Adapting a book to the screenis quite a challenge. Cut a scene, and critics might accuse you of ruining the narrative. Alter a character, and you risk alienating fans. But if done right, it’s truly impressive.There’sa whole discussion on Redditwhere people have been sharing rare examples of filmmakers surpassing the source material with their cinematic vision. From cult classics such asAmerican Psychoto more recent productions likeI’m Thinking of Ending Things, here are the movies that audiences believe are actually better than the book.This post may includeaffiliate links.
Adapting a book to the screenis quite a challenge. Cut a scene, and critics might accuse you of ruining the narrative. Alter a character, and you risk alienating fans. But if done right, it’s truly impressive.
There’sa whole discussion on Redditwhere people have been sharing rare examples of filmmakers surpassing the source material with their cinematic vision. From cult classics such asAmerican Psychoto more recent productions likeI’m Thinking of Ending Things, here are the movies that audiences believe are actually better than the book.
This post may includeaffiliate links.
Carrie. It was Kings first book and, although good, there was emotion and depth in Sissy Spacek’s portrayal that went far beyond the character in the orig story.
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I feel like the Princess Bride was better as a movie.
Godfather.The book was obviously a best seller but it had some really - REALLY — cringe side plots (involving huge d***s and huge vags; Puzo seems to have had a fetish about outsized sex organs) which Coppola wisely dropped in the film.
Forrest Gump. The book was … something.
Shawshank Redemption is a great movie. Book is good, as well.
Jaws, in my opinion. The book is not bad, don’t get me wrong, but the characters in it are extremely unlikeable. I think Spielberg was right to eliminate some of the subplots and to buff the characters up to be more likable/relatable. Also, the end of the book kinda sucked. I won’t spoil it, but compared to the movie it’s extremely anti-climatic.I still like both, the book is still a very good read and I understand why it was such a phenomenon, but I’ll always say the movie was better.
Silence of the Lambs. Of course it followed the book almost exactly.
How to train your dragon franchise.
Stand By Me (based on Stephen King’s “The Body”)… I loved the book too! But the movie is a classic to me, just perfect rendition.
American Psycho.The book really goes deep into Patrick’s obsession with fashion and dining culture. It gets a little tedious.
The Martian.The book was excellent, but after a while Mark Watney started to feel like Wile E Coyote with things constantly falling on him. The movie kept just the right amount of adversity to keep the story moving along and never got too bogged down in the details the way the book sometimes did.
Jurassic Park is a good book, but an all-time great movie.
The Children of Men. Book was good. Movie is top 20 all time.
Matilda. Danny DeVito k*lled it.
No Country For Old Men is the best literal film representation of any book I’ve ever read. Both are masterpieces.
I am an avid Stephen King fan, but I have to admit, the movie version of The Shining was very good, and better IMO than the book. However, in most cases SK’s books are much better than the movies / shows / miniseries.
The Devil Wears Prada.
Shrek.
The top answer should be “Paddington.“That movie had no business being as good as it is. The sequel too. Brings that bear to life like no book could.
The Secret Life of Walter MittyThe original text is a depressing short story of a guy dreaming of being greater than his actual tedious life. I love that movie even though it isn’t terribly popular.
The Mist. The book is better for most of it, but the ending in the movie knocks the socks off the book ending.
Fight Club.
StardustMiss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.
Coraline. The book was all right, but the movie was iconic.
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Both Fight Club and LA Confidential are much better movies than books.Sometimes taking a second pass through the narrative to tighten it up for a two hour movie can tighten up the mistakes.
I feel like a lot of it depends on the order one reads/watches initially. That said…I prefer the film Memoirs of a Geisha to the book.And Howl’s Moving Castle. I didn’t like the books at all.
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Warms my heart to see so many people listing The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and the Jason Bourne series.
The Last of the Mohicans.
I’m Thinking of Ending ThingsReally enjoyed the book but didn’t love the endingThe movie goes much bigger and weirder for the finale. The results are unforgettable.
Starship troopers hands down. The movie heavily satirizes the original book. If you like the movie you’ll probably find the book deeply distasteful.EDIT: IDK if some of y’all saw the movie first and read the satire and undermining tone of that and applied it to the book, but the book is NOT great.It’s openly pro-fascist and the movie is so good because of how effectively it lampoons the book. If you read the book as satire more power to you (death of the author and all) but do know that others are aware of the author’s intention and interpret praise of the book as praise of the ideology it was produced to support.
Not a movie but The Boys is SIGNIFICANTLY better than the comic. Garth Ennis has some neat ideas but he’s kind of a hack.
Big fish.
Misery. Definitely not one of Stephen King’s better books, but what a great movie!
The green mile.
The Prestige. The author said Nolan’s twist was better.
The Rules of Attraction. The book was fine, but the movie had stunning visuals that took it much further. While the script lifted some lines directly from the book, I think the script had better character development and a tighter story.
A little princess. Cuaron’s work was magical.
Blade Runner.
No country for old men.
- The Prestige* 2001 A Space Odyssey.
The Bourne Identity.
- Children of Men- Cloud Atlas.
Gone Girl. The book was made to be a movie and the movie does not disappoint.
The Notebook.
Mean girls.
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Linas Simonaitis
Saimonas Lukošius
Entertainment
