This Blogger’s Ranking of the Best Book-To-Movie Adaptations
Posted November 13, 2015 by Katie Caskey
With excitement building for the upcoming final installment of The Hunger Games film series, I got to thinking this week about other successful (and not so successful) book-to-movie adaptations. So here are my top five favorite movies that started as beloved books.
***NOTICE: I said MY top five. Agree, disagree, vehemently disagree…that’s fine. I’d love to hear your lists as well!
My Regulations:
- I am only including films on the list that I have seen about books that I have read. Hence, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Twilight will not be making an appearance…cheer or grumble as you will.
- I am only including film adaptations of children’s books. I could go on and on about the plethora of Jane Austen movies (and I just might in one of these posts), but I have to narrow the field for this list.
- I am not including made-for-TV movies or miniseries. There are some wonderful creations out there, and it could even be argued that the miniseries is a better format for book adaptation as it allows for more detail, but again, I have to narrow the selection pool somehow.
Alright, now that that business is out of the way, let’s jump right in, shall we?
#5. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)
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I will admit it now…this was never one of my favorite books. I had to read it quite a few times for school, and I always found it charming, but dull! It wasn’t until I saw this movie that I fell in love with the characters! And don’t even get me started on Aslan! Liam Neeson is and always should be a lion in my book. Yes, there is an unnecessarily-long battle scene, but that is to be expected and forgiven. The time that the director took to make the experience authentic and magical for all involved definitely translates to the viewers!
#4. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
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Though I am a fan of all the Hunger Games movies, this one is my favorite in terms of book-to-movie translation. It is the most accurate, it follows the book’s story arc very closely, and it maintains a superb level of visual intrigue and surprise (I mean, who wasn’t excited when they first saw that aerial shot of the arena)! It also does a very good job of balancing character moments with action moments, something I felt the first movie struggled with.
#3. Mary Poppins (1964)
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Throwing it back a few decades, we come to what is not only one of my favorite book-to-film movies, but one of my favorite movies EVER! I fell in love with Julie Andrew’s magical nanny when I was just a tot, but it wasn’t until a year ago that I ventured into the world of P.L. Travers’ literary creations. Reading the books was like a treasure hunt for familiar moments, I was pleasantly surprised to run into many of my favorite scenes and characters in the books. But there were so many more stories and adventures I had never encountered before to fall in love with too. Despite P.L. Travers’ misgivings surrounding the final film draft, I saw so much of her whimsical sensibility in the movie’s writing and the brilliant actors’ portrayals. Plus, the music! What else is there to say?
#2. Holes (2003)
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Have. The. Author. Write. The. Screen. Play! Seriously. I firmly believe Holes was so well-adapted because they made strategic use of the man who knew the story inside out and better than anyone. I understand that this doesn’t always work. Authors want to hold on to every detail of their stories (which just can’t happen in a movie). But when it can work, it is brilliant!
And finally, my #1 pick for the BEST book-to-movie adaptation EVER…
The Book Thief (2013)
Not only is this my favorite movie on this list…it is also tied for the top spot as one of my favorite books of all time! I could go on for pages and pages about the beauty and brilliance of Markus Zusak’s elegantly-crafted novel, but I will save that for another time and place. When I first heard they were making my cherished book into a movie, I was struck with equal measures of extreme elation and sheer panic. What if they ruined it? What if they changed the ending? Who would they cast? How would they translate Zusak’s beautiful prose into accessible dialogue? Well, I have no idea how any of these were accomplished, but by some miracle, they were! The film manages to maintain the poetic writing style, the acting choices were unparalleled (I am still permanently indignant that Geoffrey Rush was not nominated for this performance), and the look of the film was simultaneously elegant and devastating. GO SEE THIS MOVIE!!! (Just don’t go into it thinking it’s a romantic comedy like my best friend did or you will not be emotionally prepared 🙂
Well, there you have it…my top five book-to-movie adaptations. If anything, I hope I got you thinking about some of your own favorites (or least favorites). Happy viewing!