User Tag List

Results 1 to 37 of 37

Thread: Films that are better than the books

  1. #1
    Senior Member Mazuuurk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    3,655
    Mentioned
    16 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)

    Films that are better than the books

    OK so I had this discussion and was thinking if there are in fact ANY films that are actually better than the books they are based off?
    What do you reckon guys? I'm really struggling to come up with anything (which is also partly because I haven't read a lot of the books of films I suspect would be candidates).


    Blade Runner (1) might be one as that's a stunning film - but haven't read the original.
    Shutter Island? Stephen King seems to be very uneven in his writing but again I haven't read the book and my girlfriend loved it when she did, so it's prolly good after all.





    Obviously, if you're a person who just don't like books and by default will prefer a film (even if it's a shit adaptation), just because it's a film, it doesn't really apply to this discussion.

  2. #2
    Senior Member niko_cee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    17,942
    Mentioned
    45 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Blade Runner is a negative. I think that genre is going to be hard to surpass on film.

    Maybe something by Elmore Leonard - did he write the book LA Confidential is based on? Edit, James Ellroy. Elmore is the Tarantino films guy - they might be a decent shout.

    Even with wanky trash like Ready Player One the book is better than the film (although the film is a decent effort which is better than most manage).
    Last edited by niko_cee; 09-08-2018 at 07:57 AM.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Mazuuurk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    3,655
    Mentioned
    16 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    That's the film/book that started this debate at my office, actually

    Haven't seen or read either myself mind you.

  4. #4
    ram it up your shitpipe Giggles's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Kildare
    Posts
    30,456
    Mentioned
    138 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Films are just better than books. No effort involved.



    .
    Last edited by Giggles; 09-08-2018 at 06:06 PM.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Pepe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    11,320
    Mentioned
    54 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Maybe Fight Club.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    35,303
    Mentioned
    84 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Books are always going to be better than their films because you can set the scene better and add a lot more nuance and detail to things. Film adaptations are just a greatest hits compilation.

  7. #7
    Senior Member Mazuuurk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    3,655
    Mentioned
    16 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Yes, that makes sense and that's probably why it's almost always like that. But, books can be quite shit too, but sell well and result in film adaptations that could in theory be better.

  8. #8
    Senior Member Mazuuurk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    3,655
    Mentioned
    16 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Stuff like Twilight. I haven't read the books, but I've seen some of the films.

    Now, make no mistake - the films are really pretty shit. But, I could imagine the books being even worse.

  9. #9
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    21,972
    Mentioned
    181 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Maz has it in general, it'll only be where the books are accepted as poor where the films win.

  10. #10
    Senior Member Max Power's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Leicester
    Posts
    3,459
    Mentioned
    15 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    The Godfather. The book is an entertaining read but the film is a whole other level of brilliant.

  11. #11
    Custom User Title phonics's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    18,151
    Mentioned
    118 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    A Scanner Darkly was great as they just did the book word for word right up until the final third which they completely skip. So close but so far.

  12. #12
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    523
    Mentioned
    13 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Adaptions are successful if they understand what is good about the source material and present that in the foreground with a whole lot of editing. Le Carre and Elmore Leonard are good examples. Both are genre writers but they are better than most writers in their genres because they have specific points of view. Good adaptations of Leonard understand that he strips away everything he thinks the audience will skim and adds it all to the dialogue, so every conversation becomes a transaction even when it is about something utterly banal like a cheeseburger. Jackie Brown, Get Shorty, Out of Sight, or Justified get that and bad ones just do the plot. You can get a plot anywhere but for something to have impact there needs to be something else.

  13. #13
    Webly Ian's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    20,654
    Mentioned
    123 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    If all Cormac McCarthy's books are written in the same unnecessarily obtuse way as Blood Meridian then I'm prepared to accept that No Country for Old Men must be better than the book.

  14. #14
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,594
    Mentioned
    38 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Max Power View Post
    The Godfather. The book is an entertaining read but the film is a whole other level of brilliant.
    Ironically I read the book first and couldn't get into the movie whatsoever

  15. #15
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,594
    Mentioned
    38 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    The thing about books is that you're basically you're own film director in your mind. Everything plays out how you like it to (within the frame of the story mind).

    You visualize every detail how you would want it visualized, so I'd imagine often that would take precedence over someone else's vision.

  16. #16
    Senior Member Spikey M's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Posts
    22,467
    Mentioned
    35 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Lord of the Rings. What a pile of shit that book is.

  17. #17
    Bookie Sir Andy Mahowry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    40,772
    Mentioned
    105 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Spikey M View Post
    Lord of the Rings. What a pile of shit that book is.
    Same goes for the films.

    Boring twaddle.

  18. #18
    heavy like led Dark Soldier's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,137
    Mentioned
    39 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Ian View Post
    If all Cormac McCarthy's books are written in the same unnecessarily obtuse way as Blood Meridian then I'm prepared to accept that No Country for Old Men must be better than the book.
    Blood Meridian is the greatest book ever written and McCarthy is a God.

    Also King didn't write Shutter Island smh for shame Maz

    Audition is better than Murakami's book by a long, long way.
    Last edited by Dark Soldier; 09-08-2018 at 06:38 PM.

  19. #19
    I used to be funny.
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    21,254
    Mentioned
    41 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    For all my John le Carre fanboyisms, I don't think I've cross-media'd any of his work from film to book. I've either left it at books or TV. I think The Night Manager was crap as a series. Hugh Laurie did Roper right but Pine's a much nicer bastard in the book. I should really pick up The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. I bloody loved that film so I worry the book's going to disappoint.

  20. #20
    Senior Member John's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Location
    Glasgow
    Posts
    8,833
    Mentioned
    45 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Grave of the Fireflies was based on a novella which is basically out of print now, so I'd imagine that fits the bill.

  21. #21
    Senior Member Jimmy Floyd's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    35,303
    Mentioned
    84 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Cormac McCarthy is a good shout, I've only read and not seen 'The Road' but the film can't possibly be worse than the book.

  22. #22
    heavy like led Dark Soldier's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,137
    Mentioned
    39 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    The Road is the greatest book ever written and McCarthy is a God.

  23. #23
    Senior Member Pepe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    11,320
    Mentioned
    54 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Would The Greatest Film Ever Made aka The Shawshank Redemption qualify?

  24. #24
    I used to be funny.
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    21,254
    Mentioned
    41 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Stephen King must have a few qualifiers for this.

  25. #25
    Bookie Sir Andy Mahowry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    40,772
    Mentioned
    105 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Children of the corn!

  26. #26
    Senior Member Mazuuurk's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    3,655
    Mentioned
    16 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Soldier View Post
    Blood Meridian is the greatest book ever written and McCarthy is a God.

    Also King didn't write Shutter Island smh for shame Maz

    Audition is better than Murakami's book by a long, long way.
    Yep I stand corrected. Not sure where I got that from.

    Quote Originally Posted by Shindig View Post
    For all my John le Carre fanboyisms, I don't think I've cross-media'd any of his work from film to book. I've either left it at books or TV. I think The Night Manager was crap as a series. Hugh Laurie did Roper right but Pine's a much nicer bastard in the book. I should really pick up The Spy Who Came in From the Cold. I bloody loved that film so I worry the book's going to disappoint.
    Also being a huge fan of Le Carre - I can't imagine that you could ever properly translate his writing style to film - To me he is so great because his style is really subtle and witty in painting portraits of people, especially how he will describe a conversation rather than type it out many times.

  27. #27
    Senior Member Pleb's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    4,018
    Mentioned
    50 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    I've never read the book but is Ready Player One in that category?

  28. #28
    Custom User Title phonics's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2015
    Posts
    18,151
    Mentioned
    118 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    The books not great and the films worse.

  29. #29
    Senior Member niko_cee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    17,942
    Mentioned
    45 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    The book is compelling trash (like Dan Brown with the Catholicism replaced with 80s pop/game culture) and the film is reasonably compelling trash but with a lot of the niche stuff taken out and replaced with car racing/other cgi wank.

  30. #30
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    21,972
    Mentioned
    181 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    On that note, the Dan Brown films are definitely worse than the books.

  31. #31
    Senior Member Disco's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    12,231
    Mentioned
    46 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    I've read a Dan Brown book and I struggle to imagine how any adaptation could be worse.

  32. #32
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    21,972
    Mentioned
    181 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Disco View Post
    I've read a Dan Brown book and I struggle to imagine how any adaptation could be worse.
    Trust me.

  33. #33
    Won the Old Board Lewis's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Location
    Hull
    Posts
    27,078
    Mentioned
    132 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    The films are mega mate. Well, not that last one with the super-AIDS; but The Da Vinci Code was belting.

  34. #34
    Senior Member niko_cee's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    17,942
    Mentioned
    45 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    I only ever read the one with the Illumiati (is that all of them?) and the pope's sidekick jumping out of a helicopter at the end.

    The film was worse than the book.

  35. #35
    Romulus Augustulus ItalAussie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    3,276
    Mentioned
    20 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    The Godfather is the quintessential bad book/great movie. Shawshank Redemption is good book/great movie. Does 2001 count if it was written at the same time as the movie?

  36. #36
    Romulus Augustulus ItalAussie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    3,276
    Mentioned
    20 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Also, they made a baseball adaptation of Fever Pitch? God.

  37. #37
    Romulus Augustulus ItalAussie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2015
    Posts
    3,276
    Mentioned
    20 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Blade Runner is tough because they're great in very different ways.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •