Dramas based on Books on Netflix
Last updated May 30, 2023
Forrest Gump
1994 | NR | 4.3 out of 5 StarsForrest Gump, a simpleminded man, finds himself in the middle of nearly every major event of the 1960s and '70s. Along the way, he makes friends, changes lives and yearns for his childhood sweetheart, Jenny.
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Apocalypse Now Redux
2001 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsFrancis Ford Coppola's 1979 masterpiece follows Capt. Willard as he journeys upriver during the Vietnam War in search of the mysterious, and totally insane, Col. Kurtz. This redux version has been reedited with new footage and a fade-to-black ending.
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Safe Haven
2013 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsThis adaptation of the novel by Nicholas Sparks centers on a mysterious woman who arrives in a small North Carolina town and begins a new life but remains haunted by the terrifying secret that prompted her to travel across the country.
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North & South
2004 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsWhen her father moves his family to an industrial mill town, the parson's daughter, Margaret Hale, struggles to adapt to her harsh new surroundings. This BBC series is based on the popular novel by Elizabeth Gaskell.
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North & South
2004 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsWhen her father uproots his family from their serene rural burg for an industrial mill town, parson's daughter Margaret Hale (Daniela Denby-Ashe) struggles to adapt to her harsh new surroundings in this BBC series based on Elizabeth Gaskell's novel. As her mother's health fails, Margaret throws herself into the fight for workers' rights and clashes with mill owner John Thornton (Richard Armitage). Sinead Cusack and Tim Pigott-Smith also star.
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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
2008 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsWhen his family moves to Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence, where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a Jewish prisoner, Bruno embarks on a dangerous journey.
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Winnie Mandela
2011 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsSouth Africa's Winnie Mandela, one of the most galvanizing public figures in modern history, comes to life in this absorbing biopic. Though it traces Winnie's whole story, the film hinges on the Apartheid-era imprisonment that would define her image.
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Masterpiece Classic: Great Expectations
2011 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsIn this lavish production of Charles Dickens's classic tale, orphan Pip's fortunes change when an anonymous patron takes an interest in him. Meanwhile, he becomes involved with eccentric Miss Havisham, who can't get over being left at the altar.
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Lonesome Dove
1989 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsIn this Emmy-winning made-for-television movie based on the Larry McMurtry bestseller, two former Texas Rangers leave Texas to settle land in Montana. Their plans are thwarted and helped along by a cast of characters that could only live out West.
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Imitation of Life
1959 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsLora, a white widow with a daughter, and Annie, a black single mother, move in together and face a huge challenge as they try to raise their children. Annie's daughter favors her light-skinned father and comes to resent her mother's black identity.
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Lonesome Dove
1989 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsLarry McMurtry's novel comes to life in this Emmy-winning made-for-television movie that centers on kindly Gus McCrae (Robert Duvall) and gruff Woodrow Call (Tommy Lee Jones), two former Texas Rangers who leave Lonesome Dove in the Lone Star State to settle land in Montana. Along for the journey are ex-scout Joshua (Danny Glover) and Call's bastard son, Newt (Rick Schroder). Diane Lane plays California-dreaming prostitute Lorena Wood.
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Masterpiece Classic: Great Expectations
2011 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsAn orphaned young man meets a convict in a cemetery and sets into motion a series of events that leads him from a life in his brother-in-law's forge to a mysterious inheritance and his acquaintance with the eerie Miss Havisham and her beautiful ward.
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Red Cliff: Theatrical Version
2008 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsWhen a warmongering prime minister advances his armies against two rival kingdoms, he unwittingly prompts his adversaries to work together, resulting in an epic battle by the sea involving more than 1 million soldiers.
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The Last of the Mohicans
1992 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsWhen rugged frontiersman Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis) saves the Munro sisters -- two newly arrived English settlers -- from a Huron ambush, he ends up in the midst of the battle between the British and the French for control of the American colonies. Director Michael Mann's first-rate production also stars Madeleine Stowe as the Munro sister who wins Hawkeye's heart, and Wes Studi as the Huron warrior who has a score to settle with her father.
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House of Cards Trilogy I (BBC): House of Cards
1990 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsConservative Party whip Francis Urquhart expects to be handed a high-level cabinet position upon the election of a new prime minister. When he's told he hasn't been promoted, Urquhart chooses to exact revenge by creating dissent within the party.
Details about House of Cards Trilogy I (BBC): House of Cards
Wives & Daughters
1999 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsFamily life changes drastically for the good-natured Molly Gibson when her widowed father decides to remarry and a woman with her own set of rules -- and a beautiful daughter -- becomes her stepmother.
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The Forsyte Saga: Series 2
2003 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsThe drama of the Forsyte clan continues with the next generation. Fleur, the daughter of Soames and Annette, and Jon, the son of Irene and Jolyon, first met as youngsters. Ten years later, they reunite and fall completely, disastrously in love.
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The Wave
2008 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsTo give his students a real-world example of how dictatorships can grow powerful, a high school teacher starts a social experiment that gives some of his students a strong advantage while leaving others subservient and powerless.
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The Forsyte Saga: Series 1
2002 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsThis epic miniseries follows the Victorian pride of the Forsytes through the scandals of the family's patriarch, Soames. His ways change when he sees his cherished daughter grow up to be a captivating young woman who carries on the family pride.
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Apocalypse Now
1979 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsDuring the Vietnam War, Capt. Willard is sent to Cambodia on a top-secret mission, where he journeys upriver in search of the mysterious Col. Kurtz. His instructions: terminate Kurtz, who's gone completely insane.
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Jesse Stone: Night Passage
2006 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsAfter hard-drinking Jesse Stone is hired as police chief of the idyllic seaside town of Paradise, Mass., it doesn't take long for him to uncover the dark side of Paradise in this made-for-TV movie based on the writings of Robert B. Parker.
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House of Cards Trilogy III (BBC): The Final Cut
1995 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsRuthless prime minister Francis Urquhart wants to leave his mark on the world before his term as the political leader of Great Britain ends. But skeletons in his closet keep raising their ugly heads and threaten to bring about his ruin.
Details about House of Cards Trilogy III (BBC): The Final Cut
House of Cards Trilogy (BBC)
1990 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsAfter he's passed up for a promotion, British politician Francis Urquhart vows to exact revenge on the system that's holding him back. Through charm and persuasion, Urquhart gains the trust of his colleagues while simultaneously undermining them.
Details about House of Cards Trilogy (BBC)
The Forsyte Saga
2002 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsThis epic miniseries follows the Victorian pride of the Forsyte clan through the scandals and mistakes of the patriarch, Soames. His ways change when he sees his cherished daughter grow into a captivating young woman who carries on the family pride.
Details about The Forsyte Saga
Wives & Daughters
1999 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsFamily life changes drastically for the good-natured Molly Gibson when her widowed father decides to remarry, and a woman with her own set of rules -- and a beautiful daughter -- becomes her stepmother.
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