Off the top of my head, I can think of
The Shawshank Redemption
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Trainspotting
What are some others?
I actually like Fight Club the novie better than the book, but several people here have said they didn’t like the movie at all.
Stephen King’s shirt story, Lawnmower Man, was much better than the movie. In fact, they had little to do with each other, aside from the fact that there wass a guy who cut lawns in both.
If you’re good to me, I’ll tell you what a “shirt story” is.
As soon as I figure it out myself.
“Now, Voyager”—great book (by Olive Higgins Prouty), great movie.
“The Heiress”—actually better than the Henry James novel on which is was based, I think.
“Call Her Savage”—terrific potboiler by Tiffany Thayer, very enjoyable Clara Bow movie.
“Topper”—again, movie BETTER than book.
I think that, as far as Stephen King movies go, you can include
Stand by Me
The Green Mile
The Dead Zone
I’ve always felt that Fred Zinneman’s film “The Day of the Jackal” did a very good job of conveying the feel of the book to the screen. It’s my all-time favoraite thriller, in both forms.
I’m not generally a big Michael Crichton fan, but the movie “The Andromeda Strain” is the closest a movie adaptation has ever been to the book. The one change is the sex of one of the scientists – from a middle-aged male to middle-aged female. THAT was an impressive change! Critics made a big deal about how Sigourney Weaver’s role in “Alien” was written for a man, but they all seemed to have missed this example from seventeen years earlier – and the character was middle-aged, at that. The protean Robert Wise directed (He did The Day the Earth Stood Still, too. And The Sound of Music and West Side Story! The first Star Trek movie, as well, but I forgive him for that.)
“2010: The Year we Made Contact” is surprisingly faithful to Clarke’s “2010: Odyssey Two” AND to the Kubrick film. I liked it, even though most critics gave it short shrift. I think it’s underappreciated. Peter Hyams directed.
Just recently, I was very impressed by High Fidelity (the film). I had read the book and enjoyed it very much, but this might be one of those rare times when the movie seemed even better. I think this is because:
- they took so much dialogue right from the book
- the book deals a lot with pop music, and the movie created an amazing soundtrack. No matter how well an author writes about music, it’s not quite the same as actually hearing it.
“The Right Stuff” was brilliant as a book and a movie.
I just saw “The Big Sleep” a few weeks ago, and I’m halfway through the book. The movie definitely holds up, at least so far.
Ooh, ooh—more great movies from enjoyable books:
“Dancing Lady”
“Grand Hotel”
“Double Indemnity”
(and yes, I have read all of those books—in fact, I still have 'em on my bookshelf!)
[ul]
[li]Jaws[/li][li]The World According to Garp[/li]The Thing (John Carpenter version) (Short story, not a book, though.)[/ul]
Mojo, I believe that “Fight Club” the book came out after “Fight Club” the movie.
Stand by Me was based on the short story The Body,
and Shawshank Redemption was based on the short
story Rita Heyward and the Shawshank Redemption,
both published in King’s book Different Seasons.
I thought Garp was a both a great book and a very
good movie, but there were many changes made in the
later.
The best book made into the absolutely best
movie of the book was Rosemary’s Baby. As certified
by the afore-mentioned Mr. King.
Movies that actually improved on the book:
Sense and Sensibility
Washington Square (It should be noted, however, that I don’t particularly like Henry James, and tend to think that any change is an improvement.)
The Graduate (Yes, there was a book. Don’t bother.)
Schindler’s List
Is that all? Damn…
Forest Gump
I really liked the movie, hokey as it was. The book was just an absolute pile of garbage as far as I’m concerned. Other than it having general points relative to the book, the movie was completely different and far superior. If they had just changed the names of the characters, no one would have known it even WAS Forest Gump
- Midnight Cowboy (better than the book)
- Being There (different but Peter Sellers was sublime)
- The Dirty Dozen (far better)
- 1984 (the Richard Burton one) (a pure visual translation)
I thought that the movie of To Kill a Mockingbird was a VERY accurate reproduction of the book. It was kind of a condensation, they had to leave out a lot of little things, but the movie didn’t mess around with the characters or the main plot of the trial. The seen where the black spectators stand up in the courtroom balcony as Atticus Finch(Gregory Peck) leaves the court, still moves me each time I see it. “Stand up, Jean Louise, your father’s passing.”
Night of the Hunter – Charles Laughton did a great job with Davis Grubb’s book. I didn’t much care for the voice-over, everything else was perfect. Was Robert Mitchum ever better?
Shane too – although the movie had almost a lush feel, compared to the simplicity of the book.
“The Maltese Falcon” is exactly what a movie made from a book should be. It is not a slavish replica but a totally evocative creation of a time and a mood. While I wasn’t enamoured of either the book or the movie, “The Name of the Rose”, the creators of the movie did a good job translating something obscure and making it accessible.
No, Connor, the book actually came first.
Kiss Of The Spiderwoman worked pretty well as novel and film.
A Clockwork Orange the film also was very faithful to the style of the book.
The Silence of the Lambs.
I would say The Firm, but they weenied out with the ending.