RTW: Movies over Books
Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's
contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that
begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to
destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.
I have movies where I loved the book and hated the movie (Eragon), loved the movie but knew the book was better (Harry Potter), and adaptations that I'm able to enjoy separately (Hunger Games, The Lightning Thief).
Then, every once in awhile, a movie comes along that I like more than the book. This is more common in situations where I fall in love with the movie long before reading the book or I read the book some time before. Prince Caspian is the first movie I know of that I felt like that with. Part of it was the greatness of the movie, part of it was Ben Barnes, and part of it was the fact that I hadn't read the book in years.
Another one is Princess Diaries. I loved the movies for years before I tried the book series. I was really disappointed when I couldn't get into it at all.
Then there's Beastly. I loved the movie trailers so I wanted to read the book first. The book was okay, but I had some pretty major issues with it. Eventually I got around to watching the movie and I actually really enjoyed it. I felt a lot better about the way the plot kicks off than I did with the book.
I'm probably going to get in trouble for this last one but...Ella Enchanted. Ignoring the random moments of singing, the movie is actually great. After loving it for a couple years, I found out about the book and ended up winning it in a contest. Except for the basic premise, they're almost two different stories. The book is much more middle grade than the movie. I prefer the movie version of the breaking of the curse far over the book version.
This Week's Topic:
What movie have you seen that actually (gasp!) improved on the book?
I have movies where I loved the book and hated the movie (Eragon), loved the movie but knew the book was better (Harry Potter), and adaptations that I'm able to enjoy separately (Hunger Games, The Lightning Thief).
Then, every once in awhile, a movie comes along that I like more than the book. This is more common in situations where I fall in love with the movie long before reading the book or I read the book some time before. Prince Caspian is the first movie I know of that I felt like that with. Part of it was the greatness of the movie, part of it was Ben Barnes, and part of it was the fact that I hadn't read the book in years.
Another one is Princess Diaries. I loved the movies for years before I tried the book series. I was really disappointed when I couldn't get into it at all.
Then there's Beastly. I loved the movie trailers so I wanted to read the book first. The book was okay, but I had some pretty major issues with it. Eventually I got around to watching the movie and I actually really enjoyed it. I felt a lot better about the way the plot kicks off than I did with the book.
I'm probably going to get in trouble for this last one but...Ella Enchanted. Ignoring the random moments of singing, the movie is actually great. After loving it for a couple years, I found out about the book and ended up winning it in a contest. Except for the basic premise, they're almost two different stories. The book is much more middle grade than the movie. I prefer the movie version of the breaking of the curse far over the book version.
Comments
(However I love ELLA ENCHANTED the book and disliked the movie...A LOT.)
And while I'm not a big fan of Mary-Kate Olsen now (loved the twins when I was younger) I thought she was perfect for the witch role.
I've never read Ella Enchanted but I loved the movie and all its silliness.
I also loved Beastly, both book and movie. The book had some different things, like the "chats" between the fairy tale characters that were lots of fun. But Alex Pettyfer. Enough said.
The one thing I gotta disagree on is Princess Diaries. While I love the movie, the books are so awesome and so funny. I'd seen the movie first and was a bit disappointed when I read the books later at all the things they changed in the movie. But then again, in later books Mia mentions the movie and how it's so different from her "real life." So clever of Meg Cabot.
I've seen the movie, but not read ELLA ENCHANTED. People's comments have me intrigued. :)
I was just talking with a library patron about how we much preferred the movie Just Like Heaven to If Only It Were True ... but in fairness to that, I've only read the English version.
Hmmm I probably will soon but I´ll have to keep my expectations in check :D Thanks for sharing!