Movie adaptions

Is there a book you really loved that was subsequently turned into a movie? Did it live up to your expectations? Why or why not?

There's no straight answer to this, because some did, some didn't, and some far exceeded my expectations - so I'm going to split up my answers in Yes, No and Somewhat, and give examples for each.

No

Twilight Yes, I'll admit it, I adore the books. However, the first movie was a huge disappointment, and I haven't even seen New Moon yet. I just don't think Kristin Stewart(?) is a very good actress, and not only do I not find RP at all attractive, I serious disagree with the way he acts Edward (I was going to call him a bad actor too, until I saw an interview with him - he's actually pretty brilliant!) Such a shame.

The 3rd Anne Movie I'm not sure which Anne book they thought they were making a movie adaption of, but it SUCKED. I'm seriously wondering if Sullivan even read any of the later books.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Sorry. It just didn't work for me.

The Golden Compass I did like the way they portrayed the compass, but that was pretty much the only thing I liked. I don't know how they managed to get it THAT wrong, but they did.

Somewhat

Prince Caspian Caspian was far too old, and I disliked both the powerstruggle between him and Peter and using him as a love interest for Susan. Other than that I loved it - especially the description of the kids' return to Narnia.

Harry Potter - all of them. They are good, but could never live up to the books. Although some of the characters are EXCELLENTLY cast (Snape and Prof. McG in particular)

Yes

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe They did a magnificent job on this one. I was so worried if it could live up to my expectations, and it far surpased them. Well done! :)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory I didn't care much for the B-plot about Wonka's father, but otherwise I loved it. It was just as magical as the book.

The Lord of the Rings Of course it helps that I didn't care for the books much ;) I thought the movies quite well done though, so while they'll never become favourites, they did live up to my expectations in that they weren't boring either ;)

The Millenium trilogy I was very interested in seeing HOW they'd manage to turn these into movies - especially The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets' Nest - but they did an excellent job. Once again movies that surpassed my expectations.


... I'm probably missing some really obvious ones, but that's all I can think of right now. Other movie adaptions I either saw the movie first (like P&P, Traveling Pants and the Ya-Ya Sisterhood) or I didn't care much for the book in the first place (like The Jane Austen Book Club, Stardust and Bridget Jones)