Best Novel Adaptations?

[Mr Trick]

In your opinion what the best screen adaptations based on a book. When thinking about your answers maybe think of films based on novels where you really like the novel as that then makes more of an achievement for the film being good. Also think about novels which at least on paper seemed unfilmable and yet they did a good job with them.

Rebecca
A ClockWork Orange
One Flew Over A Cuckoo's Nest
The Cement Garden
Crash (1996)
Carrie (1974)
Misery
Psycho
American Psycho
No Country For Old Men
Enduring Love
The Age of Innoncence
Great Expectations (40s version)
Oliver Twist (40s)
Blue is the Warmest Colour
Wild at Heart
Don't Look Now
The Witches
Lemony Snickets a Series of Unfortuante Events
Sense and Senseability
Mary Poppins
Alice in Wonderland (The Disney version)
The Wizard of Oz

 

[Evil Angelus 95]

Carrie (1974) - All the sequels/remakes are crap in comparison to the original
Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now - Brilliantly filmed and updated to a more (at the time) present setting.

 

[Blaze]

Blue is the Warmest Colour

Didn't know this was a book, how's the book? I actually didn't like the movie at all lol

For my choices, I'm going with the Hunger Games series. I think they did a phenomenal job adapting it. The movies are basically everything that the books are and more.

 

[Mr Trick]

Didn't know this was a book, how's the book? I actually didn't like the movie at all lol

For my choices, I'm going with the Hunger Games series. I think they did a phenomenal job adapting it. The movies are basically everything that the books are and more.

Not actually read the book yet (which I guess is kinda cheating, but anyway😉). The film isn't perfect, but I do like how the pacing of it has a literary type of flow, but yet it still has great visual poetry to it. I was also engaged by the two leads, both were superb. It just should have been cut down was my main issue, and at least one of the sex scenes could have gone.

I also like at least the first two Hunger Games movies. Not read the books, and don't know if they would appeal, but they did a good job with the films.

 

[Lyri]

The Hunger Games has to come top for me. They did SO well with that, taking it outside of Katniss' POV and showing us Haymitch or Snow. It was really well done and made me really like Haymitch a lot more than I did in the book. It helped me understand him, understand why he is the way he is.

There has only ever been one movie, however, where I thought it was better than the book.

The Devil Wears Prada is an INCREDIBLE movie, Meryl Streep is flawless and Emily Blunt, God, she's amazing. The book? The book is utter drivel. In the movie, it's understandable why Miranda is the way she is, but in the book, she's just mean for being mean and it doesn't work. You're reading this book and just not believing a single thing about it. It's completely unbelievable and that is just a really bad thing in a book. And don't even get me started on the sequel.

 

[Blaze]

I want to add Fingersmith also. The movie is absolutely brilliant, as is the book.

 

[Mr Trick]

I want to add Fingersmith also. The movie is absolutely brilliant, as is the book.

Didn't know there was a film version of that. Who is in it? Just read the one Sarah Waters book which was the Night Watch which was excellent. Also have Tipping the Velvet at home to read.

 

[Blaze]

Didn't know there was a film version of that. Who is in it? Just read the one Sarah Waters book which was the Night Watch which was excellent. Also have Tipping the Velvet at home to read.

The movie is actually a two (or 3?) parter mini-series, the two girls are played by Elaine Cassidy and Sally Hawkins, and Imelda Staunton (Umbridge in HP) plays Mrs. Sucksby. If you haven't read it, I highly suggest to read the book. It's my favorite from Sarah Waters. But if you want to watch the movie, it's actually on Youtube. Just make sure you DO NOT look up summaries, this is a movie you want to go completely blind when seeing. I can't even explain how good the twists are.

 

[Mr Trick]

The movie is actually a two (or 3?) parter mini-series, the two girls are played by Elaine Cassidy and Sally Hawkins, and Imelda Staunton (Umbridge in HP) plays Mrs. Sucksby. If you haven't read it, I highly suggest to read the book. It's my favorite from Sarah Waters. But if you want to watch the movie, it's actually on Youtube. Just make sure you DO NOT look up summaries, this is a movie you want to go completely blind when seeing. I can't even explain how good the twists are.

Thought it might be as I had not heard about a cinema verison. And period dramas do often work best as mini-series. That is a steller cast, but I will read the book first for sure.

I forgot Dangerous Liaisions. Love the film of that.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

They did SO well with that, taking it outside of Katniss' POV

Yes this was the best decision the films made. The first movie wasn't as good as the first book, the 2nd movie was on par with the 2nd book which is my favorite of the books, and the 3rd movie is way better than the 3 book, so far (there's still one more movie that covers the 3rd book). So I would say overall they did a great job adapting The Hunger Games series.

Now I don't read a whole lot of books, so I can't really compare movies like Harry Potter or Twilight to the books, but I do love the Harry Potter Movies, and refuse to watch Twilight. But I do like the movie 'A Walk To Remember'. I did read the book, I saw the movie twice in theatres, and while the book is good, I like the movie's pacing much better. And no I'm not a Nicholas Sparks fan, that's the only book of his I've read.

 

[Mr Trick]

Yes this was the best decision the films made. The first movie wasn't as good as the first book, the 2nd movie was on par with the 2nd book which is my favorite of the books, and the 3rd movie is way better than the 3 book, so far (there's still one more movie that covers the 3rd book). So I would say overall they did a great job adapting The Hunger Games series.

Now I don't read a whole lot of books, so I can't really compare movies like Harry Potter or Twilight to the books, but I do love the Harry Potter Movies, and refuse to watch Twilight. But I do like the movie 'A Walk To Remember'. I did read the book, I saw the movie twice in theatres, and while the book is good, I like the movie's pacing much better. And no I'm not a Nicholas Sparks fan, that's the only book of his I've read.

And just to test you which is the best Harry Potter film?😎

I've seen the first Twilight and thought it was alright. It works well for its target audience which so many films don't nowadays.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

And just to test you which is the best Harry Potter film?😎

I've seen the first Twilight and thought it was alright. It works well for its target audience which so many films don't nowadays.

To be honest I haven't seen them in a while and I have only seen the 5, 6, 7, 8 a few times. So mostly remember the first 4 films, because those are the ones I owned. But I did love The Half-Blood Prince and The Prisoner of Azkaban. Why what is considered the best? Or what do you think is the best?

I saw enough of the first Twilight to say that I didn't like it. Bad acting, bad story, bad vampires that sparkle, bad lightning, there was just a lot of bad. Some people say they got better though. Maybe some day I will go back and watch them.

 

[Mr Trick]

To be honest I haven't seen them in a while and I have only seen the 5, 6, 7, 8 a few times. So mostly remember the first 4 films, because those are the ones I owned. But I did love The Half-Blood Prince and The Prisoner of Azkaban. Why what is considered the best? Or what do you think is the best?

I saw enough of the first Twilight to say that I didn't like it. Bad acting, bad story, bad vampires that sparkle, bad lightning, there was just a lot of bad. Some people say they got better though. Maybe some day I will go back and watch them.

The best without a doubt from the ones I have seen is Prisoner of Azkaban. Proper character development, great effects, and a real sense of danger. Since you said that or THBP which I have not seen I will let you off😛

Not sure the actor is that bad in Twilight IMO. It is what you expect from that sort of film. Think KS is fine at what she does, its just that she does that same thing over and over again.

 

[Lyri]

The last Twilight movies were definitely the best of the bunch. I don't know if Kristin Stewart got more comfortable in the role as she went along or if she was just more comfortable playing the version of the character that existed in the final two movies.

I've read all the Twilight books and saw all the movies and I have to say that the books are better. No, they're not the best pieces of literature out there, but for their target audience, they were good. A lot of stuff was left out and missing from the movies though, which took a lot away from Bella's character, I thought, though, again, they were decent enough for their audience. Which wasn't me or my friends, lol.

 

[Fuffy Baith]

The best without a doubt from the ones I have seen is Prisoner of Azkaban. Proper character development, great effects, and a real sense of danger. Since you said that or THBP which I have not seen I will let you off😛

Not sure the actor is that bad in Twilight IMO. It is what you expect from that sort of film. Think KS is fine at what she does, its just that she does that same thing over and over again.

You haven't seen THBP?! You watch it then come back and properly compare the movies. lol. 😉 Yea, PoA had everything going for it, I love the mystery of who the Werewolf is and the patronius and the time travel/loop aspect. All great.

The last Twilight movies were definitely the best of the bunch. I don't know if Kristin Stewart got more comfortable in the role as she went along or if she was just more comfortable playing the version of the character that existed in the final two movies.

I've read all the Twilight books and saw all the movies and I have to say that the books are better. No, they're not the best pieces of literature out there, but for their target audience, they were good. A lot of stuff was left out and missing from the movies though, which took a lot away from Bella's character, I thought, though, again, they were decent enough for their audience. Which wasn't me or my friends, lol.

Yea I'm not the target audience, but maybe the books would be better for me. Like Mr. Trick and you have said, the character comes off pretty bland in the first movie. But I still don't think KS is a good actress. Granted I haven't seen her in much. But if the books add more to Bella's character I would like that better. And that's good to know that the last movies are better.

 

[Lyri]

I think she's decent enough, but, again, she did the best with what she was given. I think the movie tried too hard to be different, to prove that their vampires were different, that Bella wasn't anything special, that she was just an ordinary girl who fell in love with a not so ordinary vampire that she came off as empty and boring. The books are written like The Hunger Games, in Bella POV, so it's a lot better to get into Bella's head and really understand what she's feeling and going through.

But there was one thing that was left out of the movies that I thought was a real big insight into Bella's character and how much of a struggle it was for her to find herself becoming part of this family of vampires. It was strange that they left that out.

 

[Blaze]

I think she's decent enough, but, again, she did the best with what she was given

This. Honestly, I think the movies suffers from two things. One, the actors were given bad material, and two, the actors stopped giving a f***. (a few actors have even stated regretting filming the movies...that's bad). I use to slam K. Stewart when I had only see her in Twilight, but I take it back. The girl can actually act, I've seen her in other movies where she's phenomenal. I honestly don't think it was her fault that she came off so blend in Twilight.

 

[Ethan Reigns]

I have read several Dan Brown novels and The Da Vinci Code was a better movie than Angels and Demons, but Angels and Demons was a better book than The Da Vinci Code. His earlier efforts, Digital Fortress and Deception Point were never good enough to convert to a screenplay - I am surprised they even got published. The Lost Symbol is a book that I actually forgot that I read and I have not read Inferno yet (but we have it in the house).