Which movies are the best adaptations of books? Top seven revealed

From Harry Potter to Lord of the Rings, book fans love to see their favourite novels on the screen. There are millions of books to choose from, and some adaptations have certainly been more successful than others. The Book People have exclusively given Express.co.uk the lowdown on which adaptations are the best.

It is fair to say that most book fans are true to their literary loves – and tend not to favour the adaptations of their favourite stories.

However, in some cases, the adaptations seem to have just pipped their source material to the post.

According to exclusive research from The Book People, the television show Band of Brother is ranked the most highly by fans, and is considered to be better than the original source ‘Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest’ by Stephen E. Ambrose.

Game of Thrones, needless to say, came next, and was ranked higher than A Game of Thrones, the original novel from George R. R. Martin.

Epic movies The Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather were next in the rankings, which are considered to be better than both their original literary sources.

Next in the list is Sherlock, the famed TV adaptation starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, which just pipped the source material, The Complete Sherlock Holmes, to the post.

However, with no green light for another series of Sherlock, fans may need to turn to the books for solace and another dose of their favourite character.

Pride and Prejudice and Schindler’s List were also high on the list of top adaptations which were better than the original source material.

However, one film rated higher by fans than these was Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which was a major Oscar winner.

The film, while rated incredibly highly by book-loving fans, sadly did not quite beat its source material in terms of favour from fans, and in the end fans seem to opt for the book first.

This was also the case for The Two Tower, the second instalment in the LOTR franchise.

However, luckily for Frodo and the gang, the movie of The Fellowship of the Ring seemed to really impress fans, and the adaptation was ranked just higher than the original book by J. R. R. Tolkien.

Some movies far outranked their source material, with The Haunting of Hill House, Fight Club and Forrest Gump named as movies far more beloved their than written versions, while the Netflix series Mindhunter beat its book basis, Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit.

However, the margin is far smaller for some movies, such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Big Little Lies and The Silence of the Lambs, which were ranked as only slightly more favoured than the original books.

Some highly ranked adaptations sadly did not manage to beat their original text, however, with Elizabeth Gaskell’s North and South, The Green Mile and Lonesome Dove beating their TV and movie versions.

For those who are looking for a strong movie version of their favourite book, Band of Brothers, and The Shawshank Redemption are ranked highest among fans, while TV watchers may prefer to curl up with a bit of Game of Thrones.

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