Movie adaptations are tricky. You can make a good movie out of a good book, but have it be a less-than-great adaptation (see The Shining, arguably), and then you can also have a classic book be made into a surprisingly bad movie (see The Bonfire of the Vanities). And then there are other ways a movie can miss the mark, like if it’s not a bad film necessarily, but it doesn’t come close to providing the same level of quality experience-wise as reading the source material might.
So, to highlight times when things were done right, here’s an assortment of genuinely great movies that all did an excellent job at adapting the books they were based on. For the most part, the examples here were instances of a great book becoming a great movie, but there are also a few examples of pretty good books becoming pretty great movies, thanks to improvements being made to the story when it came to putting what was on the page on the screen.
10
‘Misery’ (1990)
Based on ‘Misery’ (1987) by Stephen King
In Misery, the novel, you won’t find supernatural or fantastical elements playing a role in the horror, which is surprising for a Stephen King book written around this time. He’d done Cujo before Misery, admittedly, which was horror of a grounded/mundane nature, too, but Misery is arguably even more intense, and pretty expertly done as far as the standards of whatever the literary equivalent of a bottle episode is.
The movie adaptation from 1990 certainly does the book justice, even if there are parts of the book of a more introspective/psychological nature that couldn’t entirely be captured with visuals (the same goes for what the reader sees of the story within the story, which is explored much more in the original novel). You get at least a couple of added supporting characters in the movie to make up for that, and they work within this particular version of the story.
9
‘The Human Condition’ (1959–1961)
Based on ‘The Human Condition’ (1958) by Junpei Gomikawa
Since it’s a three-part film adaptation, The Human Condition stands as one of the grandest and most ambitious World War II movies ever made. Three movies were needed to fully capture the source material, which was a six-part novel, and each movie in The Human Condition trilogy exceeds three hours, so each one is kind of the length of two movies. It’s big, in other words.
The Human Condition focuses on just one man who is dramatically impacted by numerous stages of World War II, from the lead-up, to being made to fight in it (despite being a pacifist), and then surviving after the war ends and he’s basically left to fend for himself. It’s held up tremendously well for a war movie of its age, and still feels incredibly powerful and confronting all these decades later.
8
‘Jaws’ (1975)
Based on ‘Jaws’ (1974) by Peter Benchley
There aren’t too many movies that rival Jaws, in terms of sheer suspense, and it does it all while having one of the simplest premises a film could have, since there’s a shark that needs to be killed, and some people who set out to kill it. The source material also isn’t complicated, but the movie streamlines things even more, and ends up being just about perfectly paced, as a result.
Unlike most of the other examples here, where a great novel or novella became a great movie, Jaws was more a case of a more-than-solid book being elevated into greatness by its movie adaptation. Quite a bit of credit should go to Peter Benchley on both fronts, though, since he wrote the original novel and was credited as a co-writer on the adapted screenplay.
7
‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971)
Based on ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1962) by Anthony Burgess
You’re winning either way, with A Clockwork Orange (1962) or A Clockwork Orange (1971), because both are incredible, or you’re losing either way, because both are also intense, downbeat, and troubling. Narratively, both versions of the story revolve around a ruthless young criminal who’s finally arrested and, during his rehabilitation, is experimented on with a new treatment that’s said to prevent violent actions by causing the subject intense pain/discomfort when they have violent thoughts.
There’s a lot said here, through the rather grounded dystopian setting, about what role technology might play, in the future, when it comes to reshaping justice.
A villain is turned into something of a victim after this switch, and A Clockwork Orange makes you sit with all the difficult emotions involved with seeing that happen. Broadly, there’s a lot said here, through the rather grounded dystopian setting, about what role technology might play, in the future, when it comes to reshaping justice and the prison system (oh, and the film does end at a different point to the novel, which keeps things interesting and ultimately ensures both versions of the story are worth taking in).
6
‘City of God’ (2002)
Based on ‘City of God’ (1997) by Paulo Lins
City of God (1997) was a semi-autobiographical novel about growing up in a Western Rio de Janeiro favela, and trying to break out of the life there, which can be dangerous and dominated by crime. The main character really isn’t a gangster or a criminal, but some other characters aspire to be defined as such, and their lives are shown to be tumultuous and remarkably intense, to put it mildly.
2002’s City of God is more well-known overall, as it was hugely acclaimed as both a coming-of-age movie and a crime film, and for good reason, since it feels right up there among the best movies of the 21st century so far. The novel is solid, and provided a good foundation for the movie to then build upon, but the situation is comparable to that of Jaws the book versus Jaws the movie, in that the movie version is an improvement.
5
‘Blade Runner’ (1982)
Based on ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ (1968) by Philip K. Dick
So great a work of science fiction that very few movies can be said to exceed it in quality, Blade Runner (1982) is just great all around, for reasons that are probably likely obvious. It was based on a story not of the same name, instead called Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which is honestly probably a better title, though Blade Runner does sound somewhat cool, and is admittedly snappier.
The novel’s a significant work of science fiction, and then the movie is… well, the movie is, too, doing for science fiction cinema what Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? did for science fiction literature, even if there are some notable differences narratively between the two versions of the story. That might’ve been another reason for the title change, in all honesty. But still, good stuff either way/version.
4
‘The Godfather’ (1972)
Based on ‘The Godfather’ (1969) by Mario Puzo
In 1969, The Godfather was published, and then it didn’t take too long for a movie adaptation to come out, in 1972. That movie adapted most of the book of the same name, but not everything, with some chunks of the book (like Vito’s backstory) being adapted when it came time to make The Godfather Part II, with that sequel also continuing the story of the first movie with new material.
And The Godfather Part II is excellent enough that there’s an argument to be made that it’s even better than The Godfather, but it’s the first movie that’s more of a direct adaptation, and so it’s going here. Also, you can’t really go wrong with either of the first two movies. Trying to pick a favorite is basically saying, “Hmm, which 10/10 thing is more 10/10-ish?” It could well drive one mad.
3
‘The Lord of the Rings’ (2001–2003)
Based on ‘The Lord of the Rings’ (1954–1955) by J.R.R. Tolkien
Before, The Human Condition was mentioned as an amazing trilogy that effectively adapted some hefty and complex source material into a three-part epic, but it certainly wasn’t an epic movie of a crowd-pleasing nature. The Lord of the Rings, though, is very easy to like, and was similarly taken on as one massive three-part film, adapting the massive three-part novel by J.R.R. Tolkien, with each movie being around three hours long (the theatrical versions, at least).
Narratively, it’s something you’re likely familiar with, especially if you’re big on fantasy books or fantasy movies, or both. The Lord of the Rings doesn’t – and arguably could not – capture everything from the source material, by way of characters, smaller events, and nuance, but it more than gets the basics right and streamlines effectively without streamlining (or cutting out entirely) too much.
2
‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (1994)
Based on ‘Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption’ (1982) by Stephen King
Back to Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption is another from the 1990s that, like Misery, really gets things right, and properly captures (or maybe even elevates) the novella it’s based on. An honorable mention should also go out to Stand by Me, which adapted King’s The Body, which might well be the third-best Stephen King movie and, notably, another that doesn’t have supernatural or fantastical elements.
The Shawshank Redemption is a movie all about perseverance and hope, taking place inside a particularly harsh prison while scanning an impressive number of years for a single story. King’s novella, Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, is also fantastic in its own right, and proves similarly emotionally taxing and ultimately cathartic, but there really is something special about its movie adaptation, which is one of those rare films that seems almost universally liked/loved.
1
‘Goodfellas’ (1990)
Based on ‘Wiseguy’ (1985) by Nicholas Pileggi
While Goodfellas feels uniquely cinematic, and it is, reading Wiseguy after being very familiar with the film adaptation is eye-opening and surprising, since it does feel very much in line with the movie. Well, the movie is in line with the book, and a great adaptation. There’s a lot of energy, information, and tension found in the whole story on the page, with Martin Scorsese doing wonders to bring it all to life on screen.
Some names are changed, and a few characters are a little different, but then you do have lines and entire sequences from Wiseguy that made it into Goodfellas in pretty much the same form. Wiseguy is one of the best non-fiction crime books ever made, and then Goodfellas is one of the best gangster movies ever made. It’s pretty much that simple, with both working in tandem to show how to adapt a work of non-fiction in an essentially perfect fashion.
