Top Ten Tuesday: Top Five WORST and Top Five BEST book to movie adaptations

Top Ten Best/Worst Book to Movie Adaptations

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, focuses on the top ten best/worst book to movie adaptations. I decided to split the list in half and do my top five best movie adaptations and my top five worst movie adaptations.  

I will start with the top five WORST book to movie adaptations:

• Twilight by Stephanie Meyer: Do I even need to say more? Two words: Kristen Stewart. My paperback copy of Twilight (I have two different copies that’s how much I love this book) is literally falling apart because I’ve read it so many times. I fell in love with this series and was so excited when it was being made into a movie. And then I saw the movie and I wanted to scream and cry and throw knives at the screen. The series has become a joke to everybody in the world now and it breaks my heart because the books are wonderful. I don’t care who knows it: I AM A TWILIGHT FAN.

• Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl: I just saw this movie last weekend. I missed it in theaters because it was literally in and out in less than a month. That should have tipped me off that it was going to suck. They cut out so much stuff from the book and even went so far as to cut out important characters like Marian, the librarian, and Boo Radley, the dog. What? These characters are vital to the books. Maybe not the dog, but still, I was pissed. The story was rushed and it made it look like Ethan and Lena were victims of insta-love which I didn’t think they were in the books, but it definitely made it seem that way in the movie. I was so disappointed.

• The Host by Stephanie Meyer: Why does the film industry insist on destroying Stephanie Meyer’s books??? Although for this one, I didn’t feel quite so bad about it since she was one of the freaking producers! I had high hopes when I found out how much involvement she had in the film and then I was crushed. The book is incredible. It’s not full of action, but the love story is so amazing that it didn’t matter to me. Then the movie turned it into this action-packed story that focused more on the humans rebelling against the aliens instead of the complex love story that Meyer created. Awful.

• Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: Okay, I’ve read the play and it is one of the only works of Shakespeare that I actually understood. The movie (with Leonardo DiCaprio) was awful. It was such a modernized version of the play and I almost felt like it made a joke out of the tragic love story that Shakespeare told.

Okay, so I only came up with four… This was way harder than I thought it would be!

Here are my top five BEST book to movie adaptations:

• Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien: These movies are breathtaking and captured the essence of the books perfectly. The pieces of the books they left out I didn’t miss. I don’t even know what else to say. Breathtaking, exciting, great casting. Peter Jackson (director) is a genius. Love these movies!

• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: I was so worried last year when this movie was released. Too many books are destroyed by their movie counterparts, but I was so relieved and excited after I saw it. It was amazing. True to the book. Jennifer Lawrence was amazing as Katniss. I loved everything about it and can’t wait for the second one, Catching Fire, which is coming out November 22, 2013!

• Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: To be more specific, the one that came out in 2005 with Keira Knightley. I love this book and this movie was amazing. Mr. Darcey is so romantic and I am completely in love with him. (Yes, he’s one of those characters that I wish were real/actually think is real.)

• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien: Peter Jackson delivers again! This movie was awesome! I was a little worried when they announced that they would be splitting the book into three movies. I mean, The Hobbit is short than all three of the books in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but I got it as soon as I saw it. They are making sure that this movie is perfectly in line with the book. I swear they left no detail out. Amazing, blown away. Can’t wait for the second one, The Desolation of Smaug, which comes out December 13, 2013!

• Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis: I loved this movie and I love the book. I actually can’t remember if the movie aligns with the book since I read it so long ago and also saw the movie years ago, but I do remember that I loved them both! 

So what do you guys think? Any that you disagree with? Or agree with? What are your picks? Leave a comment below!