There have been many instances where games or TV shows have been made into movies. But there are also times when books are too made into films. However, though the literature may be great, that doesn’t mean that the adaptation will be great as well.

The first three books of ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’ written my Lemony Snicket was adapted to film late 2004. Although the director, Brad Silberling, did a fine job of capturing the books themes of ambiguity and misery through an anachronistic art direction, the films fall short of capturing the essence of the characters among other important factors. For example, instead of following the books dark tone, the movie headed into a light comedic feel. And with the characters, although the film did capture the basics of each character, that’s pretty much all they did. Violet, a main protagonist to the series, is in fact an inventor, but she’s more than just smart with tools and crafts. The film falls flat in capturing what each unique child and villain mean to the story.

The Princess Diaries is another series of books adopted poorly on screen in mid-late 2001. There are vast differences from Meg Cabot’s books and director Garry Marshall’s adaptation. Although the movie was a great success at the box office, many fans were unhappy how ‘Diaries’ was presented. Some unsettling differences are location settings, age differences, and other subtle facts. For example, in the novel, Mia, the main character, is just past her pre-teen years, not 17 years old. Also, Mia’s father is not dead, he is very much alive when the whole princess drama starts. Mia’s Grandmother is not as heart felt as she is on screen. She is really a mean bully to Mia. And instead of San Francisco, the novel’s setting is New York.

‘The Polar Express’ by Chris Van Allsburg is a beloved classic in children’s literature. Robert Zemeckis, the director/writer/producer, made a fine adaptation out of ‘The Polar Express,’ released late 2004. Instead of another children’s animated holiday film, Zemeckis made the film live action turned into animation that is well beyond children cinema. Surprisingly however, the differences from the words and screen help to reinforce Van Allsburg’s creation.
Harry Potter movies are as well known as the books they are based on. As each book, written by J.K. Rowling, turns into a new film to see, the movie series starts to become something of its own, independent of the books. David Yates had a challenge indeed condensing the 800+ paged novel into an hour and a half film released mid 2007. Sadly that means a lot of material in the novel had to be cut out of the film. But the content that does stay on screen is delivered so thoroughly and captivatingly that it feels less empty. For fans of the Potter series that only see the films, the saying ‘less is more’ rings true for viewers. For example, Harry Potter and the love interest, Cho Chang’s date never occurred in the film. But viewers don’t miss out on that small chapter in the book. Not every detail of books have to be incorporated in film.

Nicholas Sparks’, ‘A Walk to Remember’ is one of few excellent and beautiful book adapted films. Released in early 2002, director Adam Shankman remained very faithful to Sparks’ beloved book. And the few differences that he did make, he did so on Sparks’ request which is remarkable and welcoming. Only two differences worth mentioning are the time setting and Jamie’s death. In the novel, the story took place in the fifties instead of the more modern adaptation. Sparks wanted to draw in more teens to view the film and gave Shankman the thumbs up to make the film in present time. In the novel Sparks doesn’t reveal Jamie’s death, only alludes to the fact that she will die. In the film version however, it is stated that Jamie has died. However, with or without these differences, the film adaptation is still amazing and a great vision of the novel.

These movies are only a few of several book-film adaptations. By choosing these five films, we are shown that some adaptations are good presentations of the books, and some are not. Overall, if a book is going to be turned into a film, fans and authors can’t always expect every line and detail to be there. Fans can always hope but do so with a grain of salt.