Books or Movies?
1. In your opinion, what is the best translation of a book to a movie?
2. The worst?
3. Had you read the book before seeing the movie, and did that make a difference? (Personally, all other things being equal, I usually prefer whichever I was introduced to first.)
And, by all means, expand this to as long a list as you like. I'm notoriously awful myself at narrowing down to one favorite ANYTHING. So, feel free to list as many "good" or "bad" movie-from-books as you like. (Heaven knows that's what I'll be doing....)
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Answers:
1. I LOVE the "Colin Firth" Pride and Prejudice. Is there anyone who doesn't? I really enjoyed the new version starring Keira Knightly as well. I loved how artisitic and visually pleasing it was. I feel that in those aspects it was a better match than the original mini-series. But, overall, I think the "Colin Firth" version wins out. Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility is also amazing. She did a brilliant writing and acting job in this film.
The Harry Potter films also are good. But as they get further along in the series more and more gets lost. You should definitely read these books before seeing any of the movies!
Of Mice and Men with John Malkovich is a great one as well.
2. The worst would probably be The Devil Wears Prada (2006) or Garfield. I'm an avid Garfied fan, and I know it's not a book, but when they made the movie, I really wanted to see it, but shut it off within about 20 minutes of it starting. I thought it was absolutely horrible. As far as The Devil Wears Prada goes, I don't really think that they did a good job matching it with the book. I think that the movie was very disneyfied. And it held similar ideas and situations, but the book does much more for describing the characters and their feelings.
3. I read Pride & Prejudice and Sense & Sensibility after seeing the movie. Come to think of it, I don't think that there's a single Jane Austen book I read before seeing the movie (except Northanger Abbey). Even though I saw the movies first, I still like the book better. Both movies are fabulous adaptations though.
I did read The Devil Wears Prada before seeing the movie. I think that's why I rate it as the worst. Had I seen the movie first, and then read the book, I think I would have liked the movie more than I did.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy... I saw the first two movies before reading any of the books. Between the second and the third, I read all the books (The Hobbit) included. I didn't like the third movie at all. I definitely think that reading the books between the movies ruined the third one for me. I really enjoy going into movies (and books too, but especially movies) without knowing anything about them. So, the final LOTR was ruined because I knew what was going to happen.
Feel free to leave a comment with your answers.