According to the UK newspaper The Guardian, here is a list of the Top 50 book to film adaptations of all time (a list, oddly enough, containing 51 items). Note which ones you’ve seen the movie of and/or read the book for. For films with multiple adaptations, any film adaptation counts.
[MB] 1984 [MB] Alice in Wonderland American Psycho [M] Breakfast at Tiffany’s Brighton Rock [B] Catch 22 [MB] Charlie & the Chocolate Factory [M] A Clockwork Orange Close Range (inc Brokeback Mountain) [M] The Day of the Triffids Devil in a Blue Dress [M] Different Seasons (inc The Shawshank Redemption) [MB] Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (aka Bladerunner) [M] Doctor Zhivago Empire of the Sun The English Patient Fight Club The French Lieutenant’s Woman Get Shorty [M] The Godfather [MB] Goldfinger [M] Goodfellas [MB] Heart of Darkness (aka Apocalypse Now) [MB] The Hound of the Baskervilles Jaws [MB] The Jungle Book A Kestrel for a Knave (aka Kes) LA Confidential [MB] Les Liaisons Dangereuses [MB] Lolita Lord of the Flies [MB] The Maltese Falcon [MB] Oliver Twist [M] One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Orlando The Outsiders [MB] Pride and Prejudice The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie The Railway Children Rebecca [M] The Remains of the Day [M] Schindler’s Ark (aka Schindler’s List) [B] Sin City [M] The Spy Who Came in From the Cold The Talented Mr Ripley [MB] Tess of the D’Urbervilles [MB] To Kill a Mockingbird Trainspotting The Vanishing [MB] Watership Down
cheshyre
No Princess Bride!?!
That’s one of the best adaptations out there!
Rob Wynne
Re: No Princess Bride!?!
I don’t disagree, but I didn’t make the list. 🙂
One of the things I love about Top-X lists of *anything* is arguing about what they left out, and about what got put in that doesn’t belong.
hitchhiker
Re: No Princess Bride!?!
my first thought too! and blade runner definitely does *not* make my list -- the film sucked!
folkmew
Re: No Princess Bride!?!
I like Princess Bride as well and agree it is a good adaptation. I also think the HP movies have done a very good job of staying true to the book overall (too true in some cases say my friends who haven’t read the books)
I used to think Blade Runner sucked -- but friend kept saying to me “no no! You have to see it on a big screen!!!” and finally I did. You know what? They were right! Or at least I thought so. I like it quite well now, cinematically it was lovely on the big screen. But it REALLY lost something on video.
YMMV 😉
hitchhiker
Re: No Princess Bride!?!
Hm -- okay, he may be right; I have no way of telling. But what struck me forcibly when I saw it on video was that, had I not read the book, I would have had absolutely no idea what was going on.
I agree about the HP movies too -- they did a brilliant job. (In the other direction, my vote goes to Yes Minister, Tron and ET -- superb novelisations all)
Rob Wynne
Re: No Princess Bride!?!
If you can *find* it, check out the non-directors-cut version. It’s my personal opinion (and not one shared by many, but hey-) that the directors cut *ruined* that movie.
rdmaughan
Re: No Princess Bride!?!
I want a hybrid version. I want rid of the happy bus ride at the end of the original but I quite like the voice over.
epi_lj
You know, the movie of “Lolita” was almost unbearably dull.
randomrants
I was going to mention the Potter flicks, but someone beat me to it. 😉
I’m minorly disappointed to not see Jurassic Park on the list, laugh if you must. Personally, I thought they did quite the decent job making the book into a movie (excluding the special effects, mind you).
The other other two books/movies could fall off the planet, should’ve never been written/produced, IMHO.