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It's near impossible for a 2 - 3 hour film to personify every minute detail from the text. To be fair, some people simply enjoy reading more as a pastime than watching a flick.
I haven't stumbled upon any movie that outdid its literary counterpart, but I found The Life of Pi to stay surprisingly close to the book. Not a lot was left out or altered, although the book was more graphic/raw.
I haven't stumbled upon any movie that outdid its literary counterpart, but I found The Life of Pi to stay surprisingly close to the book. Not a lot was left out or altered, although the book was more graphic/raw.
Easy one, Jurassic Park. Loads of people have seen Jurassic Park, and it is a good movie, one of the best ever made. Not many people know that Jurassic Park was originally a Michael Crichton book. Spoiler Alert, it's not much like the movie and is extremely boring, in fact, perhaps one of the worst books written in the 20th Century AD.
Whoa now Tin you are mighty close to crossing the line, the LOTR movies are amazing movies, but the books are far better. Easily the best book series written in the 20th Century AD. The pace is as it should be. It's supposed to be an epic journey to Mordor full of friends, foes, temptation, redemption, catastrophe and eucatastrophe. It's not supposed to be a 7 hour geekfest of battles and Gimli's one-liners.
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7 hours? My copy is 11.5 hours, all up. It's a difficult one for me. I love Tolkien's world-building, his characters and creatures and the story, but his pacing and writing style aren't my favourite. Hence, why I enjoy many aspects of the movies more (and I read the book some years before the movie was released, so it's not that I saw the movie and then found the book slower etc.).
Lol, I actually like the pace because it makes the story seem more authentic. I also read the books before the movies were released, finished the series right around the release of the Fellowship movie. Lol I can still remember reading the end of it for the first time in 7th grade study hall and being all psyched about it.
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But then I have to see the movie again and notice all they missed or all they didn't get across simply because they thought it was okay to skip the important stuff. (For instance, when I saw The Hunger Game, I thought Katniss was nothing but cold and tough.) And then, when I'm watching with hubby, it's hard not to tell him the stuff he's missing because he won't/can't read the book. lol
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No, I actually have not. Every time a movie comes out that's based on a book I've read, I'm always disappointed. I guess it's because the book let's your imagination soar and your heart interprets the story. But the movie gives only the film producer's one-sided interpretation. 
And, by the time he and his family had to leave, he made amends with Harry.
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Aha! I knew there had to be one. Thank you.
(But I suspect I could point you to even worse books written in the 20th century. I had a textbook on linguistics that put me to sleep four times just trying to read the first chapter. One of my bad decisions in life -- selling that book. I suspect I wouldn't have insomnia, if I still had that book. lol)
(But I suspect I could point you to even worse books written in the 20th century. I had a textbook on linguistics that put me to sleep four times just trying to read the first chapter. One of my bad decisions in life -- selling that book. I suspect I wouldn't have insomnia, if I still had that book. lol)
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Then it's not just me. Honestly, I didn't like reading The Hobbit because there was more backdrop than story, so I really couldn't get into read LotRs. I love the movies though. (Haven't seen The Hobbit yet. Apparently,"waiting for it to go on DVD" has changed completely with streaming, so we either buy movies, if we know we're going to love them, or plunk down too much money to rent, if we're unsure.)
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Epics don't require spending pages and pages talking about Old Toby and chapters and chapters talking abut The Shire. I get the land is a character too, but it is as if it is the protagonist. Tolkien suffered from a characteristic of European writers that, as an American, I can't get into -- flowery prose. I prefer less flowery, more something-happens.
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Jurassic Park really is a good contender with its book, seeing as how Crichton tends to have a big impact in the film making process also - God rest his soul.
And yeah, I was going to say LotR! As much as I liked the movies, Tolkien is so wordy that I don't think even the extended editions can really capture all the charm of the books. Still, fantastic movies, and they really did give the books a run for their money.
And yeah, I was going to say LotR! As much as I liked the movies, Tolkien is so wordy that I don't think even the extended editions can really capture all the charm of the books. Still, fantastic movies, and they really did give the books a run for their money.
The Stand was the first Steven King book I ever read, and I really liked it. The Shining (movie) I could not stand LOL it was just too freaky, though I reluctantly did sit through it once when it first came out in theaters. Just a few years ago I thought, hmmm, maybe I could watch it now, but nope! As soon as it got close to where the really freaky stuff was going to start happening (very near to the beginning of the movie actually, think those twins in the hall) I could not watch any further. In the theater all those years ago when the movie ended people sat in stunned silence (literally) but I clapped (I was the only one!) and said aloud Yay he is dead it's over.
I think if you read the book, any book, first it might spoil it for you, regardless of the story. Even Peter Jackson did a fabulous job with the Lord of the Rings trilogy but had to cut a whole story line from it. Many years ago I really really really liked the Lestat series by Anne Rice but absolutely loathed what the film makers did to her tales. Same with Jean Auel's Earth Children series, the first one being Clan of the Cave Bear. Haha what a bust trying to make a movie with no dialogue! It works in some cases like with the Baraka genre (Samsara, Koyaanisqatsi) but not those.
One movie I enjoyed more than the book was Carl Sagan's Contact. But I did see the movie first, in fact I probably saw it multiple times before I ever even laid eyes on the book, at which time of course I had to read it. I watched that movie a few more times after reading the book, as well. It was my favorite movie for a long time, until they started making movies like the Matrix.
I think if you read the book, any book, first it might spoil it for you, regardless of the story. Even Peter Jackson did a fabulous job with the Lord of the Rings trilogy but had to cut a whole story line from it. Many years ago I really really really liked the Lestat series by Anne Rice but absolutely loathed what the film makers did to her tales. Same with Jean Auel's Earth Children series, the first one being Clan of the Cave Bear. Haha what a bust trying to make a movie with no dialogue! It works in some cases like with the Baraka genre (Samsara, Koyaanisqatsi) but not those.
One movie I enjoyed more than the book was Carl Sagan's Contact. But I did see the movie first, in fact I probably saw it multiple times before I ever even laid eyes on the book, at which time of course I had to read it. I watched that movie a few more times after reading the book, as well. It was my favorite movie for a long time, until they started making movies like the Matrix.