Issue 157

Waterfront Online

Top Five Most Loved and Most Loathed Book Adaptations

08th October 2007

Books are useful fodder for many a filmmaker - here are a few that make the grade ...

The Godfather Trilogy - Epic series of movies based on Mario Puzo's gangster novel. Starring Marlon Brando and Al Pacino the - ahem - daddy of all gangster movies.
The Railway Children - A bunch of kids with an absent father hang around a railway line for kicks, stealing coal and finding lost foreigners, and not a hoody in sight.
Charlie and The Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl reportedly hated all movie adaptations of his novels, but this classic with Gene Wilder and the fantastically irritating golden-ticket winners is a favourite among many.
A Clockwork Orange - Kubrick's brutal adaptation of Anthony Burgess' novel - both book and novel having been banned, it's a cult classic for the bloodthirsty.
The Shining - Here's Johnny! A terrifying romp based on the novel by the endlessly adapted Stephen King that still makes you think twice about checking into a hotel.

The words 'Based on the novel by...' is sometimes enough to strike fear into a book lover's heart ...

The Harry Potter Series - Partly because of its ad nauseum coverage and lunchbox-spawning intentions, partly because that's not how we imagined it - it's just not right!
Salem's Lot - Along with the greats, there are some shocking King adaptations. Never since Mona the Vampire have the undead been so utterly unscary.
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe - Would've been an averagely good children's fantasy film if we hadn't all seen the BBC adaptations as a child and been spoilt forever.
Lord of the Rings - Return of the King - Scrapping Tolkien's key twist at the end of the film makes a cinematically awesome film infuriating for full on LOTR fans.
Bram Stoker's Dracula - Putting the original author's name on it was a bit of a breach of trading standards - the hokey stuff about Dracula and his undying love for his reincarnated wife is a total invention.

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