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Book to film?

Faust · 2003-12-22 14:23:17

You know the way when a new film comes out that is based on a book and people say "The book was better". The book is always better how can it not be!? Does anyone know a movie where the film is better than the book??

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22-12-2003 3:23pm

#1

Faust

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You know the way when a new film comes out that is based on a book and people say "The book was better".
The book is always better how can it not be!? Does anyone know a movie where the film is better than the book??

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#2 22-12-2003 3:31pm
lili

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better than the book i don't know but as good as the book i think the lolita of stanley kubrick was faithfull at the nabokov book (my favourite book).

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#3 22-12-2003 3:34pm
henbane

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Point Blank & Payback are both better than The Hunter by Richard Stark.

L.A. Confidential is not better than the book but it is probably a better film than the book would've made.

The Big Sleep (Howard Hawk's 1945 version) is also a better film than the book would've made as the 70's version directed by Michael Winner and starring Robert Mitchum proved - though that could be more to do with Michael Winner's presence anywhere near a camera.

What's most important is that the director/writer likes the book enough to want to make a relatively faithful version but doesn't forget what medium he's working in.

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#4 22-12-2003 3:45pm
sceptre

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Bridges of Madison County. Perfectly watchable movie, albeit a chickflick. The book was the worst piece of dross I've ever read.

I'll also agree with henbane on the Big Sleep.

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#5 22-12-2003 3:48pm
lili

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Originally posted by sceptre
Bridges of Madison County. Perfectly watchable movie, albeit a chickflick. The book was the worst piece of dross I've ever read.

I'll also agree with henbane on the Big Sleep.

agreed with you about bridges of madison county. i didn't find out the emotions i got with the movie. clint eastwood is definitavely a great director!

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#6 22-12-2003 4:13pm
Mark

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Does anyone know a movie where the film is better than the book??

The Shawshank Redemption is the only exception I know of. It was orginally a short story (108 odd pages) by Stephen King and because the film was fair long also, it actually had a bit more in it than the book did.

The book was slightly different as far as I remember. For one, the warden was transferred instead of killing himself. Secondly, if the film was faithful to the book, it would end on the bus as Red says "I hope." The book didn't contain the reunion on the beach.

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#7 22-12-2003 4:27pm
slave1

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Blade Runner

My stuff for sale on Adverts inc. outdoor furniture, roof box and EDDI
My Active Ads (adverts.ie)

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#8 22-12-2003 4:38pm
IgnatiusJRiley

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Fight club. The film ironed out the creases of the book.

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#9 22-12-2003 4:45pm
simu

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American Psycho.

I read the book first and thought it was average. I re-read it after seeing the movie and found all the passages about Phil Collins, Huey Lewis and the News etc absolutely hilarious.

The violence is far, far more disgusting in the book, though. I guess there's some stuff you can't get away with showing on the screen.

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#10 22-12-2003 5:06pm
lodgepole

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The problem is that we generally only hear about films being based on books, when the book has been succesful in it's own right. And in most of those cases (though certainly not all), the book is marginally better.

But the fact is that a absolutely massive amount of the films made today, and in the past, have been based on piss poor novels.

As someone else mentioned, look at the work of Stanley Kubrick. His films almost always exceeded the books that they were based on.

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#11 22-12-2003 5:08pm
Faust

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Originally posted by Lodgepole
The problem is that we generally only hear about films being based on books, when the book has been succesful in it's own right. And in most of those cases (though certainly not all), the book is marginally better.

But the fact is that a absolutely massive amount of the films made today, and in the past, have been based on piss poor novels.

As someone else mentioned, look at the work of Stanley Kubrick. His films almost always exceeded the books that they were based on.

Maybe he's a great director and chooses ****ty books though.

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#12 22-12-2003 7:55pm
Owenw

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Originally posted by slave1
Blade Runner

As well as Minority Report and Total Recall - all written by Phillip K. Dick who was a pretty awful yet prolific sci-fi author but who dealt with "nature-of-reality" ideas (due in no small part to his experimentation with mind-expanding substances) in a very visual way which translate well to the silver screen. He also avoided the trap of decribing every last detail so his stories aren't tied to any particular view of the future that he wrote about.

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#13 22-12-2003 8:41pm
simu

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all written by Phillip K. Dick who was a pretty awful yet prolific sci-fi author but who dealt with "nature-of-reality" idea

His style varied hugely over his writing career. Many of his short stories especially were written for periodicals so he had no time to polish them up. (Maybe this is why they are so suited to being made into films - the ideas are striking but not thoroughly explored in the stories).

If you want to see him at his highly-impressive best though, read Man in the High Castle - an alternate history where the Nazis won WW2. It's a truly excellent book.

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#14 22-12-2003 9:44pm
echomadman

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Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is one of the best Book to Film adaptations i've ever seen.

Phillip K. Dick who was a pretty awful yet prolific sci-fi author but who dealt with "nature-of-reality" ideas

And Philip K. Dick is a legend, one of the best Sci-fi writers ever imo, he captured the dark paranoid side of McCarthy era america, and that a lot of his stuff is being made into movies now shows how prescient his stuff was.
Admittedly there is a lot of very off the wall stuff, but his novels and a lot of his short stories stand up well to scrutiny today, in our paranoid information driven world.

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#15 31-12-2003 1:29pm
MrNuked

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Agree with Fight Club and Blade Runner.

Also Total Recall (though it's another one from a short story)

and

AI (from a short story too: In "All one Universe" by Poul Anderson).

and!

The Two Towers!
The book dragged badly in places. Especially the chapter about Galdriel's mirror!

and!

Stand by Me (from "The Body" by Stephen King)

Lots more too I'm sure. Lots of people are biased about their comparison because they feel that having read the book makes them superior to someone who has less time on their hands and just watches the film, and that filters into their judgement. Just ****ing **** who think that being able to read and having too much spare time makes them clever. They all will pay

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#16 31-12-2003 7:52pm
yellum

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Fight Club the movie added way more visually compared to the book. It was more atmospheric and built on a good book.

The book was darker in patches though which was ignored in the movie.

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#17 31-12-2003 8:43pm
quank

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Final Fantasy: Spirits Within
is kinda better than book........ :rolleyes:

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#18 01-01-2004 11:54pm
flogen

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final fantasy has a book?
it must be pretty bad too if the film is better.... although the film did LOOK great

Flogen

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#19 02-01-2004 12:12am
Capt'n Midnight

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Gotta agree with Blade Runner - haven't read Total Recall but nice premise.

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#20 02-01-2004 12:53am
Kalina

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I can't think of any movie that was better than the book. I thought The Green Mile came close though, fantastic book and equally fantastic movie. It was well cast, well acted, the sets were great and it has a lovely soundtrack.

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#21 04-01-2004 8:03pm
Miguel_Sanchez

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Most of Hitchcock's stuff was better than the source material. Pyscho, the Birds etc.
Also I enjoyed Jaws the movie better than the book. Although it has been a long while since I read the book.

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#22 05-01-2004 2:03pm
Bannor

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The Princess Bride
2001: A Space Oddessy

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#23 05-01-2004 2:40pm
ixoy

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Originally posted by Bannor
2001: A Space Oddessy

Doesn't count really though, does it? The movie is based on his short story - "The Sentinel". The book of 2001 is based on the screenplay of the movie...

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#24 05-01-2004 3:58pm
Bannor

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Originally posted by ixoy
Doesn't count really though, does it? The movie is based on his short story - "The Sentinel". The book of 2001 is based on the screenplay of the movie...

Never the less the movie is better than the book.

Another suggestion : The Godfather - Although I haven't read the book so I can't make a comparison.

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#25 05-01-2004 4:06pm
lodgepole

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Originally posted by ixoy
The book of 2001 is based on the screenplay of the movie...

They were written concurrently.

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#26 05-01-2004 5:01pm
mewso

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The godfather book is a great book. Most of Godfather 2 was pulled from it too but I would have to say that the films slightly edge it allright.

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#27 05-01-2004 8:45pm
dangerman

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i was thinking about starting this exact thread after i read vader's comments on the lord of the rings board (link here )...

I would have thought that the point of making the movie was to make it better than the book/my imagination. If that wasnt what you had hoped for then I see why you were satisfied.

...thats what he said, and it got right up my nose.

I've never personally come across a film that out-does the book on which it is based.

In the case of Fight Club, i'd say they're on a par. The book contains elements that work really well, but would never translate to film.

The Shawshank Redemption is the only possible exception as ppl have said - but i think it's a bit unfair cause it was just a short story with a nice idea that was taken and spun out into a great screenplay.

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#28 09-01-2004 4:13pm
Wheeler

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stab

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#29 09-01-2004 6:20pm
dazberry

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Originally posted by Jeff_Lebowski

Also I enjoyed Jaws the movie better than the book. Although it has been a long while since I read the book.

I'm just about to finish Jaws (the book) and the film was much better.

D.

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#30 09-01-2004 6:39pm
shotamoose

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Originally posted by dangerman

I've never personally come across a film that out-does the book on which it is based.

Kurt Vonnegut used to say that the only two authors whose books have been translated very well onto film were himself (for Slaughterhouse 5) and Margaret Mitchell (for Gone with the Wind). I've not read GWTW or seen the movie of Slaughterhouse 5 so can't comment on the veracity of his claim ....

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