# Movies that did the books justice... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2000, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692 "2000-11-10T19:28:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Eo\_Echo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ebca7d/32.png) [@Eo\_Echo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eo_Echo)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/21 "2000-11-11T04:22:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > \*\*The best book made into the absolutely best > movie of the book was Rosemary’s Baby. As certified > by the afore-mentioned Mr. King. \*\* I’m fully in agreement with that. And I might add by way of a brief hijack that Rosemary’s Baby also inspired the worst sequel I’ve ever read: Son Of Rosemary, a total piece of shit with the worst cop out ending ever: it was all a dream. Regarding Stephen King, I quite like the movies made from the Dark Half and Needful things, and found them quite faithful, although I’ve always been somewhat annoyed that different actors played Sheriff Pangborn in the two (Ed Harris was great in the role). ---
**Author:** ![Anti\_Pro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Anti\_Pro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anti_Pro)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/22 "2000-11-11T05:12:58Z")
‘Pride and Prejudice’, I thought was great, the A&E version, but I guess that still counts as a ‘movie’ doesn’t it?? ‘Gone With The Wind’ too, while they left out the fact she had other kids besides Bonnie, they remained on task for the rest of the book. ‘Rebecca’, though I didn’t care for Laurence Olivier’s performance, it still kept fairly close to the book. ‘Jaws’ I think the movie was better than the book. ---
**Author:** ![zigaretten](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/91b2a8/32.png) [@zigaretten](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zigaretten)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/23 "2000-11-11T05:45:56Z")
The Man Who Would Be King All the King’s Men ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/24 "2000-11-11T06:11:26Z")
Disagree me if you want, but I think “Conan the Barbarien” was far better than anything Robert E Howard ever wrote. ---
**Author:** ![Le\_Sang](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ee7513/32.png) [@Le\_Sang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Le_Sang)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/25 "2000-11-11T06:29:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Robot Arm \* > \*\*"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. \*\* gotta disagree there; they seriously changed that book around in order to put in the love interest between Bogart and Baccal (sp?) Book ends up being better I think… An accurate one was _Devil in a Blue Dress_ - that was a film worth watching ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/26 "2000-11-11T06:41:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Connor \* > \*\*Mojo, I believe that “Fight Club” the book came out after “Fight Club” the movie. \*\* It certainly did not! I believe I will feign serious indignation here (:mad:) at the thought of Chuck Palahniuk being conflated with some novelizaton hack. If you liked Fight Club (book or movie) try Invisible Monsters. (His other book Survivor is good but not quite as good as the other two.) Just like Fight Club except it’s about drag queens. I’m only sort of kidding. I guess I should have written _hijack_. I’ll go and think about answering the question now. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/27 "2000-11-11T06:44:09Z")
Umm. And think about previewing till I get the hang of smilies. ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/28 "2000-11-11T07:44:28Z")
**betenoir** , I think Survivor kicked butt over Invisible Monsters, and Fight Club owned them both, but regardless, all of Chuck Palahniuk’s efforts are worth reading, and Fight Club was an excellent book followed by an excellent movie. No one writes quite like him, at least to my knowledge. He has a way of taking everyday life and showing both the ugliness and beauty of it simultaneously. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/29 "2000-11-11T17:36:11Z")
Has there _ever_ been an adaptation of “Call Of The Wild” that didn’t completely screw up the ending by letting Buck’s owner live, thus continuing the Taming of Buck and negating the entire purpose of the story? ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/30 "2000-11-11T18:07:59Z")
I’ve mentioned this before, but I think the best film adaptation of a novel is _The Princess Bride_. The movie’s plot was neccesarily condensed, and the ending was made more conventional, but there’s actually precedent for both within the book itself. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/31 "2000-11-11T20:33:39Z")
I’m taking “doing the books justice” to mean didn’t take the idea and screw it to get as much money as possible while refusing to honour the original as such. If so then Blade Runner and Total Recall make two enjoyable films out of neat ideas from Phillip K Dick’s two stories even though they were nothing like the written word. ---
**Author:** ![Escanaba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@Escanaba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Escanaba)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/32 "2000-11-11T20:39:44Z")
I liked **Moby Dick** the Movie, but hated the book - long sections of life on a boat and the tedium etc. kept bringing the action to a screeching halt. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/33 "2000-11-11T20:51:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*CalMeacham wrote: > > > [@](#): > > > > “2010: The Year we Made Contact” is surprisingly faithful to Clarke’s “2010: Odyssey Two” > > Was not! > > [http://www.hit-n-run.com/cgi/read\_review.cgi?review=00126\_rogermw](http://www.hit-n-run.com/cgi/read_review.cgi?review=00126_rogermw) \*\* The movie does cut out Part II of the book (which, for those who haven’t read it, deals with some Chinese scientists who sneak a ship out to Discovery before the Russians or Americans and befall a lethal fate). But I would regard that as judicious cutting. Part II is a pretty self-contained side story that, while interesting, can be removed without wrecking the continuity. Including it in the movie would have made the movie far too long. On a related subject, Clarke’s “2061” and “3001” were both major bummers. He needs to quit while he’s only slightly behind. ---
**Author:** ![Anake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/97f17d/32.png) [@Anake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anake)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2000, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/34 "2000-11-11T20:56:17Z")
I would have to say “The Exorcist” is one of the best movie adaptations, and one of the reasons for that is the author, William Peter Blatty, was right there supervising. I’m also quite fond of “Psycho” and “American Psycho.” Both of which were great books (although “American Psycho” is very graphic). By the way, I just joined…first post here. Newbie on this board, but not a newbie on the Internet. From, Anake PS: Yes, I am female. There has been wondering in the past because of my name (just an Internet name) but Ananke is “goddess of neccessity.” I shortenend it to “Anake” because it doesn’t sound so awkward when said. ---
**Author:** ![Anti\_Pro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Anti\_Pro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anti_Pro)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/35 "2000-11-12T00:36:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anake \* > \*\*I would have to say “The Exorcist” is one of the best movie adaptations, and one of the reasons for that is the author, William Peter Blatty, was right there supervising. \*\* Yeah, I forgot, THAT was a good one too, actually there are more than I would have originally thought. \*\* > [@](#): > > By the way, I just joined…first post here. Newbie on this board, but not a newbie on the Internet. > > From, > > Anake > \*\* I’m glad you’re here and that you explained your name, because I would have just thought you were 'a ‘nake’ sssssssssss 😉 PS: Yes, I am female. There has been wondering in the past because of my name (just an Internet name) but Ananke is “goddess of neccessity.” I shortenend it to “Anake” because it doesn’t sound so awkward when said. \*\* [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/36 "2000-11-12T01:25:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anti Pro \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Anake \* > > \*\*I would have to say “The Exorcist” is one of the best movie adaptations, and one of the reasons for that is the author, William Peter Blatty, was right there supervising. \*\* > > Yeah, I forgot, THAT was a good one too, actually there are more than I would have originally thought. > > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > By the way, I just joined…first post here. Newbie on this board, but not a newbie on the Internet. > > > > From, > > > > Anake > > \*\* > > I’m glad you’re here and that you explained your name, because I would have just thought you were 'a ‘nake’ sssssssssss 😉 > > PS: Yes, I am female. There has been wondering in the past because of my name (just an Internet name) but Ananke is “goddess of neccessity.” I shortenend it to “Anake” because it doesn’t sound so awkward when said. \*\* \*\* [/QUOTE] Q: How do you capture Anake? A: You 'neak up on her! ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/37 "2000-11-12T01:44:54Z")
Anna and the King of Siam (nearly as good as the book). ---
**Author:** ![Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goose)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/38 "2000-11-12T01:51:41Z")
I have to second American Psycho. I thought the movie was just as good if not better than the book. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/39 "2000-11-12T06:06:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Enderw23 \* > \*\*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 \*\* The book wasn’t total garbage it was just more cynical and absurdist, and had a very different overall point of view and tone than the movie. But I agree overall, the movie was much better than the book and in the end the divergence was so great they really are two different animals. ---
**Author:** ![DocDaneeka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c68b51/32.png) [@DocDaneeka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocDaneeka)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2000, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692/40 "2000-11-12T10:44:52Z")
Starship Troopers. HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Kidding. Take a deep breath, Heinlein fans. Someone already mentioned The Graduate. I’ve never seen a movie that captured the mood of the book as well. Dustin Hoffman was the perfect choice. Of course, I saw the movie before reading the book so I may have been tainted. Simon and Garfunkel were singing in my head the entire time. “Jesus loves you more than you will know… whoa whoa whoa…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-did-the-books-justice/40692.md?page=3)