Originally Posted by bhalpop

I HATED really HATED (and still do) The Shining. Can't stand Shelley Dull-val and the fact they changed my favorite part of the book which was the topiaries which moved, into a stupid maze. I remember reading the book and knowing the movie was coming and thinking, how are they going to do the topiaries? Remember these were the days before CGI. More recently I hated The Time Travelers Wife and loved the book! And they stayed fairly true to the book but it felt so flat! I thought they did a good job with 1408 and both the Green Mile (I actually like the movie more!) and my absolute favorite is THE Shawshank Redemption! Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman rocked that movie!!

I think this is one of every body's favorites! I love this movie.

I Liked the LOTR books better than the movies...mostly because so much was left out of the movies. But the movies were pretty darn good. I've watched them all many times (I'm a bit of a LOTR geek), and am excited to see that the Hobbit will now be directed by Peter Jackson.

There is a book that I've read called The Descent by Jeff Long. It has nothing to do with the recent movie of the same name. It is about the inadvertent discovery of a civilization in the bowels of the earth. I wish the Jeff Long book would be made into a movie, I think it could be fantastic. I would want Guillermo Del Toro to direct it.

I like to read the book first before watching the movie. For me, if I watch the movie first and hate it, it turns me off of reading the book even if the book has received stellar reviews because I get it into my head that the book won't be worthwhile, like the movie. If I *do* end up liking the movie, I may read the book, but I will most likely read something else because I feel like I already know the story and what will happen in the book. (Though, we all know books are much more detailed.)

So I like to read first, and should there be a move, watch it because it's not too much of a time investment. I can't recall at the top of my head a movie I liked more than the book!

A recent disappointment in the movie: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The movie left out a complex, but crucial relationship (sort of triangle relationship) that had to be in there for the ending to make sense. Because they left this out, the movie had a different ending/tone and I'm really not sure how they're going to explain that in the 2nd movie.

Originally Posted by Lindsay2367

I liked the book "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult, but I HATED the movie. I thought the movie was fine until the end. I really, really dislike when the movie changes things about the book that makes the book unique (like the ending in "My Sister's Keeper). The movie made it into just any old story that you might see on a Sunday afternoon Lifetime Channel movie. Grrrr.

Me too I could not believe the way they changed the end - it ruined the raw emotion the book had - it was exactly liked you explained it - a normal Lifetime movie

sometimes movies are just really bad compared with the book, because it's just hard to express what the roles think.

oooh, I'm subscribing. I'm HUGE on adaptation :)

Always always the book. The movie will never do the book justice. Just because they sometimes change the storyline and make it different from the book. Case in point, all Harry Potter movies

That being said i understand the movie is actually an ADAPTATION of the book but i keep forgetting that. I keep getting my hopes up wanting to see how the producers will make all my favorite characters and scenes come to life...lol

Originally Posted by Jira

I like the LOTR movies way more than the books! Lolita is one of my favorite books, but I hated the film versions. I think I like Sense & Sensibility the book and film equally though.

I taught Lolita to my students last year & had them watch both film versions & then write a paper on the three. Our discussions on the book were pretty in-depth and a bunch of my students ended up loving the book (after much complaining in the beginning), and got pretty passionate about how unlike the book the film versions were!

so many books that I have loved have been ruined when turned into movies.

The Lovely Bones was a fantastic book (on the NY Tims Best Sellers Top 10 for almost 18 mos!!), but the movie was absolutely awful. They tried to make it to pleasing to the eye and as a result, the story got lost and it's meaning. I wouldn't blame anyone who's seen the movie that hasn't read the book if they have no interest in reading it, because the movie did the book no favors!!

Time Travelers Wife is another book I loved - quite long and a little difficult to follow at times. I realize that movies only have 2 hours to tell stories that if told from cover to cover, would likey take 3-4 x that time, but again I thought the movie was weak compared to the book.

Message in a Bottle is one of my fav books and the first N. Sparks book turned into a movie - I couldn't wait to see it and we ended up at a sneak peek showing before it's release. VERY disappointing. The entire ending was changed and the story felt made up at times. As a stand along movie, it would have been "OK" but the movie seemed to be based on an entirely diff version of the book than the one I read!! The Notebook, however, was a lot more true to the book -- there was only one part (that I can recall) that was added into the movie and never an original part of the book -- the rest of it was pretty darned close (altho I think casting of Gena Rowlands and James Garner was a HUGE mistake -- while both are fine actors, they were NOT Noah and Allie. I would rather have seen Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling aged with makeup and prostetics rather than two very misplaced actors trying far too hard!!

usually i complain about books being adapted into movies with characters going missing, the plot being simplified, etc but one book that was much,much better as a film was "betty blue"! the film made the character more real when in the book, all characters seemed to be the idea that a frenchman had of americans!

Originally Posted by Lindsay2367

I liked the book "My Sister's Keeper" by Jodi Picoult, but I HATED the movie.

I really hated the book ending (such a cop-out!), so maybe I'd like the movie better?

I always read the book first and then (maybe) watch the movie and in 99% of the cases I like the book much better.

Originally Posted by Anima Mundi

Overall, I do like to see the movie before reading the book, since I like to compare the differences. I find that movies often pale in comparison to the book, but there are times when I've liked the movie more than the book (Memoirs of a Geisha and Howl's Moving Castle come to mind.)

ITA!! The movie was fantastic!

I prefer reading the book first before watching the movie. BUT, when I read the book, I don't want to watch the movie anymore. I read The Kite Runner from Khaled Hosseine and then saw the movie. The book is far better than the movie. BTW, this book is one of my favorite.

I just remembered another one - the move Adaptation based off the book "The Orchid Thief" is one of my favorite movies and probably the most creative book-to-movie adaptation ever.

Originally Posted by roundandround

ITA!! The movie was fantastic! I prefer reading the book first before watching the movie. BUT, when I read the book, I don't want to watch the movie anymore. I read The Kite Runner from Khaled Hosseine and then saw the movie. The book is far better than the movie. BTW, this book is one of my favorite.

I forgot about this one.. this was one of our required reading books for AP english senior year and while it wasn't my favorite, i could appreciate the book, kwim? But the movie..I absolutely HATED the movie. Hated it!

I usually like to read the book first, then watch the movie. I find that most of the time, the film version doesn't live up to the expectations. Then again, I'm sure it's a hell of a job to translate a text into image.. Anyway, here's my list:

Worst film version: The Harry Potter films, with the exception of "Prisoner of Azkaban". I'm a huge fan of the book series, but most of the movies change small bits in the storyline that sort of disappoint. "Prisoner of Azkaban" was the only film that I walked out of the theater feeling like that's exactly the way I'd imagined it all while reading.

Best film version: The Lovely Bones. I thought the book was horribly slow and dragged a lot, I could never really care about what happened. The film was a lot more entertaining.. I'm sure fans would say that's not what it was supposed to be like but, the book was kinda lacking in message too, IMO.

Great film, great book: Both Adaptation ^^ (from the Orchid Thief), it's one of my favorites!! And also, Sense and Sensibility.