Top Ten Book-to-Movie Adaptation

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at TheBrokeandBrookish!

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie. So I decided to go with top ten, in my opinion, best book-to-movie adaptations. I love books and I love movies. I feel like my list is quite extensive, so I'm going to use bullet points. Shoot me (pun slightly intended).

one

book:

Title: Gone Girl
Author: Gillian Flynn
Date published: 24 May 2012
My rating: 4.5/5 stars
*goodreads

movie: 

Title: Gone Girl
Director: David Fincher
Release date: 2014
My rating: 9/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer 

• Gillian Flynn wrote the screenplay herself. Of course the adaptation is a faithful one but when I heard the news I was kind of worried because writing books is not the same as writing screenplays. But Flynn totally pulled it off. Warning: obviously there are differences between book and movie but the changes are reasonable to suit the format of a movie. I have no complains.
• David Fincher (the director) is amazing. He has movies such as Black Swan, Fight Club and The Social Network under his belt. 
• Rosamund Pike is amazing as Amy Dunne. Freaking. Amazing. (pun not intended). Ben Affleck is great as well but Pike just steals the show. 
• I prefer the movie over the book. The characters are very unlikable. Reading the book puts you inside the head of these twisted characters and that's not a very enjoyable experience. Watching these crazy characters instead of being in their head is preferable to me. 

two

book:

Title: Submarine
Author: Joe Dunthorne
Date published: 25 March 2008
My rating: 3/5 stars
*goodreads








movie:

Title: Submarine
Director: Richard Ayoade
Release date: 2010
My rating: 9.5/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• The movie is sooo sooo pretty. Every single frame is just gorgeous. I wish there was a photobook for this movie. This movie is my aesthetic.
• The movie is funny. The book less so because some of the jokes in there fell flat. 
• The soundtrack of the movie is amazing. I mean, what else can it be as Alex Turner was in charge of it.
• Again, I preferred the movie. 

three

book:

Title: The Maze Runner (The Maze Runner #1)
Author: James Dashner
Date published: 6 October 2009
My rating: 3/5 stars
*goodreads








movie:

Title: The Maze Runner
Director: Wess Ball
Release date: 2014
My rating: 7/10 stars
*imdb 
*trailer

• I feel like I should just state this outright, I'm not a fan of The Maze Runner series. 
• The first book is good. It made me want to find out more.
• I'm not a fan of Dashner's writing style. He writes so factually, like a textbook. For example, so and so did this and so and so felt that. 
• But God, the sequels are terrible. It made me want to bang my head against a wall and I'm usually a pacifist. 
• That said, I do prefer the movie over the book but only slightly.
• The movie does miss out on what I thought were key things in the book. The movie still works without these elements, but it left me feeling *shrug shoulders*
• However, the redeeming quality of the movie in my eye are the actors. Each role is cast perfectly. So, ten points to the casting team. 
• I really liked the diversity in both the books and the film. Thank God there wasn't any white washing in the movie.

four

book:

Title: Angus, thongs and full-frontal snogging (Confessions of Georgia Nicholson #1)
Author: Louise Rennison
Date published: 31 May 2000
My rating: 4/5 stars
*goodreads

Title: On the bright side, I'm not the girlfriend of a Sex God [US title]; It's OK, I'm wearing really big knickers! [UK title] (Confessions of Georgia Nicholson #1)
Author: Louise Rennison
Date published: 10 April 2001
My rating: -
*goodreads






movie

Title: Angus, thongs and perfect snogging
Director: Gurinder Chadha
Release date: 2008
My rating: 8/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• I've only read the first book and not the second one. So any comment referring to the book applies only to the first one.
• The book is so funny. It made me laugh out laugh many times, like out loud out loud. As I read it, I kept reminiscing over the dumb things I did as an early teen. Gosh, my emotions at that age were always so extreme! I definitely relate to Georgia quite a bit. 
• However, Georgia does way more embarrassing things than I ever did. I get secondhand embarrassment from just reading/watching about her antics. 
• I really enjoyed the first book which makes me wonder why the hell haven't I read the next one?!?!
• The movie is not an academy award winning movie or anything so don't expect that. It's just a funny and easy movie to watch. 

five

book:

Title: Battle Royale
Author: Koushon Takami, Yuji Oniki (translator)
Date published: 26 February 2003
My rating: 2.5/5 stars
*goodreads








movie:

Title: Battle Royale
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Release date: 2000
My rating: 8/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• In my opinion, a lot of the essence of the original book is lost in the translation. I can't give any logical argument to back this opinion up but it's just something I feel in my gut.
• The writing/translation is the weakest point of the book. The characters are A+, the action and the plot are also A+.
• Premise of both book and movie: each year a class in Japan is selected to compete in a 'Battle Royale'. A 'Battle Royale' is where the classmates are forced to kill each other to be the only one remaining
• You might be thinking "wow, that sounds a lot like The Hunger Games". I'm here to say that yes, yes it does. There was a debacle on whether Suzanne Collins plagiarised Battle Royale. While, the whole 'only one survive' thing is similar. Battle Royale and The Hunger Games are completely separate books. Both authors took the same concept in different directions.
• But Battle Royale is definitely more brutal and gruesome than The Hunger Games.
• The movie adaptation is great. It cut out the thing I disliked the most about the book -the writing/translation
• The cinematography of the movie is also *hearts eye emoji*
• 10/10 would recommend both book (if the writing/translation doesn't bother you) and movie.

six

book:

Title: Scott Pilgrim 1-6
Author: Bryan Lee O'Malley
Date published: 2004 - 2010
My rating: -
*goodreads








movie:

Title: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World
Director: Edgar Wright
Release date: 2010
My rating: 8.5/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• the movie is a great adaptation.
• they really translate the whole comic/graphic novel experience into a movie. 

Just look at how the characters get a little box with their info in it, it's just like the books!

Not to mention, the sounds effects. 

Also, look at the fight scene!!!! 

• my favourite scott pilgrim book is the 3rd and the 5th one! the comic/graphic novel is super easy to read and are a breeze to go through

seven

book:

Title: Stardust
Author: Neil Gaiman
Date published: 29 August 2006
My rating: 4/5 stars
*goodreads








movie:

Title: Stardust
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Release date: 2007
My rating: 8/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• The book is awesome
• The movie is awesome
• The book is not as child friendly as the movie. I mean, I would still recommend the book to my 7-year-old cousin but it deals with slightly more mature themes than the movie
• The movie has a faster pace than the book. 
• I really do love the movie. For a few good months, it was the only movie I watched over and over again.

eight

book:

Title: Howl's Moving Castle
Author: Diana Wynne Jones
Date published: 5 March 2009
My rating: 3.5/5 stars
*goodreads








movie:

Title: Howl's Moving Castle
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Release date: 2004
My rating: 10/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• I'm a huge Studio Ghibli fan. I own the boxset and have watched every single thing they've made. 
• Do yourself a favour and watch everything that they have made! All their movies are so good. Even if some have weak plotlines, the animation more than makes up for it.
• I should mention that I prefer watching it in the original Japanese audio with subtitles instead of the dubs. I can't take it when the words don't sync with the mouth movements. 
• Howl's moving castle is no exception! The background for each scene is always so beautifully animated and detailed even though most viewers don't pay that much attention to them. For example, just look at this frame of Howl's bedroom from the movie:

source

• The movie is very different from the book. Both have the same characters but the plots of each vastly differs. Miyazaki added a 'war' aspect to his books while Jones focused more on Sophie and Howl. They are both very good despite their differences. I wouldn't worry about spoiling yourself if you've read the book or watched the movie first before trying the other.

nine

book:

Title: The Great Gatsby
Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald
Date published: 1925
My rating: 4/5 stars
*goodreads








movie:

Title: The Great Gatsby
Director: Bax Luhrmann
Release date: 2013
My rating: 9/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• I haven't watched the older movie adaptation, the one with Paul Rudd 
• I really enjoy the 2013 adaptation. I like Leonardo DiCaprio, he plays a great Gatsby (ha!ha!ha! i am so funny).
• I think Carey Mulligan really shines as Daisy. Everybody in the same shot as Mulligan pales in comparison, even my beloved Leo. 
• The soundtrack is also bomb. I think it might be a problem for some to be hearing modern music when the movie is set in the 1920s but I feel like it provides a nice contrast and a point for modern viewers to relate to as well.
• Do I even need to talk about the book here? I feel like everybody and their mother knows about it. 

ten

book:

Title: Catching Fire (The Hunger Games #2)
Author: Suzanne Collins
Date published: 1 January 2009
My rating: 2.5/5 stars
*goodreads








movie:

Title: Catching Fire
Director: Francis Lawrence
Release date: 2013
My rating: 7/10 stars
*imdb
*trailer

• I'm just going to say this: I'm not a fan of The Hunger Games series. These books were so hyped about and I went into them with high expectations and was sorely disappointed. They are good books, but just don't expect them to be earth shattering and super de duper amazing.
• The second movie in the franchise is a great adaptation as far as adaptation goes. It stayed true to the book. While the first movie was extremely and unnecessarily shaky (as in the camera work), the second movie is beautifully shot.
• I especially love framing of the last scene with Katniss's face filling up most of the screen, allowing us to see Jennifer Lawrence's top notch acting abilities.
• Honestly, the Catching Fire adaptation is great argument as to why movie adaptations shouldn't stray too far from the book.

Honorable mention:

The dreamwork adaptation of Cressida Crowell's How To Train Your Dragon series. I love both HTTYD 1 and 2! Such good movies!!!! The animation (screams!), the characters (screams!!), the storyline (screams!!!), the music (screams!!!!)...just everything about both movies.

This is an honorable mention because I didn't feel that it was fair to put this on the list as I've not read the actual books. I own them but they are just sitting on my shelves gathering dust.