Let the Right One In question

The swedish film is one of the best vampire movies ever made. I'd recommend watching Cronos before or after watching the film, since it is also a damn fine vampire movie.

Let the Right One In was, I thought, a really good movie and the American version pretty darn good, too, but the book was phenomenal. I'm so glad to see other people have read and liked the book as well as the movie. I'm not sure I know anyone who has seen the Swedish movie and read the book.

I thought Brokeback Mountain was a better film than book. It was a short story though, so there was a lot more time/opportunity to develop the characters in the film.

The movie of Jurassic Park was WAY better than the book.

I'm rather torn on Let The Right One In. From a purely artistic point of view, I have no doubt the film, which is superb, is better. However, from a more "philosophical" point of view, there are things in the book that I really like that aren't in the film.

For The Hedgehog (L' Hérisson) I think the film is clearly better - they were very good at selecting the very best parts of the novel.

Also, while I've not read Mann's Death in Venice, I suspect Visconti's film is far superior to the book.

Jurassic Park is always my go to for movies that are better than the book, but I'd also say Coraline, True Grit (Jeff Bridges version), The Godfather, Jaws and Re-Animator. I just read Let the Right One in the other day and it was way, way better than the movie

Chabrol's Merci pour le Chocolat is infinitely better than Charlotte Armstrong's Chocolate Cobweb.

I disagree with let the right one in and Rebecca, though the films are good the books are fantastic. Stanley Kubrick's The Shining however is the best example i can think of a film doing what the book could not.

I saw both the Swedish and American movies of Let The Right One In and thought both were well done, although the American version a bit more graphic. The Swedish movie I think let your imagination run, more of a subtle horror and the kid actors were so believable.

One of the best adaptations from book to film for me was Silence of the Lambs. It was nearly exact in my opinion and well deserved of its awards.

The Thin man by Dashiel Hammett, the novel is good and the movie series is sheer brilliance.

The Princess Bride
The Princess Diaries

All I can think of right now. In nearly every case, the book is better than the movie (especially Ella Enchanted).

You guys forgot The Wizard of Oz. That movie is way better than the book. Also:

Ella Enchanted
The Princess Diaries
True Grit (2010)
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason

And I don't think the movie Let Me In (or Let the Right One In) is better than the book. They were just different ways of telling the story and I thought all three of them were great.

I disagree too. I think that Let the Right one In is ever better. The movie doesn't show many things that are very important in the book, like all about the Eli's "guardian"

I agree about Let the Right One In, but I saw the Swedish movie first. I tried to read the book but I knew too much of what was going to happen to enjoy it. I imagine I would have been amazed to have read it first. I am going to read "Harbor" next before any filmmakers get their paws on it.

The American version was flat. Chloe Moretz is always overrated. The kids in the Swedish version were easily the best child-actors I have ever seen.

I just read The Green Mile and have not seen the movie. The book was pretty hammy in parts but a movie can get away with that more.

This is probably heresy to some, but I liked the Bourne movies more than the first book. I couldn't get into it after the cheesy Bimbo gratefully shacks up with him when he puts her in danger and speaks no more than a handful of words to her.

I suspect this might come down to whether you saw the film or read the book first.

For me, having watched and loved the movie before finding the book, I found that the more focused narrative and greater ambiguity about some elements (the nature of Hakan's relationship with Eli most notably) and the elimination of a few redundant characters and fantastical elements (Eli's wings for example) made the film the stronger of the two.

Some of the characters wind up being simplified and in some cases a little underdeveloped (Lacke in particular), but the choice to focus entirely on the relationship between Oscar and Eli was, for my money, a good move.

Richard wrote: "Hi,

Which films (if any) are better than the book?

Personally, I would say that the following are better than the book:

Notes on a Scandal
Let the Right one In
The English Patient
The Prestige
B..."

Agreed! Let Me In movie is better :)

I've only seen the American version of the film, (Let Me In) and while, if I had not read the book, would likely have thought it was a pretty decent movie, I don't think it held a candle to the book. I actually really enjoyed the side story of, Virginia, which was almost entirely omitted from the American version of the film.

I think "Atonement" was a better film than book, mainly because it was much clearer how circumstances and reactions came about. Much as I love John Irving's novels I have to say that both The World According to Garp and The Cider House Rules were equally good as films due to the excellent casting ( and probably because Irving adapted them).
Can't agree that the Exorcist was a better film, maybe because the film's now so dated. Which reminds me Jaws the book was far superior to the film.

Also, Let the Right One In is pretty much on-par in greatness with the novel. Especially since the author wrote both the novel and the screenplay. Like Lolita.

I think, one of the few films that were actually WAY better than the novel (which happens to be pretty damn good), would be Fight Club. Great novel, but an AMAZING film.

TV series Dexter so much better than the novels. The novels are actually rather crappy except for the concept. Another series that is better than the books is Vampire Diaries.
In the case of Let the right on in, the book and the movies are both good. They explore different things. That I feel can be said about True Blood and the Sookie Stackhouse novels, The Ice and fire saga and Game of thrones series and the Hunger games.
Sometimes in the movie/TV series you get an opportunity for a different viewpoint that isn't possible with in the book (Ice and fire saga) or you have a great actor taking on a character and it grows beyond the story like in Dexter and with Lisbeth Salander in the movies.

While both film adaptations of Let The Right One In are quite good, I have to say that the novel is allot better than either of them. Since the novel is more indepth and contains more details as to Eli's origin.

I felt that the truly unnerving subject matter within the book was not touched upon, as that was how the tone of the book was set for me. I felt that the relationships with the adults were not fully evolved enough in the film to create the same emotional resonance that you received when you read the book.

I think that films from books rarely work simply because the emotional response is never as strong - no matter what.

Having said all this, there has been only one film that was truly better than the book. The green mile.

Yikes... I have to say that neither version of Let the Right One In did justice to a novel that left me absolutely speechless at times. Both films captured the *feel* of the novel somewhat, but the filmmakers neglected to really get their hands dirty with some of the subject matter.

Let the right one In is MUCH better in movie form
( american or swedish ) they are both great films. The book, I got about half way through it and got bored.

Yes, Children of Men is a good film, while the book is abysmal!

I'd agree that the film of Let the Right One In is better than the novel... they removed all the bits that felt weak in the book... in fact it's a great lil film in its own right.

children of men

Big Fish...much better than the book.

The Shining.
Shawshank redemption
Stand By Me
Die Hard 2
The Exorcist

there was such a difference between bladerunner and Do Androids Dream that i dont think it can be a straight comparison. I will probably include a few that fall into this category as well:

Movies i think are better than the book:

The Maltese Falcoln
The Godfather
Invasion of the Body Snatcher (70's donald sutherland remake)
No Country for Old Men
A Scanner Darkly - equally as good as the book
Lord of the Rings - first and third movie
The Exorcist - equally as good as the book
The Shining
Rambo
Jaws
Pet Sematary
Planet of the Apes
Misery
The Sword in the Stone
The Thing - John Carpenter remake
Starship Troopers - so much more fun but again a bit different to the book


There are plenty of examples on where a movie can be greater than the book.