What’s a movie (or tv show) that you enjoyed more than the book?
I just finished watching the second season of Game of Thrones and I love the show more than the books. I read about 2 of the books before giving up. I just felt like I was plodding along with them for the most part. The actors in the show do an incredible job. Hell, I’d watch a spinoff of Tyrion just slapping Joffrey over and over again with commercial breaks.
Comments
37 Comments so far. Leave a comment below.The Princess Bride. I couldn’t get through the book.
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That was a rough read, wasn’t it?!
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inconceivable!
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Does a graphic novel count? If so, then “The Walking Dead”. Yeah, sure, it drags in some spots on television, but it’s still fun to watch.
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If I can get my hands on the book before the movie I will always prefer the book. If I see the movie first I dont even try the book because I end up envisioning scenes from the movie while reading the book. Books can take more risks and dont have to answer to public standards of acceptance based on christian fundamentalism. So in that respect, American Psycho will always be my favorite book in comparison to how well the movie was adapted.
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2001: A Space Odyssey, The Andromeda Strain, and Fight Club.
On a side note, I’m on book 4 of GoT and enjoying the read. It does feel like a slog at times when he devotes a chapter or two to a character you’re not that interested in.
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I read all five Song of Fire and Ice books, and loved them all. I only saw one episode on a free HBO weekend, and was upset by the rape of Daenerys. In the book, her husband took his time and was very loving, which is one reason she loved him so much. There are only a few movies that could even slightly compare with the books.
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You do realize you are discussing the rape of a thirteen year old? Making it look ‘good’ would never work.
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I thought “The DaVinci Code” was a much better movie than book. The exact opposite was true for “Angels and Demons.”
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The Godfather. THe book is good, but the first two movies are as top-tier as it gets.
The young Vito stuff is particularly great on-screen, and is almost exactly like the book, but the way Coppola transformed a New York street into a turn-of-the-century street was perfect. It FEELS like the early 1900′s.
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Not trying to start a flame war here, but Lord of the Rings Someone was gonna say it.
And though I haven’t read the book, there are some major changes to the ending of The African Queen that would seem to make the movie a more compelling story.
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Nobody can say something like that and claim that they’re not trying to start a flame war. I mean, c’mon, seriously? Though I haven’t actually seen The African Queen, there is no way it’s better than the book, which I haven’t actually read yet. So there!
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I know what you mean. I’ve tried twice to read Fellowship of the Ring. I can’t get more than about an eighth of the way in. I’ve read The Hobbit several times. I love it. Fellowship is just too dry and boring.
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Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge
Yes, Bill Murray can be a serious actor.
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This was going to be my entry as well, but I chickened out. I really like the book.
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The Razor’s Edge got Ebert all hyped up long before he lobbied for a Murray Oscar nomination for Rushmore.
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“Logan’s Run”. The book didn’t have Jenny Agutter.
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A Clockwork Orange. The translation to screen is very faithful to the book and I liked reading it too, but Kubrick’s vision of the book was real horror show.
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Psycho.
And every time a great director films a book that is not a classic. It also works for Coppola, Kubrick, the Coen brothers, and Clint Eastwood. These guys know how to see potential in literature.
On the other hand, don’t get me started about directors who try to film classics. No great director have ever tried to do something so stupid, unless said classic is a play from the begining – like A Streetcar Named Desire. Otherwise, the results vary between pitifull failure – The Lord of the Rings – and making me swear revenge – like Troy.
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Does Iron Man count?
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I’m sure he knows all-kinds of math.
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Apollo 13
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Battle Royale, the book delves deeper into the characters and is in some ways less insane and confusing but people only want to watch/read Battle Royale for one reason. To see teens slashing other teens. The movie delivers on that with much less time invested and it has Beat Takeshi which gives it major bonus points.
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I think there are a few high-caliber books/movies that are on equal footing:
No Country for Old Men
A Clockwork Orange
All Quiet on the Western Front
There Will Be Blood / Oil!
…and Jurassic Park the movie was slightly better
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-Any- movie version of Moby Dick.
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Gotta add Red Alert by Peter George. I actually found the novel in a used bookstore and tried reading it. Terry Southern and Stanley Kubrick rendered the spirit of the novel much better as Dr Strangelove.
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Forrest Gump
As time passes I notice that kinda bad books become worse in my memory than they actually are, a fact which I discover upon re-reading (why re-read a bad book? Why the hell not?). This might be a case of that, but I seem to remember the Forrest Gump of the book being more of a forgettable meat head than the lovable guy played by Tom Hanks.
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The Watchmen.
Wait, hear me out. I’m not saying that the movie was better overall than the graphic novel, because it wasn’t. However, I think the ending of the movie had a much more clever resolution than the graphic novel, one that seemed much more like something that Ozymandias would have thought of. That’s all I’m saying.
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… Yes it was a better ending. But, it had distinct lack of tentacle monster, so I guess maybe it’s a wash.
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Well, we did get to see one tentacle anyway, so there’s that at least. Almost as exciting if you’re into that kind of thing.
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Every single adaptation of a Charles Dickens novel.
Long-winded baggy waffle for victorians who had nothing to do but read chapters of long-winded baggy Novels.
Take the basic stories and turn them into 2 hour dramas and you invariably have something very exciting.
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I like Jane Austen’s work, but I find that I enjoy watching movie adaptations of her novels over reading them.
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Jocelyn beat me to it — I love Jane Austen movies and her books make my skin itch. Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo are the opposite — their dense writing styles draw me into the book while movies seem superficial by comparison.
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OH! Red Dwarf! I passed by one of my numerous bookshelves in the loft last night and saw those novels lined up. Not half as much fun as the television series.
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As far as Stephen King movie adaptations, most are far suckier than their book versions with two notable exceptions: The Sawshank Redemption and Stand By Me (The Body).
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Catch 22. The book is great but it’s hard for me to read.
Also, Forest Gump! I’m not a huge fan of the movie but the book is just awful! Forest Gump is an ape like person who goes to space and ends up floating down a river, I think? It was a good read but a bad book.
Also! Cocoon! Great movie, weak book! I remember as a kid thinking what was Ron Howard smoking?
Oh yeah, and Deliverance. No explanation necessary.
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Dexter. I read the first book. I liked the outcome of the book better, but the writing style was just so bad that I couldn’t bring myself to read any more.
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