Best & Worst

[Jenem]

i'm a newbie, so excuse me if this thread's been done.

What is the best film adaptation, in your humble opinion? The worst?

The best, IMHO, is the A&E version of Pride & Prejudice. Ok, it's 5 hours long, but the plot sticks quite accurately to the novel (the reason for the length), and the character portrayals are outstanding. Maybe it's not fair to pick and A&E movie, though. Of Mice and Men would be my second choice.

Battlefield Earth could be the worst adaptation, but I can't recall the details of the movie. I just remember it was one of the worst, most disappointing movies ever.

Worst TV show to movie is the last Star Trek NG movie "Nemesis". Biggest disappointment ever. Who wrote that crap? Someone who never saw the series?

 

[phil_t]

Best: Lord of the Rings, Shawshank Redemption, Harry Potter wasnt too bad

Worst: Egads ..... erm, Dune (the original one, with Sting!!), ive heard Battlefield Earth was a steaming pile of horse poopie, but ive never had the desire to see the film (nor have i read the book, but thats besides the point surely ), probably some of those god-awful Shakespeare adaptations they insist on churning out *cough* Midsummer Nights Dream *cough*

.... and yes, this thread has been done before, but we wont hold that against you .... well, not really

Phil

 

[Jenem]

LOTR was excellent, but some of the plot lines deviated too much from the book for me to include as a "best". i haven't read Shawshank Redemption (why haven't i???) but i did love the movie. nor have i read any harry potter books. why do i get put off by hype? thats why i never read harry potter. shame on me

i loved the original Dune! i found it very like the book. it was just weird enough for me to still love it. anymore weirdness and i may have been put off. if you'd have read battlefield earth you'd probably have wanted to see the movie (until it got out how terrible it was). i hear you on midsummer...terrible. i wasn't fond of the book either

 

[Buddy Knox]

A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, & Runaway Jury were all pretty good Grisham movies imo.

The Client was alright... and i haven't seen or read The Pelican Brief yet.

as far as non-Grisham stuff goes....

I thought The Basketball Diaries by Jim Carrol was a great book & movie. Leonardo DiCaprio did a heck of a job in his portrayal.

I thought Stephen King's Thinner was a horrible film adaptation. Now that I think about it, I can't remember anymore King novels making the big screen after that p.o.s. was released.

The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe is another one of my favorite film adaptations. It's a UK-made movie that was released maybe 15 years or so ago. There were a couple of films that chronicled Narnia in the series, and I really enjoyed them.

Daniel Clowe's Ghost World was another fantastic movie. Thora Birch (American Beauty) really did a great job in her role, and the underrated Steve Buscemi was very convincing as the shy, music collector. great flick.


I've just started reading Hurricane: The Miraculous Journey of Rubin Carter by James S. Hirsch. so far it's a great book, and i've heard nothing but good things about the movie. hopefully it'll live up to my expectations.

 

[Martin]

Stand By Me, from the Stephen King Novella The Body (which appeared in the collection Different Seasons, which also included Apt Pupil and the aforementioned The Shawshank Redemption (my favourite film ever)) was also a good adaptation.

As for worst, I'll have to think about that.

Cheers, Martin

 

[phil_t]

On Stephen King - loads of his books have been adapted, not all of them very well though!!

Shawshank Redemption (excellent), Stand By Me (excellent) and Apt Pupil (havnt seen, but not meant to be terrible) all came from one short story anthology of his.

The Green Mile wasnt all that bad, but wasnt as good as Shawshank (same director)

Misery was excellent, the best straight adaptation of one of his works from book to film.

IT was released an age ago and wasnt bad by horror movie standards, but no scratch on the book.

Hearts of Atlantis & Dreamcatcher were both out in the last couple of years, to so-so reviews.

Plus a glut of TV Movies (yup, them things again) - among which i have seen Tommyknockers & .... some other one about slipping out of sync with the rest of the world whilst in an airplane.

Ive probably missed a few

I didnt enjoy The Client all that much ... The Pelican Brief was okay, but nothing spectacular.

Phil

 

[Martin]

Shawshank Redemption (excellent), Stand By Me (excellent) and Apt Pupil (havnt seen, but not meant to be terrible) all came from one short story anthology of his.

Didn't I just say that

The Green Mile wasnt all that bad, but wasnt as good as Shawshank (same director)

Wasn't that bad?! It's an excellent film!

IT was released an age ago and wasnt bad by horror movie standards, but no scratch on the book.

I liked It, at least, the first part. Pennywise was damn scary! But the ending just stank!

Cheers, martin

 

[Wabbit]

It sent me to sleep!

Regards
SillyWabbit

 

[phil_t]

Didn't I just say that

Well if you look at the post-times smartass, you'll realise that i was already answering when you answered, so poo you

Oh, and The Hurricane was a pretty good movie, although i wouldnt call it one of my favorites

Phil

 

[Jenem]

Misery was excellent, the best straight adaptation of one of his works from book to film.

OH! I totally agree! excellent book, excellent movie, excellent adaptation!

 

[phil_t]

Just a touch gruelling though!!!

The bit with the hammer, when she breaks his ankles <shudder>

Phil

 

[Jenem]

yeah, that was nuts!

 

[Jenem]

it was really good talking to you guys! i have to go now. i dunno, are we supposed to say bye?? i just didnt want to be rude

have a good weekend!

 

[fluffy bunny]

Already mentioned: Pride and Predudice, Shawshank Redemption

Others: Fight Club, Silence of The Lambs, The Shining, To Kill a Mockingbird, LA Confidential, Contact, Great Expectations (Lean's version),

Book to radio: War of the Worlds


As for rubbish ones, too many to list. I've have to think for a bit before coming up with a definitive few. This summer's I,Robot looks particularly disloyal to the book. How about this for a marketing idea: take the name and ignore the book.

 

[Martin]

How could I forget my third favourite movie, Fight Club?! Although, I haven't read the book yet, wanna read all the other Palahniuk books first!

Cheers, martin

 

[fluffy bunny]

How could I forget my third favourite movie, Fight Club?!

You mean you weren't sticking to the 1st 2 rules?

 

[Martin]

What can I say, I'm a rebel.

*punches fluffy bunny in the face*

*giggles like a schoolgirl and runs away while flapping his arms*

Cheers, Martin

 

[VTChEwbecca]

Best: Most definitely A&E's version of Pride and Prejudice.

Worst: Too many to list....but one not metioned...as far as plot-line goes, Jurassic Park and its sequels didn't do too well sticking to the plot. And, as amusing as having a T-rex running around in California is, its a little too dramatic. Of course, watching my dad cheer on the T-rex and then beg him to find tickets to Washington DC made the movie worth it.

 

[Ashlea]

Pride and Prejudice was indeed excellent. I also really enjoyed Sense and Sensibility. 13th Warrior (based on Eaters of the Dead) was good. Gone with the Wind, also excellent, perfect matching of actress and role.

Going to catch flak for this one: I wouldn't say it was the BEST adaption exactly, but I like Possession.

Worst, hmm. Tend to block those out. I can already tell that I, Robot is going to really piss me off. Wasn't so hot on the movie version of Bridget Jones's Diary, to be honest. And Ella Enchanted is going to piss me off, too.

 

[VTChEwbecca]

I also really enjoyed Sense and Sensibility. 13th Warrior (based on Eaters of the Dead) was good.

Both enjoyable, indeed.

The version of Emma with Gwyneth Paltrow sucked, though. Mr. Knightly was the only reason for watching that horrid adaptation. Though I'm not sure if I disliked it more because I thought Gwyneth did a poor job of representing Emma or it just sucked overall.