Movies that were better than their books

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Kenn_Baker
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Movies that were better than their books

Post by Kenn_Baker »

"Jaws" is a fantastic movie. Considering the fact that it was made when it was made, and the special effect sharks kept breaking down during the shooting, and all the other negatives, if you just take the plot of the movie, it is a fantastic movie about good vs. evil. Fighting your own demons etc... however you want to paraphrase it. The book is nothing like it. There is a cop and his wife cheats on him with a marine biologist and blah blah blah, oh! and there is a shark, but its almost like a side note to the rest of the book. I seriously give the book version 1 out of 5 stars.

What book disappointed you after you saw a great movie?
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Post by Bighuey »

One for me was Ben-Hur. The book was too long and slow and draggy. Another one was The Picture Of Dorian Gray. The book was good, but I liked the movie better. Hurd Hatfield and George Sanders gave fantastic performances, and the black and white visual effects were great. The one color sequence was a shocker.
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Post by Steeleholls »

The Princess Diaries book was awful compared to the movie! I love the movie, hate the book. It's not a movie, but the Wicked musical is amazing! I could not get into the book. There was way too many innuendos for me. That's all I can think of. Usually I am all about the book rather than the movie, like I am Number Four.
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Post by Jackosaurus »

I would have to say The Godfather.
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Post by Doyag »

Its not a movie but i think True Blood tv series is way better than the books.
The notebook in my opinion.. the movie was much better (by Nicholas Sparks)
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Jacob
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Post by Jacob »

Jackosaurus wrote:I would have to say The Godfather.
Yes, The Godfather was a brilliant movie. Especially it's sequels.

Jaws was a book? I'll have to get reading, but I agree with you that for it's time. The effects were outstanding.
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Post by Maud Fitch »

Because I'm a one-eyed-book-is-better-than-movie fan, I'd have to say nothing springs to mind.
However, Cormac McCarthy's bromance "All The Pretty Horses" was a poor book and a poor movie.
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Post by Kenn_Baker »

Jacob wrote:
Jackosaurus wrote:I would have to say The Godfather.
Yes, The Godfather was a brilliant movie. Especially it's sequels.

Jaws was a book? I'll have to get reading, but I agree with you that for it's time. The effects were outstanding.
NOOOOOOOO!!! I'm warning you, don't read jaws. I'm not one for the destruction of books, but every copy should be burned it is so bad.
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Post by Zepher07 »

I can't say I actualy saw a Jekyl and Hyde movie but Hollywood's treatment of the story left me far too dissapointed in the book. I was expecting this intense battle between the good and evil inside oneself and what I got was this mystery story told from a lawyer's point of view. When we finaly did get Jekyl's side of the story i found him to be whiney and he made no attempt at taking resposibilty for what he had done.
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Post by Bighuey »

I read Jekyll and Hyde years ago, but I dont remember much about it, it must not have impressed me much. I saw the movie versions of it and the best one was the 1932 version with Fredric March. Spencer Tracy did a version, but I think he was miscast and the movie was kind of tame and watered down. The Fredrick March Version had real guts to it.
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Post by Zepher07 »

I'll have to check that out. Thanks.
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Post by Mel Carriere »

Forrest Gump by Winston Groom. Amusing, whimsical book, much deeper and thought provoking movie.
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Post by DATo »

'Being There' - Movie was FAR better than book in my opinion.
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Post by SamIAm23 »

"To Kill A Mockingbird" was a great book! But I have to say that I really liked the movie more.
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Post by DATo »

I noticed that Jacob mentioned The Godfather above. This got me thinking about that novel and movie. It might be of interest to some of you to learn that whereas most blockbuster novels take years to create Mario Puzo wrote 'The Godfather' as a summer project for a publisher who just happened to suggest a book about that particular subject matter. It is my understanding that Puzo wrote the book which made millions and the movies - millions more, for only $20,000 in ~ the late 1960s (~ $100,000 adjusted for inflation to today's money).

I prefer the book to the movie, though I must admit the movie was very very good. The book had that ridiculous business of Sonny's girlfriend / the doctor / and the girlfriend's "physical reconstruction" which I thought was stupid but the movie had flaws too. I happen to be of Sicilian descent and I have never met an Italian immigrant who did not speak with an accent. In the movie, the Don and Mamma Corleone had no accents at all. Other than that and the fact that GF 1 left out half the novel (which was addressed in GF 2) I think Puzo and Coppola (writer and director respectively), who are also both Sicilian, did manage to capture the essence of living in a N.Y. Italian family of that era, but I think this is fleshed out far better in the book than in the movie.

Bit of trivia --- The undertaker's name was Amerigo Bonasera: "Bonasera", which means "good night" in Italian - appropriate for an undertaker I think *LOL*
“I just got out of the hospital. I was in a speed reading accident. I hit a book mark and flew across the room.”
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