Re: Movies Based on Books...
 

A lot of the King books transferred well to the big screen.

Shawshank and The Body were both good, my favorite is Misery.

Re: Movies Based on Books...
 

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I'd like to say Fight Club, because thats my favorite movie (I know, Im checking the 100 films list) but I think the book is supposed to be better?

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I saw the movie first. After reading the book I wish I'd never seen the movie and just read the book because the book is that much better.

Re: Movies Based on Books...
 

Dead Zone and Carrie were pretty good too.

Re: Movies Based on Books...
 

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Wasn't "Apocalypse Now" based on a book? "2001: A Space Odessey"? .....

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You're kidding, right????

Besides your utter lack or knowledge concerning literature, this is a silly comparison.

movies - books
apples - oranges

books are internal, usually about the emotions of the protaganist. Movies are external, and are usually plot driven.

You get different pleasures from the two mediums. They are not at all similar.

Film - sensory overload, music, visual stimulation, etc.
books - a well-turned phrase, the solitude, imagination

And most people's argument - "they shoulda kept this in the movie - it was the best part of the book!" is asinine. If you filmed a book completely faithfully, every scene, every character...you'd have a 40 hour movie.

To compare them is just silly.

Re: Movies Based on Books...
 

Although I agree with the "apples and oranges" talk, if you must compare, you could make a really good case for "Goodfellas" being better than the book. (It was based on "Wise Guy" by Nicholas Pileggi.)

Re: Movies Based on Books...
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I'd like to say Fight Club, because thats my favorite movie (I know, Im checking the 100 films list) but I think the book is supposed to be better?

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I saw the movie first. After reading the book I wish I'd never seen the movie and just read the book because the book is that much better.

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I actually felt that the movie was better than the book. For one, the ending of the movie is much better than the book. And I think the message of the story is better presented in the movie. But again you can't really judge the two.

Re: Movies Based on Books...
 

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Besides your utter lack or knowledge concerning literature, this is a silly comparison.


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My utter lack of knowledge? A Space Odyssey was written concurrently with the screenplay by Arthur C. Clarke. Which came first I don't know. But it was a book and a movie.

Apocalypse Now was based on a book titled "Heart of Darkness" was it not? And yes I know Heart of Darkness is a completely different time period and different plot, but the movie was based on it all the same.

And FWIW, I'm not trying to compare books and movies (they are apples and oranges) I'm mearly asking if anyone actually liked a movie better than the book it was based upon. It can happen.

Re: Movies Based on Books...
 

Jaws

Re: Movies Based on Books...
 

I recently read sideways and I found the movie better, if only because it is one of my favorite movies ever.

-SmileyEH

Re: Movies Based on Books...
 

The Shawshank redemption was the first movie that came to mind, but I haven't read the short so I can't say for sure. It was an amazing movie though.

If you're asking which movies based on books were phenomenal and true to the novel (different question, I know), Interview With A Vampire and LOTR are the two easy picks, although the books were better in each case.