[firewing]

There are a lot of good books out there that have been made into movies. What are your favorites?

For myself, I became a fan of "Gone With the Wind" when I read it in my pre-teens, and consider that it is one of the most fantastic movies ever made, considering that we're looking back to 1939, and they didn't have all the awesome effects that are out there now.

Went to the theater to see all of the C. S. Lewis "Narnia" series, and bought them all. Then there is The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings series. They were my introduction to adult fantasy.

[Syman1967]

i have just discovered the "Bosch" series.

Based on the novels by Michael Connelly ( he has also written the screenplay)

Only watched the pilot so far but first impressions are quite good.

[Fatima99]

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx - I love the book so much and also love the film

I loved the Lord of the Rings movies, and the books. The Princess Bride is a weird nebulous zone where the movie came first (?) but the book is also enjoyable as a separate entity. Cold Comfort Farm is vastly superior as a book to the movie. I prefer the book of Howl's Moving Castle to the movie, but I know that it's the reverse for a lot of people.

Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan have both had numerous adaptations but none of them hold a candle to the originals, in my opinion.

[sleepwalkingdreamer]

Seconding everyone who's mentioned Lord of the Rings, but I'd also like to throw out Edith Wharton's Age of Innocence, which Francis Ford Coppola turned into a movie starring Daniel Day Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and a (very) young Winona Ryder. Coppola does a really good job of capturing the lushness and snobbery Wharton describes in her book, without the (occasionally boring) weightiness of Wharton's language.

[RavenT]

Inspector Morse is probably my favorite book series turned TV series. I liked the most recent Narnia movies. The Golden Compass and the Harry Potter movies, of course. Hmm, the original The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was amazing.

[profprofessorson]

Sentimental favorite: Pride and Prejudice miniseries with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle
Runner up: Girl with a Pearl Earring (based on the book by Tracy Chevalier)
2nd runner up: Moneyball (based on the book by Michael Lewis)

Loved the movie, the book was meh:
A Single Man (based on the short story by Christopher Isherwood)
Up in the Air (based on the book by Walter Kirn)

Loved the book, the movie was meh:
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy

Loved the book, haven't seen the movie but it got great reviews:
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell

Definitely The Lord of the Rings movie series. The books were awesome, but so were the movies - they managed not to ruin them, and the visuals were amazing.
Also great were The Bridges of Madison County and Les Liaisons Dangereux.

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card. Movie was OK, but could have been better.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy is one of the better ones I liked

A time to Kill by John Grisham is also equally good

I really loved Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and was so pumped when the movie was announced & released

[Fizban]

First, I'd like to correct the person who said that The Princess Bride movie came out before the novel. The book was released in 1973, the movie came almost 15 years later (1987). Reiner did an excellent adaptation of the novel, IMO.

I think most anyone who has read the LOTR books and seen the director's cuts of the movies will agree that they are among the best adaptations produced thus far. I also have to give kudos to Jackson (and Cumberbatch) for the Smaug portions of the Hobbit movies - BEST interpretation of a dragon I've ever seen and definitely excellent play on those scenes compared to the book.

That being said, I have to admit I'm usually not much for seeing movies based on books - almost invariably the movie suffers from being unable to incorporate the details that made the book so great to begin with. One notable exception (both my attending as well as the faithful interpretation) is Stephen King's Firestarter. I felt that the movie definitely captured the feel of the book, if not all the specific details.

Lastly, a movie I loved even though it had little to do with the book - Ella Enchanted. I swear the screenplay only kept the names of the characters and one or two basic plot premises the same. I loved the movie, I loved the book; but they had little in common beyond the name.

Can I suggest a horrible adaption of a book/novella/short story? Stephen King's "The Lawnmower Man". Literally the only thing this steaming pile of crap had in common with King's story was the title so it was no wonder he demanded his name be removed from the credits.

Best adaption, in my personal view, was "The Shawshank Redemption". Like Fizban I try to avoid movie adaptions of books (almost been thrown out of a lot of theatres over the years for complaining) because I've usually read the book then seen the film.

[Luckyorleans]

Game of Thrones, particularly the first couple of seasons. The books are very good, but as the series goes on they could use a good editor. The series adaptation does a great job.

Hitchhikers Guide was great. LoTR was amazing, but I'll admit I wasn't overly thrilled with The Hobbit for some reason. And so far the Divergent series has been excellent!

I listened to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy when they were originally a radio show, then read the books and enjoyed the television adaptions. The movie - eh.
Joe R. Lansdale's "Hap and Leonard" books are fun but the Sundance TV show is not looking good.