I know we've had some of these kind of lists before, still...

Film of the book: top 50 adaptations revealed:

http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,1756384,00.html

So, what do people think? I'm a bit surprised people value the so-so adaptations of '1984', 'American Psycho', 'Catch 22', 'Lord of the Flies', 'Lolita' (either version is flawed - though Kubrick's is the better of the two), or 'Do Androids Dream...' - which became the severely over-rated 'Blade Runner' (one of those great looking films like '2046', 'Until the End of the World' & 'Russian Ark' that do little for me). How is 'Blade Runner' a good adaptation if we're referring to the book - it dispenses with plot-lines, story, characters, humour, the beginning/middle and end and even the title! I know it's all subjective, but still...

The other irritating thing about the list, which has been composed for a Waterstones-promotion is that it's left out loads of great adaptations: The Conformist, The Shining, Saturday Night Sunday Morning, Ghost World, Manon des Sources/Jean De Flourette, Battle Royale, The Tin Drum, Crash, Night of the Hunter, Get Carter, Jules et Jim, Rashomon, The Postman Always Rings Twice (I was thinking more of Ossessione), Barry Lyndon, The Leopard, The Last Picture Show, Mephisto, Querelle, The Long Goodbye (I liked it, though Chandler fans, er, didn't!), The Quiet American (the second version), All is Quiet on the Western Front,Requiem for a Dream, Silence of the Lambs, The Exoricst, Betty Blue etc.

So, what are peoples favourite literary adaptations; or if in a negative mood, those best to avoid? Here are mine:

The 10 best:

*The Conformist
*The Tin Drum
*A Clockwork Orange
*Ghost World
*The Leopard
*Crash
*Solaris (Tarkovsky)
*Requiem for a Dream
*Great Expectations (Lean)
*One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

& 10 to avoid:

*All the Pretty Horses
*The Human Stain
*Total Recall
*First Blood (not bad as a b-movie, but read the original novel which is much harder & the fact that it was going to star Al Pacino at one point!)
*Lolita, the 90s version
*Less Than Zero
*Bright Lights, Big City
*Whichever Bukowski-adaptation that starred Ben Gazzara - Tales of Ordinary Madness?
*Captain Corelli's Mandolin
*The Wild Boys - as interpreted by Duran Duran

- And 'Apocalypse Now', is it really that reliant on 'Heart of Darkness'? A very loose adaptation that introduces drugs/severe editing and elements of Eliot, 'The Golden Bough' and 'Aguire, the Wrath of God' to the mix...I do think 'The Godfather' and 'Jaws' are better films than they are books...

I would add:

*Live And Let Die/Diamonds Are Forever/Chitty,Chitty Bang-Bang. -Ian Fleming
*Carrie,The Shawshank Redemption,Misery and The Shining - Stephen King
*The 39 Steps - John Buchan
*The Big Sleep - Raymond Chandler
*84 Charring Cross Road-Helene Hanff
*Empire of The Sun - JG Ballard
*(Village of The Damned)The Midwich Cuckoos - John Wyndham
*The Boys From Brazil/Rosemary's Baby -Ira Levin
*The Wizard Of Oz - L. Frank Baum
*Something Wicked This Way Comes/The Illustrated Man/Farenheit 451 - Ray Bradbury

Hearts In Atlantis - Bad
Gone With The Wind - Really who could ask for more, Mitchell must have been smiling like a chesire Cat!
Pride and Prejudice - I'm sorry but it's olivier's Darcy all the way!
Danny The Champion Of The World - If Dahl really hated The Willy Wonka it's nice to have this as an atonement (come on the film adaptation is class!)

Best adaptations:

*Crash
*The Godfather 2
*The Conformist
*Querelle
*The Tempest (Jarman)
*Swann In Love (with reservations plus a dubbed Jeremy Irons!)
*The Leopard
*Hamlet (Olivier)
*Solaris(Tarkovsky)
*Tess (Polanski)
*The Dead (Houston)
*The Secret Passion (based on Freud's writings)
*Hiroshima Mon Amour
*Mishima (biopic but also includes adatations of his writings)
*Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence
*Man Who Fell To Earth
*Don't Look Now
*Walkabout
*Frankenstein (Whale)
*Oedipus Rex (Pasolini)
*The Age Of Innocence (Scorcese)
*Belle de Jour
*Werckmeister Harmonies (could be a movie tie in?)
*Gerry (surely based on Beckett's Molloy? Probably a loose adaptation)
*Berlin Alexanderplatz (never seen it but based on reviews I'm willing to guess it's a beauty)
*Prospero's Books (The Tempest)
*Death In Venice
*Despair (I rate it very highly, Bogarde didn't)
*2001- A Space Oddyssey (was this also a movie tie in? Still think it's terrific)
*The Decameron (Pasolini)
*Medea (Pasolini)
*Women In Love
*The Devils
*La Belle et La Bete
*Nosferatu (Think I prefer the Herzog)
*Brazil (1984/The Trial)
*The Insurance Man (The Trial)


Some to avoid:

*Ulysses (I think this novel's unfilmable. Like Proust.)
*Dune (I'd like to see a Director's cut but as it stands, a bit of a mess)
*Bladerunner (I don't see what the fuss is all about)
*Bonfire Of The Vanities (Oh dear)
*Last Temptation Of Christ (I thought it was 3 hours of tedium but has its admirers)
*Naked Lunch (On paper Burroughs and Cronenberg sound mindblowing but this is a big letdown. I think it's filmable but this one failed.)
*1984 (much preferred Brazil. This seemed a bit lazy)
*Absolute Beginners (a complete mess from beginning to end)
*The Balcony (an American take on Genet with Dr Spock and Columbo!!!)
*The Brothers Karamazov (another misguided American production)

quote:

Originally posted by archangel01:
Pride and Prejudice - I'm sorry but it's olivier's Darcy all the way!

Arch! Are you nuts! That version doesn't even have the period right, more middle Victorian than Regency and it's so stilted. They also messed about with the story so much. Give me Colin Firth anyday.

I'm expecting the Da Vinci Code to be a better film than book, well it can't be any worse

I'd like to add the adaptations of Alfred Hitchcock. Psycho, Strangers on a Train, The Birds, well all of his adapations are better than the books upon which they are based.

and for a superior adaptation of TV series to film... The Untouchables

add to best:
Billy Liar
Zorba the Greek
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Stephen King's Misery

add to worst:
The Shipping News
Crazy in Alabama


. . . . and when are we going to get a Coupland adaptation? - in fact, should I start a new thread: "What books would make brilliant films, but haven't been picked up (yet)?

There's a big, fat, three-headed elephant in the corner of this thread that no-one's even touching.

Fight Club is one of the best book adaptations of recent years.

Add to that the little known Lord of the Rings by some bloke called Tolkien.