TGIF at GReads is a feature by the fabulous Ginger, who asks us a fun question to answer every week. It's always a joy to be a part of this, and I think everyone certainly should try it out!
Which book-turned-movie do you feel did the best adaptation? The worst?
The Best
I know people may not necessarily agree with me on this one, but I do think that the entire Harry Potter series was adapted very well in movie form. It's not as finely detailed as the books and some of the story arcs do get lost, but I believe it does get the main story right. I think the movie adaptations are really good, but then that could be because I'm such a biased fan.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy is another good one. I thought the movies were pretty darn great (though I happen to have friends who really found them boring, which I try not to take offense at) and the world created by Tolkien was respectfully and artfully brought to life.
I also think that Matilda was done quite well. That movie pretty much plays out as the book by Roald Dahl does; both are among my favorites. Matilda is character-centric as a story and the movie played on that aspect of storytelling as well.
The Worst
I didn't particularly like the adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief (though I do have a soft spot for Logan Lerman, mind you). I guess the major story was the same, but a lot of things (like how Annabeth looks for instance) just didn't add up right for me.
Another book that I didn't think had a particularly good movie adaptation is Eragon. The thing is, I loved the book and I had high hopes for the movie. I'm not sure if it was the storytelling or the way it was filmed, but the movie just didn't cut it for me.
There you have it, my personal opinion on movies adapted from books.
What are your favorite and not-so-favorite book-to-movie adaptations?
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The Best
The Worst
There you have it, my personal opinion on movies adapted from books.
What are your favorite and not-so-favorite book-to-movie adaptations?
(P.S. Don't forget to like my Facebook page HERE.)
Reviews:
Once Upon a Winter's Eve by Tessa Dare
The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
Lethal Remedy by Richard L. Mabry
Features:
In My Mailbox (2)
Words from Books (11)
Top Ten Tuesday: My Childhood Favorites
2012 Reading Challenges
I've heard that about Eragon. Agreed with Lightening Theif.
ReplyDeleteOh my god I loved Matilda! Yes!
ReplyDeleteAnd those are 2 of the 3 I regularly hear were terrible adaptations but sadly I've neither read nor seen the movies. The other, though I've seen the movie and didn't mind it but haven't read the book, is Golden Compass/Northern Lights.
I love the Matilda movie (even if I haven't read the book before!)! I am so happy to see they kept it close though :) Also, I really love the Percy Jackson movie but at the same time I have not read the book yet so I am sure once I'll read it, I will be able to spot all the differences.
ReplyDeleteI never saw the Lightning Thief but I hated the Eragon movie. It was my number 1 worst book to movie. Thanks for visiting my blog.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% with your choices above!
ReplyDeleteI adore Logan but the Percy Jackson movie could have been better. And the Eragon movie? So not good ;)
Thanks for stopping by my blog :)
Oooooh I LOVE Matilda - great answer, I used to watch this so much I knew it word for word. I still haven't read it though. :/
ReplyDeleteI loved the Percy Jackson books, I will admit I was a bit disappointed with teh film but it was passable. I was just sad they cut out the demon chihuahua :(
(fans of the book should know what I mean there)
I'm a huge Percy fan as well. I thought the movie was far off but I wouldn't say it was the worst adaptation ever. Though I wish they were more loyal to the book for possible sequels and so on. :/
ReplyDeleteI agree about Eragon. And, you know, I've never read Mathilda, but it was one of my kid's favorite movies, so I've seen it MANY times. They still quote from that movie (they are in their 20s now!) Thanks for visiting!
ReplyDeleteEragon was THE WORST!!
ReplyDeleteMy TGIF!
♥ Melissa @ Melissa's Eclectic Bookshelf
I'd put LOTR at the top of the list. Harry was good, but not great. PJ did a great job with LOTR. Totally agree with you on Eragon -that movie was terrible! It's a shame because it could have been very good and Poor CP won't get sequel royalties. How do you take two great actors, J. Malkovich and Jeremy Irons, and make them sound like fools? Poor adaptation, poor directing.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on HP. Love those books, and the movies were pretty awesome. I loved TLotR movies, but I haven't read the books yet. One day...
ReplyDeleteI saw the Percy Jackson movie, and it made me want to read the book, though I'd had no interest in doing so before that. So there's that, I guess, even if most people thought it was a horrible adaptation.
What I think is great about book-to-movie adaptations, though they don't always turn out the way book fans would want them to, is that a whole new crowd of people who actually like the movie get interested in the books. Always room for more readers!
ReplyDeleteOh yes, the LOTR movies - I love them all! They were really very well-done.
ReplyDeleteAnd I know! Eragon should have turned out so well - but it didn't. Sigh.
Well, Eragon takes the number one spot for the worst. I just didn't appreciate the changes they made for Percy. The movie's passable, but I just didn't love it as much as I thought I would.
ReplyDeleteI liked both the movie and the book for Matilda! And I still stop to watch it whenever I see it on television ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I agree, I suppose the film was passable in many respects. It just wasn't exactly the best I personally thought it could be. And yes to the demon dog, haha!
I'd recommend the Inheritance cycle books, because I'm a big Christopher Paolini fan. You can skip the movie since, as you can tell, I really didn't like it.
ReplyDeleteAnd the books Rick Riordan writes (Percy Jackson, Kane Chronicles, Heroes of Olympus) are all really good! I enjoy reading them. And the movie isn't too bad - it's just really different from what I expected.
I felt so bad about Eragon! The books are really great and I really love them, but the movie definitely fell flat on its face, in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteI've watched Matilda so many times! My favorite scene is when she's pulling the whole wagon of books home from the library - that was totally me when I was a kid!
ReplyDeleteAnd the Percy Jackson movie was okay, but I still liked the books better. You should definitely read them!