Films BETTER than the book?

[FurrySlipperBoots]

I know it's extremely rare! Can you think of any? I just watched Esio Trot on Netflix and it's 1000% times better than the book, which bores the pants off me. I found it really sweet and well done - watched it right to the end, which is rare for me.

"The third man" - that's the first that comes to mind.

Silence of the Lambs
The English Patient
Interview with a Vampire
Bladerunner
Pride and Prejudice the BBC version - can't stand Austen!
Brokeback Mountain
Princess Bride
Stand by Me
Omen
Rosemary's Baby

Stand by Me is the only one I can think of.

The Godfather

Raymond Briggs' Snowman.
The first Harry Potter came close (apart from the end)

The original Catch-22 (not the TV series).

Remembered some more:

The Graduate
One Flew Over the Cukoo's Nest

I came on to say One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest too.

Girl on the Train. Much better

Lord of the Rings

And I second Interview with the Vampire. The book is good but the film is better.

Breakfast at Tiffanys

Atonement
Enduring love

(Both McEwan novels. Still love him but Atonement as a novel turned my stomach while the film had a much better ending)

Mary Poppons

High Fidelity

Or...
Mary Poppins!

Atonement

@Useruseruserusee

Lord of the Rings

And I second Interview with the Vampire. The book is good but the film is better.

Lord of the Rings! Noooooooooooooooo!

@2pointfourmonkeys

Mary Poppons

As Dick Van Dyke would say

Shawshank Redemption, it was in the same set of short stories as Stand By Me and Stephen king also wrote the screen play.

Also Lord of the Rings, the books waffle too much.

On Chesil Beach. I lost patience with the characters in the book. The film conveyed their anguish much more effectively.

Trainspotting
Whisky Galore (original haven't seen the remake)

Jude the Obscure (90s adaptation with Kate Winslet).

I really like the 2015 version of Macbeth. Makes me a philistine but I can’t get the same brutality from the text ( confession; I get the names mixed up a lot).

I disagree about Stephen King films. They all annoy me. Shawshank in particular with Stand by Me in second place.

Schindler's list

Practical Magic! Loved the movie as a teen, interesting story and great soundtrack. Finally read the book and there’s no frickin magic in it!?