The Five Best & Five Worst Page to Screen Adaptations (IMO)

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018.
It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Every once in a while I participate in this one when I either
1) Like the theme, and/or 2) Have the time!

This week's topic:

The Ten Best/Worst Page to Screen Adaptations (In My Opinion)

(Blue is for Best, Purple for Worst!)

Oh, this topic is fun!!! I couldn't get to ten, but I still wanted to take part!

In no particular order...

1) HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

I adored this movie SO much, even though it's 90% different from the book. It was hard to adapt to screen, but author Cressida Cowell had a hand in developing the movie and approved all the changes. In the books, Toothless is a little dragon, for example, and everyone thought it would be breathtaking on film if he could fly and Hiccup could ride him. I am obsessed with the film trilogy and okay with all of the changes -- and I don't usually say that about books that have been vastly re-worked for screen!

2) MY SISTER'S KEEPER

I have never even seen this movie, TBH. It is one of my all-time favorite books, and they ruined it on film. The book largely is about Anna, the sister who was conceived in order to be a genetic match for her older sister Kate, who has leukemia. It explores the concept of designer babies and the effect disease has on an entire family. Kate is NOT the central character. In the movie, she is the central character and everything revolves around her and she is given a voice. The story becomes "another cancer story," when that isn't the main point of the book. They also changed the entire ending, which is one of the most powerful parts of the book. I boycotted the movie on principal and just can't bring myself to watch it.

3) BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY

This is an instance where I really enjoy BOTH the book and the movie! They did a really good adaptation. I get all the feels when I watch the movie and really enjoy the casting --and Bridget would love the fact that her movie crush, Colin Firth, gets to be be her onscreen love interest for real! (Even if that means the second book got a huge movie re-write and turned into an atrocious movie. We're going to pretend there is no sequel, m'kay?) I love the humor of these books and have even looked for Helen Fielding's backlist -- and I would have never discovered/read her if not for this movie! 

4) ELLA ENCHANTED

This is one of my ALL TIME favorite books. And I normally love a movie with musical numbers. But this was SO bad. I know a lot of people who love the movie -- and they're always surprised to hear it was a book! Maybe if I didn't know the book I could enjoy the movie because it has all the elements I like, but it's impossible for me to disassociate the two. 

5) HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE

Another instance where I really love both mediums! There are some changes from the book, especially in character design, but the Japanese anime medium is so unique and different from its British Novel counterpart that it can be appreciated. Both tell great, compelling stories. I have read the book multiple times and the movie is one of my favorites from Studio Ghibli! I actually never even read the book (or its sequels! ...or the fan fiction...) before seeing the movie, and I have since devoured everything I could get my hands on.

6) PERCY JACKSON AND THE LIGHTNING THIEF

This could have been another bestselling franchise. It could have raked in BILLIONS at the box office. There are currently two spinoff series. That's at least fifteen movies. Not to mention some crossovers from other series and the new Rick Riordan Presents imprint. The movie was doomed the moment director Christopher Columbus aged the characters because he didn't want to work with kids again after piece-mealing Harry Potter together. But this could have BEEN the next Harry Potter. I hope they reboot the franchise one day! 

7) STARDUST

I loved the movie Stardust and watch it frequently when it's on TV. I hadn't read the book at the time, but bought it to read -- and then started reading his other novels as well. He's a brilliant soul, and I would have eventually discovered him (outside of my Coraline knowledge) anyway, but Stardust made that encounter happen much sooner in life. If you want a lovely fantasy movie, pick this one up. I think it's on Netflix again, too!

8) THE GOLDEN COMPASS

Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy was a favorite growing up. I was so excited for this movie and it let me down so, so much.  That said, I'm really excited about the new mini-series coming soon from BBC + HBO and have faith that they'll do justice to the series!


9) LORD OF THE RINGS

Confession: I've never read the books. I STARTED to. Well, I started with THE HOBBIT because I like to go in order. (And I actually still haven't watched the Hobbit movies; I know a lot of the book takes place in the spider forest and I'm still traumatized by the spider scene in LOTR, so... *Shiver*) I've always struggled a bit with books that are mostly about journeys, and it was a sludge to get through, so I DNF it. I'd still like to go back and read the series -- especially since I've heard THE HOBBIT is the most dry of the bunch -- but it hasn't happened yet. I love all the CGI and costuming and everything that brought the world of Middle-earth to life and think the movies are spectacular. 

10) DIVERGENT

I should have known this was going to be bad the moment I saw the casting for Tris. I was less excited because I didn't think she could pull it off, having seen her TV series, but I had faith she'd surprise me.  The Hunger Games adapted well, and I loved DIVERGENT even more. Alas... 
TBH, I never even saw the sequels.... it's that bad.

Wait, we're at ten already!? But we haven't even talked about The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe or The Hunger Games or Crazy Rich Asians or To All the Boys I've Loved Before or... Okay, okay, stopping now!
 What are some "crazy" things you've done for the love of reading???  ^_^