I was at the sister SwapaDVD site and got to thinking.  What was my favorite book to movie?  For me it's Stephen King's The Stand.  So, what's your favorite book conversion to movie? 

Hands down, no doubt about it, "Gone With The Wind".

Good question!  I am so often disappointed with the movies, but recently I did see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and I really liked it.  Sure they left a lot out, but it was so "easy" compared to the book.

The only thing I can think of at the moment is The Prestige. The movie was a little different than the book, but I enjoyed both. Oh, and The Princess Bride.

The Silence of the Lambs, for sure!

I am another vote for "Gone With The Wind"!

BBC's 1995 Adaptaion of Jane Austen's Persuasion. That's such a difficult book to turn into a movie, and they really did a beautiful job.

Silence of the Lambs, the Princess Bride, and Dances with Wolves were all great ones.  But my favorite was Last of the Mohicans. 

ETA:  I never loved the book.  I loved the love story in the movie better.  I realize that it is muchly changed from the book.

Gone with the Wind left out too many key characters and integral elements of the novel...

To Kill a Mockingbird however is a much different story

bringeroflight

Pride and Prejudice, the one with Keira Knightley.  (I've had many arguments with my friend about this)

CR

I'm going to have to go with The Stand also.   They changed a few things from the book, but Stephen King oversaw the script (and appeared in the mini-series) and it remained true to the book in essence.

1993's Last of the Mohican's is one of my absolute favorite movies.  BUT I don't even think it belongs in this category because the classic novel by the same name is nothing  like the movie.    Different characters die, different characters fall in love and it has a totally different focus.  The book is an adventure novel.  The movie is a love story.  Hollywood rewrote the story.

Also don't really think Gone With The Wind really belongs in this category either.  They didn't make major changes from the novel, but they changed enough.  Plus again the focus was different.  The focus in the book is on the culture of the South and Scarlett, Scarlett, Scarlett.  The focus in the movie is more on the romance between Scarlett and Rhett.   I love the move, and I loved the book also.

As for Pride and Prejudice, the best adaptation IMO is the BBC miniseries.   But the movie with Kiera Knightly gets points too.   In the movie, the actors are much closer in age to what the book was, and the cinimatagraphy was somewhat amazing.

The Princess Bride & Rosemary's Baby are both wonderful adaptations.

The Joy Luck Club and the Secret Life of Bees come to mind.  Both were great books and great movies.  Also, Chocolat and Like Water for Chocolate were pretty good too.

Lynne, I think the Last of the Mohicans was a much better story in the book that the 1993 movie version.  They changed the story alot.  It made much more sense in the book the way the story flowed.

I thought A Clockwork Orange was pretty good for book > movie, albeit still creepy!

If we include any live action adaptation I thought the Mists of Avalon was good!

Hands down, I have to say Disney's version of Bridge to Terabithia.  It's my absolute favorite book, and I was wary because I had heard reviews saying it wasn't true to the book at all.  But I was VERY pleasantly surprised once I finally watched it.  It was a while after the last time I read the book, but as far as I'm concerned, I only noticed one (not even key) part being left out at the very beginning.  Plus, there was dialogue that I remember specifically from the book.  It visualized wonderfully what Terabithia was to them, and I just downright loved it. :)

Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslett, and most importantly, ALAN RICKMAN (hubba hubba!)

Mary in KY

"Out of Africa" was my favorite, followed by "The Secret Life of Bees." I also loved the movie version of "A Passage to India" and Chocolat."   "House of Sand and Fog" was pretty good, too.  "The Jewel in the Crown" (BBC miniseries) was a good take on Paul Scott's "The Raj Quartet."  Forgive me for listing a BBC miniseries...you did ask for movies!!!

The first one I can think of off the top of my head is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I love the book and I thought the movie was a great adaptation-stayed true to the book while at the same time working very well cinematically speaking.

I love both books and movies for their individual qualities, and so am never really upset by a movie changing the book a lot because, well, they're two different mediums and have to be adapted differently. But this movie, I think, might be one of the best among the faithful adaptations.

+1 for The Prestige.

-1 for A Clockwork Orange because IMHO the movie only captures about half the bookxperience (new word, that).

And add The Unbearable Lightness of Being which, as a movie, is just about perfect.

Oh - I hope people can add more movies to this thread!  I am working on my Netflix Cue.  Sadly, very few ofthe movies mentioned are available for download.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy movies did not let me down!!  The movies followed the books fairly close.  I have read the trilogy many times, so I went to the first movie with a skeptical eye.  Loved them!!

Can't wait to see Water for Elephants; was such a good book!

Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier  Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 version with Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens the Masterpiece Theater series from the 70's

The Searchers by Alan LeMay 1956 directed by John Ford  with John Wayne, Ken Curtis, Harry Carey Jr, Natalie Wood, Ward Bond, Hank Worden

The Secret Garden The Hallmark Movie Presentation version

( I have not watched The Lord Of The Rings trilogy movies, I can't} I love the books to much

Lord of the Rings Trilogy...It isn't exactly like the books, but pretty true to the intent and the main story the author portrayed and all around enjoyable! LOTR is my favorite!

Cold Mountain.  Loved the movie, but I did not care for the book.