I’ve been rereading the Hobbit recently. As you might recall, right before I took my trip to Haiti I watched the movie and got all excited about going on my own adventure. Well now that I’m back, I’ve decided to read the book again. I haven’t read it in years and there are many parts that I had completely forgotten about. Reading it is getting me excited for the next movie in Peter Jackson’s trilogy.
Speaking of movies based on books, I’ve always been interested in film adaptations. It’s an interesting process for whoever is writing the screenplay, because you can’t take the actual book and make it a movie, you have to take out parts, change things and make it flow as a movie. No audience would sit through a ten hour movie, so changes have to be made. However, the changes made are very noticeable to an audience that loves the original story. I think it takes a brave person to turn a book into a movie; you could get a lot of praise or a ton of criticism.
I find it odd that some filmmakers choose to add in some scenes that are not based on the book. It seems more logical to me to use the book’s material first and only cut out what is not necessary, not create new scenes that have no basis in the book. However, I can’t complain too much, because there are times that I really enjoy what the filmmakers have changed. For example in the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, a scene is added with Aragorn getting separated from his friends. This scene has no basis in the book, but I love it. It adds suspense and drama to the story and honestly it’s one of my favorite scenes to watch.
But most of the time when filmmakers do this I am angry. One of the best examples of this comes from the first Percy Jackson movie. I had read the book before I saw the movie, so I knew all about the crazy adventure that had happened in the book. And there were a lot of things wrong with the movie, but one thing that seemed worse than the rest was adding a pointless battle scene at the Parthenon in Nashville. It had no basis in the book whatsoever and took time away so that other more interesting plot points had to be left out.
Although there is some fault to a filmmakers decisions, I’ve also found that I am partly to blame for my reaction to a movie that is based on a book. I’ve found that depending on how recently I’ve read a book, I will either enjoy or not enjoy the movie adaptation. It seems that if I either have no clue what the storyline is supposed to be, or have read the book so long ago that I can’t remember details, that I thoroughly enjoy the movie adaptation. However, if I read the book right before seeing the movie, all I can see is all the changes that were made and feel upset at the “good” parts that were left out, or the things that were changed.
A perfect example of this comes from my experience watching the Chronicles of Narnia movies. I can’t remember exactly when I read each book, but I have read them all now, and seen all of the movies that have recently come out. However my responses to the second and third movies were extremely different based largely on the fact of when I had read the book it was based on.
When I saw Prince Caspian, the second movie, I had recently read the book and was upset by even little things like the hair color of characters that I had pictured differently. I noticed every little thing that was changed, like added battle scenes, and was left upset that the movie didn’t live up to my expectations.
However, when the Voyage of the Dawn Treader came out a few years later, I watched it without rereading the book. I could only remember a few relevant parts from the book, all of which were included in the movie. So I ended up loving the movie, the message, and found the whole experience very enjoyable. In fact I felt at the time that this third movie was the best of the three. However, when I discussed the movie with a friend, I found that she had not enjoyed it. She kept pointing out little changes that I hadn’t noticed and complaining that it wasn’t like the book so she didn’t like it.
In light of this, my new plan for seeing movie adaptations is to either watch the movie before I read the book, so I can enjoy both, or wait to reread the book until after I’ve seen the movie. That way the storyline isn’t too fresh in my head. I guess I should have waited to reread the Hobbit until all three movies have been released, but I couldn’t wait. Oh well, hopefully I’ll still enjoy the movie and not be too critical of the filmmaker’s decisions.
So what’s your favorite movie adaptation and why? Or what book would you like to see turned into a movie? Leave a comment below.
NovelSisters 
The professor is attracted to adventure since his daily life is one. Filmmakers fool with success and should find their own ideas to fool with instead. Strictly the opinion of this professor mind you.
Thank you for the comment. I agree that many times filmmakers take something that was successful as a book and turn it into a flop of a movie. But there are a few cases where I find the movies based on books still enjoyable, so I don’t mind their efforts.
No problem. That is true. Some movies do a good job.
Great post!
My favourite movie adaptation is The Rainmaker, by John Grisham. I am currently reading it, and the film is really true to the book, it was brilliantly adapted. They did have to leave a lot out, but they managed to keep all the important things in so that nothing vital to the plot changed. It’s really cleverly done, because a whole bunch of characters have been left out, but they arrange it so that all the things those people say get said by this other character in the book. It’s really impressive how smoothly it’s been done.
I didn’t like it when I saw an Oliver Twist adaptation which added things which weren’t in the book, because the things they added affected the portrayal of Oliver’s entire character! The David Copperfield adaptation was really excellent, although, as you say, they could have made a ten hour film of that book and still had to leave things out, so it’s a shame that everything couldn’t be fit into it. A whole section of the book had to be left out.
There are some funny little things too, like in the Little House on the Prairie tv show Jack the dog is a long haired scruffy type of dog, when in the books he was a bulldog.
That’s a good idea, waiting to read a book until after you’ve seen the movie. That way you can enjoy the movie first, and then find out all the fun differences when you read the book! I will definitely try that.
I’m not sure what movie I’d like to see of a book… maybe the Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. Or “Never Look Away” by Linwood Barclay. I read that in a couple of days, it’s a really thrilling read. Plus, I haven’t read either of them for a few years now, so I wouldn’t be obsessing on the details.
Thanks for the comment! I’m glad you liked the post. I’ve never watched the Rainmaker or read the book. I’ll have to check it out!
It’s funny that you read this post just now because I just finished reading Eragon for the first time. I saw the movie first, several years ago and enjoyed it and now as I read the book, I couldn’t put it down. So I was able to enjoy the movie and the book!
By the way, thanks for checking out my blog! 🙂
Hi 🙂
Absolutely, I have found I really enjoy both 🙂 I really like your blog, it’s excellent 🙂 I haven’t read Eragon, or seen the movie, so I’ll have to check those out!
I highly recommend Rainmaker, I loved the movie for years (it’s a courtroom drama with good sense of humour and it has Danny de Vito and Matt Damon in it) it’s one of my favourite films. Now reading it I am finding I love the book too! You can find a new perspective on the characters when you read the book.
I also liked “Get Shorty” which is a film I watched a few times before getting the book. It is a black comedy, I think that’s how you’d describe it.
The good thing about the book is that different chapters are from different characters’ perspectives, so you can find a new understanding of all the people. Where in the movie, it is all a whirlwind, so it’s nice when you read the book to slowly negotiate everything, and drink it all in. 🙂
So many good suggestions! 🙂 Hopefully I can watch or read them all eventually. Though Rainmaker might make it to the top of my list since I love Matt Damon’s acting.