I have never seen a movie that was better than the book it was based on.

I read Water for Elephants and loved it and then I watched the movie and I was like nooooo, its all wrong! I didnt like it.

Why do you think that books seems to be always better than the movies they base them on?

Have you ever seen a movie that was better than the book?

da vinci code. could not get into the book, but really enjoyed the movie

I think that the Harry Potter movies are just as good as the books if you allow for the fact that they leave half of the book out!

An old one I can think of is Dr Zhivago. I found the book very hard to read but the movie is just beautiful.

TV series, not movie. I am finding the series, The Slap, to be far more nuanced and enjoyable than the book.

Lord of the rings extended editions.

I loved the books but the movies were just superb.

I thought the Harry Potter movies were better than the books. I found all but the first book a bit slow.

That Night with Juliette Lewis. Neither was great, but I distinctly remember the movie being better.

edit to add, I don't even remember what it was about, just that movie was better

OK, embarrassed to admit it but:

Twilight. I actually managed to sit through the entire first movie. I hated it but I watched it. I tried really hard to read the book but it was so woefully bad that it was all I could do not to drop the damn thing in the shredder.

Otherwise, no I can't really think of anything else. There's bound to be something though.

I loved reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy but preferred the movies. I felt there were some "silly" bits in the books that were left out of the movies.

I think I felt the same about Memoirs of a Geisha.

Shawshank Redemption. Great short story by Steven King, but the movie is truly superb.

Brokeback Mountain.

The book was awful

Equal yes, better I'm not so sure. Most of the movie adaptations I really, really love, I love the book just as much.

OMG no way! I despise all but the first 2 movies (I even walked out of the fifth) but the books are among my favourite every written

The Power of One. I didn't love the movie but I really didn't enjoy the book. I was 10 though when I read it so I probably wasn't really the target audience

Apart from that I have always enjoyed the book more or at least equally

I concur.

The Americanisation of Emily.

Paddy Chayefsky wrote the screenplay - enough said.

Forrest Gump.

The book is a load of utter tripe.

But the movie is wonderful.

Lord of the Rings.

Lord of the Rings. Loved the movies but couldn't even finish the books.

Chocolat with Johnny Depp - i thought the movie was much better than the book.

For me - The Notebook.

I found the book rubbish, but the movie is one of my favorites. Every other time though I vote the book all the way. Especially PS I love You - they killed that!

God no, the books were so so much better than the movies, that last one they did was horrible, the da-vinci code was watchable, the 2nd one was incredibly stupid.


Pride and Prejudice, watched the movie and loved it so grabbed the book and couldnt even finish it, bored the pants off me.

I found Riding In Cars With Boys better in movie form than the book.

I was really surprised how much they changed the story.

Ps I love you. The book was sad and boring, the movie was great.

Twilight, I think. I did not enjoy the book, but I don't remember hating the movie.

The Green Mile by Stephen King was equally as good as the book.

The Black Stallion

Although the movie is quite different in feel and somewhat different in plot particularly the second half.

The film is so lyrical and beautiful. The book is a really prosaic boy's adventure story.

The Narnia movies were exactly what I imagined while reading the books. Magical.

The Godfather

The book is trash, the movie is a masterpiece.

Dracula - with Gary Oldman. Way better than the book.


Opposite here. Books were readable (not great). Movie was one of the most boring badly acted pieces of tripe I have ever watched. I tried to watch New Moon and I kept falling asleep. Literally. Didn't bother with the others.



This.

I agree and in the book vs movie war "as good as" may as well be a win for the movie. Marley and Me was like this for me, equally as good.

My problem (I have big ones in my life ) is:

One for the Money
We Need to Talk About Kevin

Two complete opposite ends of the spectrum and what I expect from each is different as well. Only time will tell.

I had forgotten Brokeback Mountain was a short story and I had read it. Must have been really memorable.

The Green Mile was good, but I had seen the movie first.

When judging, have you seen the movie first or read the book first?

Oh I disagree - I loved the movie, but the book has to almost be considered a separate story because so much was left out in the movie.

Schindler's List the movie was brilliant.

Thomas Keneally's Schindler's Ark was good but the quality of the movie and the acting of the cast made the movie superb.

Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Princess Bride and ....


There are others but these are my stand outs.

The book "The Notebook" was terrible! LOVE the movie! Disagree with the movie "PS I Love You". LOVED that too!!!

LOVED both movie and book "Marley and Me".

My childhood favourite movie "Stand By Me" was based on the Stephen King book "The Body". Not a fan of the book at all.

Especially for BadCat:

Twilight

I fall asleep in LOTR so no idea if it's better than the books ...

I think Breaking Dawn is much better movie. The book was WOEFUL. the movie's not fantastic by any stretch, but the movie is definitely better!

I think Harry Potter movies are not better than the books but despite what many hardcore fans say, they *are* as good. they are just a different medium.

A walk to Remember.

Sorry, but anythign by Nicolas Sparks. I love love love the movies but usually can't finish the books!

I saw the Help the other day and I think the movie is just as good as the book. Usually I cringe a bit watching movies of books I've loved, but this one was great.

The notebook. I found the book really bland.

The Princess Bride, the book was very ordinary.

Three that spring to mind are other people's choices as well - Brokeback Mountain, The Notebook and The Shawshank Redemption - possibly because the books were slim volumes and the movies built on them. Usually if I read a book first, I won't enjoy the movie as much, but if I've loved the movie, the book doesn't seem as appealing.

Yep.

And Beaches

Memoirs of a Giesha!! Movie was awesome. Book good, but long winded. I think the movie brought the book to life for me.

No vote yet for Fight Club? The movie was far superior to the book - even Chuck Palahniuk (the author) thinks so.

The Beach.
Movie was good, the book was so so wrong. Half way through the book, its starts heading in a very different way from the movie...and then you see why they had to change it for the audiences.

To Kill A Mockingbird - book & movie equally brilliant.

Whoever said that the LOTR movies are better than the books should give themselves an uppercut! The movies are very good (I love all of them - even more on blu-ray) but the books are literary masterpieces and so epic!

For a TV series, I think True Blood is much better than any of the Sookie Stackhouse books - they are dreadfully written.

I thought that Bladerunner was better than 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' by Phillip K d*ck.

Really, EB? It's his frickin' name.

I first tried reading LOTR when I was 14yo, and have never made it all the way through the trilogy even though I've tried a couple of times since. I thought the first 2 films were brilliant, but the third just dribbled to an ending. I'm calling a tie.

As for do Androids dream of electric sheep, Bladerunner was so different it's hardly fair to make any comparison. And as for other films of his books, unfortunately Tom Cruise is a d*ck fan.....

I love the Gruffalo, but the animated version is even better!!!!

I agree. The book was average, the movie is beautiful. But from what I remember of the book, they did change the story slightly for the movie (improved it IMHO).

I think it depends what comes first for you. Often if you read the book first, you build up a picture in your own mind - so the movie has little chance of living up to it.

I'd heard rumours...