I would have to say Die Hard was better than the book it was based on since no one gives a crap about it,
and Blade Runner was better than electric sheep to me, what else?
2007-08-28 14:40:49 · 28 answers · asked by ? 2 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
fresca - i half agree, but i think you underestimate cinema
2007-08-28 14:46:02 · update #1
Sleeping with the Enemy was a book and it sucked but the movie with Julia Roberts was quite good.
2007-08-28 14:44:15 · answer #1 · answered by Jackie Oh! 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jaws is an awful book. The dialogue is terrible. The movie is much better.
The Boys from Brazil I think is better than the book. The book is good, too, I just like the movie better.
Fried Green Tomatoes is better than the book.
Those are the only ones I can think of right now. I usually prefer the books to movies. If you asked the opposite question (books better than movie) I could make a really long list.
2007-08-28 20:25:02 · answer #2 · answered by KL 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's rare that I think a movie is better than the book it was based upon, but every now and then it happens...
The classic movie The Best Years of Our Lives... the book it was based on was this long narrative poem... the movie was much easier to follow...didn't hurt that they had a great screenplay, a great cast and William Wyler directing.
I agree with The Shawshank Redemption... I think the fact that it was a shorter story made it easier for them to make a better movie... they got to add details instead of taking away details the way most movies do. I agree with the above on Secretary, too.... the movie was WAY better than the short story it was based upon... was more clever and had a much better ending. Loved the movie, didn't like the short story at all.
2007-08-28 19:05:18 · answer #3 · answered by Carlito Sway 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Though it's definitely unusual, I do know of some older movies that were better than the book.
The movie A Letter to Three Wives (Kirk Douglas) was better than the book from which it came - A Letter to Five Wives by John Klempner.
The movie Strange Cargo (Joan Crawford, Clark Gable) was better than the book it was from - Not Too Narrow...Not Too Deep by Richard Sale.
I also thought the movie Random Harvest (Greer Garson) was better than the book of the same name by James Hilton.
Another movie - My Reputation (Barbara Stanwyck) was better than the book of the same name written by Clare Jaynes.
I also thought the original Disney movie The Incredible Journey (1963-Emile Genest) was better than the book by Sheila Burnford.
2007-08-28 15:40:49 · answer #4 · answered by ck1 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't honestly think I've ever seen a movie that was better than the book, but "The General's Daughter" with John Travolta probably followed the book the closest of any movie that I've seen that I had already read the book. Very well done, though not the best book or movie I've ever seen. The most poorly made movie from a truly great book??? "Primal Fear" with Richard Gere.
2007-08-28 14:51:45 · answer #5 · answered by jumbos_mom 5 · 1⤊ 1⤋
It is so very rare for a movie adaptation to be better than a novel, although I agree with some already mentioned. Rather than repeat them, I'll add "Silence of the Lambs." The book was excellent, but Anthony Hopkins really brought Hanibal Lecter to life.
2007-09-04 19:54:55 · answer #6 · answered by lugubriouslyglad 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A Christmas Carol (especially the 1951 version)--they took out all of Dickens' ham-handed asides to the reader and left the great dialogue and characters
It's A Wonderful Life--a zillion times better than Van Doren Stern's lame lame short story (and much better than the original script, for that matter)
2007-08-28 19:41:07 · answer #7 · answered by Omar Cayenne 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Psycho! The original Hitchcock version.
Secretary, with Maggie Gyllenhall and James Spader. It's really a rather dreary short story.
The Bad Seed. A book could never be as campy and hilarious as this movie.
2007-08-28 17:46:30 · answer #8 · answered by Ms. Switch 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I very rarely like movies than the books, but I can think of two offhand:
LA Confidential- the film is much tighter and easier to understand than the book, and James Ellroy's choppy writing style bugs me.
The Prestige- the stories share major plot points, but again the film is tighter and cleaner than the book, shedding many of the more bizarre and badly-connected elements.
2007-08-28 15:43:57 · answer #9 · answered by Lady Macbeth 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Jaws. I read the book and wasn't too impressed except for the information about sharks. The movie was terrific-- one of the few times that I felt movie characters were better done than book characters, and the mood and pacing was superior in the movie. Not to mention the music... wow.
2007-08-28 15:26:30 · answer #10 · answered by princessmikey 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The Godfather - the book's good, but it doesn't beat the movie.
Same goes for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Again, I'm NOT saying the book was bad in any way. They were good... but the movies came out unexpectedly better :)
2007-09-05 04:33:32 · answer #11 · answered by An Ink Pen 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋