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ghost_flash · Jan 27, 2004, 11:24 PM

This may have been done before, but then again, is there actually an orginal thought in the universe?

The Lord of the Rings thread gave me this idea.

What is your favorite book that turned out to be a great movie?

a terrible movie, but great book?

Mine:

Top of the list for me:

LOTR doesn't come close to Tolkein's Books.
I read them all in 8th grade, and several times after.

Sphere : Awesome! Book to read and listen to on audio! terrible terrible movie.

Andromeda Strain : Great Book & Movie
mentioned before but I'll add my score.

Hunt for Red October : Great / Great

Jaws : Great Read!!! / Great Movie
The book is fascinating as it reveals so much
about each character and the social climate of
the township.

The Bourne Identity : Great / Great

spatterson · Jan 27, 2004, 11:51 PM

Supposedly according to movie.com there will be a movie out this year for Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. I would love to see what a cryptx actually looks like!!!

The Harry Potter movies are so far pretty much like the books. We will see on June 4th how close the Prisoner of Azkaban comes to the book.

OwlBoy · Jan 27, 2004, 11:56 PM

I hear they are trying to make Hitch Hikers Guide...

That will be interesting...

-Owl

Nebagakid · Jan 28, 2004, 12:37 AM

The Bill and Ted Series were great books, and really adapted well to movies

xi_hyperon · Jan 28, 2004, 01:26 AM

I'm looking forward to the movie adaptation of Nelson DeMille's Up Country.

Ozmodiar · Jan 28, 2004, 01:37 AM

Crichton's The Lost World and Timeline are two of my favorite books. The movie adaptation of the former was absolutely horrid, and I have yet to see the latter.

SamuraiDL · Jan 28, 2004, 01:39 AM

slaughter house five and a short called harrison burgeron (sp?) both vonnegut books

sworthy · Jan 28, 2004, 01:44 AM

I loved The Count of Monte Cristo as a novel, but the movie was absolutely awful. I really wanted to kill someone, they changed almost all of the plot. I want to see a 3 part movie a la LOTR.

Rev-O · Jan 28, 2004, 01:47 AM

Plague Dogs.

Okay, so it's horribly depressing.

cal4ever · Jan 28, 2004, 05:47 AM

A Clockwork Orange was a great (and very disturbing) book. And the movie was equally great and disturbing--Stanely Kubrick is a genius.

MindFad · Jan 28, 2004, 06:17 AM

LotR is great, of course.

I would love to see Ender's Game turned into a movie. I heard at one point that they wanted to, but never heard anything of it again. I'm not sure how well it would do as a movie, but with the right director and script, I think it could be amazing. Or even Ender's Shadow.

phoenixboy · Jan 28, 2004, 07:08 AM

Originally posted by Ozmodiar:
Crichton's The Lost World and Timeline are two of my favorite books. The movie adaptation of the former was absolutely horrid, and I have yet to see the latter.

well, i have seen a spanish version of timeline which i downloaded and it was nothing like i imagined it would be. i guess they messed it up again

i really liked sphere (the book) as well, yet, the movie sucked!

at the moment i'm reading prey...they'll probably fu<k that one up too.

Apple Pro Underwear · Jan 28, 2004, 08:02 AM

LoTR was a better movie than book

Jurassic park / Lost World was great � when i saw this movie i remember being shocked at how technology could produce such great effects ( i was a teen then)

Wonder Boys was good (michael chabon)

voyageur · Jan 28, 2004, 09:06 AM

Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being was both a good book and a good movie, I thought. Not an easy book to make a movie of, either.

Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice also has had several good movies made of it. Her characters translate really well to the screen.

Gankdawg · Jan 28, 2004, 09:41 AM

I would like to see Clive Cussler's books turned into movies. And Richard Marcinko, too.

simonjames · Jan 28, 2004, 10:13 AM

Best one for me was Peter Hoeg's "Miss Smilla's feeling for snow" - every character in the book translated almost exactly to the screen. You'll know what I mean if you have ever been to or lived in Scandanavia.

For the worst I would have to say it is the recent remake of Dune and Children of Dune. The Bene Gesserit in the books were much stronger and austere than the screen - the costumes and acting were deplorable.

- - e r i k - - · Jan 28, 2004, 10:15 AM

Lord of the rings.

D. Hendrickson · Jan 28, 2004, 01:04 PM

i thought Contact turned out pretty good given the screen time...

Ozmodiar · Jan 28, 2004, 01:37 PM

I've only seen the movie version of Contact (one of my favorite movies). I've been thinking of picking up the original novel, but I don't want to sour my opinion of the movie by finding out the book is much better.

As for Prey, that book sucked. I think a horrible movie adaptation would actually improve its story.

waxcrash · Jan 28, 2004, 05:55 PM

I would say the best book to movie would be John Irving's The World According to Garp. The book is a classic. The movie with Robin Williams and John Lithgow is very good.

Turias · Jan 28, 2004, 06:00 PM

Originally posted by OwlBoy:
I hear they are trying to make Hitch Hikers Guide...

That will be interesting...

-Owl

Unless it's like the BBC television series. Man, that was bad.

Tulkas · Jan 28, 2004, 07:01 PM

LOTR: Great book:Good movie

Timeline: Good book:Bad movie

Harry Potter:

It was a great book considering its target audience. The movies sucked so bad it hurt. I can't see why they had fairly good CGI for Dobby but Fawkes was, literally, a cheap prop.

ghost_flash · 07:13 PM

Contact : That was an awesome book, and the movie though it did stray from several people going on the mission to just one, it was still fairly true to the book.

Carl Sagan was a great thinker, writer, person.

Prey : This was a great book IMHO, and I think they can do it justice in the movies.

I never read Smilas Sense of Snow but the movie was really good.

Clive Cussler fan eh? I am reading "Golden
Buddah" right now. Love all his books, and "Sahara" is in the process of becoming a movie.

Marcinko - Oh yeah. Have you read "The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEALs Class 228"? by Dick Couch.
Great Read.

Joshua · Jan 28, 2004, 07:14 PM

Master and Commander was a pretty good adaptation of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series.

ghost_flash · Jan 28, 2004, 08:20 PM

Originally posted by Joshua:
Master and Commander was a pretty good adaptation of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series.

I was reading about that in the "Smithsonian" magazine, and found it very interesting! That guy had some cajones. Definate must read and see.

DeathToWindows · Jan 28, 2004, 08:58 PM

Originally posted by simonjames:

For the worst I would have to say it is the recent remake of Dune and Children of Dune. The Bene Gesserit in the books were much stronger and austere than the screen - the costumes and acting were deplorable.

The 2000 Dune remake was abysmal & the 2003 version of Children of Dune was only marginally better

The 1984 version is amazing IMHO

DeathToWindows · Jan 28, 2004, 08:59 PM

Originally posted by spatterson:
[B}
The Harry Potter movies are so far pretty much like the books. We will see on June 4th how close the Prisoner of Azkaban comes to the book. [/B]

Those are the most dreadful movies. Great books, awful movies.

ShortcutToMoncton · Jan 28, 2004, 10:38 PM

Minority Report: Phillip K. Dick's book is cool, and the movie also kicks ass.

Wonder Boys: Chabon's great. The movie is great. How cool is that?

High Fidelity: Hornby's book is a classic. The movie is also a classic. Anything that's all about bastard music elitists is okay by me...

greg

MacAgent · Jan 28, 2004, 11:08 PM

The Red October movie was good, but not as good as the book. (No movie of any Clancy book is as good as the book, the worst example being Sum of All Fears.

)

ghost_flash · Jan 28, 2004, 11:13 PM

Originally posted by MacAgent:
The Red October movie was good, but not as good as the book. (No movie of any Clancy book is as good as the book, the worst example being Sum of All Fears. )

Red October et al Clancy books are fantastic
and I especially enjoyed Sum of All Fears, but
man Ben Afleck <duck!> ruined that one.

ThinkInsane · Jan 29, 2004, 03:02 AM

Originally posted by simonjames:
Best one for me was Peter Hoeg's "Miss Smilla's feeling for snow" - every character in the book translated almost exactly to the screen. You'll know what I mean if you have ever been to or lived in Scandanavia.

That was the first book that came to mind for me too. I think I enjoyed the book and the movie equally, which is a pretty rare thing.

Xeo · Jan 29, 2004, 01:43 PM

Originally posted by sworthy:
I loved The Count of Monte Cristo as a novel, but the movie was absolutely awful. I really wanted to kill someone, they changed almost all of the plot.

I didn't even know the story of The Count of Monte Cristo when I saw it in the theater. With that in mind, for me, it was a great movie.

dencamp · Jan 29, 2004, 02:00 PM

Stanislov Lem's Solaris and Tarkovsky's Solaris are both great. I haven't (and probably won't) see the recent remake.