Movies That Are Better Than The Book

I know most will say they prefer the book, but I'm sure there has to be some movies that are better. Maybe it's a look between two people, a relationship, something you couldn't produce in your imagination. Maybe its because of the great acting, or writing (choosing what to keep or omit could be key), directing, "the times" (relevance), etc.

I don't read much fiction, but the first one that came to mind was "The Outsiders". I liked the book, but I liked the movie more. That movie probably had more future stars than any other movie.

 

Harry Potter

 

Magic---all due to Hopkins!

 

The Godfather is the one that usually comes up right away. I’d add Jaws, Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and Carrie without thinking too hard. Gone with the Wind, Giant, and All the President’s Men... I never watched a whole Twilight movie, but I couldn’t get past two chapters of the first book, so maybe...

 

Blade Runner
The Princess Bride
Being There
Wild at Heart
Jackie Brown
Midnight Cowboy
The Bridges of Madison County

 

Jaws definitely is more satisfying as a film than it is as a novel.

 

While there are other factors that make them successful individually, I think what all these have in common for me is that the actors make the characters more vivid than they are on the page.

 

I thought - at the time - that ‘Where Eagles Dare’ was a far better film than book. All these years later I have not changed my opinion.

 

The Wizard of Oz.

 

Greed.

 

Star Wars
Duel
Performance

 

The Ten Commandments.

 

Apocalypse Now, might have been just me, but that was one dull book.

Blade Runner. The book's good, but the film is incredible.

Trainspotting. I love the book, but the film took it to another level IMO.

 

Goldfinger.

 

Good observation; I agree. In a movie a character from fairly superficial fiction can "thicken," so to speak, just by being portrayed by a good actor, whose face, manner, tone, etc., all can suggest more interiority than there was on the page.

 

The Godfather
Blade Runner
The Hunt for Red October
The Manchurian Candidate (nobody even remembers this was a book anymore)

I'm sure there are others I'm just not remembering now.

 

Double Indemnity.

 

Interesting question. I think many film goers are not readers. I don't know if there are many readers who don't see movies.

Movies tend to be much shorter than books, which is to say, much is left out

 

Fight Club.

 

Forrest Gump, loved the movie, hated the book.

 

Godfather I think is the most iconic example.

I'll also cast a vote for The Firm (the John Grisham novel). I thought that the ending in the film - which was somewhat different from the book - was better.

2001 is also an example, kind of by necessity, as it's one of the greatest films of all time. However, it might not count, as film production began before the novel was actually published.

 

The Shining.

 

Definitely ' The Godfather '.
The subplots about Lucy Mancini in Vegas getting herself tightened up and the one with Johnny Fontaine are boring and distract from the story.

 

There was a short story by Arthur C. Clarke that came out first, in 1951: The Sentinel.

JohnK

 

Yes - this was an odd case whereby the novel and film were being made simultaneously.