Books That Shouldn't Have Been Made Into Movies

[Wasif Ahmed]

The golden compass movie just made me mad. It was dull and boring. The divergent movies as well were not any better.

Ohhhhh lordy, The Golden Compass. I remember watching the end of that movie, knowing it wasn't going to end the way the book was going to end, and still being shocked when they did end it. I sat there thinking "what? No, what?? Put those lights back down, we're not done here!"

[JavaDaBud]

The Shining.
Although a great movie on its own, the movie version of The Shining butchered the book's content. Even Stephen King (the author) himself admitted that The Shining was poorly directed. I never understood why he said it... until I read the book.
The book holds a wide story with even a wider historical background of the content, which is completely fictional, even though it looks completely realistic. In addition, there was an Epilogue after the ending in the book, explaining how it all concluded. In my opinion, the epilogue holds a great position in the story.
Unfortunately, neither the epilogue nor the great ending was reflected in the movies. Instead, there was an ending which left quite a lot of questions in the watchers' minds.

[EWatson02]

All movies based on books are basically cash grabs. The different medium is always going to present issues for movie makers, some books more than others.
For me, most Stephen King inspired movies. I did like the new It, and thought it was closer to the book in feel than the older one. Stephen King apparently liked it too.
The Dark Tower movie would have been confusing to anyone not familiar with the books, and I felt it was rushed, cramming a whole series into one movie. They could have at least got a trilogy out of it; unlike the overstretched Hobbit trilogy, the Dark Tower would have benefited from more than one movie.
Catch 22 was a terrible movie, as was the first Conan movie, with Schwarzenegger. I grew up reading Robert E. Howard, and could not believe how poor that movie was.
On the flip side, I watched Gone Girl before reading the book. Loved the movie, but did not enjoy the book.

Wait, aren't there like a million Dark Tower books? (I've only read the first one). That sounds like a very bad idea.

And the movie whose book I did not enjoy was American Psycho. The book meandered and was a boring mess, but the movie was incredible.

[pinefamily]

There are 7 in the Dark Tower series, not counting references in other Stephen King books and stories.
I enjoyed American Psycho too. First movie that I remember Christian Bale from. He's now one of my favourite actors.

[Kieran_Obrien]

The Hobbit... 3 times! such average movies from such a good book...

[Emilyz]

Night in rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks. It wasn't necessary turning it into a movie.
The fifty shades triology wasn't depicted well as movies. The movies didn't depict the intensity you get from the books

[Mekkinism]

I haven't met anyone who agrees with me, but as a life long lover of Diana Wynn Jones, I really hated the film adaptation of Howl's Moving Castle. It wasn't even an adaptation! It was like a hodgepodge of elements from the book mixed into a completely different plot that made Sophie's character so much weaker and more sappy. I couldn't stand it.

[R-Myra]

Eragon. Poor poor Eragon. It was a fabulous book but when made into a movie they cut out chunks of plot that were vital in my opinion.

I haven't read the book but I've heard about the movie and I was going to watch it but thanks to your post. I'll rather read the book now than waste my time watching the film.

[Aubrey Lewis]

Great Books - terrible film adaptations: The Da Vinci Code and Vampire Academy. I love these books yet it gave me great despair to see them being ruined on a big screen.

[Mallory Porshnev]

I definitely agree about The Da Vinci Code. I will never be able to see Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon, as much as I love Tom Hanks. I am watching the new Fahrenheit 451 adaptation right now. I'm not a fan. Movies in general don't do books justice. And if you love a book, it's always dangerous to see the film.

[RabidFox]

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey should have never been turned into the film that it was. The book is not a great favourite of mine, but I have read it. The book is totally different than the film. For one, the narrator of the original story was Bromden, who is always seen with a broom—Or is it a mop? And the film is told through the eyes of Randle McMurphy played by Jack Nicholson, who doesn't even begin to be like the original character.

Another problem for me is that Bromden's actual psychological condition is not truly seen on the screen. In fact, there is really nothing revealed about him at all. In truth, Bromden is delusional and often hallucinates. His take on the story is strange and bizarre, and I find him difficult to argue with as a character, as he is so passive and honest.

For me, the original Randle is not very memorable, and it's been so long since I've read the book that I've forgotten about him for the most part. However, I think that I found the book version of Randle to be somewhat annoying. While Bromden is fascinated with him, he just doesn't come through to me as an interesting character. Perhaps that's why the film version used Jack Nicholson, with his bold personality and way of isolating his performance from other actors.

Now when I very first saw One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on the television, I thought it was okay. It wasn't until after I read the book, that I felt like the film had been spoiled by its faithlessness to its predecessor. Jack Nicholson went from being somewhat humorous to downright irritating. He's so arrogant and full of himself, while the original Randle is average in comparison and does not make as big of an impression compared to his film counterpart, who cleverly twists everything to his advantage.

I think this could be a good film if was just picked up by the right person. But they would have to make it like the book. Even the author, Ken Kesey, did not like the idea of Jack Nicholson playing Randle and the fact that the film does not centre around Bromden's interpretation of events. I believe that Ken Kesey has always refused to even so much as watch the film, because of his intense aversion to the decisions that were made in its production.

[Noemi Amachree]

Well i think the lightening thief shouldn't had been made into a movie

[lindsaysherlock]

Percy Jackson. Well, I actually would have liked to see the Percy Jackson series made into good movies, but the movies that were made are just awful and don't even deserve to be called Percy Jackson.

[JR Mercier]

I hated the film adaption of The Mortal Instruments. As a fan of the books, I just felt it was really bad. Also Percy Jackson. I don't even want to start on that one.

[mariacarolinea]

Dear John! I loved the book. It was the first romance to really touch me, but the movie was really disappointing. I had no problems with the acting, but the script itself didn't make the book justice.