What book have you loved, but the movie ruined it?

[Jefferson_Thom…]

It happened to me in reverse a million years ago.

When I was little, my mother took me to see "Mary Poppins."  Except for what I considered a lot of silly, unnecessary singing and dancing (c'mon, I was 9), I was absolutely enchanted; I loved it!

Then, about two years later, I stumbled across the book in my school library, and made the mistake of reading it, foolishly expecting it to bear at least some resemblance to the move I'd loved so much.  It was HORRIBLE!  It didn't have any of the magic that Disney had put into the movie.  To this day, I can't imagine how Disney derived that wonderful movie from that awful book.  I assume that if I read it today I might feel somewhat differently, but I'm not holding my breath!

Jeff

[ZiaMarie]

I actually have a reverse. I LOVED The Devil Wears Prada the movie, but didn't really like the book as much, even though I read the book first.

--- Zia

[bookluvr11]

I loved the book The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks, but the movie ruined it. The acting was terrible and it got key parts of the book wrong, which really bothered me.

[xxbandgeekxx]

I have a reverse one too. I loved the movie True Grit, but really didn't like the book, I don't even think I finished the book.

[BOOKWORM96KV]

StarDust by Neil Gaimen the book wasnt as good but the movie was excellent!!!!!!!!

[hgfan]

I read in an article that Suzannne Collins actually sat in on the auditions for the Hunger Games and she at least approved of all the main characters, although I dont approve of Lenny Kravitz playing Cinna at all

[Boleyn]

Twilight was the most disappointed I have ever been in a movie that was based on a book series. I read Twilight when it first came out and I remember the books meant so much to me and I really loved them. After the movies I have never been able to really enjoy the series much anymore. =/ Sucks how movies can really change your whole feelings on books.

[aTwistOfTi]

Do I even have to say it? The Twilight Series. What an epic failure. I almost cried when I say the first movie because it was just so bad. 

[aTwistOfTi]

I felt the same way after I saw the movies and tried to reread the books. They just seemed like a big joke. I got over it though because I geniunely love the series. I just tried to not think of Kristen Stewart's terrible acting. It didn't work, I just kept seeing her face. 

[I_read_books]

Twilight would have to be my biggest movie-going ruin. I really loved the books, but the movies are just awful. I hate when they turn something awesome into something that makes them money, but isn't good or entertaining.

[----SOBBY_love…]

Of course there was the Twilight series. I loved the books (okay the first three. Breaking Dawn sucked (no pun intended)) before the movies but when the movies did come out i didnt care as much. I ended up not seeing Twilight in theaters and when I did see it (a few months later) I thought it was horrible. Some of my favorite books also had movies I was really disappointed in. Eragon and Inkheart are a few. I really loved those books but the movies were really just not as good. City of Ember was pretty bad too, but then again those books werent the greatest either. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince I was very disappointed in. It was my favorite book in the series and the movie just disappointed me so much. The rest of the movies I thought they did a job well done with but just the Half Blood prince -sigh- they couldve done so much better with.

[mars_58]

Eragon was horrible. The book series is great. It has a great plot and very detailed. The movie though was horrible. It was like they took the characters and the basic idea of the book and made a movie. The only reason I even watched it was because Garrett Hedlund was in it.

[Kat00]

You are sooo right! When I read Beastly, I was in love! When I saw the movie.......I thought 'who in the world would watch this?' Sorry if you enjoyed the movie, but I was completely disappointed!

[FictionFanatic…]

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.

This has to be the absolute worst offender out there so far for me.

This is one of the best young adult novels out there for girls. It's a richer re-imagining of Cinderella which has stronger character development, a better story, and amazing details that really bring the fantasy kingdom of 1400s Frell to life. When I heard this novel was going to be a movie, I had never been so excited...then it came out and I saw it.

They tore that material apart and ruined the fantasy element by throwing all kinds of 20th century language and ideas into the story. A mall with a wooden escalator in circa 1400 Europe, for crying out loud!! Bat-ox (aka Botox)!! Fairy rehab!! Political protesting, teen magazines, fan clubs!! I could go on and on, believe me. Then there are the awful changes to the plot. Taking Ella's father out of the story, when he is a central part of the story in the novel. Changing the fairy book into an actual character. Making Lucinda a drunk and Mandy a joke. And that whole evil uncle plot addition was horrible, especially that snake character Heston.

The only things the cinematic adaptation did right were the portrayal of Ella's Obedience Curse, and  the personality of Prince Charamont, perfectly brought to life by Hugh Dancy.

The only redeeming thing about this modernized adaptation was the elf character of Slannen, who was a character made-up for the film, but is given the name of an elfen leader from the novel. The humor this character brings to the film is lovely, but it can't save the disaster from being what it is...a cheap attempt at bringing a classic fantasy novel to a modern audience by dumbing down the story and making the fantasy a mockery instead of a centerpiece. I've got news for Hollywood. Movie-goers are not the masses of shallow, stupid, sheep they believe us to be. It's not necessary to water everything down to cheap entertainment. And it's a crime to do such a thing to wonderful source material like Ella Enchanted.

[PrincessJazz]

Do I even have to say it? I'm sorry to say it, but I have been thoroughly disappointed with the Twilight series. Not to jump on the I-hate-Twilight-and-it's-so-overrated bandwagon, I feel that the directors and producers are way too focused on Bella and Edward's undying and true love, but then again, the whole star-crossed lovers thing is very popular right now. But these people working on the movies prey on those sort of things to sell more tickets. The actual plot is lost in the movie. I read the books back when they first came out, and I couldn't wait to read them when they hit the shelves. I even got my cousins and my sister who doesn't like to read, to read the Twilight series. I was so excited to see the movie in theaters, but as soon as the first fifteen minutes were up, I found myself slowly fading. When I saw Eclipse with my friend and my sister, we mouthed the words that the actors were most likely going to say--we could have written the script! (Remember..."I AM hotter than you"---the scene where Jacob acts as a space heater) Now, I can't even say, "I loved the Twilight books." without anyone scoffing or laughing. This is most likely because the thought is associated with the movies. Really the only book series turned into a movie, that I love is the Harry Potter series!

[Takeri]

Water for Elephants was an AMAZING book and the movie completely sucked. On the other hand I could never get into the Harry Potter books and I quite enjoy the movies.

[Breezerz]

Ugh! I LOVE the twighlight books but the movies SUCK!!!!! YUCK! TERRIBLE! But Breaking Dawn was my favorite book just because it was so darn FUNNY! the best.

[lev924]

Eragon (they changed it so much), percy jackson ( changed it so much), harry potter 1 (they left out my favorite scene, and they left a awesome character), the golden compass (they BUTCHERED THE ENDING!!! AND IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MUCH BIGGER!), alex rider (I don't remember it too much but I think they changed the main point. And last breaking dawn (I thought they did a great job, but they didn't revolve around the idea of baby vampires like wtf). 

[Ya_Ya]

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Algonquins wrote:

Beastly  

ooooh, i can think of a couple different ones but I would have to say the biggest one  was beastly. i read the book right when it came out and absolutely loved it! then i heard they were making a movie and was super excited... until i saw it. i thought it was a horrible interpretation of the book and didn't do it any justice

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This.  I just watched it On-Demand.  That's two hours of my life I'll never get back...