I have an opinion and express it frequently. Sometimes my thoughts about movies and books follow the mainstream. Other times? Eh, not so much.
I have three categories. The Good Ones, the movies that brought the books to life and vice
versa; Blah, movies that fell
flat. And the movies that surpassed the
books by a wide margin.
In the Good column (according to my vast research of the
last few minutes with IMDb):
- To Kill a Mockingbird. Comparing the book and movie isn’t relevant. The two are both outstanding in their own right.
- Hunger Games. The first chapter sucked me in and wouldn’t let go. The movie started slow. Then exploded. The hubby rolled his eyes when he saw my choice for that night’s entertainment. Then was mesmerized until the very end.
The Didn’t-Work-for-Me column:
- Gone With the Wind. About everyone has seen the movie. But what about the book? Holy crap, read it. The written word, the storyline with all the side streets and alleyways, gives us the reasons behind Scarlett and her character traits. It makes the movie seem trivial.
- Twilight. Yeah I liked the movies. Got posters of RPatz and everything. But the screenwriter didn’t capture the true magic of the books.
Movies that Blew Me Away. And are nothing like the books:
- Harry Potter. IMO, the books can’t touch the movie. Absolute genius. And I get chills thinking of those words, ‘you have your mother’s eyes’.
- The Princess Bride. I loved the movie so much that I figured the book would be great also. *shiver* Ahhh, no. Horrible, in my opinion. Nasty ending and blah writing.
I thought the movie and book of The Princess Bride were on par.
ReplyDeleteSurpassed? LOTR. Rather watch the movies any day than read twenty pages of description in every chapter. Books are good, but such a struggle to read.
Hungers Games was released on DVD today and I'm watching it later. You've got me excited!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was fascinating how the Hunger Games books pulled me in as a reader in a totally different way than the books pulled me in. I liked 'em both for very different reasons. I'd also say LOTR!
ReplyDeletethe outsiders did a good job, loved that book & movie as a kid =)
ReplyDeletelike your opinions =)
I agree with your first, haven't seen Hunger Games movie yet but did just read the book (finally). I have not read Gone w/the Wind but did enjoy the movie. I loved the first Harry Potter movie but some of the subsequent ones weren't quite as good. I was especially disappointed that the scene where the students take over Hogwarts and the twins make use of all their nasty/fun tricks was conspicuously absent. imo, the books were far, far superior.
ReplyDeleteLOTR I think Peter Jackson did a fabulous job of bringing the trilogy to life. I still don't understand why he had Frodo turn on Sam when in the books that never happened but overall, I was in Heaven watching those movies.
I agree with you about "To Kill a Mockingbird"; both the book and the movie are amazing. As for "The Hunger Games", the movie is very good, but the book is better.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read "Gone with the Wind", so I can't comment on the book; I like the movie, but it's not one of my favorites. I can't stand "Twilight", book or movie.
I agree about "The Princess Bride". I don't agree about Harry Potter at all: the books are so much better than the movies!
For an example of my own I'm going with a book that probably not many people know called "Blood and Chocolate". The book is really, really bad in so many ways. The movie is completely different and actually very good.