Any books that were turned into movies/shows that dont disappoint?
Any books that were turned into movies/shows that dont disappoint?
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Any books that were turned into movies/shows that dont disappoint?
The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks
Yes!!!
Hunger Games
The Book Thief
Orange Is The New Black
I quite liked Mr Mercedes – King adaptations don’t always cross over well but this one wasn’t too bad !
agree, I thought the series was done well
I’m going really old school cause it was one of the first books I fell in love with but Gone with the Wind & the movie was just as good love Clark Gabel & Vivien Leigh!!
Carrie
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
SO SO GOOD! I just recommended this to my book club but I couldn’t explain how good it was- everyone thought it just sounded depressing. I finally had to send them all the description and my review to make them understand and they agreed it sounded good ?❤️
Yeah, I guess the basic story doesn’t sound that great. But it’s a favorite!
@Amy yes! I had a hard time making people believe it was “uplifting”, but in some ways it was ❤️
omg this film was heartbreaking ? i cried a LOT. so good.
Where the Heart Is
Agreed!!!
The Help
Yes, I agree!
Love this movie haven’t read the book
The movie version of The Accidental Tourist was wonderful–really helped me understand the ending of the book. (Emotionally understand it, I mean. I didn’t get why the main character would make the choice he did until some wonderful actors enlightened me.)
Amanda Root’s Persuasion was similarly enlightening. I’m a huge Austen fan, but I couldn’t understand why Anne would stay in love so long until Ciaran Hinds stalked into the room. Like Amanda Root’s Anne in that scene, I almost had to clutch a piece of furniture for support. Wowza.
I really liked Fight Club, but I admit I haven’t read the book yet.
I loved all of Anne Tyler’s books. I won’t give away the ending, but I think he realized that the most important thing in a a relationship is the person you become.
The move the Shipping News wasn’t as good as the book but still worth watching.
Oh, and one more: I loved the movie Philomena and heard it was a book too.
MASH
Wait. MASH was a book?
@Amber written by W. C. Heinz
The Book Thief
Oh–in more old school news on this subject, I think the black-and-white movie The Haunting (adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House) was quite good.
Agreed!
Big little lies
Handmaids Tale, Charlie Wilson’s War
The Green Mile
Scarlet Pimpernel ( 1934 movie)
ONCE WERE WARRIORS, WATERSHIP DOWN, THE GODFATHER, THE EXORCIST
Once Were Warriors, yes !
Book Thief was really well done.
A Man Called Ov
I think the film captured the mood and tone of the novel well. Good call!
I was really looking forward to the film and I loved the tone of it but I missed all the things they couldn’t show or left out.
the giver, ready player one (spin), the newest Carrie, If I stay, most of the Nicholas sparks adaptions, The Martian,
READY PLAYER ONE changed SO MUCH, especially the Dungeons and Dragons challenge, which is so important in the novel. Nope. Agree to disagree
that’s why I said spin. It’s an amazing movie but it was not the book, it was more of their take on the idea. Everything is completely different. In the book, important people die, he spends 95% of the book in his trailer and then his apt, etc.
The Ready Player One movie was awful compared to the book.
THE MARTIAN lost the soul of the novel. I loved the novel but the film failed imo
@Matt I liked it, but i’m a rallier haha
British series: BRIDESHEAD REVISITED and THE PALLISERS were (for me) about the best things tv ever offered.
The Pallisers was so good that we watched them despite getting such poor reception that we could barely see who was who!
@Susan same for me. When I rented the CDs 20 years later, it was a revelation!
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
I loved that movie! The book is on my to read list.
A River Runs Through It
Stand by Me
Big Little Lies. The book was better but the series was fun too
The Maltese Falcon, Silence of the Lambs, Jaws, The Godfather, Rosemary’s Baby, The Big Sleep, Lonesome Dove, Horseman Pass By, The Last Picture Show, The Falcon and the Snowman
YES MALTESE FALCON ??♂️ the good stuff. also lonesome dove is one of the great adaptations. my parents say about me: a) you’re in over your head, pea b) you could argue with a possum c) ain’t one to give up on a garment ❤️
That one is actually kind of a given. John Houston had been a successful screenwriter for years and desperately wanted to move into directing. Jack Warner told him he could direct his own adaptation of a novel so Houston chose Maltese Falcon because it was almost a screenplay already. It really required very little adaptation. The gamble paid off for Warner and secured Houston a long career in directing.
To Kill a Mockingbird
Lonesome Dove; To Kill a Mockingbird
The Green Mile, Stand By Me, Shawshank Redemption, Gerald’s Game; all Stephen King books.
The Green Mile is the only Stephen King book I’ve read & I still cry during the movie lol
The Godfather
It’s an older one, but A Time to Kill by John Grisham. Probably one of the only times I’ve felt as though the movie was ALMOST as good as the book.
I agree! And that scene in the courtroom – “Now imagine she’s white” WOW… they set that up so well.
@Nancy so good!! And I thought it was just so well cast, too!
I liked the move version of The Runaway Jury.
PS I love you only thing different is the location
Jaws probably the only movie that I like better than the book
Oh, HIGH FIDELITY and ABOUT A BOY. Both great adaptations of Horby’s novels.
Loved them both!
agreed! though i’m wondering how well the movies age, not having seen either in a looooong time.
As I mentioned above somewhere, Nick Hornsby also did the screenplay for Brooklyn.
@Emily I watched them last week. AWESOME
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Gone girl
Lord of the Rings
I actually liked the movie of Joy Luck Club more than the book.
Me too, although I think they were more glamorous in the movie.
Julie and Julia
Doctor Zhivago
The Night of the Hunter
Outlander. The giver .
And Then There Were None (BBC), really any of the BBC Agatha Christie adaptations
are you talking the most recent adaptation or the original? i haven’t seen the original, but REALLY enjoyed the recent adaptation & it’d been so long since i read the christie mystery that i thought i had misremembered who the killer was…until i realized i HADN’T misremembered ?
@Emily I am talking about the most recent one, I loved it! I also love the original one as well, they’re both really different but both really good.
The Shining. And of course, To Kill a Mockingbird
Me before you.
The Bridge to Terabithia
waaaaaaait a minute. there is a movie??? i have seen a play adaptation (such cry. so tears ?), but didn’t know there was a movie!!!
@Emily , Disney movie 2007 with Josh Hucherson. Really good!
Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Stand By Me, Brokeback Mountain, Orange is the New Black, Room.
The Handmaid’s Tale, Big Little Lies, The Notebook, A River Runs Through It.
I agree with all of those!
I was about to say The Handmaid’s Tale. I think it is because Margaret Atwood has helped with the writing. I am totally hooked! I read that she also helped with Season 2. They asked her where she saw the book going after she ended it and they are using her ideas. Has anyone else seen it?
The Woman in Black
The Book Thief, The Color Purple, IT…
THE. COLOR. PURPLE. everything ever associated with this story is THE GREATEST. if you haven’t seen the musical, you must add it to your list. i wept, i tell you—wept! and gave money to all the homeless people afterward! and then went home and cried some more!
@Emily Will add to my bucket list. I sobbed during the movie too, big, ugly cry!
Lonesome Dove
Forrest Gump
Shawshank Redemption
Brooklyn
Brokeback Mountain
Call Me By My Name
Netflix’s Orange is The New Black
Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale ( first season)..
A man called Ove!!!!!
Yes..it’s wonderful
Outlander. Game of Thrones. It.
Atonement
Following
“Hidden Figures” which was better than the book in my opinion.
I hated the Mortal Instruments movie but am loving the Shadow hunters TV series
1984 (Hurt/Burton)
The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy, About Schmidt, Sideways.
Winter’s Bone
The Hunger Games
Big Little Lies
Little Children and The Reader
Memoir of a Geisha
A man called ove
American Gods. Cloud Atlas. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
A man called ove
The guernsay literary and potato peel pie society
The guernsay… is my next read. I’m excited to start it.
@Mary hope you enjoy it
It is such a lovely read
Quite different from my normal style
Me Before You
Howards End. Liked the series better than the book.
wonder
Fight club
Book sucked
War Horse
Me before you…
Carrie
Handmaid’s Tale
Kid books mostly! Wonder, Holes, The Giver, even Beverly Cleary’s Ramona, which somehow managed to wrap up all of the Beezus and Ramona books in a movie that worked! A Man called Ove came close, but missed some of the wry humor of the book.
The Godfather
Empire Of The Sun
Daddy Long Legs. Anne of Green Gables. Little Women. Julie and Julia.
Brooklyn. The Book Theif. Julie and Julia.
Loved the movie Brooklyn!!!!!
Harriet, that’s exactly what I was going to say! A connection also for the person who mentioned About a Boy and High Fidelity, since Nick Hornsby wrote the screen play.
Hidden Figures and The Martian.
Remains of the Day.
The Leftovers! The show was amazing!! The book was great until the end and then I wanted to fling it across the room!
Godfather
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
I loved that book and I didn’t realize they made a movie out of it. Is it on Netflix?
@Kathy it got released on 20th April ?
Thanks, can’t wait to check it out!
The Shape of Water… he wrote the book and shot the film at the same time.
Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
A Casual Vacancy… Couldn’t finish the book but enjoyed the miniseries.
Oldie, but I like Rosemary’s Baby. It was very close to the book.
That book as well as Stepford Wives was written by Ira Levin.
I read that one too. 🙂
@Karen they are both awesome. Ira also wrote Sliver.
@ES I don’t think I read that one, but I saw the movie. 🙂 The other two were better, don’t you think?
@Karen definitely! Sliver, the book was ok. I didn’t see the movie but the book was written much later.
Much later than the previous books we were discussing
I agree Karen, the movie mirrored the book.
Ready, Player One
I loved the book and the movie was very entertaining… but didn’t stay true to the book.
Let the right one in, the Swedish version is brilliant. The American adaptation is absolutely terrible.
wut. is this a book????? the movie is absolutely one of my favs, and i was lucky enough to see a theatrical adaptation in brooklyn a few years back ❤️❤️❤️❤️ be still my heart. they did a phenomenal job. now i’m dying to read the book!!! (agreed—the american version of an awesome international film will almost always be crap. ahem—les revenants, anyone????)
@Emily yes! The book is absolutely amazing! You should most definitely read it if you enjoyed the movie. It’s beautifully written and it explains so much that was left out! It’s by the same title, author John A Lindqvist
The Great Gatsby and The Book Theif.
Silence of the Lambs
To kill a mockingbird
I’m a big fan of the movie Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. based on the works of Patrick O’Brien. For ME, anyway. 🙂
Princess Bride
good call. after all: this is for posterity ?
The Exorcist
Gone with the Wind
Show Boat
Thank You for Smoking-liked the book but the movie was better
Silence of the Lambs. The movie was good – but the book was better!
Simon vs. The Homosapiens Agenda
The Constant Gardener.
The only one I have to add from whenever we play this game, which is at least once a week, is The Wizard of Oz.
yessssssss. great addition. i loved that series when i was younger—and of course the movie is the greatest.
The handmaids tale
The Book Thief
Harry Potter
The Outsiders by S E Hinton.
Some of the Agatha Christie adaptations have been quite good, sticking reasonably closely to the books. but some have been awful, especially recent ones. JEeves and Wooster was a pretty good adaptation of the Wodehouse novels. TV series tend to be better than films, because they don’t leave so much out.
YES!!! what a great call! wodehouse is about the funniest thing on earth, and fry & laurie couldn’t be better. now i want to re-watch!! haven’t seen that series in AGES!!
TFIOS
???
The Fault in our stars
@Kaushal, thanks for decoding that for me. I haven’t read the book yet, but I did like the movie.
Jaws
Oops. I liked the movie better than the book! Sorry!
Jaws, Left stuff out, but a great movie anyway.
Our Souls At Nighttime. Almost word-for-word
A Man Called Ove.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The Stand and The Green Mile by Stephen King and the mini series Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.
A Simple Plan by Scott Smith. He wrote the screenplay and tightened up an already terrific book.
Of course, Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
To Kill a Mockingbird was fabulous! Peck ❤️❤️
@Anuradha an example of perfect casting!
Couldn’t agree more!
The Stand by Stephen King
Call Me By Your Name
Stunning movie
Shangri-lá
The Good Earth
Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream with Electric Sheep)
The Hunger Games for the most part – don’t like that hunger was sort of left out. it is impossible to make a movie that is as good as the book.
the green mile
Big Little Lies
The Color Purple
Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. Did not think it could be done.
The Princess Bride and Holes.
The Leftovers
“Our Souls at Night”, Kent Haruf
Hunger Games
LOTR
Good one!
A Series of Unfortunate Events.
i am a huge fan of the book series (and of tim curry reading the first several audio books w music from the magnetic fields ?), and actually loved the original movie, even though i pretty much hate jim carrey otherwise, but i did NOT like the recent netflix series. there was something dark and hyper realistic about what should have been such a hopeful, funny, over-the-top production. no me gusta. p.s. it’s quiet here ?
I haven’t seen the series yet, but I thought the movie was a very good adaptation.
OBviously the bbc pride & prejudice, but like i said, OBVIOUSLY ❤️ one i’ve actually been thinking about a lot in terms of our current cultural moment is fahrenheit 451. the film is its own entity, but is very respectful of the text, and i can’t get some of the images out of my mind. it’s very vivid for me, even though i haven’t seen it since high school, i would estimate (and i will be 30 next week ?). to kill a mockingbird is of course the gold standard, and i’m CONVINCED that the shape of water is at least partially based on this obscure 1980s novella called “mrs. caliban”…but that’s a discussion for another day ?
I could argue about To kill a mockingbird. Good as the movie is, I always found it disappointing in that it didn’t come close to the humor and charm of the book’s depiction of the children’s lives. It did an excellent job on the serious stuff, the trial, all that, but lacked the rest IMO.
The movie of Eat, Pray, Love was quite well done. I also enjoyed the book and movie of The Jane Austen Book Club, Cloud Atlas, most BBC versions of Jane Austen’s novels, and Anne of Green Gables (with Megan Follows).
um, yeah, also the david suchet poirot is THE definitive poirot, and my mom is obsessed w the tv adaptation of the wallander books. obsessed.
If anything, I think the Practical Magic movie was BETTER than the book.
I totally agree! I read the book just a couple of months ago and then watched the movie with my twelve year old granddaughter and it’s definitely more fun than the book!
All the Harry Potter books…also Wonder
Murder on the orient express, the 2017 movie. Excellent cast.
THE CRUEL SEA by Nicholas Monsarrat. The 1953 movie starring Jack Hawkins and Denholm Elliot was very faithful to the novel.
Hap And Leonard
A Man Called Ove
Handmaids tale
Fight club by Chuck Palahniuk
I liked The Martian movie better than the book
Less Than Zero was a better movie. Really strange book.
I really enjoyed the life and death of Charlie St Cloud. The film was a bit shit.
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues by Tom Robbins.
The horse whisperer & palomino.
Count of Monte Cristo with Jim Caviziel
The shell seekers with Redgrave
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen by Paul Torday, Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen, The Loop by Joe Coomer but the title of the Movie is “A Bird of the Air”, lastly Hector and the Search for Happiness by Francois Lelord.
Game of Thrones (shows>books imho)
To Kill a Mockingbird
Schindler’s List!!
Oh just thought of another one.. The Outsiders!!
Watched me before you last night
No too bad close to the book
Lonesome Dove
@Shaina, this might not be your genre, but I would offer a sci-fi book called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, parts of which became the movie Blade Runner. 🙂
Fried Green Tomatoes was pretty good.
Contact (Jodie Foster).
Princess Bride
I preferred the movie Accident Tourist to the book, but I loaned the movie to a friend recently, who thought it was horrible. Oh well.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee