# Book to Movie/TV--and it Worked!



## DavidRM (Sep 21, 2010)

I consider the TV miniseries "The Stand" to be one of the best book-to-movie conversions ever.

There are other books-to-movies I've liked...but suddenly I'm drawing a blank. (I blame Nanowrimo and a day spent editing.)

It's easy to list book-to-movie/TV conversions that failed. I can think of many, many right now. But I'm going to resist.

So...what's your favorite book-to-movie jump? Where a book you liked/loved became a movie you liked/loved?

-David


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## Pinworms (Oct 20, 2010)

I thought the movie version of Fight Club was superior to the book.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest I liked both quite a bit.  Same with Empire of the Sun

Its a graphic novel/comic, but I thought both versions of V for Vendetta were ok.

Forrest Gump.  A bunch of the James Bond movies

Alot of people like Lord of the Rings (not me personally)


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## Guest (Nov 6, 2010)

Fight Club was a great movie.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!

Watchmen was a great movie, very faithful, and I'll argue they even improved the ending over the graphic novel.


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## DavidRM (Sep 21, 2010)

Now that my memory has been jogged: I quite agree. Fight Club was a great version of the book (and might even have been an improvement on the book).

And I thought Watchmen was an incredible version of the graphic novel (even if I did [slightly] protest the change in the ending).

-David


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## N. Gemini Sasson (Jul 5, 2010)

Mitch Albom's _The Five People You Meet in Heaven_. It was a made for TV movie. Every bit as poignant as the book.


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## Sandra Edwards (May 10, 2010)

I agree, The Stand was a great book to TV/movie conversion. And so was Pride and Prejudice (the A&E mini-series).


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

foreverjuly said:


> Watchmen was a great movie, very faithful, and I'll argue they even improved the ending over the graphic novel.


Watchman was a gorgeous movie made by an idiot. Several characters changed drastically, and not for the better. The sex scene had people actually laughing out loud in my theater, it was so ridiculous. And the ending, while in concept the change doesn't bother me, the execution was freaking terrible. Sanitized. All sanitized, and by doing so, rendered the contradiction by the main villain nonexistent. Sorry. I had high expectations for that movie, and while visually it was wonderful, intellectually I felt like I'd watched a five year old attempt to re-tell Hamlet.

David Dalglish


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

The ones that jump immediately to my mind:


_Catch-22_
_Slaughterhouse Five_
_Lord of the Rings_
_A Bridge Too Far_

I'll give an honorable mention to _2001: A Space Odyssey_ since the novel was essentially written concurrently with the screenplay.


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## Guest (Nov 6, 2010)

Half-Orc said:


> Watchman was a gorgeous movie made by an idiot. Several characters changed drastically, and not for the better. The sex scene had people actually laughing out loud in my theater, it was so ridiculous. And the ending, while in concept the change doesn't bother me, the execution was freaking terrible. Sanitized. All sanitized, and by doing so, rendered the contradiction by the main villain nonexistent. Sorry. I had high expectations for that movie, and while visually it was wonderful, intellectually I felt like I'd watched a five year old attempt to re-tell Hamlet.
> 
> David Dalglish


It's all good. I didn't mind that they sort of glossed over part of the book that I thought were less-than-stellar. Ozymandais really never moved me as a villain should, the know-it-alls never manage to, and so I was happy to let Rorschach and Night Owl force him into a more typical villainous role. I did have some difficulty with the other aspects of the ending, but I thought the movie did everything it could to stay true to an incredibly intricate story full of rounded, imposing characters. Rorschach and the guy who kidnapped, raped, and killed the little girl...Oh man, I would've killed him myself. Lots of great, iconic images that I think did the speaking for the movie in ways we're not used to.


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## David &#039;Half-Orc&#039; Dalglish (Feb 1, 2010)

Oh, I loved Rorschach. Just loved him (movie version included). I do want to be clear, visually it was great, and you could tell the director loved and tried to remain faithful to the source material. So I'm not angry, I'm just very disappointed. Spoiler alert, I guess upcoming. Oh, and just ignore me if you like, don't care at all about Watchmen.



Spoiler



The whole 'squid monster' bit was shocking not in the monster, but in the repeated, graphic visualization of everyone dead. You find out the catastrophe has already happened, and then you're given page after page of blood, corpses, all who clearly died in horrific pain. There's no speeches. No text. He just lets you soak it all in, be appalled.

Now, cut to Ozymandias later saying how he's felt all their pain. How their small sacrifice has saved the rest of the world. In the comics, the horrific disaster makes that argument feel so pale and pathetic. Yet in the movie...there's no blood. There's no corpses. It's pathetically sanitized, so when that part in the movie hits, there's nothing to contradict it. Even worse, they made Dr. Manhattan actually get MAD at the disaster. Originally he was more interested in how this event was hidden from him. He doesn't care at all about their deaths. So when, later, he AGREES with Ozymandias about the few dying saves the world, you know that Manhattan just isn't human. He doesn't value life, and therefore his understanding and protecting of the plot is also denied. Yet in the movie, he shows up all angry and righteous and upset. Yet he still is swayed by Ozymandias. My brother, who had never read the comics, thought that meant the movie SUPPORTED the idea. That the story was in agreement with him, because they never hit home Dr. Manhattan's lack of humanity. If anything, they seemed to imply they'd saved Manhattan's humanity, which again makes his sudden agreement with Ozymandias carry far more weight than it should.



So what I'm trying to say is these minor changes, that Snyder probably thought weren't that big a deal, have massive ramifications because the Watchmen story was so intricately wound together. So the entire ending was robbed of its power, its contradictions, and ended up giving a totally different emphasis and morale.

And the sex scene was still hysterical. Dear lord. Just cut away. It was one panel in the comic.

David Dalglish


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## TWErvin2 (Aug 7, 2010)

N. Gemini Sasson said:


> Mitch Albom's _The Five People You Meet in Heaven_. It was a made for TV movie. Every bit as poignant as the book.


The *Five People You Meet in Heaven * book to movie did pretty well, but it doesn't stand as well if the viewer hasn't seen the movie, I think.

It's funny--I posted about this topic on my blog earlier today. In it I suggested that *Lonesome Dove * was an excellent novel to movie adaptation, although it was a screenplay before it became a novel, before it was then made into a mini series.


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## sbaum4853 (May 3, 2010)

The Harry Potter series has mostly struck the right notes in condensing those big books, I think.

The Running Man (where you can watch the governors of Minnesota and California fight to the death) was completely different and far more entertaining than Stephen King's coke-fueled fantasy.  It was a really fun kind of dumb.

I don't know that I agree with those of you mentioning Fight Club.  The movie was fine I guess, but the book was a masterpiece.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

I have not read _ The Green Mile_ But I loved the movie.


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## Guest (Nov 7, 2010)

Spoiler



I'll tell you, David. The Squid Monster almost ruined the book for me. I was convinced doing anything different would have been better, and so when the movie did, I was immediately happy. In Moore's mind, I bet he was going to have all the Watchmen rise up and do something actually heroic to defeat it, but then maybe he thought the book would be too long or any host of other things. Having the monster die on its own just seems a miraculous waste. Why would humanity bother to band together when their universal threat will just die as soon as it enters the atmosphere? At least let them bomb it! Yes, Dr. Manhattan's inhumanity is a key element lost, but I thought dumping the blame on him as the movie did helped to tie up the mystery for other people, while having him leave the planet in the book seemed not only arbitrary, but spontaneous, which conflicts with his abilities.


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## R. M. Reed (Nov 11, 2009)

Spoiler



I re-read Watchmen when the movie came out, and it seemed to me that the squid thing was some kind of statement about art in people's lives. It broadcasts a different "story" to each person before it dies. And they die. I must say, if Moore did have something lofty and metaphoric in mind, it was pretty obscure. I can see why the movie changed the ending, it involved all the artists disappearing and living on an island for a while in secret and it was all rather complicated. The movie ending made sense to me.

The one change I questioned was that they all seemed to have super strength but in the graphic novel no one has powers except Dr. Manhattan.

I saw two versions in theaters and no one laughed at the sex scene in those showings. I didn't see anything wrong with it.

I'm using spoiler text just to be like everyone else on this topic.


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## Keith Blenman (May 31, 2009)

_Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas _ is definitely a favorite. _Fight Club_ is up there as well.
If we're stepping into comic territory, _The Crow _ is amazing. I love _V for Vendetta_, but I'd also like to see a more literal interpretation. Make it about anarchy and not an attack on W.


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## BoomerSoonerOKU (Nov 22, 2009)

M*A*S*H

Maybe one of the few books to movies that you can read the book in the same amount of time it takes to watch the movie.  

Both are classics, though.


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## DavidRM (Sep 21, 2010)

BoomerSoonerOKU said:


> M*A*S*H
> 
> Maybe one of the few books to movies that you can read the book in the same amount of time it takes to watch the movie.
> 
> Both are classics, though.


M*A*S*H is a *book*?

A new book hunt launches...

-David


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

DavidRM said:


> M*A*S*H is a *book*?


By Richard Hooker (a pseudonym). It is said to be largely autobiographical. I have an old paperback around here somewhere. It's OK, but I liked the movie more.

Mike


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

DavidRM said:


> M*A*S*H is a *book*?


worse.

M*A*S*H is a _series_ of books. (many of them co-written by William E. Butterworth, you might know him better as W.E.B. Griffin)

The original novel is available for Kindle, though.

I agree with a lot of posters above me ... with the caveat that in order to be good a James Bond movie had to be based on the actual story, not just the title.

Silence of the Lambs is one of my favorite book-to-movie translations.

I'm sure I think of a bunch more after I finalize this post, because that's how my memory works.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

I'll add _The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo_ to the list. The book was OK, but I enjoyed the movie much more.

Mike


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## stormhawk (Apr 29, 2009)

jmiked said:


> I'll add _The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo_ to the list. The book was OK, but I enjoyed the movie much more.


I am fearful of what they will do with the American studio version of this movie that has been announced.


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## Kathelm (Sep 27, 2010)

Spoiler



The problem with the squid monster was that it was, frankly, a stupid idea, and not just by virtue of being a squid monster.

Ozymandias' plan was doomed to failure, which you can argue is kind of the point, but I don't even see how he could have expected it to work. He wanted humanity to unite against an alien menace, so he invented one and had it attack. Here's the problem, though: the Humans United fervor would only last a few months, maybe even a year, unless Ozy kept injecting more squids. Otherwise, humans would realize that the threat had fizzled and go back to their old lives of politics and squabbling. So ultimately, Ozymandias' plan would require long term terrorism for the good of mankind, and every time he does it, he exposes himself to the risk of being discovered. Every time he slaughters a city, it tips the scales more toward evil. It's just stupid.

Now take framing Dr. Manhattan. Ozy spent the early part of the story committing character against Dr. Manhattan. In both the book and the movie, it served the purpose of shaking Manhattan's confidence and distracting him from the plan. However, once you frame Dr. Manhattan for blowing up a city, it serves another purpose: it was a fabricated foreshadowing of the "attack" and triggers people's hindsight. Even if the attack only happened once, the fact that a trusted, established, tangible hero once hailed as a god had turned against humanity, the effect will be much greater. Now Dr. Manhattan is forced into exile because no amount of explaining will quell the fear, and his very presence fuels it. The fact that people _knew him_ and have seen what he can do in a war will make the fear and unity last that much longer.

Artistically, it makes the whole story more coherent. I'll take a perversion of an established character over a vaguely foreshadowed left-field plot twist any day. Instead of adding a new character, it takes an established character and gives him one more thing to think about, one more way to interact with the plot.

The narrative is just tighter and more believable this way.


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## nmg222 (Sep 14, 2010)

If we're going away from TV, 'The Godfather' was one of the better adaptations.  Scenes in the movie were word for word from the book in many cases.

Sticking with TV, I'll add another vote for 'The Stand'.


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## Cochise (Sep 26, 2010)

R. Reed said:


> I saw two versions in theaters and no one laughed at the sex scene in those showings. I didn't see anything wrong with it.


There were two versions of the movie? I didn't know that.



Spoiler



Forget the squid monster for a moment, any number of devices could have been used. In the movie Manhattan left because he felt he had to. In the book he left because he wanted to. It was a massive change that ruined it for me.


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## swolf (Jun 21, 2010)

I thought the TV show FlashForward was better than the book.

It was an odd translation.  They kept the main premise (which was a great concept), and kept the character names, but changed everything else.

The book was ok, but they took the main concept (everyone on the planet seeing nine months into their future) and turned it into a melodramatic soap opera, while the TV show made it a global conspiracy/action piece.


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## DavidRM (Sep 21, 2010)

The Grapes of Wrath is another good movie from a good book. It's definitely an adaptation, but it's a *good* adaptation.

I agree about The Godfather (first movie). Second movie was also fun in that it covered a lot of the material the first movie didn't have room for.

And I just thought of : The Thin Man

The book and the movie are both a lot of fun.

-David


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## Cochise (Sep 26, 2010)

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Gene Wilder version
The Robert Donat (1935) version of The 39 Steps
Day of the Jackal

I usually avoid movies of books I like and prefer to read books that inspired good movies, if that makes any sense.


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## travelgirl (Sep 22, 2009)

My favorite book-to-movie is hands-down The Green Mile.  I was ALL ready to be disappointed, but it was T.R.U.E. to the book except for just a few very minor details, and those are easlily enough overlooked.  

Fantastic.


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

The best book-to-TV miniseries I can think of is Lonesome Dove. The casting was perfect, and all the major plot points were very true to the book. Can't imagine how it could have been done better.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

DavidRM said:


> And I just thought of : The Thin Man


Yes, I agree. That was an excellent book-to-movie translation.

Mike


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

It has been mentioned in another thread that Bones the TV series is perhaps better than the books that it is based upon.  Not that the books are bad.  Just that the FBI/Jeffersonian connection is better (at least more relevant to some of us).

Just sayin.....


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

geoffthomas said:


> It has been mentioned in another thread that Bones the TV series is perhaps better than the books that it is based upon. Not that the books are bad.


I've tried several times to get through the first book and failed. But I enjoy the TV series as a casual watch.

I'd also mention that I like the TV series of _The Colorado Kid_ more than I do the book (there is scarcely anything in common).

Mike


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## kcmay (Jul 14, 2010)

I agree with The Stand. King's novel Cujo was also a great movie -- scarier than the book, IMO.

I also thought The Blind Side was a great book-to-movie translation.

Edit: OOH! I just remembered Dean Koontz's Intensity. That was a made-for-tv movie and it was great!

Edit again: The Shining. Absolutely AWESOME movie.


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## SidneyW (Aug 6, 2010)

The Bone Collector is pretty good. Silence of the Lambs also. I haven't read the book Winter's Bone, but that's a pretty good movie.


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## Luke King (Nov 4, 2010)

I like the movie version of The Talented Mr Ripley, though it is a major departure from the book, with an extra character and an extra murder.


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## Travis haselton (Jul 24, 2010)

"Justified" so far. "True grit" but I am sceptical about the remake. looks good though.


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## Jeff (Oct 28, 2008)

Books to mini-series: _Shogun_, _Rich Man Poor Man_ and _Roots_ would give _Lonesome Dove_ a run for its money.


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## JumpingShip (Jun 3, 2010)

I thought for sure I'd see Friday Night Lights mentioned in here. Great book, great movie, fantastic tv series. The director of the movie is Peter Berg, who is HG Bissinger's nephew. He also directed the pilot and a few other episodes of the tv show, as well as being an executive producer.


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## SidneyW (Aug 6, 2010)

Travis haselton said:


> "True grit" but I am sceptical about the remake. looks good though.


Original was a really good adaptation. Makes me think of Paper Moon from the book Addie Pray, though they boiled it down a lot. Same with The Ninth Gate from The Club Dumas, pretty good movie but had to cut the book in half.

The Exorcist is another good adaptation.


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## Blodwyn (Oct 13, 2010)

_Anne of Green Gables._ Seriously - I still love those films. Going to agree on _Lord of the Rings_ and _The Godfather._


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

Among my favorites are _Pride and Prejudice_ (the A&E mini-series from 1995), _The Godfather, The Silence of the Lambs_, and _The Importance of Being Earnest._.


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## Lyndl (Apr 2, 2010)

Anne of Green Gables
The Stand
Pride & Prejudice ( A&E version)
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Gene Wilder version
True Blood ( aka Southern Vampire Mysteries)


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## Cuechick (Oct 28, 2008)

Personally I am a big fan of all things British. I did a post on my blog today, partly inspired by this post of 3 
excellent BBC adaptations. I included the new Sherlock series that puts him in the present day, it is really good. There is a link on my post to the first episode, which you can watch online for free.

http://www.piewacketblog.com/journal/2010/11/11/thursday-three-3-worthy-adaptations.html


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

SidneyW said:


> Same with The Ninth Gate from The Club Dumas, pretty good movie but had to cut the book in half.


I enjoyed the Dumas material from the book, but can understand why it was left out of the movie... just not enough time.

Mike


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## LaRita (Oct 28, 2008)

Jeff said:


> Books to mini-series: _Shogun_, _Rich Man Poor Man_ and _Roots_ would give _Lonesome Dove_ a run for its money.


Haven't seen _Rich Man, Poor Man_, but I agree about _Shogun_ and _Roots_. Just meant I didn't see how they could have done _Lonesome Dove_ any better.


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## Dave Dykema (May 18, 2009)

I thought the movie version of The Dead Zone is pretty good. One of the better King adaptations.


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Ice Station Zebra
Casino Royale (2006 version)
The Martian Chronicles
Rosemary's Baby
The Exorcist


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