how similar is the plot of the book catch 22 and the movie catch 22?

Question

yeah i'm still gonna read the book but the book's really confusing

Answer 1

I'm afraid I have to disagree with the first answerer. The movie, while admittedly very good, seemed to me to be a mere shadow of the book.
And that's not surprising, seeing as how the book is over 450 pages long and the movie last a little over 2 hours. How could any director (even the very accomplished Mike Nichols) hope to capture the depth and scope of one of the greatest "war novels" ever written, one that has such an amazing mixture of riotous comedy and profound tragedy?

Here's a review that agrees with me:

"I read Catch-22 many years ago. Loved it. I've seen Catch-22 the movie several times. Loved it. But they are different. You are not going to get every nuance of the complex, convoluted book into the movie, but it is a good approximation. The movie works on its own, mostly due to the collection of oddball characters and circumstances. The long list of big named actors did a good job. However, the cinematography may be the star, here. "

So, yes - it IS a fine movie, but it's definitely NO substitute for the book itself. While many of the high points of the plot are in the movie, a good number had to be left out.

Answer 2

The book and the movie starring Alan Arkin are pretty similar in plot. However, the book goes into much mroe depth and has more plot twists, and conveys the insanity of war that Joe Heller was trying to get across.
So, read the damned book, and don't try to write your report based on the movie.