Film/TV Adaptations

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

There are so many movies made from books that wouldn't have been made unless there WAS the book(s) for them to be made from. Sometimes the movies resemble the books so closely that you know exactly what will happen in the movie because it was so in the books.

Other movies -- the title of the movie is the same (similar to) that of the book, but there were many differences! Sometimes even vital details of plot or character or action are totally different / ignored / or embroidered.

Which books have you read that were later adapted into movies/tv series? What were your thoughts? Were you thrilled or disappointed by the film/tv directors' efforts?

[Prof. Amy Lupin]

One of my all-time favourite series is Legend of the Seeker, which is based on Terry Goodkind's The Wizard's First Rule. I confess to having watched the first season before picking up the books, but overall I thought they did a great job with the TV series. There were a number of things that were changed around and added in, but I felt it was for the better. In fact, this is one of the few times that I felt the movie/TV adaptation was better than the book.

[Prof. Tarma Amelia Black]

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, was made into a movie.

We're reading it now, for our first monthly book discussion, and one reason I wanted to read it again is because I'd just watched The Hunger Games (movie) again and watched the 'making of' extras. Some of the actors in it said they wanted to be in the movie because of the book. Hmm. I'd read all the books in the series and thought - okay, let's read that first book again.

I think a lot of the movie was very good or even excellent. Much of the excellence of the movie is because of the actors and actresses. I don't know of many who could play Katniss, Effie, Cinna, President Snow (and others) as well as those chosen to play them.

The movie was, somehow, a bit more gritty than my imagination while reading the book. I think a lot of that was because of the brilliance of the actors, because I got drawn into the 'here we are' a bit more firmly watching the movie.

There were changes from book to movie, one which was rather huge at the end of the movie (spoilers!) but which I could see would make it easier to create the movie sequels if any were made.

I think the adaptation was very good. The book is very good. Yes, it was a successful hunt for both.

[Prof. Kendra Givens]

I think my favorite of movie adaptation of the book was Effie Trinket. She's one of those characters that after you see her in the movie and then re-read the book, you have a much better understanding of who she is. I remember seeing the movie the first time and when she came on screen, I grabbed my friend's arm and shook it like "yes, yes she's perfect!!" That gaudy makeup and fake eyelashes, along with the fake attitude, definitely made her character a huge success. Overall, I think those books were perfect to turn into movies, because the action in the book was begging to be brought to life. Of course the books are always better, but I loved both versions.

[Prof. Arielle Lemoyne]

I watched the Princess Bride, after finishing reading it for this month's book club. The full title of the book includes the phrase "the good parts version" and I thought the movie was the good parts version of that! Some of the backstories were cut or shortened, which was fine with me because it kept things moving along. Other than that, the movie followed the book pretty closely. There was nothing that stood out to me as like "what? why did they change that?" I thought the way they had the grandfather reading to the boy worked out perfectly - I can't think of a better way they could have maintained the charm of the book. I can see why the movie is so beloved. I enjoyed it too!

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Movie/TV adaptations. I love that something I read is getting transformed into a movie or a show that I can watch, and see it my visualizations were correct, but it is a roll of the dice. It can be wonderful and true to the book, or it can be so, so, wrong, since they change too much.

Now, I realize that no movie or TV adaptation can be truly faithful to the book, but, unfortunately, there are more botched adaptations than true ones. One of them (though I did not consider it really bad) was The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, which was adapted from Cassandra Clare’s City of Bones series, one seemingly quite popular here on HOL. I read the first book and when I have time, will probably read others, since it kept me captivated, though perhaps not as much as Harry Potter.

I saw the movie before I read the book (or saw TV series) and enjoyed it. Though after I read the book, I see how its ardent fans might have been disappointed. They changed or left out many important details in the movie, but unless you read the book, I do not think one would have noticed.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie, and would recommend it to the casual (urban) fantasy fan.

[Hanna Inari]

I'm almost always disappointed by the film if I've read the book. So when my favourite books get adapted, I'm excited and frustrated at the same time. There were several films which I liked (for example, Harry Potter and that film about Narnia where they travel by sea). I also like adaptations of the books which I didn't like that much when I was reading them, in this case the film might be better. But usually I have my own pictures in my mind when I read something and they don't match with the film.

One of the larger disappointments I remember was Lord of the RIngs. I've read the book when I was 14 or so and I was a huge fan. I even made up my own alphabet based loosely on runes. I was reading and rereading the book, I've learned almost all the poems from there and even one of the prose parts. And then I came to my friend's house to watch the first film with her. I remember that it was rather good by itself, it was very colorful and I'd like it for sure if I didn't read the book. I wouldn't even remember what was so different from the book, even though there were some changes in the plot; the main reason was that I pictured it differently in my mind. So I wasn't able to watch it. And I didn't, I only saw the first hour or so. I think I might even like it now that I don't remember the books that good. Maybe.

And this happened almost with all the films based on books that I've read. Even the later Harry Potter movies which I certainly like, I try not to associate with the books because they have a very different atmosphere. One of the strangest adaptations I've seen was The Hobbit; as far as I remember, the plot of the book and even most of the lines were the same but the atmosphere was so very different.

Another film I can remember is Golden Compass, based on the book by Philip Pullman. I loved the books when I was in school so I decided to watch the film but I wasn't even able to finish it, it was so different from my imagination.

I think the problem is that films have a different way of telling stories than books. Books can contain more details, most of them can't be put into a film because there's no time for that. Of course you don't want to watch a part of the story if you've already read it all. There are also films which use visual effects to attract people, even if they're unnecessary at that particular moment. And I like books more than films in general, I only watch a couple of films each year so some films are good but they're films and thus they're not as good as any book might be.

[Lucy Brooks]

After watching Vampire Academy I decided to reread the book. The details in the books as usually are either cut or changed. From what i seen I still prefer the book as it shows how Lissa deals with being a spirit elemental. While in the book she often gets dark thoughts and inflicts damage to herself to prevent, in the movie she magically get injured, get itchy and passes out when overusing spirit. If they are planning to make more of the series into movie I think this would be a problem unless they change the plot a bit and that might end up making it different than the original story.

While it was nice to see a book I read come to life I still prefer the originally book to the movie.

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

While technically it had not come out yet as a TV series, I read Good Omens (by wonderful authors Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman) after a long time of the book being recommended to me by either friends or other sources. I am glad that they decided to make a six-part series out of it rather than just a movie. I think that way the creators could take more details out of the book and still present a clear story to the viewer. I had seen the trailer after reading the book and I noticed so much tiny details from the novel. It will be interesting to see the whole thing when it comes out.

Then I decided for a reread of Eragon by Christopher Paolini and my, I had forgotten how much I loved it. Just for kicks and to see the differences, I also watched the movie and…um…it was not as good as I remembered. I can forgive the cosmetic changes and details that do not translate well onto the screen, but feathery Saphira? I get that they went with something different, but Saphira is a traditional dragon and she should have looked like one. I suppose if you have never read the books, you might have enjoyed the movie, but the majority of readers were not happy about the changes.

[Adaleine Shuster]

A little while back I read the book "Everything, Everything". It's a fantastic book and I very highly recommend it. a girl can not ever leave the house and has many allergies(to sum it up). She falls in love and leaves the house. As I said its a great book. As you can imagine I was very excited when the movie came out! After watching the movie I will admit, I was disappointed. It just left out some of the details even just really tiny ones, yet it still bugged me. It also is a very long book so the movie skipped and events flew by quickly. That's just me. What are your feelings on the topic?

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

Since I am a big fan of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, I decided to check out some other books by Douglas Adams. First one of these has been Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. The biggest reason to start with it has been that, in 2016, the first of two seasons of its TV adaptation has come out on Netflix.

However, after reading the book, I noticed that besides the bare bones of world building and the names of the characters, nothing is like the book. Usually, I really dislike that especially if it changes the plot in a significant way. However, in this case, I believe it works. Adams’ style is incredibly hard to put on film, I think, but since the show runners had taken such liberties with the source material, it successfully presents the writing style on the screen without taking anything from the story.

The show is worth a watch in my opinion, but be prepared for general craziness, goofiness and chaos, but in a good way.

[Adaleine Shuster]

I just read Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens agenda for the first time. I had watched the movie, Love, Simon, and I really liked it! I picked up the book and truth be told I wasn't sure if I should finish it at first. I didn't lik ethe start of the book, and almost put it down, but I decided to push through and keep reading. It was so, so different from the movies. It started at something that was first introduced about 20 minutes into the movie. It had some different events. The Story line was actually kind of different, but I guess they both followed the basic story line. The book was much, much better in my opinion. It was more interesting, and it really got me hooked. I think that I would have loved the movie even more if it was like the book. I can't wait to read the next book in the series (I believe it is a series, though I'm not totally sure).

[Prof. Maxim Trevelyan]

Ay, I am back with two more adaptations.

I have been on a sci-fi kick lately, so three or so weeks ago, I read The Invisible Man by H.G. Welles. Despite it being written in late 19th century, it is still one of my favorite horror-sci-fi books. So I just had to check out The Invisible Man that came out in 2020. The story was heavily modernized, but where other movies that do that failed, I think Whannell (the director) managed to capture the horror and sci-fi elements perfectly. Even the modern explanation of the science was great. Elizabeth Moss acted so wonderfully, if she is not nominated for something, I would be heavily surprised. Psychological terror at its best and I would recommend it to anyone, whether a fan of H.G. Welles or not. Just do not expect everything to be just as in the book.

Artemis Fowl...oh, what have they done to you? Maybe I am being dramatic, but this had to be one of the worst book to movie adaptations that I had seen. They completed changed core values and personality of the characters so it is as if you are seeing original characters with same names running around the world that is loosely connected to the one you love.

In the novel, Artemis Fowl is basically a mini villain. He is extremely intelligent and cunning for his age, meticulously laying out his plans for personal fortune and only that, which he does with a cold, ruthless demeanor. In the movie, Fowl is less nefarious with a softer side. He also discovers the existence of fairies not through his own determined intellect but through his father's abduction.

Despite my deep love for Dame Judi Dench, the change I hated most is the decision to gender-swap Commander Root, a brash, hot-headed, cigar-chomping police chief for L.E.P. Recon, into a woman. I usually do not mind these kind of changes, but Root being a woman completely nullifies Holly Short's character arc. In the books, Short is L.E.P. Recon's first female officer, and feels great pressure to prove herself for this reason.

These two things are the main ones that really bothered me, but there are so many others, it was as if I was watching a completely different story than the one in the book. This movie I do not recommend to anyone who rad Artemis Fowl. Perhaps someone who never read the books might enjoy it, but I somehow doubt that.