Question 6: Have you ever thought that the movie was better than the book? What was the movie/book?

[Max]

For me, I think I would say Blade Runner. The book is okay, but the movie is kind of a masterpiece.

[Imogen]

I’ve never seen or read Blade Runner (the book is probably somewhere on my eternity length tbr list) but for me, Paper Towns by John Green was a much better film than book just because of how it ended.

[Ella]

I randomly keep joining discussions 😅

I think the movie for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a lot better than the book (not saying the book was bad or anything). And the movie for The Shawshank Redemption was WAY better than the book as well.

[Max]

Imogen wrote: "I’ve never seen or read Blade Runner (the book is probably somewhere on my eternity length tbr list) but for me, Paper Towns by John Green was a much better film than book just because of how it en..."

Haven't read Paper Towns, but I felt the same way about The Fault in Our Stars- The book was pretty good, but I had a hard time feeling like the characters were real because their sentences and vocabulary choices sounded so stilted and strange. It's a John Green thing.

In any case, the movie improved on this by casting great actors to play the leads. It made them feel like real people that I could get emotionally attached to.

[Max]

Ella wrote: "I randomly keep joining discussions 😅

I think the movie for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a lot better than the book (not saying the book was bad or anything). And the movie for The Shawshan..."

Haven't read either one of those yet, but the movies are some of the best ever! My dad used to tell me that the only time a movie was better than the book was with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest- I'm glad to know others agree.

Also I think there are several Stephen King adaptations that have turned out better than their source material- Or at least as good. The Green Mile, Carrie, Misery, The Shining, Gerald's Game...

[Ella]

Max wrote: Haven't read either one of those yet, but the movies are some of the best ever! My dad used to tell me that the only time a movie was better than the book was with One F... "

I agree. I haven't seen The Green Mile (or Misery for that matter) yet but I'm 100% certain those are both amazing movies

[Adrienne]

I find that most movies are not as good as the book. This is because they change the story at times and eliminate parts of the story that made the book interesting.
I have seen both The Green Mile and Misery, they were very good movies. Since I never read the books I had no problem enjoying the movies.

[D.]

I can honestly say there is only one movie I enjoyed more than the book and it was Nerve with Emma Roberts and Dave Franco. The movie ending was way more climactic than the book. Other than that I try to take movie adaptations with a huge grain of salt.

[Karma]

Well jumping into this discussion of the RARE times a movie is better than the book, I would have to say that The Notebook and Time Traveler's Wife were that way for me. With The Notebook I felt all the romantic scenes that everyone including myself loves weren't there originally by Nicholas Sparks but for the Time Traveler's Wife I thought the author's writing wasn't smooth nor was it compelling enough for me to try and finish the novel. And the only reason I did finish it was because I saw the movie first and kept thinking, gee it has to get better than this soon right?

[Sebastian]

Jaws. The shark is just a MacGuffin in the book, while he is the star in the movie. There are some side plots that are not in the movie and for good reasons. One revolves around an awkward romantic relationship between Brody's wife and Hooper. Another one is about the local mafia.

[Tori]

I kinda mentioned this on Question 4, but I think the Coraline movie was better than the book. I did see the movie first, but...it was just fantastic.

And I liked the film ending of A Dog's Purpose better. It warmed my dog-lover's heart <3

[Wika]

I think Harry Potter movies were awesome but books were okay.

[Paula]

Adrienne wrote: "I find that most movies are not as good as the book. This is because they change the story at times and eliminate parts of the story that made the book interesting.
I have seen both The Green Mile..."

I noticed these are both adaptations of Stephen King novels. Have you seen "Stand By Me" (adaptation of the novella "The Body") or "The Shawshank Redemption" (adaptation of the novella "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.") ?

These two were also done quite well and I believe King may have been involved in writing the screenplay for one of them. Don't remember. I watch Shawshank over and over because I like Morgan Freeman so well.

[Caitlin]

The movie Just Like Heaven I found to be much better than the book it was based off of, If Only It Were True. The book was too fast paced, and super cheesy. (like trying to give you a deeper view on life while telling about a romance between a ghost and a man cheesy) The movie was cheesy too, but in a more endearing way. Plus, it stars Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo, so you know it's good.

[Soul]

Well!!! As I have a good appetite with watching movie as well as reading the same book 😀... So I think the movie "Miss perigrine's home for peculiar children" was much cheerful fantasy than reading it...

[AlFaiz]

Offcourse the movies brings life in the content of books. Im always more into the movies than books.

[Emma]

Well, I think I can get a long with Max that surely some Stephen King movies are better than the novels... Maybe because some novels of him should have been better a bit shortly? And maybe I like to see the movie Geralds game now... I didn´t ever know it also was a movie. ;)

[Sam]

I thought all of the maze runner movies were better than the books. The characters were more likable and intriguing in the movie. I wish the movies weren’t so rushed so we could learn more details, but I liked the plot a lot better in the movies. The books story was just too mundane and tedious to me.

[Michelle]

I thought the Chronicles of Narnia movies were better than their respective books. My qualm mainly stems from the books feeling a bit light on details, which I think might have to do with me coming to the books as an adult used to reading fantasies with 800 pages of unnecessary descriptions. (I read MG all the time, though, so? I don't know.) I thought The Magician's Nephew was pretty brilliant, but the rest of the series was average, at best, to me.

[Heather]

I absolutely hate the book "The Circle" and while I disliked the movie nearly as much....at least it was over quicker than the amount of time I wasted reading it :(

[ROBERT]

I have a hard time with Hubert Selby books. The movie adaptations of Last Exit to Brooklyn and Requiem for a Dream captivated me. The movie in both cases greatly exceeded the books.

I liked the Blade Runner choice.

[[deleted user]]

Requiem For A Dream definitely isn't a 'feel good' film, so I don't think I would have stayed with the book!
I am of the opinion that 'Blade Runner 2049' is a modern day classic though?

[ROBERT]

4th Earl wrote: "Requiem For A Dream definitely isn't a 'feel good' film, so I don't think I would have stayed with the book!
I am of the opinion that 'Blade Runner 2049' is a modern day classic though?"

Selby's writing style was more the challenge than the mood. It is really different. How someone saw movies in his books intrigued me.

Last Exit from Brooklyn had a similar mood to Requiem.

[Ash]

I just started doing a feature on my blog called "I Read That Movie" Where we compare movies/shows to books they're based off of. So I'm learning there are actually movies that are way better than the books.

Two that come to mind are
and

Tomorrow when the war began was pretty close to the book, but I liked the movie just a bit more.
The Woman in Black book was awful and boring and not at all scary. The movie on the other hand scared the pee out of me.

[Shelley]

the movie was much better. The book was strange the story wasn't as interesting as the movie version.

[Andrea]

Ashlea, that's an awesome idea!

[Kavya]

I stand by the universal truth that the book is always better. There are exceptions but I think they are very, very, rare. Adaptations of children's books tend to be better, mostly because as adults the books would seem too simple for us. Like Chronicles of Narnia as someone already mentioned. Adaptations of fantasy books are cool because of, well, the colour and life and fairies and goblins. I see here that some people think John Green movie adaptations are generally better than the books. I don't agree on that though I do think that The Fault in Our Stars was one of the best book adaptations ever made. Paper Towns was a good movie too. But the movies cannot really express all of the ideas that John Green builds the books with. Though the dialogues and the monologues and the metaphors, oh the metaphors, do sound pretentious at times, that is a great part of John Green's characters. It gives them dimensions and depth, while admittedly also making them a bit hard to chew. In the movie Paper Towns, the characters seem flat and lifeless and the plot a bit meaningless.

[Shar]

The Host book was way better than the movie, the movie sucked.

[Kirsten]

I think it also depends on what you read or saw first. Though the book is 9 times out of 10 better. But occasionally there's something in the film that you loved - whether it's an actor or a plot point - that when it's not in the book it disappoints you.

[Jenna]

Sleeping with the Enemy. I enjoyed the movie more. I liked the ending better, and felt the protagonist was portrayed as a stronger woman than she was in the book.

[Kathy]

Babette's Feast.

Isak Dinesen's original story is wonderful, but there's a sharp, cynical edge in most if not all of Dinesen's stories, and unfortunately, Babette's Feast is no exception.

The movie, on the other hand, while following the original storyline, strikes a different tone, especially at the end. Babette's pride in her artistry is evident, but not the haughtiness that Dinesen gave her. And while the movie pokes fun at some of the characters, just as the novella does, it's a gentler sort of humor than in Dinesen's original.

In short, the filmmakers have suffused Dinesen's story with warmth, and a deeply stirring sense of redemption and reconciliation.

Of course, unlike text on a page, films are a visual and aural experience, and in Babette's Feast, the filmmakers have the advantage of lighting and music and sound (not to mention the visuals of the food!) to create that beautiful atmosphere and message. But I credit the screenwriter and the director for all the conscious choices they made that improved the story itself over the original.

[Monika]

I personally love the film Dune more than the book. David Lynch just made some amazing alterations to the original text. I've read all the books in the series, but Lynch just has a way with the strange and intriguing that has given the movie a cult-like status.

[K.D.]

Soul wrote: "Well!!! As I have a good appetite with watching movie as well as reading the same book 😀... So I think the movie "Miss perigrine's home for peculiar children" was much cheerful fantasy than reading..."
Duly noted! I've been wanting to watch the movie and read the book. I'll watch the movie first:-)

[Sebastian]

Monika wrote: "I personally love the film Dune more than the book. David Lynch just made some amazing alterations to the original text. I've read all the books in the series, but Lynch just has a way with the str..."

I prefer the book but I really like the movie. Its one of my favorite SciFi-flicks. There is so much wrong with it when compared to the book but also so many awesome things like the costumes and the set design and the music.

[Monika]

Some of the most memorable lines in the movie are not in the book or totally reworked which I love. The whole metaphor of the sleeper awakening is all Lynch. Plus Max Von Sydow and Jurgen Prochnow together is amazing. I love that only Judge Dredd with Sylvester Stallone could bring them together again. I agree the books provide and create a much more complete universe but Lynch created a work of art and some excellent shlock all in one shot.

[Erin]

1)Interview with a Vampire
2)The Color Purple
3)The Jane Austen Bookclub
4)Forrest Gump(I couldn't even finish the book)