Best and Worst Adaptation(s) of Book(s) To Cinema and Television

LifeForce is a not very good adaptation of Colin Wilson's science fiction novel The Space Vampires.

On slightly different subject i would like to see Alex Proyas do a reboot of LifeForce .

It's been ages since I saw it, and it's probably naff now, but the BBC adaptation (mini-series) of the Chronicles of Narnia included one moment which showed me just how great fantasy could be. That's stuck with me.

I grew up reading Stephen King, and for my money
BEST: The Green Mile. Stayed truest to the form of his serial, and hit every high note.
WORST: Hearts of Atlantis. Did only the first 25% of the book, and left EVERYTHING unanswered.

Droflet said:

Best: To Kill a Mockingbird. Worst: Pretty well any Stephen King book.

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Book and film both classics.

BAYLOR said:

LifeForce is a not very good adaptation of Colin Wilson's science fiction novel The Space Vampires.

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I quite enjoyed Lifeforce. It was in the so bad its good territory for me.

thaddeus6th said:

It's been ages since I saw it, and it's probably naff now, but the BBC adaptation (mini-series) of the Chronicles of Narnia included one moment which showed me just how great fantasy could be. That's stuck with me.

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Which moment was that? The first walk through the Wardrobe?

No, much later. Keeping it vague, something that happened whilst on a ship.

svalbard said:

I quite enjoyed Lifeforce. It was in the so bad its good territory for me.

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It's achieved a certain cult status.

Clockworkbot said:

I have to say I didn't really like the Watchmen film. Part of it is probably that I don't like Zac Snyder in general. My main issue was that the film basically seemed like a frame-by-frame animation of the graphic novel, so I didn't feel like it was adding much - if what you want from a film version of a book is for it to visualize and adapt the original text into cinematic language, it felt like it didn't really do that.

I also found the Hobbit films a really cynical exercise for various reasons, although the films stand up reasonably well on their own I suppose

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While I was impressed with the attention to detail in the film adaptation, the things they changed make me think Snyder doesn't "get" Watchmen.

I don't mean getting rid of the giant psychic squid. That was a good move.

It might seem like a small thing but when laurie enters Archie for the first time on her own she's looking for a dashlighter for her cigarette and thinks she finds it when she finds a flame icon. Instead It activates the flamethrower. In the movie she just presses the button for no reason.

Later when Laurie and Dan get together for the first time it's supposed to be a tender moment but it's kinda ruined by "halleluja" playing in the foreground

Later when Rorschach tells the prison psychiatrist of the case of the child kidnapper that ended with the child dead and fed to the dogs.
In the movie Rohrshach takes a cleaver and splits the kidnappers head in half. Blood spurting everywhere etc.
In the book however he takes his anger out on the dogs and his punishment for the lowlife is much crueler.
He cuffs him to a pipe in his house sprays the inside with kerosine, gives him a hacksaw to saw of his arm, sets the house on fire and stands outside for an hour watching the blaze.

Why would you change such a character defining scene? Presumably spurting blood was cooler?

Worst = The Hobbit movies. Far too many set pieces, not enough storyline, but not surprising attempting to make a trilogy form a small book. One simple film sticking to the original story would have been fabulous.

Best = The Silence Of The Lambs

Pedro Del Mar said:

Worst = The Hobbit movies. Far too many set pieces, not enough storyline, but not surprising attempting to make a trilogy form a small book. One simple film sticking to the original story would have been fabulous.

Best = The Silence Of The Lambs

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I rather liked the Hobbit films.

The Expanse has turned into a very good adaptation of James S. A. Corey's Leviathan Wakes.

I also thought that Kubrics movie of the Shining was very good.

I'd agree with Silence of the Lambs. That was an excellent adapation. Possibly aided by the fact that i saw the movie before i read the book.

KillDozer 1974 a not very good tv film based on the story by Theodore Sturgeon .

Rodders said:

I also thought that Kubrics movie of the Shining was very good.

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I never cared for Kubrics 's take on the shinning .

Not all Stephen King films are bad, if you haven't read the book Kubric's "The Shinning" is not bad at all.
But it does wander away from the book a lot so it's no wonder King disowned it.
I thought "The Mist" was excellent apart from the very bleak ending.
Should have stuck to the one in the story.
But by far the best of all of King's films are his prison stories "Shawshank Redemption" & "The Green Mile".

I'm surprised to see some anti-Shining film comments. It is a highly acclaimed suspense horror. Jack Nicholson does quite the performance. That said my wife didn't seem to find it too exciting either . I forgot about Shawshank being King's story. That is ranked as the number one movie of all time on IMDB! A great movie. The Green Mile is very good too.

Dexter.

Ignoring the last series, the TV show was excellent whilst the books...varied. Especially the rewrites on whether Dexter was possessed by a demon.

I've read the first three of the Dexter series, not bad at all.
Also enjoyed the TV series.
But Dexter possessed by a demon, hum?
Will have to think about that one.

I'd have to add the Golden Compass to the list of one of the worst adaptations.