Movies that were better than the book

Ooh, good topic!

I've always been fond of the 1987 made-for-TV adaptation of Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales. Though the short story has some nice imagery in its writing, I think seeing it on the screen really makes the imagery come alive. The fact that they keep 99% of the language of the story, via the narration of the grandfather, makes it even better.

 

Better:
The Shining (the book was good, but I prefer the film)
Jaws
The Shawshank Redemption

Tied:
Jurassic Park
Lord of the Rings

 

I was about to say The Hunger Games when I realised you already wrote it. It's one of the very few times where the movie was actually faithful to the book.

 

Can't I've ever found a movie to be better then the book.

 

I didn't really like the adaption of The Hunger Games (...I guess my expectation was too high, on that one), I prefer the book though, but I do like Harry Potter, The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Speak, it's usually a hit and miss type of thing for me hopefully they don't ruined Life of Pi, The Great Gatsby and Les Misérables

 

The only time ive ever thought a film was better than the book was with Jurassic Park, and i think that is only because i read the book a couple years ago while the film has been in my all time favourite movies since it came out. The book just seemed wrong somehow, like i was cheating on the film with its slightly smarter, but less attractive brother.

 

I agree with Owen. I love A Child's Christmas In Wales but that movie is speacial to me. I also like listening to my record of Dylan Thomas reading it!

 

Lord of the Rings. I found the books boring, but the movies an epic adventure.

Harry Potter does NOT make that list! You wouldn't even know what was going on half the time if you didn't read the books first, and they totally screwed up the music for the last two.

I'd like to see movie adaptions of Artemis Fowl and Septimus Heap.

 

The Spy Who Loved Me.

I'm sorry, I love James Bond, but it's hard to read something written from the POV of a young woman with a textbook case of the "Mary Sue". I was convinced I picked up a shitty romance novel on accident again, and only kept reading in hopes that James Bond would come and be a bad ass and redeem it. I kid you not, literally OVER HALF of the book was JUST about her talking about failed relationships and how all every man ever just wanted to use her for sex and GAH IAN FLEMING WHY.

And then we have Stanley Kubrick. You see, this bat shit crazy asshole had the brilliant idea of using ONLY the book's title, ignoring the rest of the pages, and making one of the best Bond films ever.

But since he didn't use the actual plot (thank GOD), it probably doesn't count, haha.

In that case, maybe Lord of the Rings. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the books, but the movies are just bad ass. So, so bad ass.

 

None.

 

The Notebook. Definitely.

 

Hunger Games and Harry Potter? I feel like we watched different movies and read different books lol

Mhmm, tough one. Okay, don't kill me for this, but I actually read the twilight series (I know...I know!) and I was beyond disappointed with the last book. I haven't seen the movie, probably never will, but in the trailer they are ACTUALLY going to fight! Which is huge considering in the book they spent the whole book creating an army....and the end there was no fighting! When I finished reading it I was beyond pissed xD

 

Lord of the Rings, I find the books a bit boring to read, but I love the movies.

The Lucky One, didn't like the book that much, but I thought the movie was really good.

 

Weird answer, I know...

But I actually liked Bridge to Terabithia's movie a lot better.

 

I couldn't agree more also LOVE "all of the homo" I take it you have watched LK's videos

 

The upcoming Les Mis movie should be better than the book, and even if it's not then the musical still is. That book is so dense!

I loved the LotR novels, but the movies are equally epic. Not better, but just as good, and that's high praise.

I know there's one or two other things where the movie is better, but I can't think of them right now.

 

A Clockwork Orange. That's the only one i can think of.

Everyone saying the lord of the rings books were worse than the movie just has no taste in literature IMO.

Jurassic park was also a pretty shit book, the movie didn't have to try very hard to be just as good.

 

Didn't know Jurassic Park was a book lol but I don't read much.

To Kill a Mockingbird. Didn't really Luke it but preferred it to the book. Imo the story is overrated (I get the standing up to racism in depression era Alabama but Idgaf about children playing for like 20 chapters

 

DIE HARD. They took the movie in a completely different direction than the book (Nothing Lasts Forever). In the book, he did much more morally questionable things and the villain had more of a political drive. Both were respectable in their own right, but I prefer the direction the movie took.

JURASSIC PARK. The book was grosser. And not as cool.

NARNIA. All three of the recent movies. None of the books were very well written. They had no heart. Just very bland and uninteresting. And the religious overtones were way too present. (Though they still were in the 3rd movie). But the first two movies were so beautiful and majestic. And the battle scenes went from a boring short paragraph in a book to an amazing fantasy battle.
And Dawn Treader was the worst of all the books and the worst movie. But the movie still made changes that made it much better than the book. The book was just, "let's do a thing. done. let's do another thing." etc. The movie stretched these events out through the course of the movie to make it into an actual story that moved forward. It was still bad, but still better than the book.