The 12 Best Novel-to-Film Adaptations

Need to watch movies that will not waste your time? Here are the twelve best novel-to-film adaptations you need to see.

A Clockwork Orange
Inspired by the book penned by Anthony Burgess, it features the delinquent Alex who leads a gang in a dystopian Britain.

Blade Runner
This film is largely based on Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? a novel by Philip K. Dick. Blade Runner is set in Los Angeles where the replicants, genetically engineered creatures, are nearly identical to humans. These replicants are banned and hunted by the Blade Runners.

Catch-22
Adapted from the novel by Joseph Heller, it details the struggles of Captain Yossarian and his squad while they are trapped in Pianosa and asked to complete suicide missions. Even insanity will not be enough to offer an escape from their tasks.

Devil in a Blue Dress
Based on Walter Mosley’s novel, it features Easy Rawlins, a war veteran who becomes a private investigator even if he had no training or experience. Rawlins’s first mission was to find a missing woman.

Empire of the Sun
Taken from J.G. Ballard’s novel, this adaptation chronicles the story of Jim Graham who became a prisoner of war in World War II.

Lord of the Flies
There are two films based on William Golding’s novel of the same title. The first was released in 1963 which faithfully follows the book about 30 boys trapped in an island, while the second film focuses on the child Ralph.

Nineteen Eighty-Four
Taken from the dystopian novel by George Orwell, it details the life of Winston Smith who is trying to make sense of his life in the totalitarian state of Oceania. His life changed when he met Julia and they start questioning the state.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Inspired by the book written by Ken Kesey, it tells the story of the criminal Randle McMurphy who was transferred to a mental hospital and is hoping to avoid menial labor and eventually plans an escape.

The Godfather
The first installment of the of the series of the same name by Mario Puzo is about the Corleone family who became well-known in organized crimes after the eldest son took over.

The Remains of the Day
Based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, it recalls the story of the butler Stevens during post-war Britain when he received a letter from Miss Kenton.

To Kill a Mockingbird
Based on the novel of the same title by Harper Lee, it features the lawyer Atticus and his two children who are exposed to a fictional town’s idea of racism when Atticus was appointed to defend a black man accused of rape.

Watership Down
Inspired by the novel of the same title by Richard Adams, this animated film tells the story of Fiver and Hazel who are trying to convince their fellow rabbits of Fiver’s vision of an apocalypse.