Suggest me a book with a film adaptation that does NOT do the book justice?
I saw another post for suggestions of movies that do the book justice and wanted to find the opposite. Suggest a book that is just as good or better even if you've watched the movie first.
The Eragon book was good, the movie was abysmally terrible.
SeriousPigeon on
The Artemis Fowl books. Wildly popular with kids, with some interesting ways to look at ethics and morality. The movie was an embarrassing cringe fest from beginning to end devoid of any charm or soul.
sackfulofweasels on
John Dies at the End is one of my favorite books.
The movie? Hot garbage.
mmwhatchasaiyan on
The Exorcist. People can say what they want, but the book was 10000x better than the movie.
I saw the movie about 20 years ago, then recently read the book, then rewatched the movie, and the movie did not hold up after reading. It seemed so *flat* compared to the book.
Pretend-Piece-1268 on
I disliked the movie adaptation of The Golden Compass, based on Philip Pullmans novel. Visually it looked great but the dialogue was terrible and they cut off a great part at the end. The series adaptation was better.
Most-Artichoke6184 on
Memoirs of an invisible man. They decided to make Chevy Chase visible the entire movie.
ElectronicApricot496 on
News of the World. Really great read; really disappointing movie.
Blecher_onthe_Hudson on
It’s the rule rather than the exception! Partly it’s just that most novels contain far more dialog and plot than can be contained in a 2 hr film. But some really shred the original material, like Starship Troopers. Sometimes it’s just really miscast.
glittersparklythings on
Room by Emma Donoghue
And I don’t think anyone else could have made a better movie. The way the narration is in the book just makes it incredibly hard to write it into a movie.
Dropped_Apollo on
Trainspotting. And I *like* the film.
thalia1832 on
World War Z by Max Brooks- the book is a genuinely well done horror/science fiction and the mock ‘oral history’ format is a key part of its charm/impact. The movie… not so much
fireflypoet on
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt was pretty bad. The book was wonderful.
Wot106 on
The Wheel of Time
Ender’s Game
The House with a Clock in its Walls
PatchworkGirl82 on
I was honestly disappointed in Stardust. I had the large edition of the book with big illustrations by Charles Vess, and I don’t think live action did it justice. I always pictured it as a Ghibli movie, very fluid and colorful (I think a Totoro plush actually has a cameo in one of Vess’ illustrations)
I did love Michelle Pfeiffer and her goats though
brokenkiddo on
The Bourne identity (and the sequels). I mean, the movies had a Jason Bourne in them, but that’s where it stops.
sketchydavid on
“In a Lonely Place” is a perfectly good noir film, but it is very different from the book and completely misses the point of the book and what makes it interesting.
annetho on
The Glass Castle. Great book, movie does not capture it, even with Woody Harrelson.
Illustrious-Onion329 on
Time Traveler’s Wife. I was very disappointed in the movie though HBO did a decent 1 season series of the book.
Cowboywizard12 on
The Shining, the book is radically different
Glum_General_9886 on
The Thursday Murder Club – they really messed up Bogdan’s character in the movie
Writing_Bookworm on
Far too many book adaptations are disappointing.
The Lovely Bones. Peter Jackson was just not the right director. It was too fantastical when it should have been much more grounded and simple. It also started so slowly. Stanley Tucci was the only good part.
It was intentionally designed to be different from my understanding but I haven’t been able to watch The girl with all the gifts. I loved the book and how different it was to others in a similar genre and I couldn’t understand why they changed so much. They moved it from a white clinical almost medical setting to a bunker, swapped the races of the two lead characters, and changed a character that was notably described as smartly dressed in heels and always somehow having red lipstick into a more rough soldier looking character played by Glenn Close. That character was all the more awful because she presented the way she did, it doesn’t have the same impact otherwise.
Not a film but I couldn’t make it through a single episode of the netflix adaptation of All the light we cannot see. The accents were bizarre, the pronunciation of the french words…
Flat-Rutabaga-723 on
Can’t believe no one has said The Dark Tower
JillyGirl79 on
Moll Flanders. I liked the movie, but the only thing they kept was the title.
MeowYin7 on
The Beach, Alex Garland. The book was intense! The movie was…Leo.
24 Comments
The Eragon book was good, the movie was abysmally terrible.
The Artemis Fowl books. Wildly popular with kids, with some interesting ways to look at ethics and morality. The movie was an embarrassing cringe fest from beginning to end devoid of any charm or soul.
John Dies at the End is one of my favorite books.
The movie? Hot garbage.
The Exorcist. People can say what they want, but the book was 10000x better than the movie.
I saw the movie about 20 years ago, then recently read the book, then rewatched the movie, and the movie did not hold up after reading. It seemed so *flat* compared to the book.
I disliked the movie adaptation of The Golden Compass, based on Philip Pullmans novel. Visually it looked great but the dialogue was terrible and they cut off a great part at the end. The series adaptation was better.
Memoirs of an invisible man. They decided to make Chevy Chase visible the entire movie.
News of the World. Really great read; really disappointing movie.
It’s the rule rather than the exception! Partly it’s just that most novels contain far more dialog and plot than can be contained in a 2 hr film. But some really shred the original material, like Starship Troopers. Sometimes it’s just really miscast.
Room by Emma Donoghue
And I don’t think anyone else could have made a better movie. The way the narration is in the book just makes it incredibly hard to write it into a movie.
Trainspotting. And I *like* the film.
World War Z by Max Brooks- the book is a genuinely well done horror/science fiction and the mock ‘oral history’ format is a key part of its charm/impact. The movie… not so much
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt was pretty bad. The book was wonderful.
The Wheel of Time
Ender’s Game
The House with a Clock in its Walls
I was honestly disappointed in Stardust. I had the large edition of the book with big illustrations by Charles Vess, and I don’t think live action did it justice. I always pictured it as a Ghibli movie, very fluid and colorful (I think a Totoro plush actually has a cameo in one of Vess’ illustrations)
I did love Michelle Pfeiffer and her goats though
The Bourne identity (and the sequels). I mean, the movies had a Jason Bourne in them, but that’s where it stops.
“In a Lonely Place” is a perfectly good noir film, but it is very different from the book and completely misses the point of the book and what makes it interesting.
The Glass Castle. Great book, movie does not capture it, even with Woody Harrelson.
Time Traveler’s Wife. I was very disappointed in the movie though HBO did a decent 1 season series of the book.
The Shining, the book is radically different
The Thursday Murder Club – they really messed up Bogdan’s character in the movie
Far too many book adaptations are disappointing.
The Lovely Bones. Peter Jackson was just not the right director. It was too fantastical when it should have been much more grounded and simple. It also started so slowly. Stanley Tucci was the only good part.
It was intentionally designed to be different from my understanding but I haven’t been able to watch The girl with all the gifts. I loved the book and how different it was to others in a similar genre and I couldn’t understand why they changed so much. They moved it from a white clinical almost medical setting to a bunker, swapped the races of the two lead characters, and changed a character that was notably described as smartly dressed in heels and always somehow having red lipstick into a more rough soldier looking character played by Glenn Close. That character was all the more awful because she presented the way she did, it doesn’t have the same impact otherwise.
Not a film but I couldn’t make it through a single episode of the netflix adaptation of All the light we cannot see. The accents were bizarre, the pronunciation of the french words…
Can’t believe no one has said The Dark Tower
Moll Flanders. I liked the movie, but the only thing they kept was the title.
The Beach, Alex Garland. The book was intense! The movie was…Leo.