# Movies that were BETTER than the book they were based on **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 13, 2018, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515 "2018-01-13T05:36:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/121 "2018-01-31T02:06:12Z")
> [@ArtBeforeScience](#): > > Nobody’s mentioned the movie _Apocalypse Now_, which was inspired by Joseph Conrad’s novel _Heart of Darkness_. > > . Which inspired “Hearts of Darkness”, about a man going up-river to make a movie, and finding civilization gradually stripped away… ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/122 "2018-01-31T02:07:36Z")
Old Yeller. It was a well-known book, but the movie was a classic. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/123 "2018-01-31T02:24:08Z")
I think the Schwarzenegger _Total Recall_ is better than its basis short story _We Can Remember It For You Wholesale_, personally ---
**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:** [January 31, 2018, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/124 "2018-01-31T05:41:19Z")
Here’s an obscure one. I love Mark Twain, but I think that the TV-movie adaptation of \*\*Puddin’head Wilson[/B[ is actually much better than the Twain story that served as its inspiration. Twain couldn’t write mysteries to save his life. My proof is all the awful mysteries that he wrote. I think he had some fundamental disagreement with the mystery story form itself. > **["American Playhouse" Pudd'nhead Wilson (TV Episode 1984) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087954/)** > > Pudd'nhead Wilson: Directed by Alan Bridges. With Lise Hilboldt, Ken Howard, James Pritchett, Dick Latessa. A slave switches her light-skinned baby with her master's baby. The child grows up raised by whites. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/125 "2018-01-31T14:29:13Z")
The Color Purple, simply because Spielberg pulled off bringing a very difficult book to film to screen with then unknown actors. 11 Oscar nominations, no wins. And Spielberg not even nominated? Who the hell did the Academy think put that movie together??? ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/126 "2018-01-31T21:28:46Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > _Starship Troopers._ You’ve got to be kidding! They took a bug hunt movie they had already started, then, when they discovered Heinlein had already written a story like it, overlaid it with a mistaken impression of the society in the book. So far no one has adapted a Heinlein story to the screen without p!$$ing in it until they like the flavor better. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/127 "2018-01-31T21:35:34Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > Moby-Dick. I can’t even name one particular version, but the movies weed out the large chunk of the novel that is really a treatise on whaling. I’m a very high-level reader, but I have little patience for classics that use many pages not moving the plot forward. If you liked the Disneyfied Hunchback of Notre Dame – don’t ever read the book. Dissertations on architecture, and the story and characters are quite different. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/128 "2018-01-31T21:57:27Z")
_Edge of Tomorrow_ was a movie adaptation of a book done right in my opinion, it took the original source material, _All You Need Is Kill_ by Hiroshi Sakurazaka and adapted it to a new story while remaining faithful but not slavishly tied to the original. I certainly came out of the cinema satisfied anyway. I wouldn’t say the movie is _better_ but unlike most adaptations its different enough to be fresh and new but respectful of the original source material. Around the same time the movie adaptation of _World War Z_ also came out, an example of _how not_ to do a movie from book conversion, I still can’t believe there was no _Battle of Yonkers_ scene, if anything was ever written to be a movie sequence that was it. Brad Pitt is a movie draw for me but this was not one of his better films. And unlike most people I like Tom Cruise, there I said it, and will watch a movie just because he’s in it as he tends to appear in material I know I’ll probably like. I just wish the movie adaptation of _Yukikaze_ by Chohei Kambayashi which he is rumoured to be interested in would come to life, the anime series is also pretty good _(though in that I would like to give the protagonist a good shake, in the book he’s a lot more lively and likable)_ and done well it would be both an epic and a thought-provoking movie. That’s asking for a lot, I know. btw the above makes me look like someone who seeks out Japanese authors, I happened to pick those up as part of a themed three book deal and really liked two out of the three books. It would be nice if the third of the Yukikaze trilogy was translated into English as well. ---
**Author:** ![MacLir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@MacLir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacLir)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/129 "2018-01-31T23:44:14Z")
Cat Ballou The movie was funny, but the book is atrocious. Most of the better parts of the movie were added by the screenplay and aren’t in the book. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/130 "2018-01-31T23:53:45Z")
Both _The Quiet Man_ and _It’s a Wonderful Life_ are based on understated short stories that would be long-forgotten were it not for the great films adapted from them. ---
**Author:** ![betterlifethroughchemistry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/betterlifethroughchemistry/32/3094_2.png) [@betterlifethroughchemistry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betterlifethroughchemistry)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/131 "2018-02-01T02:59:16Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I agree with _The Godfather_ suggested above. The book isn’t bad, but the first two movies are better. > > I found the _Hunger Games_ books hard to read despite the interesting story. The writing style is atrocious and the plot holes more obvious. The movies aren’t masterpieces, but they’re at least a lot of fun to watch. Agree with both…I found “The Godfather” book to be a bit awkward in writing style, but since the first two movies are such great cinema, the book would have to be a masterpiece in order to even be comparable… I liked the “Hunger Games” books - very easy read, almost too easy…I mentioned this to my middle son who had recommended them…we talked about how they were at least consistent in that ostensibly they were written by an not-very educated young lady and they were written in her voice…the movies were able to detach themselves from her voice as well as presenting excellent visuals and CGI… The one scene that really connected the books to the movies was, IMHO, in “The Mockingjay: Part 1” when Katniss states her last demand to President Coin: “My sister gets to keep her cat”… ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/132 "2018-02-01T03:44:02Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > IIRC, Radagast only shows up in the Hobbit movies. He’s not in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Precisely. And it’s a ridiculous, time-wasting, unfunny and overly disgusting sequence. It adds nothing, accomplishes nothing, and completely wipes out any notion that the movie might be some sort of improvement upon the masterpiece. ---
**Author:** ![Pastork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/41988e/32.png) [@Pastork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pastork)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2018, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/133 "2018-02-01T04:57:32Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > _Starship Troopers._ I first read “Starship Troopers” 50 years ago, more or less, and have revisited it several times since then. A careful comparison of the movie to the novel would show that apart from character names and several other proper nouns (ship names and planets), there is essentially nothing connecting Verhoeven’s movie to Heinlein’s book. It’s like comparing “Young Frankenstein” to Shelley’s novel and trying to judge which is better. (This is not a perfect example, since I _liked_ “Young Frankenstein,” but you get my point. I hope.) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/134 "2018-02-04T07:07:33Z")
Don’t know how I could have forgotten this one when I posted earlier- **The Secret In Their Eyes** As good as the original book is, the film adaptation is _far_ better. Perhaps because the script, which pretty radically rewrites the story, was created jointly by the original book’s author and the film’s director. I’m referring to the 2009 Argentine movie, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Not the pointless 2015 American remake which deservedly sank like a stone. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blue_blistering_barnacle/32/3386_2.png) [@Blue\_Blistering\_Barnacle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Blistering_Barnacle)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/135 "2018-02-04T15:09:22Z")
> [@Pastork](#): > > I first read “Starship Troopers” 50 years ago, more or less, and have revisited it several times since then. A careful comparison of the movie to the novel would show that apart from character names and several other proper nouns (ship names and planets), there is essentially nothing connecting Verhoeven’s movie to Heinlein’s book. It’s like comparing “Young Frankenstein” to Shelley’s novel and trying to judge which is better. (This is not a perfect example, since I _liked_ “Young Frankenstein,” but you get my point. I hope.) Well, Zim does catch a brain bug at the end of both. 🙂 But, yes quite different works, quite different moods, really different stories. While I liked aspects of the movie (especially the snarky news and PSA’s ), it clearly misses the point of the book. I’ve heard the director hated the book, and didn’t even read the whole (short) thing. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/136 "2018-02-05T12:54:23Z")
**The Shining** \*\*\*\* was a good read, but thanks to Jack Nicholsen, the movie was riveting. ---
**Author:** ![Capn\_Carl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Capn\_Carl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capn_Carl)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/137 "2018-02-05T13:10:46Z")
Totally agree with this. The Council of Elrond is the chapter I’ve re-read the most. In the book, the wisest beings on Earth gather to reason and debate a solution to a crisis. In the movie, the ‘wisest’ beings on Earth gather to argue and yell at each other. Same thing happens later, when wise-beyond-his-years Faramir has to figure out what to do with Frodo. In the movie, he shows only self interest, nothing that makes him stand above the average soldier. ---
**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 5, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/138 "2018-02-05T13:52:08Z")
I’m a huge fan of Cecil Scott Forester – I’ve not only re-read his Hornblower books more times than I can count, but I’ve sought out and read most, if not all, of his fiction\* – but I have to admit that **The African Queen** is more satisfying as a movie than as a book. Not only do the actors Kathryn Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart really make it dazzle (although they had to change Charlry Allnut from a Cockney to a Canadian to accommodate Bogie – there’s no way he’d be a convincing Cockney), but they changed the ending. Ordinarily I’m not big fan of changing endings, but the half-sunken _queen_ really DID have to blow up the _Louisa_ at the end. Forester didn’t do that, and the destruction of the _Louisa_ seems completely disconnected from everything else in the book. \*The only thing of his I couldn’t get through was non-fiction – his history of the naval conflicts in the War of 1812. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2018, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/139 "2018-02-05T14:11:34Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Ordinarily I’m not big fan of changing endings, but the half-sunken _queen_ really DID have to blow up the _Louisa_ at the end. Forester didn’t do that, and the destruction of the _Louisa_ seems completely disconnected from everything else in the book. Being a Bogie fan I’m quite familiar with the movie but not read the book. How was the _Louisa_ destroyed in the book? Spoiler it for the purists. ---
**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 5, 2018, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515/140 "2018-02-05T15:17:36Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Being a Bogie fan I’m quite familiar with the movie but not read the book. How was the _Louisa_ destroyed in the book? Spoiler it for the purists. It’s been a while since I read it, but it had nothing to do with the _Queen_. If I recall correctly [spoiler] the British came along and blew it up. to quote from the Wikipedia article: > [@](#): > > The two lovers are separated in the storm, but both are captured by the Germans the next day. They are brought before the captain of the Königin Luise to be tried as spies. Both refuse to say how they came to the lake, but the captain sees “African Queen” written on Rose’s life-saver and deduces that they must be the mechanic and the missionary’s sister from the mysteriously missing launch. He decides it would be uncivilised to execute them, so he flies a flag of truce and delivers them to the British naval commander, who dismissively sends them to separate tents under guard while he takes his newly arrived reinforcements out to sink the Königin Luise. Having succeeded in this, he sends Rose and Allnutt to the coast to speak to the British Consul, where he advises Allnutt to enlist in the British Army. Rose and Allnutt agree that when they reach the coast they will ask the Consul to marry them. The story ends with the narrator’s comment that “Whether or not they lived happily ever after is not easily decided.” [/spoiler] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-that-were-better-than-the-book-they-were-based-on/806515.md?page=8)