Top 10 Unfaithful Movie Adaptations

This adventure flick follows a teen tasked to gather seven Dragon Balls and was adapted from the famous "Dragon Ball" manga of the ‘80s and ‘90s. While it didn't stray as far from its source material as the other entries on this list, the movie was still heavily criticized for a storyline that didn't go into detail like the Japanese comic, and its casting of a white actor for the main character Goku. "Dragon Ball" creator Akira Toriyama later revealed that the studio had no interest in his ideas, and he views the film as an inferior product to his manga.

This film follows the titular troopers as they fight aliens, so you know there's going to be some war themes in it. Director Paul Verhoeven apparently read the first few pages of the Robert A. Heinlein novel and then made his own story around that, rather than follow the original storyline. Though the novel had been heavily criticized for promoting fascism and military rule, the film completely changed the tone and instead satirizes those topics, creating a strong anti-fascist message and changing the sci-fi story’s point of view.

This Ridley Scott classic about biorobotic androids known as replicants that are hunted and killed was adapted from Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" - and the title isn't the only thing that was changed. The film has always been considered a very loose adaptation, with characters that have been added and omitted, and different story points from the novel. Initially disappointed with the original script, Dick grew to not trust Hollywood, until he was sent a rewrite that he said captured the visual style of his novel perfectly.

A reimagining of the classic Japanese film, the 1998 version of "Godzilla" follows the titular monster as it causes destruction in New York. However, unlike the classic original, this film was heavily criticized for its depiction of Godzilla, with critics and audiences alike hating the radically different visual design of the monster and its new characteristics, including its tendency to run from confrontation. Film writer Dean Devlin admitted he "screwed up" Godzilla. In recent years, the creature has become recognized as a standalone monster rather than a version of Godzilla called Zilla.

This Tom Hanks classic about a man who mostly inadvertently attends many of history's most important moments is just fine for family viewing, but that’s more than we can say about the novel. For instance, the film version of “Forrest Gump” omits many of the titular protagonist's adult characteristics such as his sexual escapades and his penchant for profanity. It also excludes the detail that he is an idiot savant and cut out scenes from the novel like the one involving cannibals. While the Winston Groom novel is just as heartwarming, it is definitely for a more mature audience than the Robert Zemeckis-directed romantic comedy drama.

Another masterpiece, this ‘80s psychological horror film is still an unfaithful adaptation that has drawn severe criticism from its creator, Stephen King. While Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove" is also an absurd adaptation, "The Shining" is definitely more infamous. Both the novel and the film follow a family as they are secluded in a hotel while the father goes crazy, but that's about it. The movie omitted many scenes from the novel, and changed the entire ending. Kubrick was more about style than story, and it drew heavy criticism from King, who said he was extremely disappointed in the final result.

This film is adapted from the animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender," and features a young child that is the living embodiment of the Avatar, a being that can control the elements. Fans were so upset at the story and character changes in this M. Night Shyamalan-directed flick that that they widely panned the movie. There were simply too many deviations and too much butchering of the source material, with many fans claiming it to be a terrible movie that didn't do the complex story justice. Critics didn’t like it much either; citing too much of a focus on special effects and spectacle over the story.

This isn't the first adaptation of Richard Matheson's famous novel, but it is arguably the loosest. Both the book and the 2007 sci-fi horror flick follow a man named Robert Neville as he tries to survive as the last man alive, but in the novel, he's hiding from vampires, whereas in the film, they're mutated humans that have super strength and agility. Perhaps most notorious about the film adaptation is the ending change, which also completely alters the meaning of Matheson's novel. Instead of a bleak realization about his own mythic-ness, the movie slaps a sorta-happy ending on with Neville becoming humanity's savior.

Adapted from the famous Super Mario Bros. video game, this movie follows Mario and Luigi in live action as they rescue Luigi's love interest Princess Daisy. That's right, no Princess Peach. Instead of the game's innocent, colorful fun, the movie's setting is a bleak and dystopic world, complete with grotesque reptilian creatures and weird makeup effects. Aside from the brothers, there's very little that transferred over from the game, and those elements that were proved to be a huge disappointment - see the awful Goombas. This ‘90s sic-fi fantasy was a dark and absurd mess that proved too weird for game fans.

Before we unveil our number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

"Stardust" (2007)

"Where the Wild Things Are" (2009)

"The Lawnmower Man" (1992)

"Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat" (2003)

"Bourne" franchise (2002-)

Fans of the movie reading the Max Brooks novel for the first time and vice versa are bound to be disappointed, as there are few, if any, similarities between the action horror flick and the apocalyptic horror book. While they both follow a worldwide zombie outbreak, the novel explores this from numerous points of view and people from different cultures. By contrast, the movie simply follows one man as he tries to find a cure. There are no characters that carry over, and the film's story is entirely original. Fans call this "World War Z" in name only, and we can't help but agree with them.

Do you agree with our list? What adaptation do you think was the most unfaithful? For more original top tens published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.