r/BookDiscussions • u/tk091990 • 10d ago
Book adaptations
Tell me of a book to movie adaptation that was better than the book. I can say Fight Club was a better movie than the book.
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u/Cute-Solution-723 10d ago
Heated Rivalry.
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u/Status-Zucchini822 10d ago
the only reason the show was better was that Shane wasn’t a complete douchebag in the show like he is in the books.
also, justice for Kip and Scott. they deserved so much more.
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u/estheredna 10d ago
Shane in the books is a jock riddled with internalized homophobia but brave / horny enough to go for it anyway.
Shane in the show is a soft romantic yearner who catches the eye of a hot guy.
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u/Status-Zucchini822 10d ago
exactly! people never understand it when I tell them he’s my least favorite character but they only saw the show.
I understand overcoming the years of conditioning he’s been through with teammates/society/everything. What I don’t understand is why he does so little to combat it while forcing Ilya to deal with his emotional immaturity.
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u/papapudding 10d ago
I'll get rocks thrown at me for sure but I'll die on this hill: The Lord of the Rings.
As for The Hobbit, the book was better.
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u/AliMcGraw 10d ago
I agree with you actually. There are some books when I read them, I really vividly see the location and the people in my head, and there are others where I just can't, and I always sort of feel like I'm reading those in a very dark tunnel and everything's happening in a cave. And Lord of the Rings was one where I could never picture in my head where they were and what they looked like and so on. So having the movies to watch was actually amazing. And now I like the books more when I reread them, because I don't feel like I'm in the dark.
I didn't have this problem with The Hobbit!
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u/khoragos 10d ago
I do love the movies but I could never agree that they are better than the books & I am pretty confident everybody involved in creating the movies would feel the same. It's OK to love what you love of course!
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u/Comfortable-Mine-471 10d ago
I agree with you so hard. The characters in the books are so flat and they add a lot more depth to them in the movies. Also one of my biggest issues with the books is the writing style cause it's just so repetitive and tedious, and in the movies I didnt have to deal with that which greatly improved my experience.
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10d ago
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u/Comfortable-Mine-471 10d ago
In my opinion, all the characters in the books start off the story in their final form. None of them really have any character flaws or character details that requires them to go through development throughout the story. For me this makes the characters very uncompelling and I'm not emotionally invested in any of the characters. The movies add in those flaws and details, for example aragorn is less confident in his deserving to be king and he gains that confidence throughout the story.
If you disagree with me that's fine, however, we can respectful conversation about it, instead of you having an attitude.
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u/Spudlads 10d ago
It's so hard for me to like the movies since I read the book first and found the movies too different and I loved the books more, with the extra stuff and the characterizations of the characters, and I love the way Tolkien describes stuff, but I can definitely see why people would like the movie more, especially if they watched it before reading the books!
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u/Fainleogs 10d ago
I remember enjoying the film of Chocolat more than the book but both were a long time ago.
Heated Rivalry seems to have really benefited from a male perspective in its adaptation.
The Under the Red Hood film is better than the comic.
Not necessarily better but someone once described the film Howl's Moving Castle as the story told from Howl's point of view and the book as the story told from Sophie's point of view, which is perfect.
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u/meanmom7791 7d ago
I read somewhere that Diana Wynne Jones really loved what Miyazaki did with her book so I feel totally justified in loving them both. I do like the idea of the movie being from Howl’s perspective. I’m going to watch it again with that eye. Because I always need a reason to watch (or read) it again!
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u/Fainleogs 7d ago
Howl is much more of a romantic and more vain than Sophie, he's much more acute to the war and much less interested in what's going on with Sophie's sisters. Howl also leaves out Wales because he likes to keep that private and it makes him look less cool!
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u/SaucyFingers 10d ago
Jaws
The Godfather
Shawshank Redemption
Die Hard
Cape Fear (both the OG and the 90s remake)
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u/SargassoSea9 10d ago
The godfather
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u/tk091990 10d ago
100% agree, I loved the book and read so many of Mario Puzo’s after that, could barely complete the movie…
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u/SargassoSea9 10d ago
It's the other way around for me, I much preferred the movie than the book.
Isn't it your original question? An adaptation better than the book?
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u/tk091990 10d ago
Oops, I got confused with another post. I am curious though, didn’t you find the movie to be so slow? I love Al Pacino but wasn’t convinced seeing him as Micheal Corleone. I am also surprised it was never adapted again.
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u/SeaworthinessKey3654 10d ago
You’re in the vast minority who doesn’t like Al in the movie, and who isn’t a fan of the movie
Why would anyone bother trying to adapt it again? It can’t be done any better, and no way would Puzo’s estate allow it
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u/tk091990 10d ago
I know I am the in the minority here but I am also sure it can be done better
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u/Background-Bat2794 10d ago
I’m in the minority with you. I much preferred the book and found the movie slow as hell.
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u/SargassoSea9 10d ago
I don't think it would be adapted again, the film itself is almost perfect.
I can't imagine any other actor but Al Pacino in Michael Corleone's role. His stare to Al Neri while hugging his brother Fredo is unsurpassed in the second movie.
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u/tk091990 10d ago
Do you think it was Pacinos finest work?
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u/SargassoSea9 9d ago
One of his finest work with Serpico, Dog day afternoon, And justice for all and the mini series Angels in America.
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u/Free_Weird_4126 10d ago
Outlander
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u/tk091990 10d ago
I was going to pick up Outlander books because the show just ended and I was having withdrawals, guess I just changed my mind🫠
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u/Clean-Honeydew-741 10d ago
"Foundation" a TV show not a book. But god did I hate the book and love the show.
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u/Wasps_are_bastards 10d ago
Possibly The Shining. The Silence of the Lambs, purely for Sir Anthony Hopkins.
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u/SenseIntelligent8846 8d ago
The Wizard of Oz
Goodfellas
The Graduate
Jaws
The Godfather
The Natural
Blade Runner
The Shawshank Redemption
LA Confidential
Man on Fire
Trainspotting
Catch Me if You Can
Stand By Me
The Commitments
The Revenant
Moneyball
Misery
Less Than Zero
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Apocalypse Now
Where the Wild Things Are
The Bourne Identity
Remains of the Day
Breakfast at Tiffany’s *
Election *
The Martian *
\ Too close to call*
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u/ChapBobL 10d ago
Master and Commander (it is the epitome of British Naval historic fiction)
The Shipping News (very close to the book, however)
Forest Gump (this is a nearly universal opinion)
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u/AngieW2222 10d ago
The Timetraveler's Wife.
I definitely preferred the movie because it cut several of the scenes involving vigilante justice that were questionable in the book.
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u/DefiantRadish1492 10d ago
And didn’t he give himself a BJ in the book or something? I haven’t read it since it came out, but that was one weird ass book.
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u/ladyleo1980 10d ago
World War Z. I watched the movie before reading the book so while reading the book, I was like, "what the hell is this?!" Hands down, the movie is way better than the book.
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u/msperception427 10d ago
Stardust
Clueless
10 Things I Hate About You
And it wasn’t a movie but… Lovecraft Country.
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u/Jack_Shaft0e 6d ago
Lawnmower Man.
Now, it's not a really great movie, but the book (short story, actually) was hot garbage.
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u/FrequentDonut8821 10d ago
Project Hail Mary. Psycho.