Turning beloved stories into successful book-to-movie adaptations is a very tricky business. Nowadays, it seems like every movie is based on a best-selling series. I haven’t had much time to do a lot of reading lately, but these are my picks for the best book-to-movie adaptations. I tried to keep the list somewhat modern. Fair warning: there are a lot of series on the list (that’s mostly what I read).
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1. The Harry Potter Series
If you’ve actually read the entire HP series, kudos to you. This definitely had to make the list of best book-to-movie adaptations because how else can you categorize it?! The movies truly captured the magical essence of the books. It didn’t make you feel like it was this far-fetched reality; it made you feel like Hogwarts was real and that you wanted to attend it. Of course, theres no way movies can get every single book detail that we might’ve wanted. But, the HP series did a absolute wonderful job of it.
2. The Perks of Being a WallFlower
Ever since its release in 1999, Perks has consistently attracted new readers. More and more teens fall in love with Charlie, Sam, and Patrick every year. I loved everything about the book and I loved that in the 103 minutes of the movie adaptation, Chbosky (the author) was able to pour every ounce of the book’s truth into it. A round of applause is in order!
3. The Host
When I started reading this novel, I forgot how to do much else. I was obsessed with the love story and couldn’t put it down until I finished it. When the movie was released, I was very pleased with the way it turned out. Of course, they did miss some details that I would’ve loved to see! Aside from that, they managed to capture the passion and drama behind it all which I really enjoyed. Kudos, Stephanie Meyer!
4. The Chronicles of Narnia
If there’s one movie I can watch over and over again, it’s this one. I remember sitting in the theater once the movie was over and thinking, “Wow”. The book just came to life right before my eyes and I loved every minute of it. The Narnia series has so much in the books, so of course I didn’t expect every detail to appear in the movie. I was really, really pleased with it though!
5. The Spectacular Now
I loved the book when it came out in 2008. It took me a long while to see the film because I had heard some mixed reviews. But after seeing it, I loved the movie adaptation! The casting was great. Miles Teller did an amazing job at portraying Sutter’s friendly nature as well as his vulnerabilities.
6. The Hunger Games
This book-to-movie adaptation had to make the list. Everything about it is just so perfect (maybe I’m a little biased because I’m a huge fan?). Probably not.. I’m sure it really is perfect! The casting is phenomenal and the movie brings so much of the book to life. There’s just some minor details from the book that I wish the movie incorporated but I can’t complain. “Catching Fire” was extraordinary!
7. The Twilight Series
I know there's a lot of series on this list, but c’mon, Twilight was very well done. I read the entire series in just a matter of days so I was super excited for each movie that came out! I loved that the movie stayed true to the book. They even did some things in the movie (that weren’t in the book) that made it that much better. I think “Breaking Dawn, pt. 2” was the best movie of the series because they really took their time to make sure they adapted the book the way they should. Twilight forever.
That sums up my picks for the best book-to-movie adaptations. Keep in mind, I haven’t seen every movie out there so I’m sure there are so many more that deserve to be mentioned. I’m sure I’ll make more lists as I watch more movies. Which book-to-movie adaptation do you think was the best?
Comments
Amulya: Yeah the perks movie was nothing like the book
Shammy: The Bourne movies? Even if I'm the only one who thinks that I still think it was good :) :)
Chloe: Books takes HOURS to read and a movie only has about a two hour time slot, if that. Obviously some of the things in the books are going to be left out from the movie. And yes, sometimes they do have to change a few things.
Sayenne: .... On earth? Twilight? The HOST? No offense but I got through about 4 minutes of it and had to turn it off. The book was ok, but good lord the movie was awful.
Olivia: I have lots of problems of the list, but the one thing which makes me write this comment is the inclusion of twilight and the exclusion of Lord of the Rings, are u freaking mad?!?!? Can't take this list seriously
Lppurplegirl11: Twilight and the Host sucked, in my opinion xD I think you should have added LotR because its so popular. I'm not a fan though haha. I totally agree on Harry Potter, Perks of being a Wallflower, and The Hunger Games
Aniesha: Sorry, but The Host was terrible.
Danie: Really? Twilight? Have you ever read a book not for "young adults"? The saddest thing about this list is that stephanie mayer is twice! Terrible list
KellyAnn: I thought the twilight movies were terrible in comparison to the books personally
Jillian: I wish A Walk to Remember was in here,but the film totally changed the novel's setting (decade-wise). Matilda was pretty cute though!
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