# movie better than book?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-better-than-book/854005>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 17, 2020, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-better-than-book/854005 "2020-05-17T23:09:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 9

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-better-than-book/854005/167 "2020-06-07T17:44:34Z")

</div>

**The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3** was not a bad book at all, but the movie was better.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-better-than-book/854005/168 "2020-06-07T19:39:49Z")

</div>

I assume you mean the [1974 film adaptation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taking_of_Pelham_One_Two_Three_(1974_film)) of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, not the [1998 TV film version](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taking_of_Pelham_One_Two_Three_(1998_film)) or the [2009 theatrical remake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taking_of_Pelham_123_(2009_film)), despite the big-time cast of the latter. Few recent remakes match the original versions.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-better-than-book/854005/169 "2020-06-07T20:25:04Z")

</div>

The TV series (BBC?) _A Year in Provence_ with John Thaw and Lindsey Duncan was better than Peter Mayle’s book, which was dry and dull in comparison.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\
**Post date:** [June 7, 2020, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-better-than-book/854005/170 "2020-06-07T21:47:57Z")

</div>

> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> I assume you mean the [1974 film adaptation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taking_of_Pelham_One_Two_Three_(1974_film)) of The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, not the [1998 TV film version](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taking_of_Pelham_One_Two_Three_(1998_film)) or the [2009 theatrical remake](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Taking_of_Pelham_123_(2009_film)), despite the big-time cast of the latter. Few recent remakes match the original versions.

Oh, yeah, _definitely_ the 1974 version; it’s untouchable. I didn’t even know there was a TV version and Travolta tried but the Denzel version was just so-so.

_The Towering Inferno_ was adapted from two books: **The Tower** by Richard Martin Stern and **The Glass Inferno** by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. The movie is better than **The Tower** but not as good as **The Glass Inferno** , mostly because the moviemakers borrowed too much from the Stern novel. And it’s too darn long!

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-better-than-book/854005.md?page=8)