Movies Better Than The Book

littlerockguy

Although it is sometimes hard to put so many elements of a novel into a 2 hour screenplay and motion picture and you end up reading the book and then watching the movie and wish they would have included stuff they left out. However there are sometimes when you might watch the movie and end up more impressed with the movie and grown more attached to the movie than the book. Can you think of any movies you thought were better than the book it was based on?

My picks are Ordinary People and Tales of The City, although if I could probably name some more if I put more time into it but right now those stick out. Those movies along with others I have seen repeatedly and through the years during different times in my life as I grow and change I get something new out of those movies that I have never seen or thought about before; some of them work on so many different levels.

Crumpet

Lord of the Rings - all 3! But I feel guilty for not reading the books so I can't say definitively. I usually find though if I read the book first I like it better and if I watch the movie first I like it better. The English Patient movie I much preferred to Michael Onadjate's book. Midnight Express the film is better than the book, but Papillon the book by Henri Charierre is better than the film.

LRG did you read the Night Listener also by Amistead Maupin - I'm interested to know how it compares to the film, which I haven't seen yet?

elliej

Somewhere in Time. The book (Bid Time Return) was good, but the movie was better.

littlerockguy

Crumpet: I haven't read The Night Listener yet nor have I seen the movie yet. I still have 3 books left of the tales of the city series to read although I do have them which are Babycakes, Significant Others and Sure of You but I do want to read them before Michael Tolliver Lives comes out this summer. I love the characters in Armistead Maupin's series.

Crumpet

I definitely recommend Night Listener the book - very well written thriller with the usual gay elements, but some very shocking twists. I didnt know there were so many Tales of the City - looks like I have some catching up to do!

JeffT

Kevin Costner managed to do a better job with "The Postman" than the book, IMHO. The ending of the book was very disatisfying. Unfortunately Postman came out right after "Waterworld" and got caught in the slime surrounding that mess.

I feel the same way about "The Company" better and more believable ending.

littlerockguy

Crumpet; Yep there are Tales of the City, More tales of the City, Further Tales of the city, those are the first 3 and then the other ones I mentioned. I dont know if any of the other one will be made into a movie/television miniseries or not though, but the first 3 were awesome, although I am partial to the first one, Tales of The City, however I loved "mother mucka" in the last two, LOL. You will just have to watch them!

LRG

gaiagirl

I agree about the whole "Lord of the Rings" saga, the movies were better, the books are, IMHO, kind of tedious. (flame-armour ON) : ) I alos liked "Solaris" better as a film than as a book. The ending of the book just kind of tapered off and left me wondering "ok, what now?" The film kind of resolved the conflicts in the story.

candidlynuts

the jodi foster movie " contact"

the movie was OH so much better than the book.

it didnt stick to the book faithfully though so some purists might disagree

Little Drummer Boy

I agree about the whole "Lord of the Rings" saga, the movies were better, the books are, IMHO, kind of tedious. (flame-armour ON) : )

I just died a little inside. So very, very sad now.

I'm "a book is better than the movie" guy for the most part.

Movies Better Than The Book

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