Some of the best movies are based on books, but there are a select few that stand out.

Books can provide solid foundations on which to base movies.

It can be challenging to effectively re-create the magic of books.

Dune

Image via Warner Bros.

The best movies based on books use the visual medium to expand on the source material.

Movies that are solid adaptations of books capture what made the source material so compelling to readers.

The story follows Zhivago as his life is thrown into chaos during and after the war.

Omar Sharif, Geraldine Chaplin, and Ralph Richardson in Doctor Zhivago

Image via MGM

The movie is based on the novel of the same by authorBoris Pasternak.

It is a sweeping historical epic that chronicles a pivotal moment in Russian history.

The movie fully fleshes out Dr. Zhivago’s character as a complex and flawed man.

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However, the movie is a fresh take on the story and is widely considered a classic.

The Wizard of Ozfeatures several key differencesfrom the book that make it its own unique story.

For example, the witches were described quite differently in the books.

Hannibal smirks and looking intently ahead in The Silence of the Lambs

Image via Orion Pictures

The story follows the March family.

Schindler was a member of the Nazi party before he ended up using his factory to rescue Jewish prisoners.

What makesSchindler’s Lista near-perfect adaptationof the source material is the fact that it expands on the source material.

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Like the book, the movie examines how massive the Nazi war machine was and how destructive it became.

Like the book, the movie follows the story of the Corleone family.

The novel was also adapted in 1985.Dune: Part Twowas released in 2024.

Dorothy holding Toto and looking up in The Wizard of Oz

Image via MGM

Duneis another example of a movie that makes its source material more accessible.

DirectorDenis Villeneuvetakes an in-depth and often complicated narrative and creates a visually stunning masterpiece.

Tolkien’sLord of the Ringstrilogy.

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This movie introduces Middle-earth and the journey of a team of misfits to defeat the forces of evil.

NEXT: 10 Drama Movies That Are Perfectly Directed, Ranked

Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) puts on a curse on Albert (Danny Glover) after finally standing up to him in ‘The Color Purple’ (1985).

Image via Amblin Entertainment

the color purple

Winona Ryder Claire Danes and Susan Sarandon on the cover of Little Women 1994

Image via Columbia Pictures

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Morgan Freeman as Red in The Shawshank Redemption

Image via Columbia Pictures

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Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) holds an object and looks distraught in Schindler’s List (1993).

Image via Universal Pictures

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Don Vito Corleone, played by actor Marlon Brando, crying in The Godfather.

Image via Paramount Pictures

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Duke Leto and Paul Atreides in Dune (2021) played by Oscar Isaac and Timothee Chalamet

Image via Warner Bros.

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Frodo, Sam, Merry, & Pippin in the mountains look to the distance in Fellowship of the Ring

Image via New Line Cinema

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Dune

The Lord of the Rings