# When is the Movie Ever Better than the Book? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2005, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347 "2005-01-24T02:19:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/61 "2005-01-24T16:50:07Z")
> [@SallyCan'tDance](#): > > The Shining. Kubrick was a brilliant director, Jack Nicholson was great. Stephen King is just an average writer \ You’re right. I opened this thread to post precisely that. And I liked the book a great deal. To me, it’s probably King’s best work, and I think it’s a great story. Kubrick took a great story and makes it fantastic. The mini-series that was closer to how King wrote it? Not so fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/62 "2005-01-24T17:02:42Z")
**Adaptation** , the, well, adaptation of Susan Orlean’s book **The Orchid Thief**. I thought the book was pretty cool, but the film became something far beyond, I think, anyone’s expectations. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/63 "2005-01-24T17:19:34Z")
I think the movie version of “The Princess Bride” was excellent, but the book still outshines it. The author’s comments were priceless, something that was lost (rightly) in the movie version. I always recommend the movie to friends, but not without recommending that they read the book first. My first thought was “The Shining”. Steven King doesn’t do much for me in written form, but others have taking his books and done wonders. “Carrie” worked better as a movie as well. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/64 "2005-01-24T17:27:45Z")
> [@DoctorJ](#): > > _The Godfather_ is the canonical example here. > > _Goodfellas_ is another good example. The book, _Wiseguys_, is far from bad, but the movie is a masterpiece. Wow, I’m of such the opposite opinion on that. The Godfather movies were really good, but the book, to me, is Awesome. It’s one of only a couple of books I’ll re-read, cover to cover everytime I make the mistake of picking it up. I love how the book let’s you see Michael as the one true heir to the Corleone power. How he’s just like his dad, and it was his destiny to become the next head of the family. Again, while the move was really really good, I never felt it had that element. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/65 "2005-01-24T17:31:51Z")
Mystic River. The opposite of the my comments about The Godfather. It’s one of the few books I couldn’t finish (Another one that comes to mind is LOTR… I take that back, it was also The Hobbit that I couldn’t get into). E3 ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/66 "2005-01-24T17:40:48Z")
> [@LifeOnWry](#): > > Diggstown. An excellent, fun movie with James Woods, Lou Gossett Jr. and Bruce Dern. I loved it so much I searched for the book for years, because the book is _always_ better than the movie, right? I finally found the book, and I can’t for the life of me figure out how such a cool, clever movie came from such a stupid book. > > Seconding The Princess Bride, as well. The book is called The Diggstown Ringers. I too read it after seeing the movie. You’re right not nearly as good as the movie. Everytime I drive from Atlanta to Oklahoma, (via Birmingham to Memphis) I pass through a lot of towns that had to have been a source for the book. Winfield County, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Dante](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dante/32/9673_2.png) [@Dante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dante)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/67 "2005-01-24T17:42:31Z")
I’ll do better than books. I’ll do authors: **Philip K. Dick** - I personally find his stuff unreadable. Not to say I haven’t read any of it, but I find the movie adaptations are better than the short stories from which they’re taken. Even _Paycheck_. You heard me. **Richard Matheson** - Wooden writing, at best. Movies are much more compelling. See _Omega Man_ and _Stir of Echoes_. And the hands down winner - **Peter Benchley** - Worst. Author. Ever. Go ahead, read some of his books and tell me how you like the endings. Especially _Jaws_ and _The Island_. ---
**Author:** ![Khampelf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Khampelf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khampelf)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/68 "2005-01-24T17:44:04Z")
I’m a reader, I’m hard pressed to come up with an example, but the Movie _The Hunger_ beats the book by Whitley Striebler, hands down. This was brought up in a semi-recent thread on the vampire genre. I do have to agree that I would rather see the Movies than try to wade through the Ring Trilogy again, though. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/69 "2005-01-24T17:53:15Z")
Another vote for **Jaws**. The novel just doesn’t hold the same tension that the movie manages. And I have to agree with **Lord of the Rings** as well - I’ve always been a big fan of Tolkien’s works, and did a term paper on him for English in High School, but the man’s prose was so dry it made me thirsty just to read it. ---
**Author:** ![shadowfax33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/65b543/32.png) [@shadowfax33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shadowfax33)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/70 "2005-01-24T17:56:59Z")
> [@sallycantdance](#): > > The Shining. Kubrick was a brilliant director, Jack Nicholson was great. Stephen King is just an average writer \ > [@yellowval](#): > > You’re right. I opened this thread to post precisely that. And I liked the book a great deal. To me, it’s probably King’s best work, and I think it’s a great story. Kubrick took a great story and makes it fantastic. The mini-series that was closer to how King wrote it? Not so fantastic. Y’all _better_ duck! Kubrick’s version better than the book?! Oh, the insanity! :eek: _The Shining_ is the best and scariest thing King has ever written. Kubrick’s version, while visually appealling, was simply _not good_. YMMV. I’ll heartily agree with Jaws, Field of Dreams, and Forrest Gump. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/71 "2005-01-24T18:08:30Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Well, that’s the most important difference between books and movies, isn’t it? Was this really necessary? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/72 "2005-01-24T18:17:57Z")
As bad as the movie **Logan’s Run** was, the book and its sequels managed to be far worse. ---
**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 24, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/73 "2005-01-24T18:29:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Richard Matheson - Wooden writing, at best. Movies are much more compelling. See Omega Man and Stir of Echoes. \*\*Omega Man? \*\* You’re kidding, right? Gotta disagree with you about Matrheson’s writing style. YMMV, of course, but I find his books much better than the flicks based on them. **The Shrinking Man** became **The Incredible Shrinking Man** , but with the loss of a lot of internal stuff. And Matheson himself wrote the tekeplays for a _lot_ of the original **Twilight Zone** s ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/74 "2005-01-24T18:30:29Z")
Paul Verhoeven’s masterfully directed \*Starship Troopers \* is brilliant on so many levels that it is probably the culmination of 100 years of cinematic art. Heinlein’s novel, on the other hand, was mostly scribble scribble scribble. Don’t flame me, I’m just BSing you. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/75 "2005-01-24T18:32:10Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Was this really necessary? It absolutely was. This is a thread discussing the difference between various movies and their book counterparts. A side-discussion regarding the \*whys \* and \*hows \* is certainly appropriate. Why would it not be? ---
**Author:** ![Reepicheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@Reepicheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reepicheep)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/76 "2005-01-24T18:57:47Z")
I am surprised no one has yet mentioned _Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?_ I think\* Blade Runner\* far surpasses the book. The entire Replicant/Memory issue in the movie is so much better than the religion of Mercerism in the book. In the book there is no possibility that Decker could be a Replicant, which to me, is one of the best twists of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/77 "2005-01-24T19:18:54Z")
> [@Dante](#): > > **Philip K. Dick** - I personally find his stuff unreadable. Not to say I haven’t read any of it, but I find the movie adaptations are better than the short stories from which they’re taken. Even _Paycheck_. I agree. Back in the 70’s and 80’s my brother was a big fan of Dick, so to speak, and I tried to read some of his stuff. Unreadable is exactly the word to describe it. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/78 "2005-01-24T19:21:57Z")
The Phantom of the Opera. The book is very dry and dull as all get-out. The narrative does not flow well and there are all kinds of characters with fractured histories and personalities that go beyond single-dimension into some wierd half-dimensional space. The whole thing makes no sense until about three weeks after you read it and have forgotten all the jarring stuff and only remember the highlights. Oddly enough the basic story was so captivating that literally dozens of attempts have been made to make it into a watchable film, play, etc. They all varied from the book pretty wildly while retaining the name and most of the characters. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/79 "2005-01-24T19:56:21Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Here’s a close one: I enjoyed the Coppola film _Bram Stoker’s Dracula_ a lot more than I did the novel. Well, if you liked the movie better, then I guess that’s just a matter of differing tastes. The book is far superior (and far _creepier_) in my opinion. The movie is a lot of yelling, loud noises and running around. No effort to build tension gradually, as is done with the book. And don’t even get me started on the casting decisions. But my real beef with this movie is that it dares to call itself “ **Bram Stoker’s** Dracula.” Well, no. This is \*\*Francis Ford Coppola’s \*\* Dracula. Bram Stoker’s Dracula is still waiting to be made. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2005, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347/80 "2005-01-24T21:09:29Z")
**Omega Man** isn’t even the best movie version. **The Last Man on Earth** starring Vincent Price, though far less polished, is much creepier. Based on a suggestion from **Eve** in another thread, I got and read the James M. Cain novel **Double Indemnity**. Easily one of the great film noir movies, but the book is deeper, the femme fatale scarier, and the ending more compelling. Great movie, great book, but the book is a bit better. Both the live action Cocteau and the Disney versions of **Beauty and the Beast** are deeper, richer experiences than any traditional version of the fairly tale I’ve read. Robin McKinley’s novel length YA adaptation is excellent, though, better than the Disney version by a mile, but not in the same league with Cocteau. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-the-movie-ever-better-than-the-book/286347.md?page=5)