Three Book-to-Movie Translations That Actually Worked

There has always been a great debate as to which is better, the book or the film; and in general, the book comes out on top. This is probably because a 500 page novel has a lot more room for scope than a 2 hour movie. An author is not limited in the same way as a director, and is free to flesh out their story; when a director translates this story to the silver screen, inevitably there will have to be compromises made. This means key story elements being changed and a general shortening of the story.There have been many examples of books being translated into movies but falling completely flat, being panned by movie-goers and critics alike. But not all book-to-movie conversions are doomed to failure, and in fact there have been many examples of movies made from books which have been well received both critically and by those sitting comfortably on their sofa set. Let’s take a few minutes to look at three great examples of exactly this type of movie.

Jurassic Park (1993) (Novel by Michael Crichton)

The prehistoric world of the dinosaur has always been beloved by children and members of the scientific community alike, but it wasn’t until Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster Jurassic Park in 1993 that it really hit the big time. With jaw-dropping special effects which remain outstanding even today along with a nail-biting storyline, this movie had it all. Spawning two sequels with varying success, the movie is still widely loved by millions across the world. But did you know that it is actually based on a best-selling novel? Well, you probably did, yes. But it’s a combo that breaks the mould: a movie which is at least as good as the book. The novel, penned by techno-thriller aficionado Michael Crichton, tells roughly the same story as the movie, but in a slightly more in-depth way. In fact, one of the scenes from the book – in which a Tyrannosaurus Rex chases a boat by swimming – would have made an absolutely awesome piece of cinema, but we’re guessing that budget constraints meant they left this bit out.

Never Let Me Go (2010) (Novel by Kazuo Ishiguro)

Now here’s a movie which pretty much flew under everybody’s radar – and that’s probably because the trailer really did render it mis-sold. Billed as some sort of romance which spans the lifetimes of three kids, the trailer failed to capture the more interesting elements of the movie: like the fact that these three kids are in fact raised as ‘clones’ to have their organs harvested. This key element to the plot was completely lost on most people and resulted in a less than satisfactory performance at the box office for Never Let Me Go. The book the movie is based on, which shares its name, is a tear-jerker in every sense of the word, and offers a more drawn-out version of the movie’s events – but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The slower pace of the book actually serves the story better than the 90-odd minutes of screen time the story receives. It’s a great story, and both the movie and the book come highly recommended (yes – even if you’re a guy).

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001 – 2003) (Novels by J R R Tolkien)

Here’s a trilogy of movies and books (or book, depending on how you look at it) which has spawned a legion of costume-happy fans across the world. The Lord of the Rings movies, directed by Peter Jackson, really took the box office by storm in the most literal way possible. Now standing as one of the most profitable movie trilogies of all time, the Lord of the Rings movies have been released on many formats with scores of bonus scenes and added material – and when you look at the source material, you can see where they got all of this from. The three books that comprise J R R Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy really are the definition of the word epic. It’s a word that’s thrown about quite a bit these days, but Tolkien really was there first. These books span a huge quest from the depths of the Shire to the dark mountains of Mordor, and everything in between. Whilst the movies do an admirable job at capturing our heroes’ journey, nothing comes close to the storytelling prowess of these three books. They’ve been criticised for being packed with too much detail, and rightly so, but they remain three of the most nail-biting, awe-inspiring, and truly memorable texts of all time.

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