There has only ever been a short list of movies over time that have managed to impress the book fans with their attention and accuracy towards detail.
Many of them are scattered throughout the early days of cinema and include classics like “Gone with The Wind”, and “To Kill A Mockingbird”. The following, though, is a list containing five of the most accurate movies based on books, produced over recent decades.
1. No Country For Old Men
The Coen brother’s Oscar award-winning 2007 film is not only widely considered as one of the greatest films of the 21st Century, it is also considered to be one of the most book-accurate.
Based on the best-selling novel by Cormac McCarthy of the same name, and with powerful performances from actors Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, and Tommy Lee Jones, only a few scenes and characters were slightly altered. Otherwise, they generally play out almost verbatim to the words of the novel.
The talented Coen brothers would later claim that much of the script-writing process involved many tedious hours of taking turns holding the book open while the other wrote, lifting the dialogue and scenes directly from its pages.
2. Brokeback Mountain
Ang Lee’s controversial yet highly acclaimed romance starring Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger, is another movie that is viewed both as a brilliant piece of filmmaking, as well as being highly accurate to the source material.
Based on a short story of the same name by author E. Anne Proulx, the movie manages to capture the same spirit, yearning, and beauty, encapsulated in the authors words, and bringing it to screen.
3. Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
It is said that Johnny Depp’s transformation into a quirky and drug-addled young Hunter S. Thompson, the famous journalist and author of the novel by the same name as the movie, was apparently no easy task. Depp apparently spent months researching the role, going so far as to virtually live with the aged author for a time to study his quirks and mannerisms in-person.
Though recreating the psychedelic themes, the hilarious paranoia, as well as people, events, and locations of a by-gone era, had its challenges, most agree that this movie, by Terry Gilliam, did a brilliant job.
4. Mystic River
Another masterpiece of film directed by the great Clint Eastwood, Mystic River stars the renowned and talented lead cast of Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn. Sean Penn, in particular has been credited with a highly accurate portrayal of his character, the troubled ex-con, Jimmy, which he went on to win an Oscar for.
Otherwise, with the characters and screenplay in general, Eastwood is largely deemed to have nailed it, just like when you back a winner using the horse racing tips NZ offers.
5. Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone
Though virtually the entire Harry Potter film series can be included here, most will agree that the first movie adaptation based on the first book was a mind-bogglingly accurate piece of moviemaking. In fact, it was this accuracy that likely created much of the film franchises immediate and phenomenal success.