General Discussion on Books and Movie to book adaptations

[nissanmama]

I just did the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants book/movie combo over the weekend. The movie changed quite a bit from the book, however, I found there were things I liked better about both. It was a very good illustrtation of how books and movies are very different art forms and certain things play out better one way on screen and another in the book.

Oh! And I rented Mrs. Pettigrew Lives for a Day yesterday. I had no idea it was a book until I watched the bonus material. Fun movie. Total throw back to the B&W movies I used to watch with my mom. I'm not sure I want to dig up the book though. Apparently they were very racey at the time they were published.

[porscheturbo911]

I just did the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants book/movie combo over the weekend. The movie changed quite a bit from the book, however, I found there were things I liked better about both.

When I watched the first Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants after reading the books, I was really disappointed. The differences between the movie and the books were so significant and it really bugged me. Generally, IMO, books to movies don't usually turn out that great. When I read the book first and watch the film adaptation after, I have a hard time watching with an open mind.

All the Harry Potter movies have some level of disappointment for me. The first two I thought were pretty great, but it sort of went downhill from there. There's just something about reading a book that's so much more fulfilling (?) than watching it play out on the big screen.

[kaitlyncullen]

well i'm a lord of the rings girl first and foremost, so those movies are amazing. the books are equally amazing and peter jackson did a very good job of fitting a lot into those movies. the books are packed full of information but they did it well.

and come on guys, the notebook. i'm not one for chick flicks, and honestly i dont even like nicholas sparks' books, but that movie is great.

oh and the secret garden, i loved that. and pride and prejudice.

and it's not a movie, it's a show, but i love dexter! it's the best show ever. never read the book honestly but i'm on a dexter binge so just bear with me and check the show out, it's great.

[debussygirl]

Ella Enchanted's book-to-movie version was absolutely horrible. I read that book when I was in 5th grade and have been a crazy reader ever since. And the hollywood industry killed it. I was so mad I kid you not I cried. I hadn't really had any bad experiences with books turned into movies, and this was my absolute favorite book (it was also before Twilight came out) and they murdered it. I have never trusted anyone with books-into-movies ever since. Even Twilight, I will not get my hopes up.

[dandyvampgirl_13]

^^ I agree. Ella Enchanted SUCKED. Well, the movie did. I liked Char in the book, though.
Lord of the RIngs was EPIC. I watched the movies first, cuz they came out when I was 10, and wouldn't have understood the books, but when I finally did read them, I was happy with how much they kept. Course, I can still point out EVERY differentiation from the books. But it all fit together really well into one of the most epic movies ever!
Eragon- ... Holy crap. Honestly, I love the books. Theyre not the best ever, but theyre still really good (am I the only one who's read Brisingr???) but the MOVIE. ARGH. That was painful! They took about half the plot and matched it up with a new plot that hardly made sense, and nothing truely felt like the book did! They definately could have done a better job.
But last, and not least, the most painful adaption...
The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising
That. Was. Horrible. Honestly, it should even be NAMED after the Dark is Rising. The book is too good to be degraded with such a horrible movie. Not even Susan Cooper, the author, liked it. At all. They took maybe, two plot points, screwed everything else, tried to modernize it (this book CANNOT be modernized) and added new thins that never ever existed and made NO sense. I was in tears, it was that bad. *shudders*

I assume you all think I'm too harsh a critic, but that's just how I am. I'm a die hard book fan. (And The Seeker really did suck)
Which is why I doubt I'm going to like Twilight.

[virginiax7]

Has anyone here read The Time Traveler's Wife? It is my favorite book (after the Twilight series) and I just found out that they're making a movie that's set to come out the day after Christmas, which I'm excited for. :]

[Destani]

As a general rule, I don't like movie adaptations of books. I try to enjoy them but I simply can't keep an open mind. Whenever they change something, I start screaming "that's not right!" So if I have the option of watching the movie before I read the book, that's what I try to do. If it's a good movie, I can ignore the differences as long as I haven't read the book yet. Then, when I read the book, I just go "oh, ok, that's how it was supposed to be." It doesn't make me nearly as mad.

Lord of the Rings - I'm a huge LOTR fan. I read the books multiple times before the movies came out and Peter Jackson just did an amazing job. I was disappointed that Tom B. wasn't in it, but I understood the need to cut that scene as it didn't really progress the story. The one thing that I really disliked was that they didn't show Saruman destroying the Shire and Sam saving the day at the very end, especially after it had been alluded to in the first movie when Galadriel showed Frodo a vision of what was to come. But I still loved the movies. Gollum was incredible. He's always been my favorite character and the movie really brought him to life.

Bram Stoker's Dracula - Again this was an amazing adaptation. Dracula's appearance in the beginning with the crazy hair and red robe is a bit over the top but that's really my only complaint.

Gone With the Wind - This is my favorite book and my favorite movie of all time. Of course I saw the movie before reading the book so the fact that they completely cut out 2 of Scarlett's children didn't bother as much as it would have if I'd read the book first. The characters were still very true to the book though. The actors did a spectacular job.

Stardust - I didn't mind this one too much. It did have it's differences but a couple of years had passed between my reading the book and seeing the movie so they didn't stand out and ruin the movie for me.

The Scarlet Letter - The one starring Demi Moore is just awful. They changed the whole ending and that just destroyed the purpose of the story for me.

Interview with a Vampire - I've got very mixed emotions on this one. There were things I liked about the movie and things I didn't.

Queen of the Damned - I wish I could go back and NOT watch this movie. They tried to cram 2 books into one movie, they didn't introduce major characters, they changed important things, they just plain ruined it.

That's all I can think of right now. I know there are a lot more movie adaptations I hated but I think I've repressed a lot of those memories.

[debussygirl]

The Scarlet Letter - The one starring Demi Moore is just awful. They changed the whole ending and that just destroyed the purpose of the story for me.
.

We just finished Scarlet Letter in English and someone asked if there was a movie we could watch to go with it (even though we're AP we'll do anything to get 2 free days). My teacher said that the old one was 4 hours long and really boring and the one with Demi Moore is nothing like the book. She said she was so mad she couldn't finish the movie.

[Light Heart]

Well, I've seen several movies based on books and I didn't like it very much, I hope the twilight of being different,but I'm sure that I liked twilight ^-^ (especially because it appears in the movie Robert Pattinson )

[OCD]

Has anyone here read The Time Traveler's Wife? It is my favorite book (after the Twilight series) and I just found out that they're making a movie that's set to come out the day after Christmas, which I'm excited for. :]

I loved that book!! I can't wait to see the movie!!

Have you seen The Kite Runner?

OMG. The book - was amazing. I didn't think I would like it - I got pissed off at one point and refused to pick it up for several days... but... it totally won me over.

And then... And then I saw the movie. And I was SO disappointed. I mean, I was prepared to be disappointed. But not this much.

I think, if you haven't read the book yet - then it's actually a pretty good movie. At least, that's what I've heard...