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Here are 5 of what I think are the worst book to movie adaptations ever. What are yours?
The Hunger Games
I never read or watched The Hunger Games growing up. In all honesty, I always thought it would be too bloody and intense for me to handle, which is why I avoided it like the plague. Then, a few months ago, I was sick and unable to sleep, so I decided, hey, why not? I watched the entire first movie in one go, and let me tell you, that is one of my biggest regrets to this day.
It’s hard to believe this movie has an 81% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes, because it is truly awful. This 2 hour and 22 minutes long movie takes so long to get to the point, I found myself zoning out for long periods of time and missing absolutely nothing. For goodness’ sake, it takes half the movie to actually get to the hunger games, which is what the movie is named after!
In all fairness, it did do its job. It pulled me into the concept and the world and made me curious about what happened next. But while I was watching, the only thing I could think was: Man, the book is probably so much better. So you know what I did? I read the book. Then I read the next book, and the next. It’s an amazing series, really, it is, but I swear the director of the movie decided to take the most boring parts of the book and stretch them out to five times their length while cutting out everything interesting in the process. I cannot fathom how such an action-packed book resulted in such a boring movie.
The movie leaves out so many details, and it takes away from the characters. Don’t get me wrong, I love movie Peeta just as much as the next gal, but book Peeta is just so much better. Trust me on this one.
Do yourself a favor and avoid the movies. And if you’re like me and haven’t touched The Hunger Games yet out of fear, check it out now—you won’t regret it.
The Giver
When I first watched The Giver, it was in eighth grade English class. The film intrigued me and touched my heartstrings. Weeks later, I decided I would try to watch it again, but I got bored in the middle and never finished it a second time, which was a very bad sign as to the actually quality of the film. My mother noticed my interest, however, and allowed me to borrow her copy of the book to read.
I was shocked to learn there were more books in the series. To me, it seemed like the movie had wrapped it up in a neat little bow with no more room for sequels. To learn there was not only one, but three sequels? Absolutely incredible.
When I opened the books, I was instantly confused. Some story elements were the same, but many were very different. It felt like I was reading a story that was set in the same world as the movie but was about something completely different. It really confused me, but I loved the book so much, I went on to read all three of the sequels.
In all honesty, there’s nothing wrong with the movie itself. It’s a good movie, and I really enjoyed it, but that was before I read the books. When I finished with the books, I rewatched the movie, and suddenly everything made so much more sense. The problem I have with this movie is that it had such wonderful source material to pull from, and it still managed to fall flat.
Even if you’ve seen the movie and enjoyed it, I strongly suggest you give the books a try, because they are on a whole different level.
Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
I remember reading the first few books in this series when I was a child. My older sister really enjoyed the book series for some reason and thus owned the entire series. Strangely enough, they always smelled like oranges, which is something I still remember vividly. She practically forced me to read them, and read them I did, even though I didn’t like them.
I watched the movie some years later, and mostly it confused me. The characters didn’t seem anything like the ones in the books I had read, and it all moved far too fast, leaving me lost. Now I know that’s because they tried to smash three books into one movie, which is definitely a rookie mistake on their part.
Consider the more recent A Series of Unfortunate Events TV series, which dedicated two-hour long episodes to each book, and you’ll see just how ridiculous the idea of putting three books into one movie was.
As I mentioned, the series adaptation of the books is quite good and very faithful to the books. However, I always think it’s best to go straight to the source material if you want the full experience. Whichever one you choose to watch or read, do not waste your time on the movie.
Artemis Fowl
To be honest, I’ve never managed to finish this book. I’m not sure why, I just didn’t like it very much. However, I did see the movie, and I liked it because it was more my style, but that’s how I knew there was something gravely wrong with it. In short, it’s entirely wrong. Everything in it—all lies, none of it is in the books.
For example, Artemis’ mother isn’t dead in the books, she is merely sick (The movie proclaims her as dead, even though she’s important to the plot later on in the series.) There is no such thing as an Aculos (the glowing magical McGuffin the movie decided to throw in there), and Holly Short (a main character in the movie) has an entirely different backstory. From what I remember of the books, Artemis was a criminal mastermind from the get-go, it wasn’t something he became over the course of time as the movie suggests. The biggest problem, however, seems to be the humor. The books are fun, which is why so many people enjoy them despite their somewhat dark subject matter. The movie, on the other hand . . . is not.
I know several people who say the books are a masterpiece, and from my own experience I know the movie is “meh” at best. I have no attachment to the books, but I do know it annoys me that a movie managed to get away with completely ruining the source material to the point where it’s unrecognizable. If you want to know the real story so many people fell in love with, read the books.
Eragon
One of the first book series I ever read was Eragon. My mother had the beautiful, giant print version of the entire series, and I was drawn to them from a very young age. This book was the first exposure I had to dragons, and it is the reason why I love dragons as much as I do now, and it shaped my view of fantasy for years to come.
In fact, the books were so good, even my cousin, who hates reading and everything about it, liked the series. Although he listened to it through the audiobook (which I could rant about for hours), he still read the entire series and enjoyed it.
The movie? Not so much. I was vacationing with my family when I discovered there was a movie version. Instantly, I knew it was sure to be an absolute disaster, and I begged my family not to turn it on. My pleas fell on deaf ears, and for the next two hours I was forced to watch as filmmakers completely desecrated one of my favorite fantasy series.
I’m not kidding when I say I did not recognize the movie at all. It was completely different from the fantasy series I grew up with. The characters were different, their motivations were different, the plot moved like molasses, and the dialogue was stunted and unnatural.
I am begging you, do not waste your time with this movie, and read the books instead. They are truly masterfully written, and you will enjoy every second of the experience.
What movies did I leave out? Are there any book-to-move adaptations you really loved—maybe even better than the book? Let me know in the comments below!
Happy Reading!
I agree that Eragon was a wonderful book, along with the series! That movie was sad and released at the wrong time. A Lord of the Rings movie came out at nearly the same time.
Another disappointment for me was Enemy Mine. Great book; horrible movie.
When I first started watching movies from books, I was appalled at how much they left out ( usually my favorite parts ) For instance, Bridge to terabithia I loved the book so much. I was so excited about watching the movie but after I saw it, I just wanted to cry. But leaving on a good note, my favorite book to movie is To Kill A Mockingbird. & I absolutely loved The Book Of Daniel
The Perfect Storm. The book was great, but the movie was terrible. Diane Lane’s bad rendition of a “Boston” accent alone was enough to ruin the movie for me, and George Clooney struck me as the wrong actor to play the part of a lobster boat captain.
I agree with the “Battlefield Earth” statement … a great book, but an extremely lousy movie.
I would also add the “Royal Flash” from the George MacDonald Fraser “Flashman” series. The books .. in fact, the entire series .. were gems of writing, but the movie was unfunny, boring, and missed the whole basis of the Flashman personna.
I will go hit the classics. My daughter reminded me of Disney’s adaptation of Lloyd Alexander’s “The Black Cauldron. The compression of 5 books into one animated film should never have gotten off the scriptwriter’s typewriter. It is arguably Disney’s worst film of all time.
You looked at books better than the movies. I look at movies that are better than the books, and for exactly the same reasons.
Mary Poppins — the first movie I every saw at a theatre. For my 6th birthday. When I found the book a decade later, I had to read it. Disney used the names and some of the situations; but the movie made the children and nanny sympathetic, even if the parents are a bit of incompetent boobs. The book made the parents bullies, and the nanny a total, complete and nasty, excuse my bluntness, bitch.
The Princess Diaries. Enough said.
The Wizard of Oz. Which, by the way, is only the first book in the series. At least the directors had the good sense not to try to compress the rest of the series.
The Lion in Winter. My now-husband starred in the stage play during his senior year in college. While they were just starting rehearsals, the film with Peter O’Toole aired on TV. We watched it as background for his role. I have never been able to understand how the written script and that caliber of on screen talent could produce such a ponderous, boring and depressing a movie. Every light moment and snide double-entendre was stomped so flat as to be unrecognizable.
And in closing, if you like reading Shakespeare’s plays, try Kenneth Branaugh’s films, particularly “Much Ado About Nothing”. He removed all emphasis on the iambic pentameter and put it into natural speech. Same words, simply written in paragraphs instead of poetry. Suddenly, Shakespeare is no longer boring and makes sense.
This last sits a bit on the border between the good and bad. Tom Clancy’s “Hunt for Red October”. I liked the movie better. I can no longer remember if I saw the movie or read the book first. I had about 25 or 30 tabs in the book trying to track different characters. I readily admit that the book takes the award for acurate realism of the process of intelligence gathering. But I give the movie the points for paring down the cast enough to make the plot easier to follow. Specifically, the sonar expert on the submarine Dallas gets all the glory, whereas in the book, his work was spread across about 20 other characters stationed at fixed listening points across the Atlantic.
I am probably in a minority but the worst book to movie adaptation is all of the LOTR movies plus The Hobbit. I literally cannot watch them. They had the perfect actors, the perfect scenery and a story that was unparalleled, and they had to re-write it, leaving out parts and inventing others (and that, badly). I was never more disappointed.
Battlefield Earth. I loved the book. I have reread it numerous times, but the movie was atrocious.