The film is better than the book...

[JimW]

Any film based on the Bible is almost certainly going to be better than the book, imo

King James version has some great lines though, even if overall it's a bit of a mess that could do with an severe edit. Consider ye the lilies of the field... and all that.

 

[a_chap]

.

 

[chilango]

Charlie/Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

 

[Dr. Furface]

The Naked Lunch

 

[starfish]

2001: A Space Odyssey.

 

[Dr. Furface]

Once Upon a Time in America (although I think the book was written after the film)

 

[JimW]

Kipling again, The Man Who Would Be King comes out just a bit better on screen.

 

[belboid]

Cuckoo's Nest is not better than the book, but I think it's the best adaptation that coulda been hoped for given that the source material was very complicated to turn in to a film.

It's my favourite book, and one of my favourite films, and I see them as equals really.

The film manages to remove, or at least reduce, a lot of the books sexism. Not entirely, by any means, but it does at least make an effort.

 

[Spandex]

Any film based on the Bible is almost certainly going to be better than the book, imo

There's loads of terrible bible films, while the book has one of the most memorable bad-arse super-villains ever in the first half. He destroys whole cities, turns people to salt, feeds people to whales and in one particularly brutal episode drowns everybody in the world except 8 survivors. All with no comeuppance. Sure the book sags badly in places, especially the second half, but it's also got one of the most fucking weird final chapters in literature.

 

[imposs1904]

Paddington

 

[TruXta]

There's loads of terrible bible films, while the book has one of the most memorable bad-arse super-villains ever in the first half. He destroys whole cities, turns people to salt, feeds people to whales and in one particularly brutal episode drowns everybody in the world except 8 survivors. All with no comeuppance. Sure the book sags badly in places, especially the second half, but it's also got one of the most fucking weird final chapters in literature.

Not to mention inspiring some of the worst and the best fanfiction ever written.

 

[Rosemary Jest]

Hellraiser > The Hellbound Heart

 

[krtek a houby]

Once Upon a Time in America (although I think the book was written after the film)

Haven't read the book but it's called The Hoods by Harry Grey and published 30 years before the Leone epic. Books written after the films are usually shite, imho. Mind you, Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere (the novel) is far better than the telly show.

 

[krtek a houby]

Paddington

No

 

[Mrs Miggins]

Any Stephen King.
Unreadable books. Great films/TV shows.

 

[krtek a houby]

Any Stephen King.
Unreadable books. Great films/TV shows.

I like both. King's short stories are my favourite, though. And there's been as many dud adaptations as great ones.

 

[DaveCinzano]

And there's been as many dud adaptations as great ones.

What do you mean?

 

[Mrs Miggins]

I like both. King's short stories are my favourite, though. And there's been as many dud adaptations as great ones.

I've tried to read one or two and felt like throwing the books at the wall but I've enjoyed every film or whatever that I've seen. Obvs my experience of both is not exhaustive

 

[May Kasahara]

The Exorcist.

Stardust.

 

[JuanTwoThree]

Papillon

It may be because the book is a translation that it reads so turgidly, or because that accurately reflects the literary style of 'Papillon':

" At the last moment I decided to chain my left wrist to the rope binding the sacks. All at once I was afraid of losing my hold and being swept away without them. Sylvain got up on to the opposite rock, helped by Chang. The moon was high now and we could see very well.
I had rolled a towel round my head. There were six waves to be waited for. Only a few minutes left now. Chang had come back to my side. He hugged me round the neck and then kissed me. He was going to lie there wedged in an angle of the rock and grip my legs to help me withstand the shock of Lisette’s breaking.

Whatever. The film is better.

 

[Steel Icarus]

Jurassic Park

 

[Steel Icarus]

Could possibly make an argument for Silence of the Lambs

 

[SpookyFrank]

Dr Strangelove

 

[The Octagon]

Die Hard

 

[The Octagon]

Shawshank Redemption

 

[yield]

Children of Men.

 

[Nanker Phelge]

Psycho

 

[Reno]

Jaws
Let the Right One In
Carrie
Rosemary’s Baby
Don’t Look Now (short story)
The Thing

 

[starfish]

Fuzz, starring Burt Reynolds based on the book of the same name by Ed McBain.

 

[Reno]

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park has great action sequences and innovative effects, but I prefer the darker tone of the novel and the movie dropped most of the science stuff, which was fascinating.