The movie was better than the book

[Son_of_Atropos]

What movies were better than their source materials/ book.


I say the Godfather.

Why, the movie didn't discuss Sonnie's privates, and the girl he was having sex with, nor did it focus on the asinine storyline of Johnny Fontaine being a big time movie mogul.

What are your opinions loungers.

 

[just_me]

The Graduate

 

[celtic]

I'm going to get thrown over a cliff for this:


The Legend of Sleepy Hollow



I was bored as heck reading it but I've liked the few movie versions I've seen.

(I even liked the Burton movie, although it pretty much had nothing to do with the original story)

 

[David V]

Love Story cause I never saw the film and it couldn't be as bad...nothing could be as bad....Plan 9 was a better film then the book Love Story.

 

[Naphtali]

Four come to mind quickly:

1. "The French Connection" (1971) Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider. Robin Moore's book was dry and dull. The motion picture has one of the most powerful scenes I've viewed. When Gene Hackman focuses on the nightclub's table filled with gangsters, I get the rush of the chase every time.

2. "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962) James Stewart, John Wayne. Virtually none of the flavor of the motion picture came from the short story.

3. "The Searchers" (1956) John Wayne, Vera Miles. While motion picture and LeMay's novel were poignant, I prefer Frank Nugent's resolution to LeMay's.

4. "Tom Jones" (1963) Albert Finney, Susannah York. The motion picture bears scant resemblance to Fielding's novel -- the A&E multipart version was much closer while being not nearly so entertaining.

 

[Panache]

Peter Benchley's "Jaws"

OK book, spellbinding and terrifying movie

Cheers

Jamie

 

[Marc Chevalier]

"The Bridges of Madison County" (says my wife).

.

 

[CopperNY]

"Wanted". read the graphic novel last week. movie was much more interesting.

"The Razor's Edge". Bill Murray was absolutely incredible. the book's prose was tedious and ruined a good story.

"Dune". i know, i know, i'll get killed for this one, but i read the book first and found it utterly forgettable. the movie had performances that i still look forward to when i catch it on tv.

 

[Nighthawk]

I second: JAWS

 

[TM]

Blade Runner, the movie, is much better than the novel it was based upon "Do androids dream of electric sheep?", written by Phillip K. Dick.

Tony

 

[CopperNY]

Blade Runner, the movie, is much better than the novel it was based upon "Do androids dream of electric sheep?", written by Phillip K. Dick.

Tony

QFT !

 

[The Wolf]

I enjoyed the movie of The World According to Garp more than Irving's book.
There have been others but that is the only that comes to mind.

Sincerely,
The Wolf

 

[Esme]

Blade Runner is my favorite movie of all time and it is better than the story.
I thought The French Lt's Woman with Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons was better than the book, even though it sort of missed the sociological point of the book, lol. I also thing Wuthering Heights was better as a movie, as was Rebecca. But Jane Eyre was better as a book (and The Wide Sargasso Sea was the best version of Jane Eyre EVER!! But that movie sucked.)

 

[Spitfire]

Catch 22 - well maybe not better than the book. (Which is almost impossible.) But the movie was VERY good. And caught the whole insane atmoshere of the book very well.

 

[Cricket]

I agree about The Godfather. Although I enjoyed the more details with characters and side stories, I just wasn't that drawn in as I was with the movie. In fact, while reading the book I turned on the DVD of the movie more than once.

 

[Naphtali]

"The Thin Man" (1934) William Powell, Myrna Loy. Despite scuttlebutt about Hammett's writing skill, the motion picture has humor and the joy of life Hammett didn't write.

"Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston. Everything to enjoy and appreciate about the motion picture originates with John Huston's screenplay. Every memorable phrase and nuance is not in the book. There is no Fred C. Dobbs -- only Dobbs.

Both of these novels were written by unrepentant ideologues. Their authors' rigidity shows. For me, the books are major disappointments.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

"The Green Mile." If it wasn't better than the book, it certainly was up there with it. I enjoyed both immensely, and when I saw the movie, the characters exactly fit their descriptions in the book, especially Brutal: When I read the book, I saw David Morse as him. John Coffey ("Like the drink, but spelled different.") was also an exact match.


Lee

 

[Lulu-in-Ny]

Rebecca
I tried to like the book, I really did.

 

[Diamondback]

Jurassic Park. It was nowhere near all it could have been, though... too much of the book got left on the cutting-room floor for it to reach its full potential, but the change from a "downer" ending to a more "upbeat, hopeful" one and the rewrite of John Hammond improved it dramatically IMO.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

Although I am not sure it was any "better" than the book, I enjoyed the movie Dr. Zhivago a whole lot more. Loved the movie, thought the books was tedious.

Breakfast at Tiffany's comes to mind, sanitized from what I recall, but who could resist Audrey Hepburn's Holly Golightly?

Oh, and 2001, A Space Odyssey. one of my favorite movies. The original was just a short story.

karol