Good book to film transfers. EDIT: to include a list.

[MrGFunk]

Watchmen [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409459/] was a great adaptation/transfer.

This lead me to think most film adaptations are not as good as the original source and sometimes they're terrible.
I know movies are there to reach a wider audience but if the original story is changed and not a fair representation, how annoyed must the author be?
- See Alan Moore (hope he's happy now)

Film versions should be faithful to be good. I certainly think they are improving. I'd even say I prefer the Fight Club film to the book. I hold much hope for the new version of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Please tell me good film versions of books you've read.

Examples
Good - Perfume [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0396171/] Captured the feel of the book and cut out the flabby middle where he lives in a cave.
Bad - The Beach [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0163978/] Changed the story. whoops.

Most wanted - House of Leaves [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Leaves] by Mark Z. Danielewski.

I don't want to annoy anyone but surely a list is good for reference and recommendations.

EDIT: Good films adaptation recognized by replies.
Fight Club
LOTR
Trainspotting
Clockwork Orange
Jurassic Park
Shawshank Redemption
The Mist
Green Mile
The Bourne Series
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
High Fidelity
V for Vendetta
Chocolate
One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
Sideways
Harry Potter Series
Re-Animator
Watchmen
300
Starship Troopers
Akira
Ghost World
Die Hard
Wonderboys
Sin City
The Godfather
No Country for Old Men
Field of Dreams
Blindness
Blade Runner
A Scanner Darkly
Dr. Zhivago
Christmas Carol
Ben Hur
Stardust
Dr. Strangelove
To Kill a Mockingbird - Great shout.
Interview with a Vampire
The Color Purple

 

[konkwastaken]

the bourne series, the movies are brilliant

 

[Fiskmasen]

My favourite book-to-film adaptation (hell, it's one of my favourite books/films of all time) is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120669/], based of the book [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_in_Las_Vegas_(novel)] Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream written by Hunter S. Thompson [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunter_S._Thompson].

To me a good film-adaptation of a book (or any other source material) shouldn't just be a faithful adaptation, it should also be the directors own take on the book, he or she should be comfortable with the material; it should mean something to him or her. Have some heart.

 

[Nivag the Owl]

I'll come back if a 'Wheel of Time' film ever happens.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

Fight Club is a book?

 

[Lukeje]

Most wanted - House of Leaves [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Leaves] by Mark Z. Danielewski.

How would that even work? Would it be a film based on a book based on a book based on some notes based on a film based on a house?

I suppose it go the route of A Cock and Bull Story in its interpretation of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman and just use that extra layer of 'meta' to enhance the meanings inherent in the story.

 

[MrGFunk]

I'll come back if a 'Wheel of Time' film ever happens.

Are you recommending I read this?

Wheel of Time [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time]

Is it anything like Lord of the Rings? Which I don't like.

 

[vamp rocks]

i have heard twilight made a good movie, i just finnished the book so now i want to go see the film

 

[Nivag the Owl]

I'll come back if a 'Wheel of Time' film ever happens.

Are you recommending I read this?

Wheel of Time [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time]

Is it anything like Lord of the Rings? Which I don't like.

Yeah, it is a bit. I would recommend it anyway but seems like you've made your decision already

 

[fix-the-spade]

the bourne series, the movies are brilliant

But they aren't really book to film transfers either. They basically ignore the books and go their own way, much better for it too.

Chocolat was good in a chickflic kind of way/
Fight Club is, well it's Fight Club.
Akira works very well, compressing a 4000 (or whatever it is) page story into two hours, admitedly it misses most of the story, but still generates a fairly cohesive plot from what is basically the beginning and end.

 

[The-Big-D]

Fight Club
Shawshanks Redemption
Green Mile
American Psycho
Lord Of The Rings

 

[MrGFunk]

Most wanted - House of Leaves [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Leaves] by Mark Z. Danielewski.

How would that even work? Would it be a film based on a book based on a book based on some notes based on a film based on a house?

I suppose it go the route of A Cock and Bull Story in it's interpretation of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman and just use that extra layer of 'meta' to enhance the meanings inherent in the story.

I'd hope they could play it straight and just have the three stories intertwined. Maybe I'm being naive.

I hope to revisit it but I do most of my reading on a train. It's a big book and I have to read it with a dictionary handy.

If they did it well, would you be up for it?

 

[MrGFunk]

I'll come back if a 'Wheel of Time' film ever happens.

Are you recommending I read this?

Wheel of Time [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time]

Is it anything like Lord of the Rings? Which I don't like.

Yeah, it is a bit. I would recommend it anyway but seems like you've made your decision already

Don't get me wrong I like Fantasy, I enjoy Piers Anthony's books. I just found Lord of the Rings boring. Stop walking and I didn't like the songs.

 

[Lukeje]

I'd hope they could play it straight and just have the three stories intertwined. Maybe I'm being naive.

I hope to revisit it but I do most of my reading on a train. It's a big book and I have to read it with a dictionary handy.

If they did it well, would you be up for it?

Yes, if they did it well. You're right about the dictionary though (as well as a Bible, some Ovid and a couple of bookmarks to keep your place during the labyrinthine [literally] chapters). I feel that I probably missed so much information just 'hidden' under the surface. If they could get that kind of feeling into a film, then there isn't much chance that it could go wrong (well... there is, but I prefer to be optimistic).

 

[Strong Intelligent]

Yeah, Lord of the Rings.

Good game adaptions, too.

 

[Nivag the Owl]

I'll come back if a 'Wheel of Time' film ever happens.

Are you recommending I read this?

Wheel of Time [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time]

Is it anything like Lord of the Rings? Which I don't like.

Yeah, it is a bit. I would recommend it anyway but seems like you've made your decision already

Don't get me wrong I like Fantasy, I enjoy Piers Anthony's books. I just found Lord of the Rings boring. Stop walking and I didn't like the songs.

If you want a comparison, its a hell of a lot longer than LOTR. As in, each book is over twice as long as a lord of the rings book and there's like, 12. I've read five of them but um.. the story changes a lot more than lord of the rings, as in, more things come into it and there are more twists and turns. There is more combat involved, there's some really cool wizards who actually CAST spells as apposed to Lord of the Rings where like 1 or 2 spells happen through the entire trilogy.

EDIT: You may as well give it a try anyway, you can find the 'Eye of the World' on amazon for like less than a quid probably. The Prologue is insanely well written as well.

 

[sorry user name taken.]

green mile and the mist

 

[Arrers]

The Film of High Fidelity was good, but not as good as the book. The best adaptations that I can think of have already been mentioned.

 

[Struck21]

I'll come back if a 'Wheel of Time' film ever happens.

Are you recommending I read this?

Wheel of Time [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wheel_of_Time]

Is it anything like Lord of the Rings? Which I don't like.

Yeah, it is a bit. I would recommend it anyway but seems like you've made your decision already

Don't get me wrong I like Fantasy, I enjoy Piers Anthony's books. I just found Lord of the Rings boring. Stop walking and I didn't like the songs.

If you want a comparison, its a hell of a lot longer than LOTR. As in, each book is over twice as long as a lord of the rings book and there's like, 12. I've read five of them but um.. the story changes a lot more than lord of the rings, as in, more things come into it and there are more twists and turns. There is more combat involved, there's some really cool wizards who actually CAST spells as apposed to Lord of the Rings where like 1 or 2 spells happen through the entire trilogy.

EDIT: You may as well give it a try anyway, you can find the 'Eye of the World' on amazon for like less than a quid probably. The Prologue is insanely well written as well.

Im gonna beat this dead horse a bit more and say, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T MAKE A MOVIE FROM THIS!

Anyone who TRIES to make a movie, and game from this pinnacle of book series, will do nothing more then piss me off and force me to murder more film studio excs. They will no justice to book and rip the story up much, that I will walk out of the movie, example being latest Hitchikers Guide movie, and cry for days hoping the master copies of the movie get burnt up in a convent fire at their studios.

Eragon, run of the mill and nothing special book. They took it and made a movie that by all definitions, was horse shite. Give up on making fantasy books into movies, you will phail and ruin a great book by idiots who cant read running around saying it was awesome and the book sucked.