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Films BETTER than the book?

130 replies

FurrySlipperBoots · 18/04/2021 20:52

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.

OP posts:
KerryBer · 25/04/2021 22:01

Princess Bride

tradition · 27/04/2021 08:20

@LaBellina

Atonement
Hated the film with Keira Knightly and her shoulder acting. Just awful. The book is brilliant.
tradition · 27/04/2021 08:21

The Color Purple. How he made a sublime film from just a few pages i don't know. Such a glorious film.

tradition · 27/04/2021 08:34

@tillytoodles1

Gone With the Wind.
Noooo, The book is a masterpiece. I just didn't see Vivian Lee as Scarlet as in the film she came across as a spoilt petulant child whereas in the book you see her development into a strong fearless woman.
SuziQuatrosFatNan · 27/04/2021 08:35

The film of The English Patient I guess stands on its own merits as it's nothing like the book but I don't know that it's better; difficult to compare because it's so very different. The book had more about it.

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold film is better than the book for me. I don't really like how le Carre writes though. I mean he tells cracking stories but I don't like his style. So every adaptation I've see is better than the book. But Spy Who Came In From The Cold is the best one. The one with Richard Burton.

LenaConor · 29/04/2021 13:39

Godfather is the best film
u can read the wiki en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Godfather

Bells3032 · 29/04/2021 13:42

Practical Magic.
Les Miserables

IHaveBrilloHair · 29/04/2021 16:42

Definitely Les Mis, god the book is a bore.
The stage show is better than the film though, I'm seeing it for the third time in December and can't wait, I adore it so much I even have a cat named Eponine.

mum2jakie · 01/05/2021 21:55

Not a film but I preferred the TV series (Prime) of Little Fires Everywhere than the original book it was based on.

Hoolihan · 01/05/2021 22:05

Agree totally with The Talented Mr Ripley. I like the book but the film is just stunning, the scenery, the tension, the malevolence. The ending is so much better that the book imo.

curlyrebel · 01/05/2021 22:20

Slumdog Millionaire. Based on a book called QA that was pretty dull.

curlyrebel · 01/05/2021 22:21

Sorry Q&A

Germolenequeen · 01/05/2021 22:34

Who the hell said Gone With The Wind?
The book is an epic masterpiece.

This 100%

shinynewapple21 · 01/05/2021 23:13

Hi fidelity

I wonder, in general, whether people have read the book or seen the film first , as I think it makes a difference .

TheSandman · 01/05/2021 23:55

Any version of any Agatha Christie novel has to be better than the book.

Germolenequeen · 01/05/2021 23:58

Any version of any Agatha Christie novel has to be better than the book

Heresy 😬

JovialNickname · 02/05/2021 00:31

The Talented Mr Ripley (although the book is good too)

Tanfastic · 02/05/2021 07:25

Bridget Jones. I found the book dire. Also The Girl on The Train.

IHaveBrilloHair · 02/05/2021 12:19

I loved the book of Slumdog Millionaire, I liked the second book too, the third one was a bit silly.

ChequerBoard · 02/05/2021 13:06

@Tanfastic

Bridget Jones. I found the book dire. Also The Girl on The Train.

A hard no on both of these from me.

Bridget Jones books were a million times better than the films.

As for the Girl on the Train, it's no masterpiece of literature but I'm incredulous that people liked the Emily Blunt movie, it was really really badly done. The book was so much better!

BG2015 · 15/05/2021 15:59

The Help fab film - very close to the book

GrownUpBeans · 16/05/2021 10:16

Lord of the Rings! Noooooooooooooooo!

Agree. I would never have got into the books without seeing the films though.

SquatBetty · 17/05/2021 20:48

High Fidelity
The book was just full of muso wankiness but John Cusack cut all that out in the film, making it watchable.

PlumpAndDeliciousFatcat · 19/05/2021 16:52

It (chapter one, the 2017 one) is better than the whole novel, which is an unreadable coked-up mess. Sadly the same doesn’t apply to chapter two!

istaci · 23/05/2021 16:45

Jurassic Park. Not to take anything away from the book because it's great and one of my all time favorites, but I think the movie handles certain aspects better. Especially the characters of Lex and Tim.