Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Name a film that's better than the book

221 replies

pamplemoussemousse · 08/08/2023 20:01

Off the back of a discussion with DH where we can't think of any, is there a film adaptation (or tv adaptation) that's better than the original book?

I can think of some that are on par (Wolf of Wall Street, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, for example) but none where the screenplay was better!

I'm happy to read/watch any suggestions!

OP posts:
LilacSorbet · 08/08/2023 22:04

nocoolnamesleft · 08/08/2023 20:18

The Princess Bride.

Absolutely this.

Elizadoloads · 08/08/2023 22:05

Can't think of any. I think the worst has to be Flowers in the Attic, Brilliant books bloody awful films.

caramacyears · 08/08/2023 22:07

Tezza1 · 08/08/2023 21:26

Must agree. "Bonfire of the Vanities" was a great book: movie dire. However, Tom Wolfe's "The right stuff" was a great book and movie. The film had a perfect gee whizz, satirical feel to it.

Show quote history

It is a brilliant book

Bananabedhead · 08/08/2023 22:07

How to train your Dragon. Almost completely different to the books but how the books should have been

caerdydd12 · 08/08/2023 22:12

LaMarschallin · 08/08/2023 22:04

I'm going to have to watch the Princess Bride film, I can see.
I've had it recommended as a good film but nobody had read the book. I picked it up in a discount book shop, but Oh! was it hard work. Gave it to a charity shop when I'd finished which I hardly ever do as I nearly always re-read books.

I'm not sure if watching it for the first time as an adult would give the same reward as growing up with it.

You may well be right. Don't know how I missed it the first time round. My daughters are adults now so might not benefit so much either.
However, I have a baby granddaughter, so she might get lucky Smile

I watched it as a child and loved it, but didn't watch The Goonies until adulthood and really didn't see what all the fuss was about. I think some things you need to see through a child's eye first!

MidnightRunning · 08/08/2023 22:13

Brokeback Mountain.

whatabeautifulwedding · 08/08/2023 22:16

@Diddykong Yes I'd read it.

feliciabirthgiver · 08/08/2023 22:18

Schindler's List
Silence of the Lambs

ChiefWiggumsBoy · 08/08/2023 22:20

Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society - the book is shit, don't bother.

Children of Men.
Cloud Atlas.

EvenMoreFuriousVexation · 08/08/2023 22:22

LotR. I struggled dutifully through the books knowing I "should" enjoy them because they were classics, but I spent every page of The Two Towers wanting to get back to Frodo and Sam. The films addressed the events in linear sequence and it was absolutely the right choice. Also the casting was amazing.

Christine and Carrie (the original with Sissy Spacek) - the only two Stephen King adaptations I would bother rewatching. All of the others have been an absolute pile of wank. I re-read King's books a great deal.

I'm torn on Game of Thrones. I watched the first series, then I read all the books. Enjoyed series 2 and 3, but the two diverged so much after that. I didn't watch the last series. I've re-read the books probably a dozen times. I'm slowly coming to accept that the final two books may end up being unwritten. I still love them.

The Godfather was a pulp novel which was turned into an absolutely iconic film thanks to Francis Ford Coppola's genius directing. Honestly, the book has a whole subplot about a woman's capacious vagina.

IsisoftheWalbrook · 08/08/2023 22:23

The Suchet Poirots and the Hickson Marples, definitely.
Sharpe

Shouldigoforarunorhavepancakes · 08/08/2023 22:28

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The book is amazing but the movie is a masterpiece! Gary Oldman gives so much depth to agent Smiley!

HugoDarracott · 08/08/2023 22:29

The last of the Mohicans staring Daniel Day-Lewis. Such beautiful scenery and the music is fabulous. The book was hard work but I could watch the film over and over.

Piggywaspushed · 08/08/2023 22:33

Bananabedhead · 08/08/2023 22:07

How to train your Dragon. Almost completely different to the books but how the books should have been

Ah no. The first film is lovely but the books are wondrous.

Glarptip · 08/08/2023 22:44

The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

The Leather Boys.

Groutyonehereagain · 08/08/2023 22:48

The Horse Whisperer

clare8allthepies · 08/08/2023 22:58

Not a film but a tv series, the handmaids tale. I do love the book and I don’t think the series is perfect but I love the way that the format allows for so much fleshing out of the characters by showing all of the back stories.

murasaki · 08/08/2023 23:03

Name of the rose. Fun film, but a dreadful book. Saying that I hate it so much I read it about every 5 years or so to remind me how smug (and I am competent at Latin) it is.It's a guilty pleasure. But the film is just great.

Greyandwhitecat · 08/08/2023 23:04

Brooklyn

Housewife2010 · 08/08/2023 23:06

Gone With the Wind

Pieceofpurplesky · 08/08/2023 23:07

JayeNC · 08/08/2023 20:07

Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society

No! Not even filmed in Guernsey

Piggywaspushed · 08/08/2023 23:10

Absolute Beginners.

Piggywaspushed · 08/08/2023 23:10

And Silence of the Lambs.

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 08/08/2023 23:11

clare8allthepies · 08/08/2023 22:58

Not a film but a tv series, the handmaids tale. I do love the book and I don’t think the series is perfect but I love the way that the format allows for so much fleshing out of the characters by showing all of the back stories.

Totally agree.

Greengrassohla · 08/08/2023 23:11

The African Queen. The ending in the book is terrible!

Swipe left for the next trending thread