Books To Movies/Tv Series

white avenger

white avenger

white avenger
Joined
Sep 30, 2006
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rome, georgia
We've all seen this, time and again. A book that we all absolutely loved turned into a movie that just doesn't "measure up" to what the author (and you) really had in mind. What are some of your biggest movie to book disappointments? Keep in mind that this in no way means that the movies themselves aren't actually popular in general, just that they aren't what you imagined when you read and enjoyed the book.

Perfect examples to me are the entire "Tarzan" series, and the entire "James Bond" series. Both have made tons of money, and neither character really measures up to what the author intended.

At the top of my personal list are two great horror novels, "Relic," and "The Wolfen," and the absolute DOG of a movie, "Raise The Titanic," which was barely recognizable as originating from Clive Cussler's novel.
 
Harry Potter
The da Vinci Code
Brave New World

That's all I can think of right now. The worst was 'The da Vinci Code'. I was reading this book right before watching the movie, so I could compare these two pretty well, and let's just say I was far from impressed. I still liked the movie, it was okay, but they just changed some things and I didn't like it.

I'm really expectant towards 'Der Vorleser' (I think the English title is 'the reader'?)
We had to read this book for our German class (see, we also have some cool books in German) and I really liked it. Now I'm curious what the movie will be like. Guess I have to wait til December. Oh, and I'm glad they recasted Kate Winslet and let Nicole Kidman go, because imo she's much better for the part as described in the book.


EDIT:
I just realized I forgot one.

Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo

A really famous German book, the autobiography of a 13/14/15/16 year old girl who was a drug addict. I've read his book tons of time, another one we had to read for German class, and I was so willing to read this. It's amazing how it really portrays the world of drug addicts how it is. Well, after we'd finished reading, we watched the movie at our German class, and it was just such a disappointment.
I couldn't figure out the English title of this, but I did find the English Wikipedia page of the film, it's here
Maybe some of you know this movie, I have no idea how popular it was outside of Germany, though.
 
Definitely has to be Harry Potter for me. The movies miss out too much of the book, including a lot of the humour. There's just no competition, the books are amazing and the movies? Not so much.
 
it would be Queen of the damned(a complete awesome book by anne rice as part of her vampire chronicles)>destoyed to bits by the movie
and the harry potter movies>the books are so full of information (that are not in the movies) and they're so much more humerous in places than the movies, I absolutey love these books...not a fan of the movies.
 
Harry Potter is a big one.

And another (I will probably get shouted down here, I always do) is Lord of the Rings. Don't get me wrong, Peter Jackson did an amazing job considering the constraints placed on him etc, but there were things he didn't that I didn't agree with. My dad refers to me as a 'purist' on the subject of movies of books- I like the film to be as close to the book as possible, and I hated the way Jackson missed out what I thought were key points in the book, and added stuff like the battle with the wargs where Aragorn falls over the cliff. It just annoyed me. I didn't like the way he portrayed Denethor either, or the 'gay' relationship between Sam and Frodo... it was just not how I imagined it.
 
Old Master 3.0
Old Master 3.0
**cough** Tom Bombadil **cough**
This isn't really a problem for me since I generally tend to view the movies and books as completely separate entities.

Also, the Harry Potter books aren't even particularly good, and I Am Legend isn't an awful movie. It's pretty boring after the first half hour, but it's not awful.
 
I've only caught a glimpse of the Lifetime TV series made out of Tanya Huff's Blood books, but that was all I needed to be desperately disappointed with it.
 
Well this probably isn't a fair critique, but for me - it would have to be Lemony Snickett's A Series of Unfortunate Events. The books are..amazing. Really and truly amazing. And the movie, while a good movie (imo) - was a baaaad telling of the first three books. In fact, I tend to treat them as entirely different things. I enjoy the movie for it's beautiful landscapes, sets, and costumes. But the books are just some of the most incredible pieces of literature ever. Love them.
 
Harry Potter, definitely. I used to love the books, when I was like seven and they had just come out. Then when everyone started to become Harry Potter crazy because of the movies, I found another, much less-known series to obsess about. Of course I read the new ones when they came out and all, but I've never been one to follow the crowd. I still go and see the movies when they come out, and am more and more disappointed each time. Though I understand how hard it is to condense such thick books into a few hours. I just don't agree with some production choices that have been made.

The other big one with me is The Golden Compass. Amazing series, awful movie. Truly, I was extremely disappointed. Somehow the director thought it was best to completely leave out the ending to the book, so that the movie itself made little to no sense to newcomers... anyone want to explain that to me?

And I am actually one of those who prefer the Lord of the Rings movies to the books. I do miss those entire chapters that curiously didn't get filmed, but honestly, Tolkien bores me to death. I find his writing style not nearly as bad as, say, Hawthorne or Melville, but up there with those wordy, purple prose authors. Just my opinion, though.
 
Then again,what about the GOOD books that got made into movies/TV series?

M*A*S*H has to fit into that category. A lot had to be changed in the transition,but it worked out well-heck,it did last for over a decade.
 
Pretty much any movie based on a book is awful when you compare them. Books are just sooo much more detailed and engrossing. The only movies I like based on books are the Lord of the Rings (although I think it should have been about 6 movies instead of three cause they do cut alot out) and the Outsiders. The Harry Potter movies are quite possibly the worst things ever by the way.


Let's do it for Johnny!
 
I actually liked A Walk to Remember (the movie) better than the book. The characters were more likeable in the movie, I thought, and the plot more touching and to the point.
 
R
randiann
Oh yeah I forgot about that one! That's a good one too. Made me cry....
See, I hated A Walk to Remember They cut out the main purpose of the title that was in the book, and that's that part that really hits you. The book was so much better.

I love the book "The Nanny Diaries", but I absolutely hated the movie. It was terrible, because they just didn't capture the greatness of the book. I could read that book over and over, and the movie makes me want to scream.

That being said, I am really not looking forward to some movies coming out from other books I love. I am dreading the Twilight movie, because the books were so phenomenal and I'm sure the movie will totally suck. I also will probably hate Shopaholic when is comes out in theaters, because they will totally screw that one up too. And that's like the best book in my bookshelf. I love the Shopaholic series, and I get knots in my tummy when I think about what the movie is going to be like.
 
B
Blondie Bear
I loved The Nanny Diaries (the book). Haven't seen the movie yet, though.
C
crabby patty
I totally agree about the shopaholic film, I wish they were not making it! The book is excellent!
Queen of the Damned was pure rubbish.


The Harry Potter movies are not as great as the books but, well, after Queen of the Damned, nothing seems that bad xD
 
P.S I love you. I love the film, but it really doesn't live up to the book. Don't get me wrong it is a great movie, but I just wish it was more like the book, 'cause it's pretty much a different storyline based on the same thing.
 
I keep seeing hints that Edgar Rice Burroughs; "John Carter of Mars" trilogy is going to be made into a series of movies, and as much as I hope it eventually is, now that the technology exists to do the job properly, I still shudder in fear tyo think of how Hollywood can screw up one of my all time favorite characters.
 
I was joking (mostly) with my husband about how much of an English nerd I am because we saw the trailer for The Ruins, which mentioned the movie was based on a novel, and I said, "Ooh, that looks like it'd be a good book! Kind of like Relic!"

I'm such a dork. . . . But I do have the book now. It's on my pile-o-summer-reading-books.
 
I know a lot of people loved Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, but I didn't. Not that I hated it, but there was something very flat and cold about it. Still entertaining, but something felt off about it.
 
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