Top Ten Thursday: Best Print to Screen Adaptations.

How many times have you heard “that was pretty good…but the book was better?” If I had a nickel for every time I heard that, I’d be converting a buttload of nickels in to paper money. Sometimes, the translation works better than others. And sometimes you get Bonfire of the Vanities. Or Dune.

So, here we go with my choices for the best print to screen adaptations. I know this is supposed to be top ten, but I honestly can’t rank these. Let’s say that in my head, they’re all tied, ten ways, for first. I know, that’s cheating. You’ll get over it.

The Hunt For Red October – I know, most people would think I’d probably say one of the Tom Clancy adaptations that Harrison Ford was in. But, to be fair, Red October is probably the most faithful adaptation. Patriot Games was a close second, but it loses lots of points for making a prequel book in to a sequel movie, and for losing all the underlying subtext in the translation. And as much as it pains me to admit it, I feel that Alec Baldwin was a more fitting Jack Ryan than Harrison Ford.

Stand By Me – Originally a short story entitled “The Body” by Stephen King, this was one of my favorite movies growing up. And talk about taking the source material and expanding it to great success. Speaking of that formula…

The Shawshank Redemption – Another Stephen King short story adaptation, and one of the best movies ever.

Lord of the Rings – Collectively, they do pretty good justice to the books, enough that most fan boys weren’t complaining too much. Though believe me, complaining was to be had. Of course, Fellowship managed to zip by the most boring parts of the book. As my friend Ryan likes to put it, it was nothing but 50 pages of “the countryside is beautiful, but then it was night and the Dark Riders came, and we were scared, but then it was day and we were full of hope and the countryside is beautiful, but then it was night and the Dark Riders came…”

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – So far, the best adaptation, for my money. Lots of stuff included, though there were some disappointing things economically left out. But not as much as Goblet of Fire or Order of the Phoenix…not nearly as much as OotP. And the first two movies were way too schmaltzy, though I guess that’s okay for intro movies.

Get Shorty – Just edges Out of Sight for my favorite Elmore Leonard adaptation. I do believe Leonard himself said that it was the best adaptation of his books, style wise. John Travolta is a weird choice for Chili Palmer, if you’ve ever read the books, but the rest of the casting is pretty awesome. Especially Gene Hackman.

The Bourne Identity – I’ll readily admit that I haven’t been able to read the book all the way through. Something about Robert Ludlum’s style doesn’t agree with me. I guess that’s why the movie gets my nod for really good adaptation.

The Princess Bride – Talk about a movie capturing the tone of a book almost perfectly. The movie manages to fit both the reverential and satirical nature of the book. It might help that the author and screenwriter were the same.

Fight Club – One of those rare times where I thought the movie was better than the book, marginally. I think I liked the book ending better, but I couldn’t fault the movie makers for changing it. Kind of like The Firm. Lots of people went nuts when that movie came out and the entire ending was changed…but did you really want to see Tom Cruise copying files for 30 minutes?

Jaws – Definitely raised the quality of the source material. What was a passable novel became the original summer blockbuster. Was it fate that the mechanical shark wouldn’t work correctly so Spielberg was forced to keep it hidden most of the movie, making it much more suspenseful? How about the pitch perfect casting? Who knows, but it does work.

Well, that's it for me today, brothers and sisters. Excuse me, while I go continue being sick...it's been two weeks now, and the novelty has long ago worn off.