]

32. I thought "Forest Gump" was pretty dead on...

...lots of things in the book you couldn't possibly hope to include in the movie, but on the whole I thought the movie kept the overall spirit quite well.

[Writer]

33. It is nearly impossible to translate a story from one medium to another and do it well.

So I can't name one that was exemplary, but I will go against the grain and say that Peter Jackson did a brilliant job with an exceptionally complicated, canonized work with the LOTR series.

(Hey, billyskank!)

~Writer~

[billyskank]

47. Hello.

:hi:

[redqueen]

38. The Remains of the Day

*sigh*

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

45. "The Namesake" - LOVED that movie

I loved the book and the movie is even better. If you want to see something family-centered and poignant, see this one.

[CreekDog]

49. I thought Primary Colors was better than the book, actually

And it was a really good movie.

[Capn Sunshine]

50. Any Tom Clancy Book

....is greatly improved by the film medium. The tedious reconstruction of devices in the books actually work better on the screen.

[Orsino]

91. Except for Patriot Games, maybe?

That movie put me to sleep. Badly written and badly acted, I thought.

[TrogL]

51. Exodus

[RebelSansCause]

52. Apocylapse Now/Heart of Darkness and To Kill a Mockingbird

eom

[ghostsofgiants]

53. Fight Club, Trainspotting, Requiem For A Dream

[Shakespeare]

54. Enchanted April. One of my most favorite movies EVER.

And better than Von Arnim's book.

[CBHagman]

112. Yes, that's a category by itself.

Adaptations that were more enjoyable than the book. The 1990s version of Enchanted April is one, and I also found that the miniseries A Town Like Alice and Flambards were better than their respective sources.

[bigwillq]

55. The Bridges of Madison County

I liked it much better than the book.

[GreenPartyVoter]

58. The Princess Bride

[terrya]

60. "Prizzi's Honor"

The novel was wonderful. The film version was even better.

[Jack from Charlotte]

61. The Godfather. (NFM)

*

[Tommy_Carcetti]

110. How did anyone miss this one?

I mean, when you are talking about the film The Godfather, which was based on a book by Mario Puzo, and the film is recognized as being one of the greatest movies in all of history.

[nomorenomore08]

62. "American Psycho," since I just saw it for the first time the other night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llREhQB861M

This scene says it all. I will never think of Huey Lewis the same way again.

[jmowreader]

66. I liked The Lords of Discipline

Some things were better in the book than in the movie: the reason McLean was chosen to watch out for Pierce, for one. And some were better in the movie, like Pignetti's drumming-out.

But both were really good.

[Oddball]

67. Cool Hand Luke was better...

than the book.

[sarge43]

68. The Dead Zone n/t

[DainBramaged]

71. Das Boot

One of the very very best

[CaliforniaPeggy]

72. "The Shawshank Redemption" and the 1940's version of...

"Jane Eyre." It starred Orson Welles, and Joan Fontaine...

The best adaptation evah!

[Connonym]

85. Second Shawshank Redemption -- I think it exceeded the book

[GirlinContempt]

77. The Chocolate War was pretty good

[Swede]

78. Blade Runner.

It was much darker then Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

[zingaro]

80. Mystic River. nt

[kath]

83. Little Big Man.

I read the book after seeing the movie, which tends to skew one's perception a bit, but that was a *damn* good movie.

[WildEyedLiberal]

84. Cold Mountain was very good

With a caveat that I have not read the book. But I really enjoyed the movie.

[Downtown Hound]

86. The Mist was pretty good

It was directed by Frank Darabont, who also made The Green Mile and The Shawshank Redemption, two other good Stephen King adaptations. Some other good King ones are Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Shining, Misery, The Stand, The Dead Zone, and Needful Things.


Some other good non-King ones are:

The Time Machine (the original, this film literally defines the word classic)
The Exorcist
Any of the Harry Potter books (but particularly The Order of the Phoenix)
A Clockwork Orange

And I saw above you didn't like The Lord of the Rings adaptations. Might I suggest that if you haven't already, give the extended DVD versions a try. There's a lot more material in them and they're much better than the hacked up theatrical versions. There's still a lot of stuff missing but you can't expect to fit all the books into a matter of hours. If you have already seen them and still don't like them, oh well, we'll have to agree to disagree on their quality. I thought the movies were good, but I think a lot of your criticisms about the flow of the story are valid. It did tend to move awkwardly. I thought the same thing about Jackson's King Kong remake, which I didn't think was nearly as good as LOTR.

[LanternWaste]

94. I saw The Mist this past weekend.

I saw The Mist this past weekend. The last five minutes of the film still has me feeling pretty... disturbed.

[enigmatic]

87. Anatomy Of A Murder

[Orsino]

88. The 13th Warrior/Eaters of the Dead

on edit: Oh, yeah...The Hunt for Red October.

[Allenberg]

89. Stand by Me

Other than trimming a little at the end, it pretty much kept 99% with the book.

[fizzgig]

123. that was going to be my answer

it was a fantastic adaptation

[LanternWaste]

92. R. F. Delderfield's 'To Serve Them All My Days'

R. F. Delderfield's 'To Serve Them All My Days'

One of my favorite works of fiction was made into a mini-series in the early eighties. Found it on DVD some years back and was most pleased with the book-to-film translation.

[Rob H.]

95. Nearly 100 responses, and no one's mentioned

John Huston's version of The Maltese Falcon yet?! FOR SHAME! With the exception of a conversation between Sam Spade and Brigid O'Shaughnessy about a man named Flintcraft who was nearly killed by a falling safe, that movie basically is the book. It's one of the most faithful film adaptations I've ever seen.

[BurtWorm]

98. You're right about that.

:thumbsup:

[bikebloke]

97. Ian Rankin's Rebus Novels

With Ken Stott as Rebus. He's more of the latter Rebus who could give a fuck. I've nothing against John Hannah, but those versions just didn't click.

[Felix Mala]

99. I love the film version of "Slaughterhouse Five"

I especially enjoy Ron Leibman as Paul Lazzaro. "You ask anyone what the greatest thing in the world is, it's revenge."

[Enrique]

100. Lonesome Dove

Deliverance
Grapes of Wrath

[trackfan]

102. Doctor Zhivago was good.

It didn't stray too far from the book.

[NashVegas]

104. The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Was just fine on film.

[LynneSin]

106. I like the movie "Adaptation" based on the book "The Orchid Thief"

I think Charlie Kaufman had no idea how to turn the book into a movie so he just took it to town and created this amazing movie. Maryl Streep was robbed of the Oscar, but rumor has it that Michael Douglas spent about $1mil of his own money to campaign to get his wife the Oscar (Catherine Zeta-Jones). I saw Chicago and hardly thought Zeta-Jones was even worthy of a nomination (but I did think Queen Latifah was great in her role).

[pitohui]

113. i do too, wonderful and under-appreciated movie

i enjoyed the book also but the book was simply not on the level of this terrific film

[LNM]

107. The Grapes of Wrath (nt)

[noonwitch]

108. The ultimate example-To Kill A Mockingbird

Very little is left out of the book for the movie.


The worst, recently, is what Clint Eastwood (usually a good director) did to Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil. He had a good cast and story, but should have:

1. Used an actor/actress to play the part of the Lady Chablis. RuPaul would have been good.

2. Not used his daughter for the role of Mandy, who was not a skinny woman, in the book.

3. He shouldn't have put every character he introduced on to Jim Williams' jury. Nor should he have connected so many characters-the book was about the author's meetings of several people, but they weren't all connected to each other.

Kevin Spacey, John Cusak, the woman who played the voodoo priestess were all excellent in the movie, as was Jude Law, who played the "victim".

[mitchum]

114. "Requiem For A Dream" was a quite good adaptation...

however, the movie of Selby's brilliant "Last Exit To Brooklyn" was a wretched abomination

[RFKHumphreyObama]

117. To Kill A Mockingbird

Largely stayed true to the book, excellent first class quality acting and a very well-done oroduction

[book_worm]

118. I would agree

and also "Anatomy of a Murder" and "Advise and Consent."

[deucemagnet]

119. "The Silence of the Lambs"

The movie was pretty close to the book, and almost as good. Unfortunately both the sequel, Hannibal, and its film adaptation were stinkers.

[bookworm65t]

120. Orlando

I'm just not a Virginia Woolf fan, but Tilda Swinton was tops here. :applause: :applause:

[Drunken Irishman]

121. Stephen King's IT.

[Taverner]

122. Children of Men

[ET Awful]

124. I know some (if not most) will disagree, but 'Gone With the Wind' AND - - -

Sophie's Choice

[SoxFan]

129. Legion/Exorcist III

Legion is a seriously spooky book, and Exorcist III is a terribly underrated movie. It's more of a suspense/weird procedural than a horror story, although the film version added a pointless scene near the end to crank up the ghoulishness quotient.

[Highway61]

130. River Runs Through It

Misery
Ordinary People
Cujo

and my favorite movie .... Scent of a Woman Book: Buio e il Miele, Il... Author: Giovanni Arpino

[stuntcat]

131. I loved Golden Compass

A lot of these listed are my favorite movies too! I wanna list this one, I just saw it and I think it's great. I cried through half of it, I'm a mess over the animals and they weren't even real.