Can great books be turned into great films?

I’m sure we’ve all heard of the latest phenomenon of Twilight, I’m sure there is an equal measure of people groaning as there is cheering out there at the mention of “Twilight” however I can’t help but wonder-who and how many of these fanatics were there at the beginning? -That is before the films came into view. I must say at this point in time I was reading the books; and did in fact finish them before the film was made. However barely anyone I knew had actually read or heard of these books which gave us the more commercialised genre of dark fantasy. I knew of three people who had read the books in my year-and we loved them. They were new and so original, now the genre’s everywhere we look! You can’t go a day without seeing either Mr Pattinsons pale vampire face or the new vampire trend that was originally expected to be found in the gothic area of writing or horror films.

However the films created an enormous impact on dark fantasy-be it for the better or worse depending on your personal opinion- and shone a light to the modern love stories.  The films themselves got so much publicity for having potential for its originality and encouraged people to read the series, but this is where I wonder; in watching the film first-did it make the book something different? As always films cut out pieces of the story, to some this may not seem important; however to those who read these books and fell in love with how the characters were portrayed and how their actions meant something within the story and defined who they were-it seemed wrong not to have these parts.

Films do cut out pieces of the story, and do edit the script and minor areas of the book-but does this destroy it completely? I found myself very disappointed in the films. If the books had not existed-or I read them after I would have probably had a different opinion, but in having such high expectations the films were ruined for me. I have found this with quite a few books, either character and actor misplacement-at least in the opinion of the fans- or the budget holding it back, something just doesn’t feel quite right. I believe our imagination is a powerful thing; maybe it’s just not how we pictured everything being-but there is always one person which forces multiple books and story lines/books together to leave us screaming “What have you done!” I would like to ask, what do you think? Does a film ruin a book? I am worried that the series I have fallen in love with will be destroyed now it’s in the final stages before filming and turn into a something that is totally misjudged or misinterpreted.

Ty x