what is the worst and/or best novel to film adaptation? Do you believe that a Film adaptation is bad for the original novels? when a good novel turned into a bad film, does it ruin the novel's reputation? what is the difference when you reread a book after watching it's film adaptations? do you even bother reading the book once you've watched the film first?

i think this is a good topic to start here. it seems like the majority of film nowadays are from new novels or classic novels. feel free to talk about anything here related to novels being turned to films.

(also, i am writing a research paper/thesis about novels to film adaptations :D any comment or opinion can help me. though you don't have to answer all the questions above :D) ~Leni M.

Hm, interesting topic. I do believe that a film adaptation is bad for the novel(s)'s reputation IF the film adaptation is bad. If people remember that movie as bad, then they won't want to give the books a chance because they believe that it's just as bad.

For me, the WORST film adaptation of a movie is The Mortal Instruments. OMFG, I knew it would be (at the very least) irritating when the trailer first came out. I didn't like the majority of the people they casted for the roles, and not because of their acting (though some of it was pretty bad). It was because they looked so much different from how I imagined the characters looking (I'll discuss this later).

I also hated it because it got the basic premise of the book, but then they stray off the book's plot so far off that it made me very angry. The book was great, so the screenwriter shouldn't have bothered to change anything! He/she made the movie so bad, and it must've enraged a ton of fans.

Going on a related tangent here, good movie adaptations always follow the books. They may change minor things so they can fit it in a two to three hour time-slot, but if it's only the small, unimportant details, then fans will tolerate it. After all, they must understand that there is only so much of a three-hundred page+ novel they can fit into two hours or more.

One of the best film adaptations I've seen is the Harry Potter series. It's just so enjoyable to watch, and they follow the books for a majority of the time. Another one would be The Hunger Games triology. Some people complain that Jennifer Lawrence is so emotionless and stiff in the movie, but I think that it's good she acted that way. Katniss's character is cautious and stiff; she doesn't like showing much emotion to others around her because she believes that to be weakness, something she really can't afford being throughout the series. I think everyone was pretty well-casted and the movies are great to watch. I had a little problem with Josh Hutcherson being Peeta since I imagined him looking totally different, but he acts well, so I've come to like him as Peeta. Some may not, but I will stick to my opinions. We can agree to disagree, yeah?

Another good movie adaptation is the Lord of the Rings series. I haven't read the books, so I can't say if it followed the books to a "T", but the movies, though long, are really great. I also enjoy The Hobbit movies.

Going back to bad film adaptations ruining novel reputations, a real life example would be my friend not wanting to read The Mortal Instruments series simply because he hated the movie. He thought it was stupid and sort of boring, and I had to tell him almost the entire plot of the first book in order to convince him that the actual book series was so much better than the movie made it out to be.

Now, on to people's images of characters. A lot of fans are very picky on who they want as actors for certain characters when they hear that it's turning into a film adaptation. Some even come up with entire lists of who they want and even give reasons why. I am not one of those people, but have come across people who have. It's apparent that these fans want the best movie experience possible when it comes to their favorite books. They love a work so much that they really want the movie to turn out well so others may enjoy what they love too, just in a different format.

As official actors are casted and posted online somewhere, even if the majority of fans approve, there will always be some out there who will disagree with the casting choice. We all have different minds, and therefore different imaginations. We imagine characters in books in all sorts of different ways because we are all unique.

To me, there is no difference when I reread a book after a movie. I just tend to notice the small details they may have left out, like, "Oh, this minor character isn't in the movie. Oh well." or "Hey, they changed how this character did this a little." I usually read the books before watching a movie adaptation (though not right before), so it's fun to watch its adaptation and be all, "Oh yeah! This part's coming up next! I can't wait; that part was the best!"

If I haven't read the book beforehand and watch the movie first, then I become interested in reading the book and see how closely the movie followed it. I want to read the Lord of the Rings series because of the movies. :)

This may be just me though, so don't apply my answers to everyone.

I hope this helped you! This certainly was entertaining for me to talk about!