So you've just finished a book, maybe it's your favorite or maybe it's not, but all you can think about is how your favorite character or the rolling landscape of this fictional universe would look displayed on the "big screen." So, weeks go by and then months and finally a production company releases a teaser trailer for the film adaptation of the novel you spent endless hours obsessing over - or just reading, if you don't obsess. This new development offers two very different, very life changing outcomes - think cheap version of a Choose Your Own Adventure novel.
The first outcome offers a brilliant adaptation of page to screen - a glorious conglomerate of lighting, cinematography, casting and acting. You find yourself blown away by the sheer quality of this final product.
The second outcome offers a comically sad, caricature of the fictional world that you formerly submerged yourself in. The effects are cheap and the acting is campy; you simply cannot comprehend how an author would sign over the rights to their life's work to see it turned into this.
In the spirit of subjecting myself to potentially unpleasant reminiscing, I am offering you a list of my top five best and top five worst book-to-movie adaptations.
Top 5 Best Film Adaptations
1. Jurassic Park (1993)
Let me preface this review by saying that J"urassic Park" is my favorite book and movie of all time. With that being said, I am attempting to be as unbiased here as I possibly can be. Steven Spielberg manages to bring Michael Crichton's novel to life through animatronics, special effects, and superb casting. The audience sits in awe as these very real looking beasts stomp, roar, spit, and snack their way across the big screen. The film brought to life Crichton's cautionary tale of the consequences of genetic manipulation. Did the film skip over scenes that I thought should have been on screen? Sure, but overall Spielberg breathes life into "Jurassic Park" - he maintains the spirit of Crichton's book with finesse.
2. Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1(2014) & 2 (2015)
Despite my personal feelings about these two particular film adaptations, I have placed "Mockingjay Part 2" here at the request of multiple honors students at John Jay. Katniss Everdeen's journey to lead the rebellion against the capital continues in this two-part finale of the dystopian series. The audience watches as Everdeen's experiences are illustrated with special effects and cutting dialogue. The world-building works extremely well for these two installments based off of Suzanne Collins's novel. Overall, the film manages to maintain the atmosphere of the book; it never abandons or fails to present major plot points and strives to effectively demonstrate pivotal character arcs (i.e Gale, Katniss, Peeta, Prim, etc.).
3. Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Jonathan Demme's adaptation of Thomas Harris's novel is as chilling as it is compelling for its audience. Demme's implementation of stellar casting, dialogue construction, and simple, but effective cinematography genuinely capture the horrific themes of Harris's book to perfection. Anthony Hopkins as Lecter adds layers to the character never before seen in earlier film or television adaptations Harris's work. Demme manages to essentially rip the story from the pages of Harris's novel and eloquently dance them across the big screen in one hundred and thirty-eight minutes of raw psychological suspense and horror.
4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Audiences were met with a sprawling fantasy epic unlike anything created before. When Peter Jackson brought his mammoth adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Ring" trilogy to a close, he did not disappoint. Jackson's film appealed to both diehard Tolkien devotees and Tolkien neophytes alike. So what made the literature-to-film adaptation so successful? The film succeeded because underneath all the spectacle of Jackson’s CGI-enhanced Middle-earth, the film was particularly faithful to the book in one key way: Tolkien’s themes are left intact. Second, Jackson also communicated with and listened to fans - he made the film (as he did with the previous two films) with the fans in mind.
5. Room (2015)
If you are looking for a novel's spirit and essence to be truly captured and kept alive by its film adaptation, then (read and then) watch "Room." This film breathtakingly transforms Emma Donoghue's novel into a cinematic piece that haunts, humbles, and surprises its audience. "Room" is everything you want the film adaptation to be. It maintains the heart ad soul of the book while adding a few cinematic changes. Director Lenny Abrahamson manages to create a cinematic experience that is simultaneously unnerving and uplifting. The adaptation is incredibly faithful to the novel and is sure to satisfy viewers rather they read the book or not.
Top 5 Worst Film Adaptations
1. Eragon (2006)
The movie Eragon saw Christopher Paolini's 500 page-turners reduced to a ninety minute flop. Gone were essential plot points and characters, and in their wake were cheesy CGI effects and laughable dialogue. Honestly, when a film's strongest performance comes from a dragon, you know that something is seriously wrong.
2. Children of Men (2006)
The book demonstrates what happens when humankind values sex for pleasure, but not for procreation. P.D. James illustrates what happens when humankind values pleasure and comfort over justice and mercy. James focuses on the consequences of when it (humankind) seeks perfection, yet despises human frailty. It is not an easy read; it is disheartening to read such a clear picture of what humankind is capable of when left to its own designs.
The movie, however, barely compares to the book at all. Yes, both the book and the movie are set in the future - a future where humanity can no longer reproduce. There happen to be characters named Julian and Theo in both the book and the movie and the character Theo helps a pregnant woman evade the government, but that is where the similarities end.
3. Divergent (2014)
Ugh, where do I even start with this one? The film adaptation of Veronica Roth's novel "Divergent" was an absolute flop. From the awkward "mascara-ad-close-up" shots, flat dialogue and character development, this movie never managed to stand on its own two feet. The film adaptation managed to omit all of the relatively interesting aspects of Roth's novel. The end product seemed more like "Twilight" than "Hunger Games." As someone who read the novel, this movie made me cringe. The massive plot holes and inconsistent narratives definitely left me yearning for more.
4. The Giver (2014)
The film adaptation of "The Giver" failed Lois Lowry's simple dystopian future novel from 1994. As someone who read the novel, I loathed the film. The film added unnecessary romance, special effects and action scenes, and additional complicated plot points that gutted the meaning behind Lowry's novel. As an audience, we are supposed to see how "The Giver" holds a mirror to society and asks why people allow themselves to stay within a broken system. But the movie never effectively conveys this message because it focuses too heavily on rushing headlong into action and external turmoil that was absent in the book. The movie ignores the beauty and rawness of genuinely expressing internal struggle. Instead, the film overcomplicates a simple plot so thoroughly that the message is ultimately muddled and lost.
5. The Golden Compass (2007)
The 2007 film adaptation of the Golden Compass, the first book in the "His Dark Materials" series, fell utterly flat. Despite having Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig leading this relatively promising cast, the Golden Compass failed to deliver on the controversial religious allegories and themes that the book was heralded for. I guess it's had to get a big Hollywood production company to sell a mainstream movie that may or may not supper kids believing in atheism.
