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best book to movie adaptation

I recall that The Thorn Birds mini series set a viewing record here in the states which wasn't broke for years. It was a huge hit. There were a lot of people watching when Father Ralph walked down that beach to visit Meggie.
 
The Book or the Movie???

As a general rule, I would say I usually always prefer the book to its movie version...I'm not sure why, but a book seems to come alive to me on a different level than a movie. A book is not bound by the imagination of a director, but instead transforms and morphs it character's appearances, settings, and atmospheres in the mind of each new reader it captivates.

However, that's just me. How about you? Which do you usually prefer? Has there ever been a time when you liked the movie over the book? Maybe you generally do like the movie over the book?
 
I prefer the book to the movie. That being said, I always suggest people watch Fight Club before reading it because I think the movie handles the "oh shit" moment better.
 
I almost always prefer the book. The only two exceptions I can think of off the top of my head are The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption, both of which just happen to be Stephen King works.
 
I thought they did an excellent job translating McCarthy's No Country for Old Men to film. Not only was the plot followed, but the feel of the book was carried over well. I hope The Road is done equally well.

Both children's movies, but Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn and T. H. White's The Sword in the Stone, especially the version in The Once and Future King were both well done.
 
i think a lot of people place too much importance on how faithful the movie is to the novel. if the director/screenwriter(s) take the source material, give it their own spin, and the movie owns hard then the fact that it strays from the novel shouldn't be a point of contention. a good example of this is the shining, it's one of the best horror movies ever yet there are tons of people that hate it because it wasn't exactly like the book. i actually feel kinda sorry for people that get hung up on bullshit like that, they would get a lot more enjoyment out of life if they just chillaxed.
 
I think most of us don't mind a director's own spin, creative license, whatever you want to call it. What I dislike is when a movie is purported to be based on a book, yet the movie only has a few things in common with the book, like with I am Legend where the only things linking the movie and the book are the title, the name of the main character, and a single basic premise. I enjoyed the movie, and the book is one of my top 5, but so much was changed that it wasn't the same story.
 
Best job of adapting a book to a film?

What do you think would be the best movie adaptation of a book of any genre?
 
This is what I said in a similar thread

Great books, Bad Movies :
The Haunting of Hill House,The Shining, DaVinci Code, The Time Machine, The Picture of Dorian Grey, Dracula, Lolita.


Great Books, Good Movies :
Blindness, Perfume, Girl with a Pearl Earring, Memoir of a Geisha, Piano.


Awful book, Great Movie :
The Bridges of Madison County .
 
Complex selected their top 50 literary adaptations. I'll post the Top 10 entries:

10.) Psycho
9.) Gone with the Wind
8.) The Shining
7.) There Will Be Blood (based on Upton Sinclair's Oil!)
6.) Rosemary's Baby
5.) Apocalypse Now (based on Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness)
4.) The Silence of the Lambs
3.) The Godfather
2.) The Exorcist
1.) A Clockwork Orange
 
I hate reviving old threads... I normally try to read the book before the movie and found this forum during my search.
I just finished The Martian and can't wait until it comes out on video! It was an excellent book and I apologize for not being able to give a review on the movie.
Currently I'm reading The Exorcist (which is how I found this thread/forum) and am very hopeful that it's better than the movie. It's been long enough since I've watched the movie that I think I won't have any prejudiced against it.
Are there any current books/movies that you guys would recommend?
 
Not current at all but the movie adaptation for The Hunt for Red October was really well done. Also not current and not a movie but the series Band of Brothers was amazing.
 
These aren't current either, but I think the movie adaptations for Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile, and The Shawshank Redemption were pretty good.
 
cajunmama said:
These aren't current either, but I think the movie adaptations for Saving Private Ryan, The Green Mile, and The Shawshank Redemption were pretty good.
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They were all great movies. I've never even thought about The Green Mile. I'm not a huge Stephen King fan, but I do enjoy a few of his books and especially his short stories.
regdog said:
I liked The Lord of The Rings adaptation
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I've both read and saw each movie. I did miss that they left Tom Bombidile out of it but Peter Jackson did a pretty good job.
sparkchaser said:
Not current at all but the movie adaptation for The Hunt for Red October was really well done. Also not current and not a movie but the series Band of Brothers was amazing.
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All great suggestions. I'll look up Hunt for Red October. I don't think I could handle Band of Brothers. I watched that series while deployed in Iraq and I think it'll bring back too many memories :(
 
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