Books That Shouldn't Have Been Made Into Movies

[AlexisReed]

Great award winning books but horrible films what are your opinon these are my top five.

1. Beloved

2 Native Son

3. For Colored Girls

4. The Scarlett Letter

5.The Da Vinci Code

[Linkhorn]

I don't think there are any books which shouldn't be interpreted as movies, whether it's music, painting or dance, people always want to retell a story through different media. I think that perhaps some films shouldn't have the name attached, once they grow to be a completely different beast.

There are some adaptations that have been butchered through incompetence, for profit, or on the altar of the director's ego - but here's nothing stopping someone else having a try if that happens. 'The Scarlet Letter' is one of those classics that has been attempted in a dozen films, some work, some don't.

I think you can categorize films of novels into 4 basic groups; hamfisted cash grab, faithful to the novel, changed significantly but in a positive way that fits the new medium/audience, changed significantly in a negative way for one of the reasons mentioned before (and these should just be renamed).

The 2007 version of 'I am legend' was essentially a different story than Richard Matheson's book, although they shared some elements, as with the 2004 version of Azimov's 'I am robot'. I think these would have been better with different names as they're good films but poor adaptations.

'Apocalypse now' was essentially the same story as Conrad's but reset to be accessible and reach the audience in a way they would understand while being faithful to the book. This was a positive change and few would have complained if it had been called 'Heart of Darkness'.

Likewise, Robert A Heinlein 'Starship troopers' was changed for the movie version. The novel took heavy criticism from many, with allegations of militarism and racism among others. A film that had whose elements would have been a flop, so they stripped them. Instead, Verhoeven made a fun film that worked on its own, and probably lead people back to the novel, which can now be seen in a different light and almost as a warning about the direction society will take under the control of generations who have not struggled for their own liberty and who have a sense of entitlement.

Verhoeven may not have planned this deliberately though, he also changed 'Total Recall' into an action movie, casting Schwarzenegger when an actor like Harrison Ford would have been more faithful (and quite similar to Blade Runner).

[The Bookaholic]

The twilight saga. I did not enjoy those movies.

[pinstar]

The lightning thief and the one after it( the percy jackson series). Those movies just made me mad...

[shuffman2009]

I always like to read the book before watching the movie. I am sometimes pretty impressed with the closeness (Harry Potter for example was an amazing companion to the books), and other times I am incredibly disappointed (The lovely Bones was not anything like what I expected). I read a lot and I know that the movies could never be the same as the books because of all the little details and time allotted for a movie, but sometimes I don't think the appropriate care is taken when putting words to film. I think it really depends on the book and the producers understanding of the book. Having a great cast of actors helps too, but if the director and producer and writing staff stray from the books then it defeats the purpose of turning a book into a movie.

[lolashoes]

The Mortal Instruments. The film adaptation was horrible in my opinion. I was only able to endure the first 15 minutes of the movie. :/

[Maegan101]

Eragon. Poor poor Eragon. It was a fabulous book but when made into a movie they cut out chunks of plot that were vital in my opinion.

[DATo]

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller. I am a huge fan of Alan Arkin but this movie just didn't work for me. I think the structure and style of the book simply isn't conducive to cinematic translation.

[laysette]

My books that I think make bad adaptations are:
1. Bless the Child
2. Any Percy Jabckson movie
3. The Golden Compass
4. True Blood (it is a series, but I watched a few episodes and couldn't watch anymore)

Then there are some I just can't watch after I've read the books.

[LindaBloodworth]

Is it just me or was the Shadow Hunter series a big movie flop? I watched it and had to explain everything to my husband. None of it made sense to the casual viewer.

[LivreAmour217]

Coraline by Neil Gaiman had a horrible film adaptation! The story was changed so much that it was barely recognizable!

[Sarah_Khan]

The Mortal Instruments. The film adaptation was horrible in my opinion. I was only able to endure the first 15 minutes of the movie. :/

I agree, the movie was pretty bad even considering the fact that I didn't absolutely love the book.

[LindaBloodworth]

The Mortal Instruments. The film adaptation was horrible in my opinion. I was only able to endure the first 15 minutes of the movie. :/

I agree, the movie was pretty bad even considering the fact that I didn't absolutely love the book.

The fact that the tattoos were never explained drove me nuts. They were a major part of the story and they just left it out? Simon was the only redeeming character and he wasn't even the lead. I found the Clary and Jace actors to be a far cry from the actual way the characters were depicted. Just awful all around.

[Sabreana]

The Mortal Instruments. The film adaptation was horrible in my opinion. I was only able to endure the first 15 minutes of the movie. :/

I completely agree with you. The movie was just awful. And I got excited when they tried again with the tv series but I couldn't even get past the first episode. So disappointing.

[jeniffer_grc]

Y'all clearly didn't understand the series. Best series ever and the ones that ho with that series . The tattoos are called runes which give them specific powers . There is another book that explains all those words . The Shadowhunter codex