The Film's Better Than The Book

thomthom

In my world there's no such thing as a book beaten by a film adaptation. There's a reason why they make the movie based on the book in the first place.

I can only see it happening if you have watched the movie, and loved it, before reading the book and then gave the book a half-arsed go.

Thought Shutter Island was a good adaption but still - got nothing on the novel.

RDW

PerformingMonkey wrote:

A thread I thought I would never reply to....

The Hobbit. Found the book a bit too childish and the narrator quite patronising. Admittedly the film has taken a few liberties and tried in a few places a little too hard to shoe horn in references to the LOTR trilogy but I'd much rather sit through the film again that tackle the book.

Noooooooooooooooooooo!

The book is a timeless classic that will be read a century from now. The film was marginally preferable to staring at the back of my seat on an 8 hour flight. Why did they insert 3 hours (I may be exaggerating slightly) of Sylvester McCoy, covered in birdshit, driving a rabbit sled?

MichaelW

crispybug2 wrote:

I've never seen a film that was better than the book, closet goes to 'The Day Of The Jackal*



* The Edward Fox version, not the Bruce Willis abomination!

But that was a cracking read.
"Films Better than Books" need to be based on really duff reading material:
African Queen
The Cruel Sea

IanREmery

No way in the world is the Green Mile film better than the book. The book is one of King's finest.

Shawshank is probably the film that pushes the book the closest, but the book still wins it by a nose. Similarly for Touching The Void.

I'll throw this one out there as a possibility - Sleepers. I enjoyed the book (despite it's grim details), but the second half of the story, particularly the court case, comes alive in the film.

4kicks

+1 on "SAlmon fishing in the Yemen"...although, having lived their, the scenery wasnt that good!
Cider House Rules...great film, so so book

Giraffoto

crispybug2 wrote:

I've never seen a film that was better than the book, closet goes to 'The Day Of The Jackal

Both The Day of the Jackal and The Dogs of War read way too much like a step-by-step guide to organizing either an assassination or a coup. The films manage to dodge this. Now for my really controversial choice . . .

Fight Club

capt_slog

Ray Bradbury's "Martian Chronicles" is a very disappointing read, a story with very little depth, the film is far better.

Captain Corelli's Mandolin. Only because the book has a crap and implausible ending which the film handles much better, but the book's detail of the war years on Cephallonia is interesting even if it is depressing.

BelgianBeerGeek

Moby Dick.

secretsam

All the Hairy Potters

daviesee

SecretSam wrote:

All the Hairy Potters

I am guessing they are not the ones on general release? :twisted: