Book to Movie adaptations

This was inspired by a recent thread, rather then further hijacking....

Which ones did you like? which ones didn't you like? any other thoughts?

My favorite movie is the adaptation of Fight Club. I think the novel is brilliant and the movie was pretty much exactly the same as the book. Although the order was a little tweeked, most of it was right on, and I think there were maybe three scenes that were cut-out (I haven't seen the special edition?) that didn't effect the story, and a couple that were changed that I thought were done even better in the movie.

I was amazed that there were scenes in Starwars Episode 1 that weren't in the novel based on the movie.

Persoanlly one of the worst ever translations from book to movie was Earthsea. I liked the movie, but the second you start comparing it to the book the whole thing falls apart.

I've never come across a movie adapted from a book that I was totally happy with. I find its easiest to just not compare the two. That way you can enjoy both.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, hands down best adaptation I've ever seen.

generally I feel that novellas, or short stories make for the best movies, full lengths novels being too long.

Fight Club is on my toplist. I resisted seeing it for a really long time because I'd read the book first and tend to be really disappointed in the movie adaptations of things.

The World According to Garp was a decent adaptation. Dangerous Liason's was a fair adaptation though the book was far better.

[QUOTE=Geist42]
Persoanlly one of the worst ever translations from book to movie was Earthsea. I liked the movie, but the second you start comparing it to the book the whole thing falls apart.

QUOTE]
ever read the book a clockwork orange and then sat through and watched that smut covered crap stanley kubrick hacked together with the same namesake?

the book was really good. ive read it over a dozen times-it's my favorite book (I even talk in nadsat sometimes) but the movie quite literally butchered the whole story into a glorified porn with no meaning or moral ending.
(yes. the book has a moral to it if you read all 21 chapters)

Well when it comes to movie adaptation:

odds on being good.....

Books to Movies: 3 to 2
Plays to Movies: Even
Comic books to movies: 3 to 1
TV shows to movies: 5 to 1
Video Games to movies: 10 to 1

Quote:

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Originally Posted by malcolm

ever read the book a clockwork orange and then sat through and watched that smut covered crap stanley kubrick hacked together with the same namesake?

the book was really good. ive read it over a dozen times-it's my favorite book (I even talk in nadsat sometimes) but the movie quite literally butchered the whole story into a glorified porn with no meaning or moral ending.
(yes. the book has a moral to it if you read all 21 chapters)

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Well the book was never released with that ending untill WELL after the film had been produced...so keep in mind that the film stuck close to the early U.S. version of the book and only used the book as a guideline...not as a road map.

It would have been a disaster to release the film with the moral ending the book had...given the time period, the society, and the fact this was an AMERICAN director doing the film for an American audience...the ending would have been seen as a cop out. This was the early 70's and Nam' still raged...a darker cloud was forming on the american horizon and this film WAS the reality of youths at the time in urban enviornments...so in all truth the Film was much more in tune with reality than the book ever was. The book is indeed great but I've read it as a teen and as an adult in this mid 20's...I never would have agreed with the books true ending as a teenager.

Oddly enough that's what the final chapter alludes to anyhow, along with having the benefit of age and passage of time for the books main character. The final chapter the book originally had is fitting but I feel is tacked on for the college crowd and adults...it's totally out of sync with the rest of the book...I like it as an adult but as a teen...it was easily dismissable. I actually TORE that chapter out of my copy.

Hellboy was good visual adaption, but story was a bit crap compared to comic.
Judge Dredd was same, ive read the comic since 1988 and loved the city scenes and Angel gang, but the story and stallone sucked balls.
Queen of the damned was fuckin shite (and i was an extra in it)

I try to see the movies first, then read the book if I have a choice, because I usually like the book better.

Sometimes a story is fairly believable in your own head, with the writer's voice telling it, but then the movie adaptation is so awful it *almost* ruins it for you. "Millenium" by John Varley, anyone?

i was really disappointed with the movie adaptation of "Hannibal"....really preferred the books ending, and found a lot of things were missing in the movie....

interview with the vampire pissed me off too....

"The Stand" by Stephen King. I love the movie, it captures a lot of the emotion and fear from the book. (plus, 6 hours of watching the world end and renew is always cool)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by malcolm

ever read the book a clockwork orange and then sat through and watched that smut covered crap stanley kubrick hacked together with the same namesake?

the book was really good. ive read it over a dozen times-it's my favorite book (I even talk in nadsat sometimes) but the movie quite literally butchered the whole story into a glorified porn with no meaning or moral ending.
(yes. the book has a moral to it if you read all 21 chapters)

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Yes A Clockwork Orange is an equally crappy adaptation to Earthsea.

actually fight club movie was a lot different than fight club book, the movie at least had a good ending for starters, tweeked, Movie, blow up some buildings, BOOK , end up in a mental hospital loving your meds, who knows, maybe I read the wrong version of the book

The movie was way better

Clockwork orange book was good but I'd rather see that sort of story in a movie

I thought of mice and men was probably the best movie adaptation I've seen, although it took longer to watch the movie than to read the book

yeah in the Fight Club movie he wanted to blow up the credit card companies to erase debt, and he tried to stop himself and wasn't able to. in the book he wanted to blow up the smithsonian, or some other big museum and erase history and he just fucked up and made the bombs wrong but he didn't know that until they didn't detonate.

bombs blowing up= cooler.

one day there will be a freeware program, written by a bunch of bored students, which will READ A NOVEL and then make a full-length CGI extravanganza of the book, completely true to the word, down to the very comma.

so, what would you shove into the slot first?

a) The Dosadi Experiment, Frank Herbert

b) Gravity's Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon

c) All of Moorcock's "End of Time" books

d) and why stop there? why not throw in some Jerry Cornelius..

wow. that last one should be Peter Chung's next big project. make him all stick-insecty like Aeon Flux. heh.