Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Best Movie Adaptations

It's Tuesday, everybody! Time for Top Ten Tuesday, a lovely meme hosted at The Broke and the Bookish. Today, our topic was given as Top Ten Best/Worst Movie Adaptations, but I thought I'd condense it to simply the Top Ten Best Movie Adaptations.

 

Harry Potter

Book series written by J.K. Rowling

*Especially The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, and The Deathly Hallows Part Two*

This one's probably a crucial part of everyone's list. Childhoods have been defined by both these books and their marvelous film adaptations. They've even impacted my reading experience... How can you not have John Williams' infamous Potter theme in your head while reading the series?

 

The Lord of the Rings

Trilogy written by J.R.R. Tolkien

*Especially The Two Towers and The Return of The King*

 The Lord of the Rings' movies will enchant just about everybody with their timeless film scores and special effects galore. This is basically the only time I can say that I preferred film adaptations over the original books. While I enjoyed Tolkien's trilogy, he writes with a rather passive voice, and many parts (especially battle scenes) were glossed over in the books but given long periods of life in the movies. The excellent movies, I should say.

 

Jane Eyre (2011)

Novel written by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre is a big book, so naturally, any movie adaptation will feel like it's moving at a quicker pace. That's basically the only thing I can think of that might bother people who watch this new version. There's just not much I can find wrong with it. Jane and Mr. Rochester are very vibrant characters in the novel, and they were portrayed very well. I loved it!

 

By the way... notice in the movie poster that Mr. Rochester's face is outlined in Jane's dress. It took me years to notice that. YEARS. I always thought it was weird that she had a bunch of funky light blue stuff on her dress... how did I not realize that there was someone's FACE was there?

 

The Great Gatsby (2013)

Novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald

There were quite a few people who had issues with this new film adaptation. I didn't. It held very true to the book (except I wish it was enforced that Daisy was being abused by Tom; I felt like that was important in understanding what Daisy was going through) and I definitely loved the cast.

 

The Hunger Games

 Novel written by Suzanne Collins

I was so scared of the idea of The Hunger Games being brought to the silver screen; I thought they'd ruin it for sure. But it actually turned out really well. James Newton Howard did the film score (YAY), Jennifer Lawrence was a kick-ass Katniss... I was relieved. I'm sure I mentioned some nit-picky issues here in there in my review, but overall, there weren't any major issues. Plus, it highlighted a lot of the emotion I felt when reading the book.

 

To Kill a Mockingbird

 Novel written by Harper Lee

Honestly, I do believe that they cut a little too much from the book, but I must admit, no one will ever be Atticus Finch like Gregory Peck was. Just getting that out there. And the overall feel of the book wasn't deterred much at all, even though one can't be inside Scout's head as much in a film format.

 

The Help

 Novel written by Kathryn Stockett

Was it a perfect adaptation? No, there were some things cut from the book that irked me a bit, but
there's no denying that this wasn't a great movie. The characters were brought to life almost exactly like how I pictured them while reading, and the acting in general was superb. Both Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer were nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards, and I would've been happy if either one of them ended up winning. But when Octavia did win, I actually cried; I've never seen an actress so genuinely excited before.

 

Blood and Chocolate

Novel written by Annette Curtis Klause

Fans of the book are probably scowling at the computer screen right now, and I know; I get it. Technically, this adaptation sucked. Nothing is the same at all. The entire plot is different, last names are different, there's a character that's alive in the book but dead in the movie, relationships are completely different, the way the pack acts is different, Vivian is different... It's not the same story in any sense. But, I liked this movie. I like both stories. And the film score is one of my favorites of all time.

 

I've also really enjoyed some film adaptations of books I haven't read, such as The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger and Ring by Koji Suzuki. Perhaps some day I'll get around to reading them. Plus, there are some adaptations that have already been released but I still haven't seen yet! I've yet to see J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and Victor Hugo's Les Miserables (I haven't even read the book yet either). Yeah... I'm a bit behind. On the bright side, I've managed watch two of the three episodes of Stephen King's Under the Dome's new TV series. It's a bit different compared to the book, and I really don't mind that much, but some of the characters are irritating me.

 

Anyhow, please feel free to share your thoughts on my choices; it's quite interesting to compare and contrast everyone's Top Ten Tuesday picks in the blogosphere! Have a lovely Tuesday!