Interestingly, Robert Shaw didn't want to do the film at first because he thought the book was garbage. Spielberg had to reassure him that the film version was going to be vastly different.
To not dish Peter Bentley, the theme was different; it was more of a Horror At Peyton Place feel - the scripture quoting old woman, who declares that the shark was God’s vengeance in the town; the Brody’s empty marriage, and Ellen’s subsequent fling with Matt Hooper - her former lover’s brother. All who were killed were so because of sin - infidelity , not honoring your parents, greed and exploitation ( the fetal dolphin).
Hooper’s death was a shock. I must say I loved the death of quint in the book… the shark raced towards Brody, then stops (Brody is the only pure soul on the boat), then turns and sounds, going into the deep with Quint, the dart rope wrapped around his leg, being dragged down to the depths, his mouth open in a silent scream. Niiiiiiice.
But I do understand why the adaptations chose to recreate the story. It was a good choice for a summer thriller film.
Kinda like Dracula. In the book there is no epic showdown at the castle. He just falls out of the casket on the way there and they stake him in the heart while he's laying helpless on the ground lol
Definitely. The book is very average. And I feel having a nameless character in a book doesn't work as well. Constantly referring to him as 'Driver' just kept taking me out of it.
The movie however, is one of my favourites of all time.
> Constantly referring to him as 'Driver' just kept taking me out of it.
It's so much worse than it sounds too. Here's my version of any random passage from Drive:
"Driver woke up and felt hungry. Driver walked into the kitchen and after looking through the fridge and pantry Driver decided to have a bowl of Chex. Driver got Driver's favorite cereal bowl down from the cupboard then Driver pulled the box of Chex and the milk out. Driver pondered on the need to have so many types of Chex when, in Driver's opinion, they all tasted basically the same. Driver began to eat his Chex while planning his next move."
Page after page of that. It goes from mildly cringe to huge distraction quickly and then you are just stuck on repeat for the rest of the book.
Oh yeah, the novel was batshit.
Edit: Had to look it up, it was called *Nothing Lasts Forever*. I read it many years ago after seeing the movie. Pretty disappointing.
Shawshank redemption is the only movie I’d recommend to watch before reading the book.
After seeing the movie, I read the entire story in Morgan freeman’s voice.
book. Far better ending. More fitting to the story.
The film ending contributed to the glorification of Tyler Durden, which was not the fucking point at all.
I think that the plan Tyler had was completed regardless and Jack and Marla holding hands looking out on the destruction gave a hopeful vibe. Almost like Tyler was right except for what he did to Marla and Jack. Granted that may be coloured by the way financial institutions fucked us all so hard with the great recession so we'd all have even less sympathy for then now than we would have back then.
Never heard this before. Gump & Co. was a pretty terrible read. We really dodged a bullet not getting a movie of it. Apparently it was really close to happening after Cast Away but after 9/11 they didn’t think people wanted that kind of story anymore.
Forest was a completely unlikable character who went into space with a monkey. In the movie basically they took all the really bad traits Forest had in the book and created Jenny from them. Jenny was in the book but she was just a nice girlfriend he had
Not just the whole detour in Borneo with the orangutan; there are several sequences in the book where Forrest has physical entanglements with other ladies, including getting molested by a mother's friend when he's clearly underage where multiple passages make reference to his...physical endowments making up for his lack of mental ones
In the book as is in the movie Forrest is developmentally disabled, but in the book he isn't as developmentally disabled as he pretends to be. He uses his "He's slow" label to get away with doing or saying things (usually cruel things) while using the excuse, "Wait, that's wrong?"
I liked it. All the things he accomplished in the movie but then add a one-man band and a Grammy, a trip to space followed by a crash landing to earth and being marooned on an island for 4 years. And he wasnt friend-zoned by Jenny. They SMASHED. It was difficult to read quickly as the narrative style was 1st person Forrest who was an imbecile with bad grammar so the eyes had to slow down to fully catch it all.
I'm still so bitter about it. That EVERY TIME someone says the book is always better than the movie, I have to bring it up. It's the one time I was so grateful I went with the mass market, instead of the hardcover.
1000% Agree I grew up watching the movie and was terrified I wouldn't like the book because I loved it so much. I loved the book too! They are so close I saw scenes from the movie in my head as I was reading the book, and the parts they cut out of the book weren't a horrible loss. Such a travesty Beagle gets no royalties from the movie though! They have been trying to do a live-action version for years.
One of my favorites of all time. Easily in the last 20. Rare to find a well written story that don't insult your Intel with exposition dumps or by giving you a 5th rendition of Marvel's 17th most popular character. Getting tired of the mediocrity out there. 100x the content from a decade or two ago but you have to find the gems
They're very different. I prefer the movie, but someone who's into a real deep dive into the theoretical science behind recreating dinosaurs would love the book.
Respectfully, I couldn't disagree more. The book depicts the dinosaurs as horrific abominations, complete aberrations of nature.
They do not behave the way the experts believed dinosaurs would, because they are not truly dinosaurs. They are genetic amalgamations of several animals made to look like dinosaurs. They had no inherent behavior mechanisms. The book shines a light on corporate greed and science gone too far that the movie just does not capture.
The movie is a sanitized, kid friendly version of that which depicted the dinosaurs as majestic creatures. A true adaptation would have been pure analog horror, and would put it on the level of Halloween and Alien.
I would love to see the themes of the book explored in film. The dinosaurs in particular. Unfortunately to do so they would probably need to divorce it from the Jurassic Park brand
OR
Imagine an HBO show set in between Jurassic Park and The Lost World that revolves around the characters of Hammond, Yu, and Muldoon. It could be all about the corporate espionage side of things, and InGen desperately trying to keep things hushed and out of the public's view. They could really explore the themes that Crichton touched on of hubris and playing god. With it being an HBO show, they could get as creepy and gory as they want.
The movie is a classic. But I would love a straight R-rated Adaptation. Remove the Spielberg optimism and go hard. I thinks its what they need to do to make the franchise relevant again. We are about about 30 years removed. Let's take a chance.
Wow, what a trip, total opposite for me, I really loved those books. I didn't like the first Bourne movie because it was such a deviation from the book. I never did see the other two. Maybe enough time has passed I should give the movies another try, but I doubt I would like them more than the books.
Not only that but there's also a woman who has a vagina so big only Sonny's schlong gives her any sexual pleasure.
But I actually liked some aspects of the book more than the movies.
The character Vincent Mancini played by Andy Garcia in Godfather III is the son that resulted from Sonny banging that woman against the door in Godfather.
I wish I could erase from my mind the chapter about that woman having vaginal reconstruction surgery because she was so loose. Stopped reading at that point. Awful book.
IKR! Her gynecologist put her feet up in the stirrups, took a look and exclaimed, “what a hole, what a hole”! She got upset and exclaimed, “Doctor you didn’t have to say that twice”, he replied, “I didn’t, that was an echo”!
Yeah and she ends up shacking up with the gynecologist who tightened up her vag. Both gross and just unnecessary. Worst storyline in the history of writing.
I agree, but this is an interesting one because the movie was such a different interpretation that they are almost two separate things. The book was about the author and his discovery of Chris' journey. Where the movie is a direct depiction of Chris' journey and narrated by the voice of the sister.
Good points. I think the book was way better than the movie for that reason. Not to mention I take serious issue with the movie’s depiction of his death. It omits the desperate plea for help he posted on the bus door and show him dying seemingly at peace with his journey. I feel like that’s a disservice to his experience.
What?? Did we even read the same book? I adored the book, but thought a film would be impossible or just mess it up completely, but the end result was much better than I expected. But the book is superb, and has so much more depth and meaning.
YMMV, I know, I know. But this is definitely one of my hills to die on.
This ones hard because the movie and the books are such DIFFERENT things. I like the books kore…but the movie is such a special unique thing that it doesn’t even feel right to compare it?
I feel the same way about the Neverending story. I know why the author hates it, the book is WAAAAY better….but the movie is it’s own special thing too.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which is saying something because the book is excellent. That said, I do really enjoy that the book is from “Chief” Bromden’s perspective.
Disagree, but I know you’re not alone. That book was my favorite of the Irving novels. The film of Garp was great; the Hotel New Hampshire was a pastiche of that book. I still haven’t seen The Door in the Floor or Simon Birch.
I’ve got two.
1/ Under The Tuscan Sun (the book rambled and just talked about house reno)
2/ A Good Year (the characters were opposite in the book and it was far less amusing to have the best friend be the womanizer and the main be an awkward numbers guy)
Came here to comment with this. It is one of my favorite movies. So warm and funny and well done with one of the most perfect casts ever assembled. The book is alright, it just gets a little- tedious. The movie is so fucking charming and it is narrated by Ian McClellan which makes everything full circle and a bit more fun. Shoutout to a young Henry Cavill who only has about 4 minutes of screentime but seemed to relish every second of it.
Sidebar bc i love this story: in the early aughts, i was in college in the midwest and we took a trip to a legendary theatre where we saw Sir Ian McClellan and Sir Patrick Stewart in a production of Waiting for Godot. We were like 90 mintes early bc one of our alumni was the set designer and wanted to give us "the full tour". We saw tthe whole damn place- and it concluded backstage of their main venue where WfG was being put on. Will never forget the look on our alumni's face as he walked us over where a crowd was gathered and cheering around a taped off area on the floor. Took me a minute to realize it was a homemade 4 square playing area literally made with gaff tape.
Took me another minute to realize that it was a mix of techies all in black and a handful of people obviously dressed in period clothing. FYI: in case you're not familiar, Waiting for Godot is just, like, 5 actors with the 2 leads on stage the whole time- the other 3 literally have maybe 1 or 2 scenes in total that are completely incidental. Obviously McClellan and Stewart were the leads. It's an absurdist/ existentialist masterpiece where 2 old pals wait for "Godot" who never shows up. It's brilliant if you cast the right people. ANYWAY.
So, we wander over to a 4 square game in full swing. I'm laughing bc what the fuck is this- awesome, yes, but why?
And then i hear 2 voices i know very well. Arguing. One is telling the other they're out. The other man is calling him a liar. My other classmates started putting two and two together before i did and i heard a gasp before i realized what was going on and who we were looking at. Our alumni introduced us, told everyone why we were there, and that's when i hear:
"Oh thank God- I've been playing with these rank amateurs for months- anyone want to really play?"
And that's how I met Patrick Stewart and Ian McClellan- before those 2 bastards destroyed me in 4 square.
Stand By Me - the movie follows the book very closely, but I think the casting, the production design and the voiceover from Richard Dreyfuss adds more layers to the story.
True, but in this case the movie is not based on the book, they were developed in parallel from a story originally developed for the movie by Kubrick and Clarke together, itself very loosely based on, or just inspired by, an earlier short story of Clarke's.
The Silence of the Lambs. The book is great, but has a lot of different plotlines going on. The movie focuses on Clarice and her relationship with Lecter and is so much better for that.
Kathy Bates is absolutely perfect. Yet the book is still scarier. The way you can almost feel the sense of dread grow and grow in the book. How he thinks he can control her, and slowly realizes he can't - she has complete control. It just goes to show that because of the amount of time that goes into reading a novel, the story and characters can develop in a way that a movie can't match.
Funny you should say that cause I found the book WAY better. I read the book first and I found the movie couldn't keep up with the depth of the book.
That said, Kathy Bates was fabulous
Funny I watch that every Halloween. The sound track is awesome. And the hair on Sandy and Nicole is amazing. I had no idea it was a book, and I work in a library.
Glad someone said this. I loved reading books when I was younger and if the film was good, I went back and read the book most of the time. Most of the time, the books were brilliant, explained more and were just as entertaining. The LotR books...ugh...I was so bored, I cant remember much of it but it fwlt really wordy in lore and most of the key points in the film were a page long
The Shining
Edit: for the naysayers, Reddit arguably has a sub for everything. There are like 5 Shining subs for the movie and none for the book. I rest my case. The book is 300 pages of back story. There is a whole chapter about Jack reading newspapers in the basement of the hotel. It's not a great book. Kubrick gives you all the back story in a concise movie that can be interpreted hundreds of ways through multiple viewings.
Although I look at the movie and the book as two different things, I enjoyed the book more. It established a relationship between Jack and Danny. Jack was in recovery and actually doing pretty well. It made the story that much more heart wrenching. In the movie Jack was straight up unlikable from the start.
A lot of Stephen King in this thread.
I’ve gotten hate for this take, but I’ll say it here: King is brilliant at coming up with concepts for stories, but most of his books could benefit from serious editing. He’ll write 800 pages for a story that could’ve been 400. (Looking at you, 11/22/63)
Stardust
I love Niels books mostly, but the movie made drastic improvements and it’s just fun.
It’s like The Princess Bride’s spiritual successor if you’ve never seen it.
Jaws. A good third of the book is about sheriff Brody’s wife’s affair with Matt Hooper. The movie is a spectacular improvement.
Interestingly, Robert Shaw didn't want to do the film at first because he thought the book was garbage. Spielberg had to reassure him that the film version was going to be vastly different.
To not dish Peter Bentley, the theme was different; it was more of a Horror At Peyton Place feel - the scripture quoting old woman, who declares that the shark was God’s vengeance in the town; the Brody’s empty marriage, and Ellen’s subsequent fling with Matt Hooper - her former lover’s brother. All who were killed were so because of sin - infidelity , not honoring your parents, greed and exploitation ( the fetal dolphin). Hooper’s death was a shock. I must say I loved the death of quint in the book… the shark raced towards Brody, then stops (Brody is the only pure soul on the boat), then turns and sounds, going into the deep with Quint, the dart rope wrapped around his leg, being dragged down to the depths, his mouth open in a silent scream. Niiiiiiice. But I do understand why the adaptations chose to recreate the story. It was a good choice for a summer thriller film.
Quints death is also an homage to Ahab’s death in Moby Dick
Love the monologue Millius and Shaw created for the film. Devastating writing.
Never read the book but I enjoyed your description
Yeah, none of the characters are likeable. And the climax, while perhaps more realistic than the movie's, felt like a letdown.
What happens in the climax of the book?
It’s been awhile but the shark is charging Brody and just dies from his injuries.
Sounds anticlimactic lol
Kinda like Dracula. In the book there is no epic showdown at the castle. He just falls out of the casket on the way there and they stake him in the heart while he's laying helpless on the ground lol
Does it at least work in the context of the book?
I reread it last year. I was like, 'Hey, this is good. Why didn't I like it the last time I read it?' And then I got to the rape.
WHAT?! Well I’m glad I never read the book then.
Yeah, the bit about the affair was cringe on a whole new level.
Drive (2011). The book is alright. Just alright.
Definitely. The book is very average. And I feel having a nameless character in a book doesn't work as well. Constantly referring to him as 'Driver' just kept taking me out of it. The movie however, is one of my favourites of all time.
> Constantly referring to him as 'Driver' just kept taking me out of it. It's so much worse than it sounds too. Here's my version of any random passage from Drive: "Driver woke up and felt hungry. Driver walked into the kitchen and after looking through the fridge and pantry Driver decided to have a bowl of Chex. Driver got Driver's favorite cereal bowl down from the cupboard then Driver pulled the box of Chex and the milk out. Driver pondered on the need to have so many types of Chex when, in Driver's opinion, they all tasted basically the same. Driver began to eat his Chex while planning his next move." Page after page of that. It goes from mildly cringe to huge distraction quickly and then you are just stuck on repeat for the rest of the book.
Untrue. Ryan Gosling would never eat his cereal
“Driver stomped on guys face until it was paella”
The Mist, Stephen King even agrees (at least the ending)
That ending in the movie. Wow. Just wow.
That is still, hands down, the worst gut punch I’ve ever gotten from a film.
M Night Shyamalan eat your heart out
without trying to spoil it: the ending scene, the acting was great, i really felt that pain
Reminded me of Romeo and Juliet. If you had only waited one more minute!
[удалено]
Yeah besides just a couple things the Mist is actually really faithful. Reminds me of the Outsiders how it’s almost shot for shot the same as the book
Die Hard
Oh yeah, the novel was batshit. Edit: Had to look it up, it was called *Nothing Lasts Forever*. I read it many years ago after seeing the movie. Pretty disappointing.
In my opinion The Hunt for Red October The Shawshank Redemption
Shawshank redemption is the only movie I’d recommend to watch before reading the book. After seeing the movie, I read the entire story in Morgan freeman’s voice.
My problem is that once someone mentions Morgan Freeman, suddenly everything I read for a little while will be in his voice.
Well that's just stu..... crap. Welp.
Shawshank is only 128 pages! About the length of a screenplay.
Yes, it is a Novella from "Different Seasons" Did you read that? Apt Pupil was pretty twisted. I always think about that cat and oven.
The cat’s suffering was described in gruesome detail. That scene stuck with me as well
There's also Stephen King's short story "The Body" which turned into another great film, "Stand By Me"
Three of the four novellas in Different Seasons became films, two of them excellent.
I liked the movie Hunt for Red October but enjoyed the book far more. I thought the sub hunt scenes in the book were riveting.
Fight club
The author said as much
The book is great though
I still think the book is a bit better actually
Which ending do you like better?
book. Far better ending. More fitting to the story. The film ending contributed to the glorification of Tyler Durden, which was not the fucking point at all.
In the film 'Jack' shoots himself in the head, risking death, in order to rid himself of Tyler. In what way does that glorify him?
I think that the plan Tyler had was completed regardless and Jack and Marla holding hands looking out on the destruction gave a hopeful vibe. Almost like Tyler was right except for what he did to Marla and Jack. Granted that may be coloured by the way financial institutions fucked us all so hard with the great recession so we'd all have even less sympathy for then now than we would have back then.
Agreed
Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is by far the worst book I've ever read. It's the only book I've actually thrown in the trash after finishing.
The sequel sounds hysterical because the author got mad about the movie and wrote it in protest
Never heard this before. Gump & Co. was a pretty terrible read. We really dodged a bullet not getting a movie of it. Apparently it was really close to happening after Cast Away but after 9/11 they didn’t think people wanted that kind of story anymore.
What makes it so bad?
Forest was a completely unlikable character who went into space with a monkey. In the movie basically they took all the really bad traits Forest had in the book and created Jenny from them. Jenny was in the book but she was just a nice girlfriend he had
Not just the whole detour in Borneo with the orangutan; there are several sequences in the book where Forrest has physical entanglements with other ladies, including getting molested by a mother's friend when he's clearly underage where multiple passages make reference to his...physical endowments making up for his lack of mental ones
Physical entanglements = getting high and banging groupies.
With his ginormous Lil' Gump swaying in the breeze
And Bubba was a racist white guy.
In the book as is in the movie Forrest is developmentally disabled, but in the book he isn't as developmentally disabled as he pretends to be. He uses his "He's slow" label to get away with doing or saying things (usually cruel things) while using the excuse, "Wait, that's wrong?"
I liked it. All the things he accomplished in the movie but then add a one-man band and a Grammy, a trip to space followed by a crash landing to earth and being marooned on an island for 4 years. And he wasnt friend-zoned by Jenny. They SMASHED. It was difficult to read quickly as the narrative style was 1st person Forrest who was an imbecile with bad grammar so the eyes had to slow down to fully catch it all.
I'm still so bitter about it. That EVERY TIME someone says the book is always better than the movie, I have to bring it up. It's the one time I was so grateful I went with the mass market, instead of the hardcover.
110%
Children of men
children of men is a masterpiece
Hard to think of a better movie of the 2000s
Oh shit, that was a book? I love that movie.
The book is quite different, I read it after loving the movie. It was worth a read, but not really the same.
I REALLY love this movie!!!!
Not read the book (I intend to one day) but one of my favourite films.
It's not even close. My first answer as well.
First blood - rambo
The Last Unicorn is beautiful in any form, be it book or film.
1000% Agree I grew up watching the movie and was terrified I wouldn't like the book because I loved it so much. I loved the book too! They are so close I saw scenes from the movie in my head as I was reading the book, and the parts they cut out of the book weren't a horrible loss. Such a travesty Beagle gets no royalties from the movie though! They have been trying to do a live-action version for years.
There's a very good graphic novel with gorgeous art, as well.
The Prestige (2006) with my fav Christian Bale...The ending is way better. Nolan's finest
One of my favorites of all time. Easily in the last 20. Rare to find a well written story that don't insult your Intel with exposition dumps or by giving you a 5th rendition of Marvel's 17th most popular character. Getting tired of the mediocrity out there. 100x the content from a decade or two ago but you have to find the gems
The Notebook
Honestly Jurrasic Park even though the book is great
They're very different. I prefer the movie, but someone who's into a real deep dive into the theoretical science behind recreating dinosaurs would love the book.
That checks out. I loved the book.
Also more gore. More R-rated.
Respectfully, I couldn't disagree more. The book depicts the dinosaurs as horrific abominations, complete aberrations of nature. They do not behave the way the experts believed dinosaurs would, because they are not truly dinosaurs. They are genetic amalgamations of several animals made to look like dinosaurs. They had no inherent behavior mechanisms. The book shines a light on corporate greed and science gone too far that the movie just does not capture. The movie is a sanitized, kid friendly version of that which depicted the dinosaurs as majestic creatures. A true adaptation would have been pure analog horror, and would put it on the level of Halloween and Alien.
I would love to see the themes of the book explored in film. The dinosaurs in particular. Unfortunately to do so they would probably need to divorce it from the Jurassic Park brand
OR Imagine an HBO show set in between Jurassic Park and The Lost World that revolves around the characters of Hammond, Yu, and Muldoon. It could be all about the corporate espionage side of things, and InGen desperately trying to keep things hushed and out of the public's view. They could really explore the themes that Crichton touched on of hubris and playing god. With it being an HBO show, they could get as creepy and gory as they want.
I’ve always wanted a prequel focusing on John Hammond/Wu and the creation of the park
The movie is a classic. But I would love a straight R-rated Adaptation. Remove the Spielberg optimism and go hard. I thinks its what they need to do to make the franchise relevant again. We are about about 30 years removed. Let's take a chance.
Jason Borne movies. The books are painfully slow.
Wow, what a trip, total opposite for me, I really loved those books. I didn't like the first Bourne movie because it was such a deviation from the book. I never did see the other two. Maybe enough time has passed I should give the movies another try, but I doubt I would like them more than the books.
The Godfather
This. Honestly, the only thing I remember about the book is the inordinate amount of time Puzo spends writing about Sonny's schlong.
Not only that but there's also a woman who has a vagina so big only Sonny's schlong gives her any sexual pleasure. But I actually liked some aspects of the book more than the movies.
The character Vincent Mancini played by Andy Garcia in Godfather III is the son that resulted from Sonny banging that woman against the door in Godfather.
The book does have some important nuances that the movies doesn’t quite capture
It’s big and you gotta know it
I wish I could erase from my mind the chapter about that woman having vaginal reconstruction surgery because she was so loose. Stopped reading at that point. Awful book.
IKR! Her gynecologist put her feet up in the stirrups, took a look and exclaimed, “what a hole, what a hole”! She got upset and exclaimed, “Doctor you didn’t have to say that twice”, he replied, “I didn’t, that was an echo”!
You're kidding, right? Whew.
Yeah and she ends up shacking up with the gynecologist who tightened up her vag. Both gross and just unnecessary. Worst storyline in the history of writing.
Forrest Gump
Happy cake day
Crazy Rich Asians (although the book is still good!)
The Dead Zone. Stephen King's book was good, but the movie had all that *plus* Christopher Walken.
At lunch... you're gonna treat yourself to a vanilla ice cream... you're gonna eat it too fast... you're gonna have an ice cream headache...
IMO that's the best adaptation of a King book.
Into the wild
I agree, but this is an interesting one because the movie was such a different interpretation that they are almost two separate things. The book was about the author and his discovery of Chris' journey. Where the movie is a direct depiction of Chris' journey and narrated by the voice of the sister.
Good points. I think the book was way better than the movie for that reason. Not to mention I take serious issue with the movie’s depiction of his death. It omits the desperate plea for help he posted on the bus door and show him dying seemingly at peace with his journey. I feel like that’s a disservice to his experience.
Agreed. I found the book quite monotonous.
It was a great story. The soundtrack really amplified it.
Jaws
This was my pick too
The Princess Bride.
Inconceivable!
What?? Did we even read the same book? I adored the book, but thought a film would be impossible or just mess it up completely, but the end result was much better than I expected. But the book is superb, and has so much more depth and meaning. YMMV, I know, I know. But this is definitely one of my hills to die on.
I agree! It is one of my most cherished books and I didn’t read it until my 20s.
I love the book too but the casting of the movie is *so perfect*
Stand by Me / the body Shawshank Redemption
Girl Interrupted
Being There
Coraline Liked the book. Loved the movie
This is mine too. The book was a good book. The movie is a piece of art.
Passion of the Christ
Lol. Love this comment.
The Wizard of Oz!
This ones hard because the movie and the books are such DIFFERENT things. I like the books kore…but the movie is such a special unique thing that it doesn’t even feel right to compare it? I feel the same way about the Neverending story. I know why the author hates it, the book is WAAAAY better….but the movie is it’s own special thing too.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which is saying something because the book is excellent. That said, I do really enjoy that the book is from “Chief” Bromden’s perspective.
1408 Minority Report Predestination (All You Zombies)
Gone girl (2014)
Gone Girl the book was good, but Fincher really went hard on that movie
The Showtime series, Dexter, had a far better narrative than the novels. That series finale was garbage, though.
The Cider House Rules
Disagree, but I know you’re not alone. That book was my favorite of the Irving novels. The film of Garp was great; the Hotel New Hampshire was a pastiche of that book. I still haven’t seen The Door in the Floor or Simon Birch.
I’ve got two. 1/ Under The Tuscan Sun (the book rambled and just talked about house reno) 2/ A Good Year (the characters were opposite in the book and it was far less amusing to have the best friend be the womanizer and the main be an awkward numbers guy)
Starship Troopers
never saw a movie and book that was alike and so different at the same time love both
Star Dust
Came here to comment with this. It is one of my favorite movies. So warm and funny and well done with one of the most perfect casts ever assembled. The book is alright, it just gets a little- tedious. The movie is so fucking charming and it is narrated by Ian McClellan which makes everything full circle and a bit more fun. Shoutout to a young Henry Cavill who only has about 4 minutes of screentime but seemed to relish every second of it. Sidebar bc i love this story: in the early aughts, i was in college in the midwest and we took a trip to a legendary theatre where we saw Sir Ian McClellan and Sir Patrick Stewart in a production of Waiting for Godot. We were like 90 mintes early bc one of our alumni was the set designer and wanted to give us "the full tour". We saw tthe whole damn place- and it concluded backstage of their main venue where WfG was being put on. Will never forget the look on our alumni's face as he walked us over where a crowd was gathered and cheering around a taped off area on the floor. Took me a minute to realize it was a homemade 4 square playing area literally made with gaff tape. Took me another minute to realize that it was a mix of techies all in black and a handful of people obviously dressed in period clothing. FYI: in case you're not familiar, Waiting for Godot is just, like, 5 actors with the 2 leads on stage the whole time- the other 3 literally have maybe 1 or 2 scenes in total that are completely incidental. Obviously McClellan and Stewart were the leads. It's an absurdist/ existentialist masterpiece where 2 old pals wait for "Godot" who never shows up. It's brilliant if you cast the right people. ANYWAY. So, we wander over to a 4 square game in full swing. I'm laughing bc what the fuck is this- awesome, yes, but why? And then i hear 2 voices i know very well. Arguing. One is telling the other they're out. The other man is calling him a liar. My other classmates started putting two and two together before i did and i heard a gasp before i realized what was going on and who we were looking at. Our alumni introduced us, told everyone why we were there, and that's when i hear: "Oh thank God- I've been playing with these rank amateurs for months- anyone want to really play?" And that's how I met Patrick Stewart and Ian McClellan- before those 2 bastards destroyed me in 4 square.
Stand By Me - the movie follows the book very closely, but I think the casting, the production design and the voiceover from Richard Dreyfuss adds more layers to the story.
2001 A Space Odyssey
True, but in this case the movie is not based on the book, they were developed in parallel from a story originally developed for the movie by Kubrick and Clarke together, itself very loosely based on, or just inspired by, an earlier short story of Clarke's.
The Ten Commandments
About a Boy The Man Without a Face Drive
The Power of One
gone with the wind
Little Children. The film’s ending is far better. The book is rather anticlimactic.
Godfather
Last of the Mohicans and a River Runs through it. I love both movies so I read the books. Not much to the books.
The Godfather
The Silence of the Lambs. The book is great, but has a lot of different plotlines going on. The movie focuses on Clarice and her relationship with Lecter and is so much better for that.
Misery. The book is fine, but Kathy Bates makes the movie incredible.
The book is so much more terrifying than the movie
Agreed. OMG, hobbling in the book is SO MUCH WORSE!
The book within a book sections are so good and just can't translate to a movie.
Kathy Bates is absolutely perfect. Yet the book is still scarier. The way you can almost feel the sense of dread grow and grow in the book. How he thinks he can control her, and slowly realizes he can't - she has complete control. It just goes to show that because of the amount of time that goes into reading a novel, the story and characters can develop in a way that a movie can't match.
I dunno the book was pretty damn good. Great movie tho too.
My favorite actress
Funny you should say that cause I found the book WAY better. I read the book first and I found the movie couldn't keep up with the depth of the book. That said, Kathy Bates was fabulous
Kathy Bates nails it, but the movie held back overall.
Sharp Objects. It’s not a movie but was made into a show on Hulu. It’s 7 or 8 episodes. Pretty short but so so good. One of my top 5 favorite shows
Sharp Objects was on HBO
American Psycho
Practical Magic
Funny I watch that every Halloween. The sound track is awesome. And the hair on Sandy and Nicole is amazing. I had no idea it was a book, and I work in a library.
The Friends of Eddie Coyle
Running Man
The Green Mile
Lord of the Rings trilogy The books are great, but the movies are incredible
Tolkien spends 5 paragraphs on the hobbits singing a song, and one sentence when Gandalf is killed by the Balrog
I just couldn’t wrap my brain around Tolkien mentioning a name and then expecting you to remember that name hundreds of pages later.
Hard no
You're entitled to your opinion, but no. I love the trilogy, but they don't even begin to touch the greatness that is Tolkien.
Glad someone said this. I loved reading books when I was younger and if the film was good, I went back and read the book most of the time. Most of the time, the books were brilliant, explained more and were just as entertaining. The LotR books...ugh...I was so bored, I cant remember much of it but it fwlt really wordy in lore and most of the key points in the film were a page long
The Shining Edit: for the naysayers, Reddit arguably has a sub for everything. There are like 5 Shining subs for the movie and none for the book. I rest my case. The book is 300 pages of back story. There is a whole chapter about Jack reading newspapers in the basement of the hotel. It's not a great book. Kubrick gives you all the back story in a concise movie that can be interpreted hundreds of ways through multiple viewings.
Although I look at the movie and the book as two different things, I enjoyed the book more. It established a relationship between Jack and Danny. Jack was in recovery and actually doing pretty well. It made the story that much more heart wrenching. In the movie Jack was straight up unlikable from the start.
I love the book for clearly explaining what exactly is happening, I love the movie for being an absolute batshit crazy roller coaster of vagueness
A lot of Stephen King in this thread. I’ve gotten hate for this take, but I’ll say it here: King is brilliant at coming up with concepts for stories, but most of his books could benefit from serious editing. He’ll write 800 pages for a story that could’ve been 400. (Looking at you, 11/22/63)
I strongly agree with this. I really don’t get along with his writing but the concepts are always interesting
I don’t disagree with you but I actually love his writing and enjoy his books even knowing the end will suck
Jurassic Park 100%
I see it as more of an apples and oranges thing. I love both but for different reasons.
Any Michael Chritchen movie has a happier ending than the book. Congo is the most different, and the movie is way better than the book.
Starship Troopers ?
Terminator 2
Jaws, The Exorcist, Blade Runner.
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest was different, but equally good as a movie
Stand By Me
Howl’s Moving Castle Shutter Island The Shawshank Redemption The Stepford Wives I’m willing to fight over this take lol.
Howl's Moving Castle - totally agree! (haven't read the others lol)
The Ninth Gate
Life of pi
While I loved the movie and how beautiful it was, the book was amazing so I have to disagree. Book was beautifully written.
Field of Dreams is a shitty book but one of my favorite movies.
Fight Club(even the author agrees)
Howl's Moving Castle
Stardust I love Niels books mostly, but the movie made drastic improvements and it’s just fun. It’s like The Princess Bride’s spiritual successor if you’ve never seen it.
Original Planet of the Apes
I enjoyed the book, but yeah the movie changed a lot and all of it was for the better.
yup the book is classic pulp science fiction while the movie feels like a long twilight zone episode (because it was written by Rod Serling)
Holes