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Adapting a book to the screen is 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's a whole discussion on Reddit where people have been sharing rare examples of filmmakers surpassing the source material with their cinematic vision. From cult classics such as American Psycho to more recent productions like I’m Thinking of Ending Things, here are the movies that audiences believe are actually better than the book.
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#1
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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#3
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.
#6
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.
#9
Who Framed(Censored) Roger Rabbit.
The books plot is very different, and the characters are all unlikeable. Eddie isn't a tragic character who's dealing with his brothers death by drinking his life away and alienating all the toons he used to befriend. He's a hard bitten, hard drinking a*****e just because. Roger is dead, and the character who k*lled him doesn't really make any sense. The producers of the movie took the idea of a world with toons and humans and threw away the plot. They made the right choice; the movie turned out amazing.
#10
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.
#11
Goodfellas (based on the novel Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi). Wiseguy is actually pretty interesting, it’s basically Henry Hill telling his own story. But Goodfellas is a masterpiece.
#12
American Psycho.
The book really goes deep into Patrick's obsession with fashion and dining culture. It gets a little tedious.
#14
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.
#18
No Country For Old Men is the best literal film representation of any book I’ve ever read. Both are masterpieces.
#19
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.
#22
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.
#23
Casino Royale - the improved Felix Leiter character makes it infinitely more interesting, buttressed by an amazing performance from Jeffrey Wright.
First Blood - the book is just violence p*rn.
LOTR - ok I know this one is going to p**s a lot of people off. Tolkien never intended to write a story in the way we think of a novel/movie. I get that. He did what he was going for very well. But I find the movies more enjoyable. Sue me. That said, The Hobbit movies are garbage. Peter Jackson reached George Lucasian heights in making a prequel trilogy that’s so bad it diminishes the quality of the original. If you don’t have time to read the book and want to see it on screen, watch the Rankin Bass cartoon from the 70s.
#24
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
The 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.
#25
The Mist. The book is better for most of it, but the ending in the movie knocks the socks off the book ending.
#29
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.
#30
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.
#31
Warms my heart to see so many people listing The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and the Jason Bourne series.
#33
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Really enjoyed the book but didn’t love the ending
The movie goes much bigger and weirder for the finale. The results are unforgettable.
#34
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.
#35
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.
#41
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.
What do you think ?
Ace 1 year ago
I think in the majority of cases it really depends on your first exposure. If you're a fan of books then it's very unusual that a film will improve upon it - as a film buff who later reads the book you're nearly always going to be disappointed. And of course a lot of "books of the film" were written later, so have ne real integrity or value.
Chan Sue Lynn 1 year ago (edited)
Legally Blonde. I love the main character in the movie. The novel....not so much.
Ace 1 year ago
I think in the majority of cases it really depends on your first exposure. If you're a fan of books then it's very unusual that a film will improve upon it - as a film buff who later reads the book you're nearly always going to be disappointed. And of course a lot of "books of the film" were written later, so have ne real integrity or value.
Chan Sue Lynn 1 year ago (edited)
Legally Blonde. I love the main character in the movie. The novel....not so much.
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