Best movies based on books

If you are one of those who always says that the book is better than the movie, you are not right and, with this list of the 21 best movies based on books , even you will not be able to fault these adaptations. As you will see, there is everything, but that everything is excellent. From YA novels to science fiction and fantasy to literary classics, this is a list for moviegoers who also love to read.

Literature and cinema have a love story that has given rise to true masterpieces. Two arts that influence each other to do, in the best way, what we humans have had inside us since the beginning of time: tell stories.

Best movies based on books

For the tribute they deserve, these 21 best movies based on books have to be in your library and your memory.

And, in addition, we bring them to you classified for all tastes, starting with those of the youngest.

The best movies based on children’s books

The juvenile novel and the young adult live a sweet time. They are the perfect gateway to love the books and these movies are excellent adaptations of the genre.

The Hunger Games Saga (2012)

Películas de los Juegos del Hambre

Without a doubt, one of the highest-grossing sagas and one that influenced all the other films, which also began to adapt youth books framed in dystopian futures.

If it’s your genre, reject imitations and join Jennifer Lawrence on her quest to become the Mockingjay and defeat the evil Capitol.

Both the books and the movie saga were a mass phenomenon and, within this type of adaptation, it is the best.

The Neverending Story (1984)

Michael Ende’s classic was not easy to translate to the big screen, but the truth is that he succeeded very well with a film that preserves its soul when it comes to turning pages into frames.

The same cannot be said for most.

Surely you already know the story, but if not, it is a classic from the 80s that tells us about the adventures of Bastian trying to save the world of Fantasy from darkness. It will soften that heart of stone you think you have.

The Book Thief (2013)

The Book Thief novel is a best-selling novel by Markus Zusak that would be adapted into an Oscar-nominated film.

It was a critical and commercial success and it deserves it. One of those youth novels, within the genre of the Nazi occupation, like The boy in the striped pajamas , which stands out above the rest.

The story of a young woman and her German adoptive family, who begins to share books with a Jewish refugee, moved us and deserves a place on this list.

The Harry Potter Saga (2001)

Without a doubt, the most famous saga of children’s literature, brought with care and success to the big screen in a series of films with a legion of followers.

Harry Potter is a worldwide phenomenon that never ends . New generations of kids discover their love for books and movies thanks to this saga and, for that alone, it has a place here. But he also deserves it because he hasn’t had a bad movie.

A rarity that combines quality and success.

The Chronicles of Narnia (2005)

The film saga is based on a series of novels by writer CS Lewis and spans 3 films with spectacular production design, impeccable visual effects, and powerful acting.

Not only did it garner critical acclaim, it was a box office smash , collectively grossing over $1.5 billion .

In case you don’t know what it’s about, it tells the story of four children who travel through a wardrobe to the legendary world of Narnia. There, they will have to fulfill their destiny, liberate the place with the help of a mystical lion.

Best movies based on fantasy and science fiction books

The favorite genres in El Ouput could not be missing with their own section that includes not only some of the best films of these styles, but also some of the best films in history in general.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001)

Lord of the Rings characters

What can be said about The Lord of the Rings trilogy that hasn’t already been said? Which is probably the best movie saga and proof that, after all, a book that seemed impossible could be brought to the big screen.

Frodo, Sam, Gandalf and company in the greatest adventure that influenced all the rest of the genre , both in literature and in cinema.

The Princess Bride (1987)

The definitive cult classic . Rob Reiner adapted William Goldman’s novel in which a young man named Wesley embarks on an adventure to reunite with the love of his life, Princess Buttercup .

Along the way he will meet a giant, a Spaniard who wants to avenge his father, and many duels of wit and sword.

You know you are facing one of the best movies based on books when, so long after, it has given birth to something as fundamental to the culture as a good handful of memes.

Dunes (2021)

Another one of those books that was impossible to adapt, and more after David Lynch’s attempt in the 80s. However, Denis Villeneuve succeeds and with a note, placing himself as an instant classic of contemporary science fiction .

We look forward to the second part, but for now, its enormous sense of scale and the adaptation to the screen of a world as unique as that of Dune , make this another of the best movies based on books.

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Stanley Kubrick signs another cult film to adapt Anthony Burgess’s 1962 novella. If you haven’t read it, good luck, it’s not easy.

However, the adaptation is relatively faithful and becomes another classic that went down in history and is still current in popular culture , even after so much time.

BladeRunner (1982)

Original Blade Runner Poster

A myth of science fiction signed by Ridley Scott, which is based on the novel by another legend of the genre: Philip K. Dick. Its original title, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? it’s certainly less epic than Blade Runner , a term invented just short of on the fly.

Its setting is second to none and it promised us a dark and cyberpunk future , with androids and planetary colonies, which has not yet arrived. In exchange for that absence of flying cars, we have Facebook.

Best movies based on other books

That the cinema has been able to adapt novels of all genres, in a way as masterful (or more) than that of the books on which they are based, is demonstrated by these 11 more classics that every movie buff must have seen .

Schindler’s List (1993)

Spielberg ‘s best film for many is also based on a book by Thomas Keneally, Schindler’s Ark . One of those films that warn us that we cannot repeat history and, by the way, it ends with the Kleenex that we have on hand.

The story of Oskar Schindler, a member of the Nazi party who tries to save as many Jews as he can , moved us and the Academy, taking 7 Oscars and many other awards. A classic already.

Trainspotting (1996)

The ’90s is Trainspotting , set in an Edinburgh before tourists and gentrification gobbled it up…and cleaned it up. The film that launched Ewan McGregor to stardom and marked a generation , and many other films, with its rhythm, its use of music and those scenes… Yes, those, the one with the toilet or the one with the baby.

Based on the acclaimed first novel by Irvine Welsh, it follows the lives of Renton and his friends, born on the fringes of life and left with no other stimulus than another fix, another binge…another petty crime to continue a cycle they don’t know about. they will come out

To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Gregory Peck gives an Oscar-winning performance as Atticus Finch , which is based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning book .

Harper Lee sold more than 30 million copies of his novel, a classic that was brought to the screen with great fidelity, in one of those films that you have to see if you really like movies.

Life imprisonment (1994)

Life imprisonment

The best movie set in a Stephen King book is not horror, far from it. Based on the novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption , the film went unnoticed at the box office.

However, with television reruns and DVD sales, it ended up taking the place it deserves. In fact, it’s not only the best movie based on a book according to Imdb users, it’s considered the best movie by that historic movie community, period .

Fight Club (1999)

Can a movie be better than the book it’s based on? Of course . It’s rare, but it’s also not something that hasn’t happened more than once. An example is this phenomenal adaptation of the Chuck Palahniuk novel by David Fincher .

Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter in another one of those movies that leaves an indelible mark on popular culture. Little more to say, because you already know the first rule of fight club.

The Godfather (1972)

The problems of The Godfather

Mario Puzo’s novel was brought to the screen by Francis Ford Coppola in what is considered one of the best films in history , whether it is based on a book or not.

Marlon Brando gave a legendary performance, in such an important film, that it influenced the mafia itself , which adapted many of the things that appeared in the film to their ways of being and acting, and not the other way around.

Yes really.

As you can see, within the best movies based on books there is always something for all tastes. From epic adventures, to dramas of preparing the tissue box. And it is that literature and cinema have always gone hand in hand in a relationship that has brought out, as in these examples, the best of both arts.