Which should you do first, watch it or read it? Stores like BookCloseouts.com and Borders.com are great resources for both the film and book versions of these classic movies you didn't know were books first. Several examples of this category of movies come to mind, but the six listed here are exceptionally popular.
1. "Cool Hand Luke"
Paul Newman stars as Luke in this popular film is based on the same titled 1965 book by author Donn Pearce. In the film adaptation, Newman portrays a prisoner in a prison camp who refuses to comply with the system.
The United States Library of Congress declared this film to be "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant" in 2005 when it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
2. "Bullitt"
This 1968 movie, starring Steve McQueen, brought the art of car chases to a new and exciting level as he searches the hills of San Francisco for the killers of a star witness in an important trial. This police thriller is based on a 1963 crime novel called "Mute Witness" by Robert L. Pike.
3. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
Wang Du Lu's 1941 novel, by the same title, depicts the story of four characters who live a life of adventure, revenge and betrayal while dealing with a double murder and the theft of the Green Destiny Sword. Of course, there is plenty of kung fu mixed in for good measure. The novel turned film is an adaptation of the fourth in a series of five novels that are collectively named the "Crane Iron Pentalogy." There are 14 chapters and 5,000 words in this particular book and the film runs 120 minutes. This film won four coveted Academy Awards in 2000, including Best Foreign Language Film.
4. "The Blue Lagoon"
Based on a 1908 novel by Henry De Ver Stacpoole with the same title, this movie is a romantic adventure. It is the story of two children marooned on an island in the South Pacific. Without any societal influences, the children, a boy and a girl, reach puberty and eventually fall in love. From there, they deal with unchartered human emotions and physical transformation.
5. "Shaft"
Author Ernest Tidyman created Shaft, a fictional character, in his 1971 novel by the same title and then followed with writing the film screenplay. On the cover of the paperback on which the film is based, it states that this story is, "Hotter than Bond, cooler than Bullitt." Shaft is a leather jacketed, pistol wielding guy who fights his way through New York to find the missing daughter of a black mobster.
6. "The Notebook"
Let's get to a real modern day book to film adaptation, "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks. Maybe you knew that this was a book first, but maybe you did not. This was Spark's first published novel in 1996. It is a heartfelt novel depicting a man reading a tale about love to his wife who suffers from Alzheimer's disease in a nursing home. It is a true romance novel which shows how love transcends time.
1. "Cool Hand Luke"
Paul Newman stars as Luke in this popular film is based on the same titled 1965 book by author Donn Pearce. In the film adaptation, Newman portrays a prisoner in a prison camp who refuses to comply with the system.
The United States Library of Congress declared this film to be "culturally, historically and aesthetically significant" in 2005 when it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
2. "Bullitt"
This 1968 movie, starring Steve McQueen, brought the art of car chases to a new and exciting level as he searches the hills of San Francisco for the killers of a star witness in an important trial. This police thriller is based on a 1963 crime novel called "Mute Witness" by Robert L. Pike.
3. "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"
Wang Du Lu's 1941 novel, by the same title, depicts the story of four characters who live a life of adventure, revenge and betrayal while dealing with a double murder and the theft of the Green Destiny Sword. Of course, there is plenty of kung fu mixed in for good measure. The novel turned film is an adaptation of the fourth in a series of five novels that are collectively named the "Crane Iron Pentalogy." There are 14 chapters and 5,000 words in this particular book and the film runs 120 minutes. This film won four coveted Academy Awards in 2000, including Best Foreign Language Film.
4. "The Blue Lagoon"
Based on a 1908 novel by Henry De Ver Stacpoole with the same title, this movie is a romantic adventure. It is the story of two children marooned on an island in the South Pacific. Without any societal influences, the children, a boy and a girl, reach puberty and eventually fall in love. From there, they deal with unchartered human emotions and physical transformation.
5. "Shaft"
Author Ernest Tidyman created Shaft, a fictional character, in his 1971 novel by the same title and then followed with writing the film screenplay. On the cover of the paperback on which the film is based, it states that this story is, "Hotter than Bond, cooler than Bullitt." Shaft is a leather jacketed, pistol wielding guy who fights his way through New York to find the missing daughter of a black mobster.
6. "The Notebook"
Let's get to a real modern day book to film adaptation, "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks. Maybe you knew that this was a book first, but maybe you did not. This was Spark's first published novel in 1996. It is a heartfelt novel depicting a man reading a tale about love to his wife who suffers from Alzheimer's disease in a nursing home. It is a true romance novel which shows how love transcends time.
