# Is ANY movie better than the novel it came from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2007, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491 "2007-02-02T02:20:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/1 "2007-02-02T02:20:50Z")
Or even as good? I’ve seen a lot of really good movies made from novels I’ve read, but I can’t think of one that was quite as good as the novel. Am I just a literary snob, or are novels _ **always** _ better than the movies that are made from them? Maybe dopers can suggest a few. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/2 "2007-02-02T02:29:29Z")
We’ve only recently had a thread about cases where we thought the movie’s change of the novel improved it. I’ll give one example – **Goldfinger** , where the movie was less cartoony than the book, and they changed Goldfinger’s mission (rob Fort Knox) to an achievable one. it ain’t great literature, but you didn’t specify that. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/3 "2007-02-02T02:37:37Z")
I know this is usually one of the first cited, but – **Silence of the Lambs**. I also thought **The Client** by John Grisham was made better with a kick ass cast of Tommy Lee Jones, Susan Sarandon and the damn near child prodigy-turned-heroin addict Brad Renfro. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/4 "2007-02-02T02:37:46Z")
The Shawshank Redemption - admittedly only from a great short story The French Lieutenant’s Woman - less annoying interludes from author in the movie The Thin Red Line - dunno, the endless shots of landscape and nature worked better for me than the written equivalent ---
**Author:** ![MadPansy64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@MadPansy64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPansy64)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/5 "2007-02-02T02:43:32Z")
Blade Runner (? Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Darryl Hannah) was much better than “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” but a poke in the eye with a sharp stick would be better than reading that book again. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/6 "2007-02-02T02:50:19Z")
Personally, I think that both \*\*Rosemary’s Baby \*\* and \*\*The Caine Mutiny \*\* surpass the book. I’m also pretty sure there are hundreds of films which were based on utterly forgotten, uninspired books. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/7 "2007-02-02T02:51:49Z")
Forrest Gump. How they pulled that movie from that book is totally beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/8 "2007-02-02T02:54:21Z")
There are those who argue that **The Maltese Falcon** movie is better or as good as the book. Ditto **The Godfather**. Alfred Hitchcock’s **Rear Window** is head and tails better than Cornell Woolrich’s novella. I think the same goes for **Psycho** , though it’s been many years since I read Robert Bloch’s book, and my memory is fuzzy. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/9 "2007-02-02T02:58:28Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] **Goldfinger** , where the movie was less cartoony than the book, [/QUOTE] I’ll have to read the book again, but as far as Bond movies go that must be the exception rather than the rule. All I can remember at the moment is that Goldfinger is funny looking so Q and Bond figure he’s a Jew, but no, the club where he cheats at cards is Restricted, so he can’t be. 🙂 [soiler]Did GOldfinger get sucked out the window in the novel as well?[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/10 "2007-02-02T03:05:01Z")
[Arthur Hailey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Hailey) wrote the book _Runway Zero Eight_ then wrote the screenplay for [Zero Hour](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0051221/). [Airplane](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080339/) was much better. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/11 "2007-02-02T03:06:39Z")
I don’t know about _better_, but I thought **Fight Club** the movie was at least as good as the book, and I loved the book. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/12 "2007-02-02T03:07:28Z")
The Lord of the Rings trilogy. :runs and hides: ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/13 "2007-02-02T03:08:31Z")
**Jaws.** A truly great movie, absolutely the best man-versus-animal-who-wants-to-eat-man movie ever made. The book, by Peter Benchley, is long and dull and his prose (IMHO) isn’t very good. **Terms of Endearment** is frequently cited as a movie that was better than the book. I really enjoyed \*\*The Bourne Identity \*\* as a movie. I thought the book was bad. **Hannibal,** as a movie, had its moments. The book was utter trash. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/14 "2007-02-02T03:11:05Z")
I’d say \*\*Treasure of the Sierra Madre \*\* is better than the B. Traven novel. And I would second **The Godfather** as being much better than the novel. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/15 "2007-02-02T03:12:00Z")
[QUOTE=carnivorousplant] I’ll have to read the book again, but as far as Bond movies go that must be the exception rather than the rule. All I can remember at the moment is that Goldfinger is funny looking so Q and Bond figure he’s a Jew, but no, the club where he cheats at cards is Restricted, so he can’t be. 🙂 [/quote] Goldfinger wasn’t cheating at cards at a club - it was while sitting near a hotel pool, playing rummy with a man named Du Pont (who Bond had met in the first novel - _Casino Royale_). Hugo Drax was cheating (at bridge) at a London club called “Blades” where M was a member in the novel _Moonraker_. There’s no indication, that I recall, of a restricted club in any of Fleming’s novels. > [@](#): > > Did GOldfinger get sucked out the window in the novel as well? In the novel, Oddjob got sucked out the window (he’d not been kiled in the vault as in the film). Bond strangled Goldfinger. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/16 "2007-02-02T03:24:42Z")
“Jurassic Park”. Shit book, pretty entertaining movie in a “Jaws” kinda way. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Randy\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ee7513/32.png) [@Randy\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randy_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/17 "2007-02-02T03:28:57Z")
**The Godfather** often gets cited in discussions like this. I’ve not read the book, so I can’t really say. But the movie is often [considered](http://www.filmsite.org/ew100.html) one of the top 10 films ever produced, so how could the book top that? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/18 "2007-02-02T03:31:56Z")
**Field of Dreams** is much better than Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/19 "2007-02-02T03:41:45Z")
[QUOTE=Rodgers01] There are those who argue that **The Maltese Falcon** movie is better or as good as the book. [/quote] Third Time was the Charm! [http://www.amazon.com/Maltese-Falcon-Satan-Met-Lady/dp/B000J6E0T2](http://www.amazon.com/Maltese-Falcon-Satan-Met-Lady/dp/B000J6E0T2) > [@](#): > > “The Maltese Falcon” is best remembered as a superb 1941 film which finally elevated Humphrey Bogart to a superstar. John Huston made his debut as a director and the film was probably the one which launched the film noir cycle. The copy in this DVD set has been restored and never looked better. What makes the DVD set interesting, other than revelling in Huston’s version, is the comparison to earlier versions filmed in 1931 and 1936 by Warner Brothers and the excellent commentaries. ---
**Author:** ![e-bow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@e-bow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/e-bow)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2007, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491/20 "2007-02-02T03:54:19Z")
[QUOTE=Tangent] The Lord of the Rings trilogy. :runs and hides: [/QUOTE] I agree with this. Excising Tom Bombadil=best move ever. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-any-movie-better-than-the-novel-it-came-from/390491.md?page=2)