Despite the huge numbers of novels adapted for film, movies are rarely quite able to capture the magic of a book, even when the movie is really good. And it’s easy to understand why: With the shorter format, it’s tough to please both the purists and the casual viewers alike and provide the same depth of experience as a great novel. All the same, some of the greatest movies of all time have been based on books.
So what is your favorite book to film effort?
For me, The Godfather is an easy answer, but the movie elevated more than captured the essence of the book. The Shawshank Redepmtion is another one, but it’s arguably easier to translate a novella than a full novel.
So I’d probably have to go with a novel and movie I loved in equal measure: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler and the 1946 adaptation starring Bogart and Bacall.
What about you?
Jenny says
I thought The Green Mile did a really good job…considering the episodic style of the novel–six parts, etc.
Though I definitely give 10 points to Pride and Prejudice & Sense and Sensibility. Jane Austen should be proud of her adaptations.
And Abby's spot-on with Gone with the Wind. Vivien Leigh is still Scarlett O'Hara for me.
abc says
Darn, this is hard. I'm going to cheat. Also, I haven't read any of these books. I couldn't get through A Clockwork Orange, but the Kubrick movie is, of course, fracking amazing!
Love to pieces A Room with a View.
And also, Roger Michell's movie of Jane Austen's Persuasion is so beautiful and heartbreaking and I'm pretty sure the movie version of my personality (which isn't exactly beautiful and heartbreaking, but…).
Trailer? Sure.
https://imdb.to/hYPIfc
M@ says
Children of Men took a ponderous, slow-moving religious allegory by P.D. James and made it into a gripping, stunning movie. Goes so far beyond the book, it's almost unfair to compare them.
And Trevor Nunn's Twelfth Night is a model of how Shakespeare should be adapted for film, especially his comedies.
The Personal Assistant says
shawshank redemption
Mariam says
Okay, a literary war-theme for me: The Chocolate War (John Glover is creepily fantastic as Brother Leon)and The Milagro Beanfield War (quirky, intelligent, thoroughly Robert Redford)
Julio Vazquez says
For me it's a toss-up between The Green Mile and The Exorcist. Draw your own conclusions.
Cynthia says
I also couldn't get through Clock Work Orange. Bizarre movie too. My vote has to go to 1) The Lord of the Rings 2) Gone with the Wind and 3) The Wizard of Oz as well.
Anonymous says
The Devil Wears Prada.I think it's actually better than the source material.
Charli Armstrong says
The 1997 version of LOLITA.
Kyle says
The Island on Bird Street was a great film: a really sweet, melancholy meditation on the Warsaw ghetto from a small boy, honest where it needed to be and wryly sentimental where it didn't. I saw it at a film festival when it first came out, and I was so impressed by it that I found and read the original book at the library as soon as I could. I didn't find it as good – much too sentimental and fantastic. I felt the movie had more gravity and realism, as hard as that is to believe.
Kaitlyne says
My first thought was the Shawshank Redemption as well. I actually prefer the movie to the original story and it's one of the best movies I've seen.
That being said, I do adore Fight Club and it's one of the few movies I pick up periodically and just rewatch. I haven't read the book yet, though, so I don't know how well it fairs as an adaptation.
Emily White says
The Lord of the Rings and The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (newer version) are my favorites.
Jenn B says
Breakfast at Tiffany's
Tony Patti says
Catch-22, which was remarkably faithful to what could be considered an unfilmable book. Heller said that he wished he had included one of the scenes in the movie in his book; it was that good at capturing his tone. Unsurpassable.
Josef Von Sternberg's Crime and Punishment is another example of superhuman ability to capture the tone of a book without being able to reproduce it and all the interior monologues. It has faults, but the opening shot of Peter Lorre as Raskolnikov graduating, is masterful,everyone in the class is in silhouette, a mass of black figures, and the only illumination from the front are the glaring white dangling hands of the future murderer.
https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=482897446454
Hogglepot says
THE PRINCESS BRIDE hands down. the movie perfectly captures the essence of William Goldman's abridgment, and as an earlier commenter points out, he was a screenwriter and knew exactly how to do it. that and the casting was flawless.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy comes in a close second, and i agree with an earlier commenter, the extended versions, not the theatrical cuts. and of the three LOTR films, the second one is the best book to film, even if the third is my favorite.
Elle says
Yep, Lord of the Rings for me too.
And in second place, I might go for Mrs Doubtfire, which is one of those movies that is far better than the book, in my opinion.
Stacy McKitrick says
Wow – no one mentioned TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (Guess that makes me OLD). I loved both the book and the movie.
Stephanie@thecrackedslipper says
First: The 2005 Pride and Prejudice with Keira K.
Second: Cold Mountain. I still get the chills when I think of the battle scene at the beginning…the soldiers pressed up against the wall of mud…nothing has ever conveyed the reality of war in such a messy, anonymous, heart-wrenching way for me. Renee Z. was amazing, and Jude Law said it all without saying much of anything.
Travis Erwin says
I liked the movie version of Nobody's Fool by Richard Russo and while I disliked Forrest Gump as a book, the movie wasn't too bad so I'd give it kudos for turning an annoying read into a pleasant viewing experience.
Anonymous says
oh, THE SHINING… or LOTR.
Juliette says
I just read and watched True Grit (2011) in the same weekend, and loved both. But the winner has to be The Lord of the Rings.
Loree Huebner says
A River Runs Through It, Somewhere in Time, and Gettysburg from The Killer Angels are among my favorites.
Of course, The Godfather, Pride and Predjudice, Gone With the Wind, and The Lord of the Rings get a nod too.
I read The Time Travelers Wife, but did not see the movie on advice from a friend who told me that I would be disappointed after reading the book.
Raquel Byrnes says
I'm HOPING its Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. *fingers crossed*
Simon says
The English Patient. A beautiful untangling of the book.
Beth Pontorno says
I agree with Jude who said Practical Magic. And although the movie hasn't been released yet, I have high hopes for One For The Money because I love the Stephanie Plum series. Fingers crossed.
K.L. BRADY says
Roots
BBC version of Pride and Prejudice
Bridget Jones' Diary
The Godfather.
Not necessarily in that order.
Ted Cross says
While Shawshank Repemption and LOTR (I mean, who thought anyone would be able to even come close to doing justice to that?) are great, my hands down favorite is Blade Runner. Yes, I know it isn't much like the story (which I like but don't love), but it is simply the greatest movie ever in my opinion.
Diana says
LOTR, the movie was a lot better than the book. The screenwriters injected tension into the plot which is what makes it better than the book. The books read like a history book, they went here, they went there, this happened, that happened, no tension whatsoever in the books.
Ted Cross says
Princess Bride was terrific also!
Laura Riley says
Mine is a toss-up between The Princess Bride and Rebecca. I know the ending changed in the movie of Rebecca, but they still captured the fear and tension in the house so beautifully.
Geoff says
I'd have to say Fight Club for sure. I couldn't finish the book (nothing against Palahniuk). I also found Prince Caspian to be a really, really solid adaptation.
And for kicks I'll put Chris Nolan's Memento, based of the short story Memento Mori by his brother Jonathan. I've never read the story but Memento is my favorite movie ever, so there ya go!
Ted Cross says
Ack, I can't forget One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I'd say The Godfather also except that I haven't read the book. Even so, it MUST be a great adaptation.
lora96 says
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (although it was a bbc adaptation not theatrical release) was luminous and exquisite.
The Kenneth Branagh/Emma Thompson Much Ado about Nothing.
Top one ever, though, A River Runs Through It. I saw it when I was twelve and it made me so aware of storytelling and the visual impact of film. Gorgeous.
D.G. Hudson says
Frank Herbert's DUNE is my pick, as the movie stuck to the original quite a bit.
They(the studio) created a great rendition of the gigantic spice worms and made me feel the heat of the desert and smell that addictive spice. I never tire of watching it. The actors chosen fit the characters perfectly too, in my mind.
Most of the time, the further the film strays from the original, the less I like it. I'm one of those purists – don't mess with the author's vision.
Wednesdays are my favorite day on this blog – it's always interesting reading.
Marsha Sigman says
I'll give you Shawshank Redemption because it was awesome but The Green Mile is my favorite. It was nearly a flawless adaptation and who beats Tom Hanks as a main character?
I heard a rumor that Stephen King consults on the set of every film so maybe that's why his stay more in line with the novel.
Ria says
A few people have already mentioned The Princess Bride, and I have to agree with them. Everything about the movie is better – the characters are better developed, the plot is more coherent, the ending is more satisfying.
I've watched the film at least 100 times, while I've read the book once, and don't intend to read it again. I think that says enough.
D.G. Hudson says
@Ted Cross: I love Blade Runner too, it's one of those movies that stick in your mind, but I never read the book. Science fiction gets my vote every time.
Scott says
Diane's got it right. Last of the Mohicans (1992) by Michael Mann takes the stilted, decrepit, yet beautiful Cooper material and makes it into a vivid and alluring world of adventure.
I'll also agree with the LOTR fans, it was a very faithful adaptation that also took chances on "movie-fying" the story in just the right ways. Book still wins, but the movie is rock solid.
Eliza T says
Hunt for Red October
Stephanie Barr says
The original TV miniseries of
pambelina says
Big Fish. I actually love the movie more than the book!
John Jack says
Ray Bradbury's Farenheit 451 for its portrayal of audiovisual technology's corruption of book culture, for its portrayal of popular mass culture's majority rules tyrrany over individual entertainment choices, for its portrayal of society and government's addiction to and consequent ursurpation by big business revenues, for burning books.
And they made the novel into a screenplay, the very medium the novel cautions is an opiate for the masses. Go full circle. Burn movies. Take back the personal power to choose.
Really, though, novels and their screenplay adaptations and vice versa are companion works for me. Hand-in-hand they enhance each other. And their differences in intepretation and delivery make for different entertainments.
Kate Larkindale says
There are two that come to mind right off the bat. The Sweet Hereafter (book by Russell Banks, film by Atom Egoyan) and Rumble fish (book by SE Hinton, film by Francis Ford Coppola).
I also have to say Winter's Bone is a fantastic adaptation. Just as good as the book.
Susan says
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD!
kathrynleighaz says
I have to agree with Subcreator and say The Princess Bride! Andre the Giant makes everything bigger and better 🙂
Dawn Simon says
DAVID COPPERFIELD (BBC version with Daniel Radcliffe)
The Red Angel says
My answer to this is definitely "Lord of the Rings." More often than not, the book wins over the movie, but in this case I really think that the LOTR movie trilogy was even better than the book series.
"Little Women" is also a pretty awesome film adaptation, though I'm not sure I would go as far as to say it was better than the book.
~TRA
https://xtheredangelx.blogspot.com
Candice.Abraham says
I don't think anyone has chosen this one yet, but a few weeks ago I just watched the film adaptation of NEVER LET ME GO by Kazuo Ishiguro. It's amazing. It captures both the mood and pace of the novel. I often think the pacing in film adaptations is what is most lacking (probably due to time constraints.)
Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield are superb in their roles.
I really suggest everyone goes and sees this movie and reads the book!!
Stephanie McGee says
Lord of the Rings.
Linda Penney says
The World According to Garp is my favorite film adaptation of a book. It masterfully integrates the characters' literary works into the screenplay and the casting of Glenn Close and Robin Williams as mother and son was a stroke of brilliance. Works on every level and is every bit as good — or better — than the book.