19 Films That Completely Ignored Their Source Material But Are Still Pretty Good

"It’s almost nothing like the book, but it's amazing on its own."

When people talk about movie adaptations, everyone wants to know if they stuck to the source material. But a faithful adaptation isn't necessarily a good movie, and vice versa.

Paramount Pictures

^^The Godfather is wildly different from its source material, but it still slaps. A hot take, I know. 

So, when Reddit user u/Landithy asked the wonderful people of r/movies, "What movies are "bad" adaptations of their source material, but good in their own right?", I knew I had to round up some of the best responses.

1. Forrest Gump, based on the novel Forrest Gump by Winston Groom.

Paramount Pictures, Doubleday

"I would say Forrest Gump. Gump is basically a completely different person in both. If the movie went the way of the book, I don't think it would have done so well."  

– u/Knightseason

"The book is terrible. Going to space and crash landing on an island with a monkey. I think he was a math savant in the book too, that's why he went to space."

– u/Chatty_Monkey_Don

2. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, based on the novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.

Warner Bros., Scholastic

"It completely differs from the book, tone wise, and the characters somewhat miss context. Roald Dahl actually left the project because of the changes." 

– u/Elegant_Chemist253

"Gene Wilder's inspiring performance makes it into a wonderful film, albeit unfaithful in significant ways." 

– u/francisdavey

3. Bladerunner, based on the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick.

Warner Bros., Doubleday

"I was surprised with how little I enjoyed Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. It was like five really good novel ideas all slapped together in one short novel, instead of each idea being given room to breathe." 

– u/Earthpig_Johnson

"Just about any big budget Phillip K. Dick adaptation is going to butcher the source material but still be a really good movie. Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep), Total Recall (We Can Remember it for You Wholesale), Minority Report (Minority Report). All quite different from the source material but still really great movies."

– u/DrQuestDFA

4. Jurassic Park, based on the novel Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.

Universal Pictures,  Alfred A. Knopf

"It doesn't stray too too far from Crichton's themes, but Crichton was a very high concept author, and Spielberg was able to bring a huge amount of emotional resonance that wasn't in the original source material." 

– u/yeahsuresoundsgreat

"It’s almost nothing like the book, but it's amazing on its own. In fact I was a kid when I first saw the movie, then borrowed the book from someone. I was in for a shock to say the least." 

– u/Eebo85

5. World War Z, based on the novel World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks.

Paramount Pictures, Crown

"If World War Z were called anything else, it would have been received as a good zombie action film, most people rated it harshly because they felt deceived (which is understandable)." 

– u/Aquametria

"I remember seeing Max Brooks give a talk years ago at a comic con and he was saying that he was nervous about about them adapting World War Z... until he saw the film and realised it was barely an adaptation and bore practically no resemblance to his book!"

– u/dame_sansmerci

6. V for Vendetta, based on the limited-series comic V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, David Lloyd, and Tony Weare.

Warner Bros., DC Comics

"V For Vendetta takes only superficial plot points from the original comic book, but it is still a great movie on its own."

– u/Jai137

7. Watchmen, based on the comic book series Watchmen by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins.

Paramount Pictures, DC Comics

"It is able to contain only a fraction of the psychological terror and emotion (especially with what happens between Laurie, her mother, and her father) you feel in the graphic novel. But, on its own, I find it to be a pretty solid superhero movie. There's lots to criticise with it even still, but without the novel to stand behind it, is it really that bad? I argue it's not."

– u/SomethingAboutUsers

8. The Count of Monte Cristo (2002), based on The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.

Buena Vista Pictures, Penguin

"A lot of people like the movie, but it only resembles the book for the first third. The main protagonist in the movie is nothing like the main protagonist in the book."

– u/CaveThinker

"I like to describe it as a great Count of Monte Cristo-flavored swashbuckler but it's not a good adaptation of the novel. Admittedly, you'd need three or four 10-episode seasons to do the full story justice so I'll never expect a movie adaptation to be able to do it all. But my gripe with the 2002 version is that it ends in a way that throws out the entire point of Dumas' novel."

– u/Daggmaskar

"It remains both my favorite movie and my favorite book, and people are always baffled that I can separate the two."

– u/herman-the-vermin

9. Batman (1989), based on the DC character Batman, created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.

Warner Bros., DC Comics

"Batman (1989) is a pretty terrible adaptation of the comics in terms of accuracy. Batman kills people. Joker has an established, defined backstory which was always kept ambiguous in the comics. Joker killed Batman’s parents. Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent are extremely minor side characters who Batman barely interacts with. But, it doesn’t really matter because it’s a great movie anyway."

– u/camtheredditor

10. Howl's Moving Castle, based on the novel Howl's Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones.

Toho, Harper Collins

"Howl’s Moving Castle completely diverged from the original novel and took a lot of liberties with the characters and story, but it makes its way to a lot of people’s top Ghibli movies with good reason."

– u/yellowdocmartens

"Diana Wynne Jones was one of my favourite authors growing up, so I was very excited for the movie. It’s still a good film, but it's very, very different from the book."

– u/AcknowledgeableReal

11. Breakfast at Tiffany's, based on the novella Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote.

Paramount Pictures, Random House

"Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a great film but it’s very unlike the book. There is no requited romance in the book but in the film Paul (he doesn’t have a name in the book) and Holly do end up together. And Holly is a far sadder character in the book, her backstory is the same in the film but it’s more in depth and in the book. Holly is a traumatised girl who’s searching for happiness and never really finds it."

– u/RandomUsername600

12. Children of Men, based on the novel The Children of Men by P.D. James.

Universal Pictures, Faber and Faber

"Cuaron didn't even bother reading Children Of Men. Still the best sci-fi movie of the century." 

– u/chazooka

"Children of Men, the book, was pretty lackluster. It was impressive what was made from the bones of its story."

– u/DrQuestDFA

13. Scott Pilgrim vs the World, based on the graphic novel series Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley.

Universal Pictures, Oni Press

"The movie is good. the director nailed the comedic/action. But is really different from the graphic novels. Both are amazing." 

– u/forever_alone_06

14. How To Train Your Dragon, based on the book series How To Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell.

DreamWorks Pictures, Hodder Children's Books

"It's a very different story, with massive shifts in character – the big diversion being Toothless himself, a pathetic wimp in the books, but one of the strongest breed of dragon in the film. For me it massively shifts the underlying message, although the film, on its own, is just fine."

– u/Mondored

15. Ella Enchanted, based on the novel Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine.

Miramax, HarperTrophy

"A charming little kids movie romp that has absolutely nothing to do with the book aside from the concept of her obedience curse. The creative licence is off the charts, but I can’t even be mad at it cuz it’s such a fun time." 

– u/WDTHTDWA-BITCH

16. Frankenstein (1931), based on the novel Frankenstein, or, the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley.

Universal Pictures, Penguin

"James Wale’s Frankenstein is very different from the book. Both are great. But for those who haven't read the book, there's one major difference; the monster delivers a 30-page monologue and is very chatty in the novel. In the movie, he can barely grunt."" 

– u/jwalner

17. Chocolat, based on the novel Chocolat by Joanne Harris.

Miramax,  Doubleday

"Chocolat the movie is a light-hearted, magical and romantic movie that focuses on sweets and food and is really wholesome and uplifting. Chocolat, the novel, is much darker. The mother has a mental illness and mistreats the daughter. The daughter deliberately does things to make her mother’s illness worse. The vicar (or mayor?) semi-accidentally kills someone. It’s really dark and totally different in tone to the film."

– u/winoforever_slurp_

18. A Clockwork Orange, based on the novel A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.

Columbia Pictures, MPenguin

"Enjoy the movie but they changed a lot, including just removing the book’s ending in favor of the movie’s more ambiguous ending." 

– u/ericdraven26

"The movie ends at the second to last chapter of the book and that last chapter completely recontextualises the overall message and themes. It's a far more interesting and hopeful ending, though I do love the movie in many ways too."

– u/dentalplan24

19. Coraline, based on the novel Coraline by Neil Gaiman.

Focus Features, Bloomsbury and HarperCollins

"I love the movie, but it is rather different than the book in some key ways: The book is set in England, not the Pacific Northwest of America. Wybie is an entirely new character introduced just for the film. The fight with the Other Father is different; he's a somewhat bumbling pumpkin in the film, but in the book he's a giant bug that Coraline blinds and then sneaks away from. Both are good, but in different ways. I actually prefer the film, but the book isn't bad either - just different."

– u/AurelianoTampa

Shoutout to u/Landithy and everyone in r/movies!

Note: submissions have been edited for length/clarity.

What other movies ignored their source material, but still pulled it off? Tell us about them in the comments.