Book vs. Movie

[peteOcha]

I really liked the Fight Club adaptation as well. Great casting in my opinion.

[Joe315]

I would have to say the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The books were good but they were slow reads for me.

Also I thought Fight Club was a good adaptation but the book was still better, if only slightly (in my opinion anyway).

[Teriw]

I didn't even know it was a book. One movie I liked better was the mist because it had an ending. i guess it helps that i love thomas jane as well.

[Hedda Gabler]

99% of the time, the book is better. However, the movie Forrest Gump is leaps and bounds better than the ridiculous book.

Absolutely! I was just coming here to say this. The book was so awful, Eric Roth won the academy award for Best Academy award for Best Adapted Screenplay and he deserved it! He took the seed of Winston Groom's stupid story and made it the amazing story it became. Roth should get every dime from the sales of that book, as I'm sure the movie made people run out in droves to purchase the book (I being one) thinking they were going to be reading an even better story. Nope.

[ozmosis7]

I would agree with that.

[MrRoland]

Most of the time I prefer the written version of a story, but I have to say I found that I found "The Shawshank Redemption" better than "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" after a re-read.

[hamount]

I can't think of a movie I liked more than the book. I've always thought that movies tended to leave out a lot of important facts, and completely change people's roles. Example: Percy Jackson and the Lightning thief.

[srboone]

99% of the time, the book is better. However, the movie Forrest Gump is leaps and bounds better than the ridiculous book.

Wow! It must be one crap-fest of a book for the movie to be better than it. maybe I should remove it from my TBR list.

[divemaster]

99% of the time, the book is better. However, the movie Forrest Gump is leaps and bounds better than the ridiculous book.

[Slee1978]

I was about to say Dead Zone but I'm a fan of Walkin.

[frik51]

I am going to commit this exact sin later today. 2001 aired last night so I taped it to watch later today for the first time.

Sacrilige indeed.
2001 demands to be seen on the big screen.
In the theatre it's an overwhelming experience.
On a 4:3 screen it's a dud!

sk

[cdfan]

Maybe you saw it on television?
Let me re-phrase this: most likely you saw this on television?
And,horror-of-horrors, a full-screen (4:3) version?

sk

I am going to commit this exact sin later today. 2001 aired last night so I taped it to watch later today for the first time.

I also plan to rent Clockwork Orange before it is removed from On Demand so I can finally compare that to the book.

[miki74]

They are doing the Hobbit. Comes out in 2012. I am really looking forward to it as I love LOTR.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0903624/

[Nocdar]

There are a few problems with comparing film to books. First, something like Let the Right One In is a rich and fully realized story in print. To make it into a movie would have required nearly three hours to tell. Film studios are forced to hack away at a story till it fits into the two hour "ideal". The story isn't told fully, but rather it is sold into a box. Let the Right One In was made into a film by the Swedes and then Hollywood gave it a shot. I've seen both and neither came close to getting it done. If I hadn't read the book first (which sadly, is the norm) I would have thoroughly enjoyed either film. But knowing what was missing... well, they lacked the original feel.
The all time worst book to film I can think of was Eragon.
Films require nothing from the viewer. What is meant to be seen is there, spelled out in all its Blue Ray-ness. In a novel, the look of the setting and the sounds are delegated to the reader. Sometimes those two come very close. I enjoyed the trilogy, Lord of the Rings, though the Hobbits looked less Hobbity than in my several readings. But it took nearly ten hours to give us those three books and is the best book to film I can think of. I'd love to see them do The Hobbit.

[peteOcha]

Tho there was the back row with Beth during "The Little Mermaid"...

Ahhh.... back row, so many great memories! Who says a boring movie has to be boring...