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What was your favorite movie that was based on a book, and what was your biggest disappointment?

 

Lorna
"Salem's Lot" by Stephen King. No disappointments, scared me to death.

ellen
Best: "Sense and Sensibility"
Worst: "Cold Mountain"

Victoria Morgan
Favorite movie: "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy was way above and beyond what I ever thought could be done with it.

Big disappointment: "Cujo" --- so hard to fear a "maddened" St. Bernard with a happy face and a wagging tail.

Pam Castle
Favorite is "To Kill a Mockingbird". The worst was "The Kite Runner", followed by most of the "Harry Potter" movies.

Mary Lee
"The Bourne Identity" books are my favorite.

"The Price of Tides" was my biggest disappointment.

Jane Haase
"Gone with the Wind" was my favorite and most recently I didn't like "My Sister's Keeper". Changing the ending of the book made the movie TERRIBLE!

Jean
Favorite --- "To Kill A Mockingbird".

Disappointment --- "My Sister's Keeper"

Santa Fe Cowgirl
"Girl With as Dragon Tattoo" is the best
 

Carol Yates
Favorite movie: "Shawshank Redemption". Biggest Disappointment: "The Shining"--- I liked most of this, but they changed the ending!

Susan J.
Favorite --- "To Kill a Mockingbird" with Gregory Peck

Audrey Anderson
Favorite: "Jaws"
Disappointment: "Watchers"

Ellen
I loved the "Harry Potter" movies and thought they translated well into enjoyable movies.

The biggest disappointment was the movie "The Prince of Tides". The book was so much richer than the movie (as they usually are).

Ann
Favorite: "To Kill A Mockingbird"
Disappointment: "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

Dianne
Biggest disappointment: "The Bonfire of the Vanities"

Favorite: "Primal Fear"

Rosalie Sambuco
"The Secret Life of Bees" is my favorite while "The Kite Runner" was the biggest disappointment.

Dale
My favorite movie based on a book is MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE by Nicholas Sparks. I could watch the movie over and over again. It doesn't hurt that I love Kevin Costner either. I have no disappointments.

Berna LaFortezza
"To Kill a Mockingbird"
This is still an important book and movie with an equally important message for everyone.

Rebecca Chome
Favorite movie was "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest".

Biggest disappointment was "My Sister's Keeper."

Lana Mason
Favorite: first version of "Murder on the Orient Express"

Disappointment: second version of "Murder on the Orient Express"

Marion Webb
I loved the movie "Room With a View", which followed the book faithfully.
I hated the film version of "Mary Poppins", which I'd read as a kid in the late 1940s. Julie Andrews was lovely, but she was NOT Mary Poppins!

Jackie Houchin
My favorite film based on a book was C. S. Lewis' "The Chronicles of Narnia." 
Biggest disappointment was Baldacci's "Absolute Power" with Clint Eastwood

lisa
GOOD: THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST by Anne Tyler and THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson
BAD: THE LITTLE DRUMMER GIRL by John Le Carre,

Liz DiBona
"The Blind Side" is my favorite
"My Sister's Keeper" is my biggest disappointment

Cynthia
Favorite: "Lord of the Ring" trilogy.
Biggest Disappointment: "Alice in Wonderland"

Sandra Dickey
"Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone" was a fantastic movie. "Congo" was a good book and a horribly boring movie.

Barbara Short
"The Horse Whisperer" was a fantastic book but they left the last chapter of the book out of the movie and it ruined it.

Barbara Short
Stephen King's "The Green Mile" was very good and followed the book pretty closely.

Jane Burdette
I remember reading "Love at First Bite", and going to see the movie. I was so disappointed because they left parts of the book scenes out of the movie.

Connie Fischer
"Gone With The Wind" was my favorite and "The Devil Wears Prada" was my biggest disappointment

Rebecca Cox
"The English Patient" was my favorite movie adaptation and "My Sister's Keeper" was my least favorite and a big 0.

Connie Robinson
Best: "Pride and Prejudice" (TV version with Colin Firth)

Worst: "Their Eyes Were Watching God". It was like the director didn't understand the book.

Lu
My favorite has to be "Memoirs of a Geisha".

Ray Palen
Favorite: "The Lord Of the Rings Trilogy" - Peter Jackson

Biggest Disappointment - "The Firm" - Sydney Pollack

Lenita R. Virtue
Favorite: "To Kill a Mockingbird"

Least Favorite: "Five Against the House"

KC
Favorite book to movie is SOPHIE'S CHOICE by far.

Janey Nichols
"The Lovely Bones" was almost as good as the book. Biggest disappointment was "My Sister's Keeper" --- loved the book, hated the movie.

Diana
My favorites were the "Harry Potter" movies and my least favorite was "My Sister's Keeper".

Nikki
My favorite was "Fried Green Tomatoes" and the BIGGEST disappointment was "My Sister's Keeper".

mickey
I was pleasantly surprised that "Possession" turned out to be as good a movie as it was. I also was fairly pleased with the anime adaptation of "Howl's Moving Castle". But Dan Brown's ANGELS & DEMONS was a good book and the movie just struck me as being lackluster.

Coralie Kuyvenhoven
"To Kill a Mockingbird" is a favorite

"The Time Traveler's" Wife is a disappointment.

Cheryl
Favorite: "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"
Biggest disappointment: "Snow Falling on Cedars"

marie
favorite movie: "Thorn Birds"
biggest disappointment: "Winds of War"

Gabriella
I loved the movie based on the book "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas," and my biggest disappointment was the movie based on "Shutter Island" because it did such a poor job explaining everything from the book.

Merrilee
Favorite: THE CLIENT by John Grisham
Disappointment: Anything by Stephen King

dara berry
"Shutter Island"

Beth Cummings
"Lord of the Rings" trilogy is a favorite.

I can't think of a specific disappointment.

Suzanne Gonneville
"Snow on Cedars" followed the book almost perfectly. I love the story. As far as a disappointment, there have been plenty. Currently I am a loss which ones or even one when I said, "It doesn't even follow the book!"

Robert Runyon
Favorite: "Silence of the Lambs"

Disappointment: Most other movie adaptations. They change the story and it lacks depth concerning the story and characters.

Jim Gysin
Favorite: "The Horse Whisperer"

Disappointment: too many to count

Gaye DeWolfe
Dennis Lehane's "Mystic River"

Janet P Bedell
Favorite: "Angels and Demons"

Disappointment: "The DaVinci Code"

Lois
Favorite: "Primal Fear" based on the novel PRIMAL FEAR by William Diehl. The book was better, but not by much. Fantastic psychological thriller. Worst: "Angels & Demons". The movie totally ignored or changed key characters and plot points. Seems like they made the movie just to capitalize on the book's success.

Tamara Randi
"Pillars of the Earth"

Margaret LaDue
THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold was a favorite and MY SISTERS KEEPER by Jodi Picoult was a big disappointment

Terri Bray
Favorite: "The Secret Life of Bees"
Disappointment: "My Sister's Keeper"

Melissa Jordan
Best: "Cold Mountain"

Worst: THE PACT by Jodi Picoult --- fabulous book, HORRIBLE movie

Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D
"Dr. Zhivago" was a movie that I really liked after reading the book. It still left a great deal to the imagination! Good for any avid book reader.

"Eat, Pray, Love" was a wonderful book. The movie was flat, unimaginative and prescribed. When leaving the movie, no one was saying "That was the best film!" More tolerance was described than a feeling of "This movie changed my life!".

Doris Willis
Two recent excellent movies are "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" and "The Girl Who Played With Fire". It had a perfect cast and follows the story very well.

LIta Jones
My favorite move from a book was Jeffery Deaver's THE BONE COLLECTOR. I was a little uncomfortable with a woman playing the part of the caretaker; but very quickly came to see that Queen Latifa was doing a great job. I was a nurse for a long time and know when it is done right. The only thing in that movie that I don't think could have been changed was that the legs of Lincoln Rhymes should have had a lot of atrophy. 

My biggest disappointment was ANGELA'S ASHES by Frank McCourt. The movie was well done but the dark side of poverty was so much more painful to watch than reading. The writing was so poetic with a kind of humor.

Mabel
My favorite movie was THE GREEN MILE by Stephen King. I actually liked the movie better than the book. My biggest disappointment was MY SISTER'S KEEPER by Jodi Picoult. I felt they changed it a great deal, especially the end.

kattykathy
My favorite were: "Lovely Bones" and the "Lord of the Rings". I hate the "Twilight" series.

Tom Carrico
Favorite: "The Godfather"
Disappointment: "Bonfire of the Vanities"

Danielle Picone
Favorite Movies were "Gone With the Wind", "To Kill a Mockingbird" and the "Harry Potter" series
Biggest disappointment: "Under the Tuscan Sun"

Diane
Favorite Movie Based On A Book:
"Christine", "The Exorcist" or "Jaws"

Biggest Disappointment: "The General's Daughter" and most movies that are based on books. Very few transition well from book to movie.

Peggy
favorite: "Dr. Zhivago"
biggest disappointment: "The Road"

Shannon J.
My favorite movie based on a book is A CHRISTMAS STORY.

My most disappointed was THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE.

My most anticipated is ONE FOR THE MONEY.

Sonia Zaffiris
My favorite was THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST by Anne Tyler.

Martha
My favorite was HANNIBAL by Thomas Harris. 

The biggest disappointment was HANNIBAL RISING.

Heather Marshall
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" was my favorite movie based on a book. I was so scared it wouldn't be as good, but it was!!! I can't think of one that was a disappointment, per se, but I haven't seen "The Lovely Bones" just because I was so sure it wouldn't live up to the book.

Vicki
Favorite: "Lord of the Rings"
Biggest Disappointment (among many): 
"The Scarlet Letter" --- just horrible

Patricia Cantrell
The whole "Harry Potter" series are my favorites. I watched them all so far with my two children. 
I was disappointment was the first "Twilight" saga film, but they are getting better.

Marcia Cook
Favorite: The "Harry Potter" movies

Disappointment: "Under the Tuscan Sun"

Debi
Favorite: THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES by Sue Monk Kidd

Debbie
My favorite movie based on a book is "To Kill a Mockingbird". My biggest disappointment is "The Grapes of Wrath", the reasons for which are too numerous to mention here.

Kathy Vieira
My favorite film adaptations are:
"Time Traveler's Wife"
"Jaws"
My biggest disappointment:
"My Sister's Keeper"

Amy Friedman
"The Princess Bride" was a great book to movie adaptation. The worst was "My Sister's Keeper". I was in a theater filled with women who had read the book and I had never heard so many angry reactions to a movie adaptation. They totally changed the point of the book!

John Stover
Favorite: ANATOMY OF A MURDER by Robert Traver

Disappointment: GET SHORTY by Elmore Leonard

Francesca Burgess
Favorite: "The Lord of the Rings"

Biggest disappointment: "The Golden Compass"

F Tessa Bartels
"To Kill a Mockingbird" is perhaps the best adaptation.

The movies that are most disappointing are those where major plot points are left out and the ending is changed. ARGH!

rita powell
"Presumed Innocent" was my favorite.
My biggest disappointment was years ago, "The Bible". Yes it was a movie also.

Helen Kilker
"The Green Mile"

Donna Piorkowski
"The Shawshank Redemption"

Bruce Sherman
Favorite movie: "Contact" (Sagan)
It was much better than the book

Disappointment: "The Great Gatsby" (1974 version)

Mary Q.
I loved COLD MOUNTAIN (Charles Frazier) in both book and movie form. I was disappointed that the movie MY SISTER'S KEEPER (Jodi Picoult) didn't stay true to the book.

Marya Zanders
Favorite is a toss up between THE MALTESE FALCON and LOST HORIZON.
There are too many disappointments to name here. Now I just read the books and confine myself to classic films.

Sherman
"Shutter Island" was a good book and a great movie. "Marley and Me" was a good movie but not as good as the book since it ended differently.

Elizabeth Marr
My favorite movie based on a book is "The Shipping News".
Because I never expect as much out of a movie as I do a book, I'm usually not disappointed by the movie.

Diana Sanchez
"To Kill A Mockingbird"
The book is great and so is the movie!!!

Marilyn Ward
Favorite: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Biggest disappointment: THE LOVELY BONES

David Rudy
Favorite: "Harry Potter"
Disappointment: I forget, but when the movie shortcuts the book plot, I am very disappointed in the movie.

Chris
"The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" 

In fact, I thought the movie was much better than the book. Most recent disappointment: "The Lightning Thief" --- good movie, but I didn't like the changes they made in the story.

bridget marmion
"The Namesake"

bridget marmion
"The Namesake" was a favorite movie based on a very favorite book. The MOST disappointing: "Bonfire of the Vanities" movie!

Casey
Favorite book and movie was "Shutter Island" and I can't think of any movies that were adapted from the book that were a disappointment.

Gloria Hasara
"The DaVinci Code"

If I had not read the book, I don't think I could have followed the plot.

Chris Bush
"Sense & Sensibility" or "Pride & Prejudice" would be my most favorite movies from books. From this past summer, the movie based on the Lightning Thief series was a TOTAL disappointment! My kids had read the series and were really excited to see the movie, but the movie was really nothing like the book, and all the kids in the theater were booing.

Sharon W.
GONE WITH THE WIND was a favorite, as was EDNA FERBER'S GIANT.
I have been disappointed too many times to count.

Marie
GONE WITH THE WIND- best
TWILIGHT- worst

Julie
Favorite: CIDER HOUSE RULES
Disappointment: THE DA VINCI CODE

Meredith Miller
Both TWILIGHT and PERCY JACKSON were huge disappointments.

Kaye DeMaio-Hays
My favorite movie based on a book was TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and my least favorite was the first HARRY POTTER movie.

Steven Schwindt
CONTACT was suppose to be a good movie, but it did not turn out that way. It forced me to read the Carl Sagan book to understand the story better.

Susan Wilson
favorite movie based on a book: GONE WITH THE WIND

biggest disappointment:
HOLES by Louis Sachar

Sara S. Wright
favorite - REBECCA

disappointment -- THE ORCHID THIEF

Magdalene Iglar
I loved THE ENGLISH PATIENT both as a literary novel and as an excellent film. I re-read the book & loved it even more. 

I expected to love THE MEMORY KEEPER'S DAUGHTER and I found both the book and the film (for TV) disappointing.

Darcy Chambers
Favorite: GONE WITH THE WIND

Biggest Disappointment: THE SHINING

Christine
MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS by Agatha Christie was the best movie based on a book. Biggest dissappointment would be most of Dean Koontz' books that were made into movies. His books are amazing, but the movies never come close.

Christy Mckenney
VC Andrews, FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC

Mary
The Hours

Christine
My favorite movie that was based on a book is GONE WITH THE WIND

My biggest disappointment of a movie that was based on a book was MY SISTER'S KEEPER by Jodi Picoult.

Naomee Guest
Loved THE ENGLISH PATIENT, A++++

Bev Riggins
THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTRY - fav

MY SISTER'S KEEPER - so disappointed when the end was changed.

Cecilia Doyle
Favorite: THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS
Disappointment: MY SISTER'S KEEPER

Janet
THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES is my favorite in current releases. The biggest disappointment was MY SISTER'S KEEPER - totally changed it from the book.

Patricia Ferguson
Favorite - THE HORSE WHISPERER

Biggest Disappointment - ICE PALACE (SO many years ago!)

Sherri Staples
My favorite book made into a movie is GONE WITH THE WIND. My least favorite movie from a book is the Twilight series. The casting of Kristen Stewart as Bella ruined the movies for me. Bella was an all American, awkward teen, not the sullen mess that Stewart portrays.

Connie Fischer
My favorite movie based on a book was GONE WITH THE WIND. My biggest disappointment was THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA.

Renee
Maurice Sendak's WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE was the best. "Let the wild rumpus start!!!!" John Grisham's first novel and movie, THE FIRM, was a disappointment because they changed the ending!!! Not even Tom Cruise can overcome that.

Jill
Favorite - JOY LUCK CLUB, Biggest Disappointment - REVOLUTIONARY ROAD

Barbara Short
THE HORSE WHISPERER. I loved the book. When the picture came out I couldn't wait to see it. My disappointment was that the left out the entire last chapter of the book! That was so stupid.

Helen Plante
THE ROAD was my favorite
MY SISTER'S KEEPER was my biggest disappointment

Marilyn Moore
I've never seen a movie that lived up to the book.

Mark Freeburg
My favorite is THE GODFATHER
The worse BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES

Reta J. Kenter
Two favorites
THE ACCIDENTAL TOURIST
OUT OF AFRICA
No disappointments

Jack
Just one BIG disappointment: PRINCE OF TIDES

Gigi Reynard
THE WORD ACCORDING TO GARP

Susan Shepherd
Favorite - THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE
Disappointment - THE LIGHTENING THIEF

Bea
Favorite : THE READER

Biggest disappointment: THE PERFECT STORM

Rainey
Favorite: ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

Disappointment: NEEDFUL THINGS

Nan Benincasa
Best Movie from Novel: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD
Worst: HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

Krismar
Favorite: MEMOIRS OF GEISHA.
Disappointment: MY SISTER'S KEEPER

Kevin Doherty
Favorite would have to be the LORD OF THE RINGS movies - Peter Jackson did a pretty good job of being faithful to the story line. Biggest disappointment would have to be RELIC and ERAGON - both movies left out major pieces of the books.

Rita P.
THE BIBLE. And the movie was good, but not outstanding.

Judith Williams
THE DA VINCI CODE

Anna
The biggest disappointment was MY SISTER'S KEEPER by Jodi Picoult. The movie changed the ending and ruined the story.
My favorite movie based on a book was SEABISCUIT.

Whit
My biggest disappointment was BLOOD WORK (starring Clint Eastwood based on a Michael Connelly novel). I kept count of discrepancies between the two, and there were quite a few. The biggest disappointment was the fact that the movie completely changed the identity of the bad guy.
THE BONE COLLECTOR (by Jeffrey Deaver) is probably my favorite book-to-movie so far.

Harriet Stay
I have two favorite movies from books: TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and ANATOMY OF A MURDER.

Biggest disappointment was TRUE CRIME, written by Andrew Klavan. I felt Clint Eastwood was not the right actor for the character I visualized, as much as I admire Eastwood's acting, it was not a good fit. The book was a terrific thriller.

Katie Durand
Favorite- TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

Disappointment-HANDMAID'S TALE

Jessica Subject
THE GOLDEN COMPASS and the recent Narnia movies were really good adaptations, but the biggest disappointment for me was ANGELS AND DEMONS by Dan Brown.

Val
JAWS was my favorite, and GIRL WITH THE PEARL EARING was a disappointment...