Movies that are better than the book

[Djmac1031]

Oh, here's one:

Fight Club.

Not that the book isn't good. Because it is. But the film is better, especially with the twist reveal ending.

 

[AchtungNight]

Forrest Gump. The movie held my attention. The book, not so much.

 

[EmilyMiller]

The book of the movie.

Oh and there were several great sequels.

Not seen or read the sequels.

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

Oh! I’m going to say Howl’s Moving Castle.

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

I think you mean Crichton, not Grisham. Michael Crichton wrote Jurassic Park.

Yeah. My bad .

That's another example of a popular book getting the Spielberg treatment. I thought that one was a mixed bag. The movie was more fun than the book, but it was pretty light. It was one of Spielberg's popcorn efforts. The book went heavy on the chaos theory stuff, because Crichton typically likes to weave a "serious" theme into the plot of his story, and in this case I sometimes thought the chaos stuff interesting and sometimes thought it was overdone. The movie just barely touched on it and went for simple thrills.

The references to chaos theory in the movie were very dumbed down - like any math in movies.

But speaking of Grisham: I can think of several Grisham books that were better as movies: The Firm, A Time To Kill, and The Runaway Jury. Grisham is really great at coming up with ideas for stories, but I find his style to be a bit preachy, caricaturish, and tedious. I thought all three of those movies were a lot of fun and well-made.

Silence of the Lambs: A fine thriller book, but one of the very best thriller movies ever made. The only horror thriller ever to win the Academy Award for best picture.

Haven’t read the original, but the movie is great.

Em

 

[Djmac1031]

Not seen or read the sequels.

Em

There's only one sequel movie; 2010.

It doesn't get much love but I think it's a really good film and fills in a lot of gaps in the story.

Give it a chance sometime.

 

[alohadave]

The book went heavy on the chaos theory stuff, because Crichton typically likes to weave a "serious" theme into the plot of his story, and in this case I sometimes thought the chaos stuff interesting and sometimes thought it was overdone.

Almost every one of his books (the earliest were medical thrillers, not what he's known for) were about how man's reach exceeded his grasp, and the hubris of trying to play god is his undoing.

He could be preachy.

 

[EmilyMiller]

No you're not!

You like the book? Just love the visuals.

Em

 

[Handeguy]

John Grisham's The Firm. The book was solid enough, exciting, even gripping in parts. But the movie was visceral. The fear, the pressure, and the adrenaline rush were there in a way that didn't come through in the book. Plus, the twist and climax were better in the film version.

 

[NoTalentHack]

Jaws

The movie was a great blend of horror and adventure with a few laughs thrown in and a great climax.

In the book Hooper was an asshole who fucked Brody's wife, but also dies whereas the cool loveable Hooper in the movie lives. The shark is killed by a piece of meat with an electric wire in it....very dull. All in all the book was dull and depressing.

IIRC, Hooper in the movie was supposed to die, too, but technical troubles kept them from filming the scene, so they ended up reworking the script instead.

 

[SimonDoom]

John Grisham's The Firm. The book was solid enough, exciting, even gripping in parts. But the movie was visceral. The fear, the pressure, and the adrenaline rush were there in a way that didn't come through in the book. Plus, the twist and climax were better in the film version.

I forgot about that! I agree. I loved the surprise meeting at the end of the movie. The expressions on the faces of the two mob bosses. Cleverly done.

 

[YDB95]

The Notebook - As saccharine as the movie is (and as problematic as the meet-cute is), at least the characters are roundly developed and you feel like you know them. In the book they're stick figures.

The Dressmaker - Loved the movie, figured the book must be amazing...instead I was left wondering just how the producers were able to make such a superb movie from such boring, pretentious source matter.

And I wouldn't go so far as to say the movie was better, but I loved how the Sense and Sensibility adaptation added the bit about the youngest sister being a geography nerd. In the book, you literally learn nothing about her at all except for her name.

 

[GlennJenko]

Arrival in my opinion is better than what it's adapted from - Story of Your Life.

As with some of the others, I by no means think the book is bad, I just prefer the film because I think it's a more robust and clear presentation of what the book was trying to get at in its themes. I also could be partially biased here because Denis Villeneuve is my absolute favourite Director.

The book also goes for ambiguity, but I think there is too much of it, while the film tries to explain it and I think does a stellar job in doing so.

In a reference to the YA genre, I also personally prefer the Maze Runner films over the books. I liked the first book but the second and third just seemed like James Dashner had absolutely no idea what he was trying to do and while the films are by no means perfect, I think they do a better job at telling a coherent story, especially when it comes to finishing things off in The Death Cure.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Was it The Sentinel, or the book of the movie that Clarke wrote afterwards?

I’m suddenly thinking of Barbie for some reason .

Em

Kubrick had Clarke on a very tight contract. The screenplay and book were written in parallel over the three year production period, but Clarke couldn't publish without Kubrick's approval, which Kubrick didn't give until after the film was released.

Kubrick purchased rights to half a dozen Clarke short stories, of which The Sentinel was one. It contained the key idea of the intelligence starter, which then became the warning beacon buried on the moon.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Almost every one of his books (the earliest were medical thrillers, not what he's known for) were about how man's reach exceeded his grasp, and the hubris of trying to play god is his undoing.

He could be preachy.

The Andromeda Strain movie was very successful in the early seventies.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Kubrick had Clarke on a very tight contract. The screenplay and book were written in parallel over the three year production period, but Clarke couldn't publish without Kubrick's approval, which Kubrick didn't give until after the film was released.

Kubrick purchased rights to half a dozen Clarke short stories, of which The Sentinel was one. It contained the key idea of the intelligence starter, which then became the warning beacon buried on the moon.

Thank you. Had some dim idea about some of that, but not the details.

Em

 

[StillStunned]

*About A Boy* and *High Fidelity*. Liked the books well enough, but the cast made both movies.

 

[onehitwanda]

Contact by Carl Sagan. The book was good, but Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey made the movie. (Even with the ridiculous beach scene).

Mm. Now I'm going to go and stare at photos of Ms Foster again. I'll be in my bunk!

 

[Devinter]

"The Prestige" by Christopher Nolan was, in my opinion, better than the book by the same name by Christopher Priest. That being said, the book was good too - I just felt that the pacing was a bit off in the book, and that the acting in the movie really added something to it!

 

[HordHolm]

Last of the Mohicans. Impenetrable, drab prose (yes, I know Cooper has his supporters, but then so does Tolstoy and that's plain wrong!) turned into a decent action film, though I'm not a wild fan of Daniel Day Lewis - I could watch Madeleine Stowe all day long, though.

 

[onehitwanda]

Last of the Mohicans. Impenetrable, drab prose (yes, I know Cooper has his supporters, but then so does Tolstoy and that's plain wrong!) turned into a decent action film, though I'm not a wild fan of Daniel Day Lewis - I could watch Madeleine Stowe all day long, though.

The theme to it has lived rent-free in my head for, what is it, 30 years now. God, it's a beautiful movie.

 

[JGittes]

The Notebook - As saccharine as the movie is (and as problematic as the meet-cute is), at least the characters are roundly developed and you feel like you know them. In the book they're stick figures.

The Dressmaker - Loved the movie, figured the book must be amazing...instead I was left wondering just how the producers were able to make such a superb movie from such boring, pretentious source matter.

And I wouldn't go so far as to say the movie was better, but I loved how the Sense and Sensibility adaptation added the bit about the youngest sister being a geography nerd. In the book, you literally learn nothing about her at all except for her name.

These examples conjured up The Bridges of Madison County. The book was unreadable but the movie was surprisingly good.

 

[lovecraft68]

Legion/Exorcist 3

Legion the novel is Blatty's sequel to the Exorcist. The movie, which he directed, was supposed to carry the same title but the studio wanted to cash in on the franchise name(despite how awful part two was)

I enjoyed the book, but it was a rare instance for me of the movie being better because it was shorter and couldn't go on and on the way the book did at times. Brad Dourif steals the show in this mix of a horror/detective story which features one of the all time best jump scares in the genre(before they beat that device like a dead horse)

There's two versions of this, the theatrical which featured an exorcism the studio forced into it because there wasn't one in the book(and they pushed the title to be the Exorcist, so...) and the director's cut released on DVD later on with Blatty's planned ending. I prefer his, the story carried the movie, we didn't need the good/bad showdown.

 

[NightPorter]

John Carpenter's The Thing.

Now don't get me wrong, Campbell is a fine author. "Who goes there?" is a classic sci-fi novela. I've even read the longer draft "Frozen Hell" that they dug out of his estate papers a few years ago. But Carpenter's The Thing is a masterpiece. His best work and one of the best horror movies ever made.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Once Upon A Time In America (1984) based on Harry Grey's "The Hoods"
A marvelous movie about growing up, friendship and betrayal, but also about one tumultuous period in American history.
Directed by the fantastic Sergio Leone and immortalized by Ennio Morricone's timeless musical themes.