Comments

• • tango29

    Nov 9th 2011, 7:22

    "The Howling" released in 1981 is based on 1997 Horror Fiction??? Come on guys get your dates correct.

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  • Jardoss

    Nov 9th 2011, 7:50

    Love these articles! =)

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  • Jeffbiscuits

    Nov 9th 2011, 8:27

    Good article. David finch?

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  • narmour1

    Nov 9th 2011, 8:58

    Requiem for a Dream. Amazing book, and the film was just as good. Aronofsky taking the style of Pi and applying it without quite as much headf**k.

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  • narmour1

    Nov 9th 2011, 8:58

    Requiem for a Dream. Amazing book, and the film was just as good. Aronofsky taking the style of Pi and applying it without quite as much headf**k.

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  • Hadouken76

    Nov 9th 2011, 10:08

    I would have included Gone with the wind, The French Connection, Rosemarys baby, The Birds and Strangers on a Train and Ringu but what do I know? Anyway, why does your site keep freezing my computer for 10 seconds? (ive had this computer for a year with regular flash updates). Its doesn't happen on any other website, you've got so much junk on your home page! Who cares what else is going on in the internet?! Gripe over.

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  • TrentNavarro

    Nov 9th 2011, 11:45

    Did you guys even read all the novels or watched all the films? In Jurassic Park Grant and Malcolm aren't merged into one character (that would be Ed Regis and Gennaro). And The Sisters do appear in The Shawshank Redemption.

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  • FBJDean

    Nov 9th 2011, 11:47

    What about William Goldman's Marathon Man? Who better than a screenwriter to pen a book for a movie.

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  • MikeyRix

    Nov 9th 2011, 11:52

    #11 also removed a scene involving a young woman, some cheese and a rat. Quite rightly too, it made me feel sick just reading the thing :S

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  • Jok23r

    Nov 9th 2011, 11:54

    Total Film really needs to research their films more, The Sisters are in The Shawshank movie, Captain Hadley breaks their legs which is why Red says "the sisters never walked again."

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  • theredwitch

    Nov 9th 2011, 11:54

    Dear lord, Mr Winning, have you even seen any of these films or read any of the books? The Sisters do feature in The Shawshank Redemption. There was no romance between Jack Crawford and Clarice Starling in the book of Silence of the Lambs. Can't you do better than 'The book had three parts. The movie didn't'?

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  • Vampyre

    Nov 9th 2011, 12:46

    I must raise a note here. Silence of the lambs is pretty good, but it is brought down by the translation of hannibal from book to film . Spoiler!!!! Wheres hannibal and clarice flying off together, wheres the big butch l***o that is mason vergers sister, wheres the bit where she forces the eel down his throat then collects a sample from him. i ask you. I also think the plot of amercian psycho was lost by the film, an inferance was added more to thst it was all in his head and not really happening. which is not in the book, also where was the park scene with the child and the constructive use of rat tube maze equipment ? dirty pool TF, dirty pool. But overall, lets face it, apoloigies to anyone here this offends, The film is never as good as the book. Sorry its just fact

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  • ShosannaD

    Nov 9th 2011, 12:49

    I love Scorsese BUT his Shutter Island is NOT that faithful to Dennis Lehane's Shutter Island. Scorsese trimmed all of the stuff from the movie which made the book amazing. I so disagree.

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  • FBMRichardson

    Nov 9th 2011, 13:25

    Lord of the Rings! Although these are great movies, they are in no way faithful to the book.

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  • apo1978

    Nov 9th 2011, 13:37

    @FBMRichardson - Yeah but the article doesn't suggest they are "faithful", moreover the "best" adaptations from such books.

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  • joshliamdunne

    Nov 9th 2011, 13:47

    I'm pretty sure that, if the Film adapatation of 'American Psycho' kept in all the necrophilia, mutilation and cannibalism, it would be one of the most disturbing yet strangely hilarious films ever made.

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  • joshwinning

    Nov 9th 2011, 14:27

    theredwitch, Jok23r, TrentNavarro - cheers for the feedback. I definitely remember there being a strange flirtation between Crawford and Starling in the SOTL novel. Had genuinely forgotten the Sisters were in Shawshank, my fault. Will amend. Cheers.

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  • FranJester

    Nov 9th 2011, 14:37

    Lord of the rings and Stand by me are my favourites! Although i would've said that the biggest difference between the book and the film of Stand by me wasn't the location it was the ending! In the ending of the book he says that Chris, Vern and Teddy all died later on in life whereas in the film Teddy and Verns stories are changed and it is only Chris that dies!

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  • nkutzler

    Nov 9th 2011, 15:19

    Some thoughts: Yes, the Jurassic Park and Shawshank pages are majorly wrong. LOTR could not possibly all be converted to the big screen. The series is 13 hours already, and it shows that the absence of many small characters and scenes is very beneficial in the end. After all, each movie stays very focused on an adventure of each troupe. Priest's comments on Nolan's The Prestige- of course. It's Nolan. I really can't believe he got such terrific performances from Bowie, dramatic Hugh Jackman, and even live Andy Serkis.

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  • kdaniels91

    Nov 9th 2011, 15:22

    You guys really need to spell check when you finish your articles. There are so many mistakes in them. For example: "A fictional diary written by Helen Fielding about the eternally ***signal*** Bridget." I definitely think it should have been single.

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  • McSerious

    Nov 9th 2011, 15:26

    Battle Royale anyone? And a major difference in Shutter Island is at the end he gives a suggestion he knows what he's doing at the end and wants his fate. In the book he's just had a full relapse and there's no glimmer of hope.

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  • gregbreen1

    Nov 9th 2011, 15:48

    Where was Interview With The Vamipre??? But Bridget Jones made it in, come on guys?

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  • timbatman

    Nov 9th 2011, 16:16

    I think the main difference between the book version of the Shining and the film version is that, if I remember correctly, he didn't run around with an axe in the book, but a croquet mallet! Jack smashing through the door with the axe has become iconic and it never happened like that in the book!

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  • Murphy0806

    Nov 9th 2011, 18:02

    Also *anyone who hasn't read The Shining may want to stop reading* the hotel doesn't explode in the film. No Total Recall? I know it was a short story but still worthy of a mention if The Body and Shawshank are here

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  • Bandit1

    Nov 10th 2011, 10:34

    "Sideways" is missing here...that's all...

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  • FBKMcDuffie

    Nov 10th 2011, 16:51

    How about one of the many adaptations of "Jane Eyre"? There are, after all, twenty-eight film adaptations of that classic tale. In my humble opinion, the most recent was the most accurate- Michael and Mia were pitch perfect in the titular roles.

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  • Fulmer

    Nov 10th 2011, 18:52

    Some good choices. Since books are still a very common source material for screenplays, your list could have been over 200 without batting an eye. Hadouken76 makes a good point that GWTW seems like an neccesary addition to any such list. I would add: Ben-Hur Jaws The Enemy Below L.A. Confidential To Have and Have Not Last of the Mohicans (M. Mann version) The Wizard of Oz...etc, etc

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  • willow138

    Nov 11th 2011, 1:51

    the biggest difference on The Shawshank Redemption is that the film has more than 4 characters. Ok im exaggerating a bit on the lack of characters in the book but my god its empty. The movie is my fave film of all time and i like S King so i read the book! All i kept thinking was where is everybody?

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  • MikeyRix

    Nov 11th 2011, 12:33

    @ShoshannaD AMEN TO THAT. All the psychological nightmare and thick mystery of Lehane's writing was either trimmed down or cut away completely, rendering it just an average head-screw mystery. The adaptation of "Gone Baby Gone" was much better, even if Casey Affleck was in my view miscast as Patrick Kenzie. Also, Total Film: what about "Io Non ho Paura" ("I'm Not Scared")? Extremely faithful to the book; kept the tone and the point of view so well.

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  • Mirela

    Nov 11th 2011, 13:04

    Green mile and Requiem for a dream should be on here...

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  • FBAWatkinson

    Nov 11th 2011, 14:00

    Where's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas?

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  • willow138

    Nov 11th 2011, 14:53

    Also i dont remember the Overlook blowing up due to the boiler in the film adap. that was pretty major in the book i think

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  • mhalpern

    Nov 11th 2011, 15:41

    I think The Color Purple was an excellent adaptation. I would also include Rebecca and The Princess Bride.

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  • marc96

    Nov 12th 2011, 19:08

    wheres the green mile?

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  • FBGHutchens

    Nov 13th 2011, 19:51

    The Sweet Hereafter by Russel Banks and directed by Atom Egoyan. Amazing.

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    Nov 14th 2011, 1:39

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  • BennettsVest

    Nov 14th 2011, 10:23

    I thought The Mist was a pretty perfect adaptation, and although I loved The Prestige novel, I thought Nolan's film was superior. Same with the Green Mile.

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  • Siegfried

    Nov 15th 2011, 2:56

    When I first saw that American Psycho was to be turned into a film, I thought "They'll never do it successfully" and I was right.

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  • racheljune2

    Nov 16th 2011, 1:06

    Rebecca and Memoirs of a Geisha should definetley be on this list.

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  • FBRMaas

    Mar 22nd 2012, 21:53

    I liked the film of Shutter Island very much despite the fact much of the novel by Dennis Lehane had to be eliminated because it was simply too long to film. (It would be interesting if some film maker produced a mini-series of Shutter Island over 11 hours because that is what it would take to film the novel.)

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  • heatherbatey

    Jul 3rd 2012, 10:13

    If you were going to chose one of the Harry Potter adaptations you should have went with The Deathly Hallows part 1. Of all the HP films, accept for maybe the sorcerers stone, it is the closest to the actual novel. On the flip side, the worst of all the HP adapts was the Goblet of Fire. That movie p****d me off because they cut so much of the story to try and make it fit under 2 hours. That one should have been split into 2 films also.

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  • AvatarIII

    Jul 19th 2012, 13:45

    This is clearly not a list of "Best book to movie adaptations", it's a list of "Best movies that are adaptations of books"

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  • themoviehunger

    Sep 29th 2012, 7:23

    This is a good list. Every year is a bunch of novels that they make the film adaptation. The disappointing part normally is -- they failed to justify what the book supposed to come up in big screen. In 2012 alone, there is quite a number of books that has been adapted to films. I even come up the list of my top 10 here.... http://j.mp/PyGhRC

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  • themoviehunger

    Sep 29th 2012, 7:23

    This is a good list. Every year is a bunch of novels that they make the film adaptation. The disappointing part normally is -- they failed to justify what the book supposed to come up in big screen. In 2012 alone, there is quite a number of books that has been adapted to films. I even come up the list of my top 10 here ...http://www.moviehunger.com/top-10-book-adaptations-of-2012/

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  • davidrobbo

    Dec 15th 2012, 8:59

    no High Fidelity? About A Boy? Where is Nick Hornby?!

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  • devilsfoxes

    Dec 15th 2012, 9:58

    Jaws and The Exorcist are clearly the most unforgivable omissions here.

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  • devilsfoxes

    Dec 15th 2012, 10:00

    Oh and Psycho of course. Duh.

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  • oshman4

    Dec 15th 2012, 12:37

    Sideways comes to mind.

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  • thedanieljson

    Dec 15th 2012, 12:38

    Great list - Let The Right One In though!? Both my favourite book AND film. The two are hella different as well, despite the screenplay being written by the author.

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  • bradendeal

    Dec 15th 2012, 13:55

    the freakin Social Network!

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  • ANPCooper

    Dec 15th 2012, 15:04

    Not so much a list of the BEST adaptations as a list of SOME adaptations. Not one mention of Elmore Leonard despite Out of Sight, Jackie Brown and Get Shorty? No Jaws? Green Mile? High Fiedlity?

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  • ARantingAtheist

    Dec 15th 2012, 16:40

    Were the feck is 2001?!

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  • FBNGray

    Dec 15th 2012, 18:34

    Yet another staggering display of ignorance from Josh Wining. Why is he even allowed to write for Total Film?

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  • hbenton

    Dec 15th 2012, 18:37

    How about Breakfast on Pluto?

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  • firas76

    Dec 15th 2012, 19:59

    As for the Silence pf theLambs there is not romance I have the novel I have read it

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  • sce04

    Dec 15th 2012, 21:18

    Where's a scanner darkly?

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  • henryjr

    Dec 15th 2012, 22:49

    glad to see Drive, Children of Men & The Prestige on here, but it needs the following: Chopper, Gone Baby Gone, Requiem for a Dream, Submarine, Zodiac, 127 hours and, most importantly, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

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  • TheGreatWent

    Dec 16th 2012, 9:21

    No Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas? Tristram Shandy? 2001? Let the Right One In? Jaws? 1984? The Exorcist? Say Wha? Need another 50 on this list obviously...

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  • LSJShez

    Dec 16th 2012, 12:46

    Was Jaws in? Can't be bothered to go back through!

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  • Ichi1

    Dec 17th 2012, 20:50

    The Sweet Hereafter is a brilliant novel adapted into a brilliant movie. Also, about American Psycho, you forgot to mention how the moive cuts the books balls right off. Seriously...you gonna put that Disney-fied version of the story on this list?

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  • AVolition

    Dec 18th 2012, 10:18

    ATONEMENT: The film actually DOES retain the novel's 4-part structure. The only real differences are that James McAvoy looks virtually nothing like the novel's vision of Robbie, various scenes of Robbie in the trenches are cut, and the novel's historical setting is minorly adjusted so as to correspond with actual events during WW2.

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  • Jingizu

    Jan 25th 2013, 8:44

    Sorry to say, but Josh Winning and some of the commentators above, obviously miss the point of a good ADAPTATION! Lord of the Rings are excellent movies, and I do love them dearly, yet as adaptions of Tolkien's novels they suck. You cannot change major characteristics and movitation of main characters and still think you stay true to the books! Too many little unnecessary changes that made the movies' atmoshpere and the books' atmosphere completely different. NOW do you understand? Great movie, poor adaptation. Same goes for The Shining, Apocalypse Now and A Clockwork Orange [and many others], very good movies but very poor adaptations of the novels their stories were taken from.

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  • rowancharlton

    Jan 27th 2013, 13:06

    Why is Jurassic Park on the list? I've read the book a couple of times, and seen the movies of course and I hardly feel it is really worthy of being on this list. The movie was tamed down too much and wasn't scary enough, it was scary, but not how the book was. The book also made InGen more mysterious and there were also other mysterious things happening that weren't in the movie.

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