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Romantic Conversationalist
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 Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 1:39 pm
We have a thread or two about the worst movies made from book, but are there any films you really like? Any that do good by their book inspirations?
I think of this because I just heard that Guillermo del Toro is going to be directing and co-writing (with Peter Jackson) "The Hobbit." I know there will be changes made, scenes cut, maybe a few things added, but all in all I think it'll be a cool movie. Hopefully he'll keep the feel of the books, which is more important to me than rendering the film scene for scene just like the book. After all, things ought to change between media.
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Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 3:16 pm
I've always enjoyed the animated "The Last Unicorn". I also think the original cartoon of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" was perfect (the one with Boris Karloff narrating).
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Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 1:11 pm
Fight Club is definitely one of the best page-to-screen adaptions. (In my opinion, anyway.) Yeah, some scenes were different, but the spirit of the book was kept. (Chuck Palahniuk even said that he prefered the movie's ending to the one he wrote.) Pitt, Norton, and Bonham-Carter made awesome performances.
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Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 11:21 am
I've heard good things about the adaptation of Watchmen by Alan Moore. The publicity I've seen shows the costuming is good, but I can't judge on the content until Fox and Warner Bros. settle the litigation on it.
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Posted: Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:39 am
The following movies are all excellent representations of the books since they remain true to the novels:
The Princess Bride
The Thief Lord
Lord of the Rings (all 3)
Harry Potter (1st 2 only)
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Dark Knight
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:11 am
I have to agree with Minerva the Bookwyrm, in that The Princess Bride is an excellent adaptation. I think partly this is because the author of the novel wrote the screenplay.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 6:48 am
GirlPuck I have to agree with Minerva the Bookwyrm, in that The Princess Bride is an excellent adaptation. I think partly this is because the author of the novel wrote the screenplay. Did the book actually come before the movie? I always thought it was written afterwards.
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Posted: Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:06 am
OliviaFalconer GirlPuck I have to agree with Minerva the Bookwyrm, in that The Princess Bride is an excellent adaptation. I think partly this is because the author of the novel wrote the screenplay. Did the book actually come before the movie? I always thought it was written afterwards. Now that you say that I'm not sure. I know that it was the same person who wrote the screenplay as did write the book, and I have read the book and seen the movie. But I can't be certain of which version came first. Edit: I believe that the author of the novel (sorry I forget his name) 'transcribed' the story from a much older manuscript. There was also plans at one time for Stephan King to 'transcribe' the sequel "Buttercup's Baby", cutting out all the unneccesary details and long descriptions of things like forests. This may have been a fabrication of the author, since it is the sort of thing he might do, but there was a sample first chapter from the sequel in the back of the version of the book that I read. So either that story was true or there really is an older manuscript. I'm not really 100% on any of this, but there it is.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 3:36 pm
Hmm...
All three Lord of the Rings films,
Interview with the Vampire (I think Anne Rice wrote the screenplay though),
Rashomon, which is technically based on a book...
James and the Giant Peach,
Matilda - 'cept I don't like that they Americanised it,
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,
The Da Vinci Code,
Romeo + Juliet (thats the one with Leonardo Di Caprio),
Disney's Alice in Wonderland (I want my Mad Hatter panto costume to be based on this!),
NBCs Alice in Wonderland (the one with all the famous people, and Alice in a yellow dress),
Shrek (which technically doesn't count 'cause its based on a picture book, but meh.),
The Wizard of Oz...
Okay, some of these don't really count, 'cause I haven't read the book they were based on (Rashomon and, well, thats the only one actually.) but it does prove that good movies can be made from books... Right?
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Posted: Tue Sep 23, 2008 3:51 pm
Has anyone seen the newer version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory--the one with Johnny Depp? I was wondering how it compared to the book.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:15 am
OliviaFalconer Has anyone seen the newer version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory--the one with Johnny Depp? I was wondering how it compared to the book. I saw that one and it was freaky... Johnny Depp was perfect for that role as it was written, but not as it was originally in the book. The movie was good, it has all the important bits of the book, and some of the scenes were done particularly well. But it is hard to think of it in the same terms as the book, and Tim Burton's influence was everywhere. I would recommend it as a fun movie that is a little bizarre (and because it proves just how weird Johnny Depp can be), but for something that stays true to the book, I don't think you can beat the original movie.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:26 am
GirlPuck OliviaFalconer Has anyone seen the newer version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory--the one with Johnny Depp? I was wondering how it compared to the book. I saw that one and it was freaky... Johnny Depp was perfect for that role as it was written, but not as it was originally in the book. The movie was good, it has all the important bits of the book, and some of the scenes were done particularly well. But it is hard to think of it in the same terms as the book, and Tim Burton's influence was everywhere. I would recommend it as a fun movie that is a little bizarre (and because it proves just how weird Johnny Depp can be), but for something that stays true to the book, I don't think you can beat the original movie. Thanks! I always loved the older one--good to know it's a worthwhile love.
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Posted: Fri Sep 26, 2008 5:37 pm
My list will consist of the following at the moment: The Princess Bride, Where the Heart Is, Field of Dreams, Breakfast On Pluto, The Man in the Iron Mask, and Howl's Moving Castle.
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Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2008 11:15 am
I really liked the Memoirs of a Geisha movie. Though, to really appreciate the story I think you'd have to read the book.
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Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2008 10:22 am
I feel the same way about the movies based on Tom Clancy novels--there's a lot more expository detail in the books that has to be sacrified for the sake of a clear visual narrative.
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