This is my
list of what I consider to be the best adaptations of science fiction/fantasy
books to screen. These are in no particular order because if I tried to rank
them, my rankings would change with my moods or what I had last seen or other
unimportant motivators. Also, this is my list. It is not your list. Your list
is going to be different than mine, and that’s okay. This is not a list of my
favorite sci-fi/fantasy films (though some of them are on this list). It is not
a list of my favorite sci-fi/fantasy books that have been made into films. This
list is all about how good the adaptation was. As excellent as it is, you won’t
find 2001: A Space Odyssey on the list because the film and the book were a
joint project. The film was not an adaptation of the book. In order for it to
be on my list I had to have both read the book and seen the movie or series.
So, much as I loved the movie The Martian, I can’t put it on my list
because I haven’t read Andy Weir’s book (note to self: read The Martian). There are a lot of great films that fall into
this category. So, of those that I have read and seen, here is the list:
A Boy
and His Dog
(1975) based on the novella by Harlan Ellison
Harlan
Ellison knew a thing or two about social satire, and the filmmaker L.Q. Jones
make sure to maintain that element in the story. In fact, I watched this film as
part of a sociology class in college. Even though this movie was not a great
success at the box office, it inspired others, namely the Mad Max
series, the video game Fallout and I think certain aspects of Firefly. In this post-apocalyptic tale, the film stays
fairly true to the novella. The same . . . interesting ending is in both. A boy loves his dog.
Blade
Runner (1982) based on the book Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By
Phillip K. Dick.
This one is
quite a bit different from the book. But Ridley Scott knows how to tell a tale cinematically.
And not every well written book translates well into film. Scott and the
screenwriters wove a mix of original material and new material into a taut
cohesive mindblower.
The
Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001, 2002, 2003) based on the trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien.
People had been trying to make films about Tolkien’s work for decades, and it just didn’t
work. The story was so grand in scope that it came to be considered unfilmable.
Good thing nobody told that to Peter Jackson. He managed to capture the
grandeur and scope of the original story, keeping in the most important parts.
(I am less impressed with his adaptation of The Hobbit).
Total
Recall (1990)
based on the Story “We Can Remember it for you Wholesale” by Phillip K.
Dick.
Yes, another
Phillip K. Dick story. Hollywood loves making movies of his work, but they
don’t always do a good job adapting them. I could have put Minority Report on
this list, which is a good looking movie, but the short story is so
superior to the movie (it actually made sense) that I just couldn’t do it.
Total Recall however is an entertaining thriller. The movie does a good job of taking
what could have been complex concepts and makes them understandable.
Soylent
Green (1973)
based on the novel Make Room, Make Room by Harry Harrison.
Director
Richard Fleischer and screenwriter Stanley R. Greenberg take Harrison’s story,
setting and situation and completely rework it. The movie is a different kind
of story from the book. The book is more introspective, exploring the personal
costs for living in an overpopulated world. The Movie is more focused on the Police
officer played by Charleton Heston, and a conspiracy. But it works. I have to
say, I think Edward G. Robinson gives the finest performance of his long career
in this, his final movie.
Game
of Thrones (Television
series 2011 to 2015-ish) based on the first five books of The Song of Ice and Fire series by
George R.R. Martin
I am ignoring the
last two or three seasons because those books haven’t come out yet. So just
judging this series as far as the books go, it is an excellent adaptation. They
do take a lot of liberties with the story and move events around so it is hard
to pick an exact point where the series leaves the books behind. I don’t always
agree with the choices made by the show runners, but overall it is a compelling
and thrilling adaptation of the first five books of the series. (I had some big-time
problems with the final season, but for the reasons mentioned above, the final few
seasons are not part of this list.)
The
Thing (1951)
Based on the novella Who Goes There? By John W. Campbell
Quite a bit
different than the novella, it is nonetheless a tense nail-biter. I did an
earlier blog about it. The John Carpenter version from 1982 is much closer to
the original story and I have heard it is excellent, but I have not seen the
whole thing, just bits and pieces of it, so I can’t put it on my list yet (Note
to self: watch Carpenter’s The Thing)
Annihilation (2018) based on the novel by Jeff
VanderMeer
In this one, the book is definitely better than the movie. But they did a good job of
bringing out that creepy feel that is in the book.
Dave (1993)
Yes, the
movie with Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver. They don’t credit him, but I am
going to say they got the idea for this movie from Robert A. Heinlein’s novel Double
Star. I also suspect the movie Moon Over Parador (1988) was inspired
by the same story, but again, no credit to Heinlein. Dave is the superior movie
of the two. Even though it removed all of the sci-fi aspects, I am going to
include it on the list.
The
Fly (1986)
based on the short story by George Langelaan
I like the
1986 movie better than the 1958 movie. David Cronenberg knows how to get all
weird and twisty. It’s kind of his thing. He injects the right mix of horror
and pathos into this frightening tale. Jeff Goldblum never looked so good, or
so bad.
That is my
list (so far). This being said, there are a large number of great science fiction and fantasy stories that have been make into terrible movies and
television. Still others that have been made into movies that are just okay. Maybe
I should do a list of those: “Books that deserved better!” But I probably
won’t. Just trust the fact that usually (not always) the book is better than
the movie, and keep reading.
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