Book vs Movie "Tier" List

I know that someone has already done a "Book vs Movie" post and someone has already made a "Tier List" post. But after reading both, I feel like this has to be done. Here's how this will work, I will start off with the best movie-worst book and I will make my way down to worst movie-best book. 

Best Movie - Worst Book: Star Wars. If anyone has actually read the Star Wars book series I will be amazed. The movies are just so much better. Epic battle scenes, special effects, loud noises, charismatic characters, complicated and exciting plot, and iconic secondary characters are what make the star wars movies as famous as they are. The movies are super popular and they have made such an impact but almost nobody knows they are based off of a book series. Sure the movie may have added most of the drama and plot but the book was the original concept. The one thing is...the book is terrible. I tried reading it and it seems like something written after the movie that tries to capture the exciting scenes but just can't. I read it as a child and it kind of ruined the first movie for me.

Honorable mentions: Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather (yep, this ones controversial, fight me), Forest Gump. I know there are so many more, if I tried to name them all that would be a whole blog post (btw, tell me if you want me to make my next post about them, I need ideas!).

Better Movie - Meh Book: Princess Bride. The princess bride movie is just great. With its wildly unrealistic characters and events and its awful special effects, it is a great and iconic movie. It has some amazing acting and all the characters are hilariously strange. The whole movie seems to be half a step away from reality and I love it. after I watched it and realized there was a book I immediately bought the book and started to read it. That was my mistake, the book is missing so many of the laugh points and iconic lines from the movie and without visuals of the characters, it just isn't as good. The plot goes so much slower so it ruins the whole vibe. Fortunately I didn't try to push through the book, I stopped about half way through. 

Basically Equal: Crazy Rich Asians. Yeah, the movie may be way more famous but the book is also quite good. Although the movie comes off as very lighthearted and fun, the book is more deep and complicated. There are many plot point form the book missing in the movie but I think that only plays to the movie's advantage as it give it more of a party vibe. I really enjoyed both even though they are totally different. Although I will say, it was really hard to keep track of the characters in the book, the visuals make it easier.

Honorable Mentions: One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, basically all Stephen King's stuff, The Lorax.

Meh Movie - Good Book: Harry Potter. Oh no, another blog post that mentions Harry Potter! Yes, another one, hear me out. The books are arguably some of the best books available (just ask any freshman who has to blog about literature!). But the movies seem cheaply made and pretty poorly acted. I know there are some iconic characters/actors/scenes in them but overall the books are just superior (although the author has a few problems). They have great writing and the plot is way better described. The visuals in the movie are really not helping anything, they were really disappointing compared to what I had imagined from the book.

Worst Movie - Best Book: Hunger Games. Why would you make such a bad movie to such a great book? Why!? The book was so good, I read it twice in three days. I loved the writing and the characters. The author leaves a lot to be imagined with the book and I am all for it. the characters are great, the plot is complicated yet always exciting and it is overall a good book. Also, don't bother with the sequel. The movie basically just takes half the plot and flushes it down the toilet, replaced my "dramatic" closeups of Jennifer Lawrence making that same dang face over and over again (if you know, you know). Somehow they managed to make the action scenes less exciting and engaging in the movie. It looks like they recorded the b-roll for the movie and then just stopped and added camera shake and stock dramatic music. 

Honorable Mentions: The Giver, The Lovely Bones, The Hobbit (not the Lord of the Rings), Dune, Eragon.

Thanks for reading!

Jesse