Books that become movies.

[Davisstories]

One of my favorite book to movies was Flags of our Fathers. Although the movie was good, it was a bit fragmented from the book, but I still liked it.

[Eric]

I enjoy it most when the film gets its basic inspiration from the book but doesn't worry too much about absolute faithfulness to the source material. They tend to be much more creative and interesting to me. A few examples:

"There Will Be Blood" - The movie is only loosely based on Upton Sinclair's novel "Oil!", but it captures the essence of the story better than a literal retelling of the novel, in my opinion.

Stanley Kubrick's "Lolita" - Clare Quilty's character (played by Peter Sellers) is very different than in the novel, but I think that these changes add a great deal to the film and give it the Kubrick touch. It definitely contributes to the suspense and paranoia of the story.

"Fast Food Nation" - Ok, so it wasn't a great movie...but I really admire the risky idea of turning a book of muckraking journalism and cultural criticism into a drama starring everyone from Bruce Willis to Avril Lavigne to Fez from "That 70s Show." The safe bet would have been a documentary, but of course Morgan Spurlock already did that with "Super Size Me".

[hllyfuzz]

I read Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult last year and it was just on the Lifetime network as a movie. I was suprised that the movie wasn't that bad. I am a true believe that books are always better than movies anyways. I had read In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner and was highly disappointed with the movie. The movie didn't have the same vibe as the book at all.

[bookie20]

I have yet to find a movie remotely as good as the book.

[Rach]

I mostly agree! The only one I can think of is Devil Wears Prada. I really quite enjoyed this as a light hearted movie, and bought the book one day when I was stressed at work and wanted a giggle, but just couldn't read it. I only got about 1/3rd through when the language and writing style just drove me nuts.

The book is also completely different to the movie, and I mean completely, the whole story is changed round and I found this frustrating! Though I think that if you had read and enjoyed the book you probably would be frustrated at the movie.

In conclusion I think I'm agreeing to the fact that good books don't turn into good movies if they are translated as written, the forums are just too different.

Generally I prefer not to watch movies that have been adapted from a book I've read and enjoyed, but will happily watch a flick to pass the time if I haven't read the book. Unless it is a book that I plan to read (i.e. Kite Runner!)

[blue_diamond21]

Apparantly Broke Back Mountain was pretty true to the original even though it was a short story. I've got both the book and movie yet never seen/read them....

[Taneha]

As a child I always loved the movie the power of one but every time I watched it my mother would walk out of the room or sit with a sour look on her face.After the 5th time of hiring the movie I finally asked her why.
She just smiled and gave me the book.I wasn't a reader then but I was so curious I had to read this one(and I've had a book ever since)

And now I can't stand the movie.It is nothing like the book and basically just uses the characters names. The book is fantastic.
Since I rearly watch a movie bast on a book before reminding myself the movie is it's now creation.

[Flyboy]

I always have mixed emotions about book vs movie. I would mention however that as a staunch Tolkein fan I was absolutely delighted with the treatment Hollywood gave to Lord of the Rings. It was brilliant. And the only thing they left out(which I can actually understand) was the whole scene with the Hobbits stumbling into the forest and meeting the enigmatic Tom Bombadil.... But on the whole my opinion was BRAVO!!!!

[IanBookMan]

I always have mixed emotions about book vs movie. I would mention however that as a staunch Tolkein fan I was absolutely delighted with the treatment Hollywood gave to Lord of the Rings. It was brilliant. And the only thing they left out(which I can actually understand) was the whole scene with the Hobbits stumbling into the forest and meeting the enigmatic Tom Bombadil.... But on the whole my opinion was BRAVO!!!!

Have you ever seen the cartoon movies of LOTR?
Came out probably early 80's
I thought they did a good job as well and I can't help thinking that Peter Jackson must have seen these cartoons as well.

[mirage]

One movie that was adapted from the book that I simply like is "Kiss the Girls".The book was written by James Patterson.

Morgan Freeman portrayed the role of Dr. Alex Cross.I certainly believe that he gave justice to his role.

[Pappy]

Flyboy, in the special features for Fellowship Peter Jackson was talking about cutting Bombadil out and basically said it was a pause in thr story's momentum and not a required pause at that. I thought it was cool when I read the book and of course when I saw the movie I asked "Where's Tom?" but honestly his being missing didn't hurt the movies at all.

[booklover123]

I always compare books to movies and most of the movies I see that are based off of books are good but they, like, barely have anything to do with the actual story and that's what bugs me.

[etomicmail]

Hello there, I am new to the forum. I have been unable to find in the search engine in the forum any information regarding screenwriting. I have several ideas for screen plays but don´t know where to get started. I have wriiten a non fiction book. It seems though that fiction is a whole other animal. Any thought on where to start?

[mrsdalloway]

I recently watched Into The Wild. I thought it was an excellent movie! The acting was absolutely brilliant, which I was surprised by because its the same kid who was also in The Girl Next Door. lol

So, I was thinking about adding the book to my to-read list. Is this a good idea?

Yeah it's a really good movie! I was also surprised by the actor lol

I didn't know there was a book till after I watched the film. The same happened with Perfume. It's really annoying cuz it kinda spoils it a little for me, I'd like to read the books but still have the images of the films in my mind. I always find film adaptations really disappointing, although some are decent like the lord of the rings and the hours... anyway, I find that reading is always better!

[xbox360gurl70s]

Well Indiana Jones just hit the theatres and it's been a blast with spielberg, lucas and ford. but does everybody knows that the book version is better? it's full of wild ride and great adventure, if you have the imagination to go along with it,