PII | 1,898 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 (edited) Only once, Ever. It has otherwise never even been close, for me. No matter how much I may like the movie adaptation, the book is always way better. All this being the case, it got me wondering what everyone else's experience has been. Also, Anything that was created; movie first, then cheap-o trash novel equivalent to follow, does not count (which is not necessarily to say that those cannot be enjoyable.) Anyway, the only time this happened for yours truly was when I watched "The Night Flyer" after reading the book (which is actually a short-story.) In particular, the final few scenes in the film were so Creep-tastic and Brutally Delicious there was just no way the written story could compare.. Edited July 8, 2022 by PII Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SailorScoutMandy | 782 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 There are times where I've thought they were equal in quality ex: lord of the rings (NOT the hobbit tho), most of the Harry potter's, the Witcher. There are definitely some where the movie SUCKED ex: eragon, Percy Jackson, the hobbit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,588 Editorials Team · Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Jaws, Jurassic Park, The Great Train Robbery, The Mist, Shawshank Redemption, Edge of Tomorrow, American Psycho, Carrie, maybe others. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulpa | 3,537 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 I was about to say Jaws. The book is TERRIBLE. Probably the biggest swing from bad book to good movie. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerfestus | 3,889 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Jurassic park. The Shining movie is on par if not better than the book for me. I’ve heard Forrest Gump sucks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesRobot | 5,837 Events Team · Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Idk about better, but I always thought Misery was a perfect translation of book to movie. The only movie I would consider equal to the book. Great book, great movie. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brickman | 4,017 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 I second Misery and most of what Reed has listed. I'll also add The Road, the majority of Dennis Lehane's books & some of Clive Barker's books to movies. I'd still say that 9/10 times book beats movie. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-type | 2,533 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Silence of the Lambs, I liked the movie better 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-type | 2,533 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 11 hours ago, Reed Rothchild said: Jaws, Jurassic Park, The Great Train Robbery, The Mist, Shawshank Redemption, Edge of Tomorrow, American Psycho, Carrie, maybe others. For Edge of Tomorrow, I don't think it's really fair to compare, since they are completely different stories... the movie just borrowed some of the ideas and the underlying premise. That being said, I also preferred the movie 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabonga | 2,344 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 This: Absolutely delicious take on the book - a top notch cast brings the characters to life much more than the book does. This has been filmed a ton of times - but none come anywhere close to matching the on screen chemistry of the cast in this one. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloves | 11,841 Administrator · Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Yeah, Harry Potter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrslam | 477 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 The first Harry Potter and Jurassic Park movies, though I enjoyed the books, too. I don't have a great imagination for visualization, so seeing the on-screen magic of Potter or the dinosaurs of JP far outshone reading about them. On a slightly off-topic note, the play Wicked was great fun while the book was a boring slog to get thru. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PII | 1,898 Posted August 5, 2021 Author Share Posted August 5, 2021 Now that it's been mentioned I do recall Jurassic Park being a rather dull read. Never knew Jaws was a book to begin with / surprised I've never even seen a copy.. Mist also seems like a very likely example even though I enjoyed the read much more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,588 Editorials Team · Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 Oh, The Running Man. Come at me @Hammerfestus ! Or whoever it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,588 Editorials Team · Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 ...also, Band of Brothers and Naked Lunch (lol). Coraline, Clockwork Orange, Fight Club, Stand By Me, The Disaster Artist, and Let the Right One In are all debatable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,588 Editorials Team · Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 I only read half of Starship Troopers but I'll say that too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sumez | 2,995 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 I haven't read the Starship Troopers book, but from what I've heard I can't imagine I'd like it at all. The film is a masterpiece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerfestus | 3,889 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said: Oh, The Running Man. Come at me @Hammerfestus ! Or whoever it was. That was me. You are out of your mind. Running Man the movie is like top 3 Arnie movies for me but the book had like a plot and stuff. I will say it was so wildly different to basically only have the same name. Underrated Stephen King work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,588 Editorials Team · Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 22 minutes ago, Hammerfestus said: That was me. You are out of your mind. Running Man the movie is like top 3 Arnie movies for me but the book had like a plot and stuff. I will say it was so wildly different to basically only have the same name. Underrated Stephen King work. Top 3 Arnie movie > Top 30 King book Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammerfestus | 3,889 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 (edited) 38 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said: Top 3 Arnie movie > Top 30 King book Edited August 5, 2021 by Hammerfestus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDIRunner | 2,777 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 (edited) 3 hours ago, PII said: Now that it's been mentioned I do recall Jurassic Park being a rather dull read. No way. The novel Jurassic Park was way better then the movie. If you were younger when you read it, some of the chaos theory stuff might have been boring, but it's still superior to the movie. The movie was still good though since it basically followed the novel. The film The Lost World, however, was a huge mess because it didn't follow the book at all. It used SOME of the characters, and used the idea of a second island, but that is about it. The novel was fantastic, but the movie was pretty bad. Edited August 5, 2021 by TDIRunner 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDIRunner | 2,777 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 I haven't read the novel Hannibal, but from what I've heard about it, I would probably prefer the movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed Rothchild | 9,588 Editorials Team · Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 29 minutes ago, TDIRunner said: No way. The novel Jurassic Park was way better then the movie. If you were younger when you read it, some of the chaos theory stuff might have been boring, but it's still superior to the movie. The movie was still good though since it basically followed the novel. The film The Lost World, however, was a huge mess because it didn't follow the book at all. It used SOME of the characters, and used the idea of a second island, but that is about it. The novel was fantastic, but the movie was pretty bad. See I'm the opposite. I read Jurassic Park as a kid and thought it was AMAZING. Best book I'd ever read. Then I went back to it decades later after reading lots of "adult" books... and it's a good techno-thriller. Maybe Crichton's best. But not like some sort of all-timer literary event. Like, B, B- territory. Whereas the film is a landmark in big tentpole adventure. Something that has not aged a day in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDIRunner | 2,777 Posted August 5, 2021 Share Posted August 5, 2021 1 hour ago, Reed Rothchild said: See I'm the opposite. I read Jurassic Park as a kid and thought it was AMAZING. Best book I'd ever read. Then I went back to it decades later after reading lots of "adult" books... and it's a good techno-thriller. Maybe Crichton's best. But not like some sort of all-timer literary event. Like, B, B- territory. Whereas the film is a landmark in big tentpole adventure. Something that has not aged a day in my opinion. I have re-read it as an adult (JP and TLW are the only Crichton novels I can say that about), so I'm comfortable saying the novel is excellent. The movie is also a masterpiece and the special effects look better than most movies made today, but to say it hasn't aged a day is a little misleading as some of the acting leaves a bit to be desired (not all, but some). It was easy to miss years ago when we were in awe of the dinosaurs, but it sticks out pretty bad today. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstralSoul | 503 Posted August 7, 2021 Share Posted August 7, 2021 Jurassic Park, Forrest Gump and (probably controversially) Lord of the Rings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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