movies/tv Are there any film adaptations that you think are better than the books?

[Tom Gallagher 33,588]

I’ve always preferred the Narnia movies to the books, to be perfectly honest.  Not to go knocking C.S. Lewis’s writing, I mean, who would?  But there’s always been something about the Narnia movies for me that have kept faithful to the stories while also adding new material that works very well.  Shame they stopped making them. 

I do find it funny the way that the Harry Potter movies are so beloved, yet people constantly complain that the movies didn’t adapt the books well enough! 

[DivineMist1000 71,360]

Harry Potter definitely!! My favorite film franchise ever too!

[ohne 408]

^^

agree. I read the books a long time ago, but there's something special about the HP movies

[Oleks 1,993]

My opinion probably will be unpopular, but for me it's The Lord of the Rings. I found the books boring, and loved the movies.

Also, not a movie, but still a live-action adaptation: The Man in the High Castle. The book was forgettable, but the series left a lasting impression.

[Misty Shadow 7,913]

I think the movie Misery was better than the original Stephen King book. I liked the changes they made from the novel, both things they cut down on and things they added, to help the story flow better. Paul was more likable, the plot with the police was better, and I like how Annie appeared to be nice at first before she turned out to be psycho, unlike in the book where you're just flat-out told early on that she's crazy. 

[Awkward Segway 317]

1 hour ago, Oleks said:

My opinion probably will be unpopular, but for me it's The Lord of the Rings. I found the books boring, and loved the movies.

Same here. The LotR films are some of my favorite movies, so I tried reading the books, and found them very slow and boring.

[Jeric 46,852]

2 hours ago, DivineSpirit1000 said:

Harry Potter definitely!! My favorite film franchise ever too!

 

2 hours ago, yungsparkle7 said:

^^

agree. I read the books a long time ago, but there's something special about the HP movies

With some specific scene exceptions, the film adaptations actually did improve on the books, particularly with the actors presentation of the characters actually adding additional layers of nuance that Rowling didn’t have originally. 
 

 

[SasQ 1,379]

Definitely the Bible   (Well, at least those parts that were turned into a movie.)

[Here No Longer 5,276]

Harry Potter 100%. The books are not that good and way too long, but the movies are insanely good. Doesn't help I have a bit of a disdain for J.K. Rowling and her TERFness.

[Megas 27,700]

Do comic books count? Because the Iron Man movies pretty much saved the character after the beating he took from the Civil War comics. In fact in general I love the movie's portrayal much better than the comics in general

Edited December 19, 2020 by Megas

[Denim&Venöm 19,127]

Fight Club and Ready Player One. 

The characters are more likable in the movies than books. Fight Club is more coherent and less depressing. RPO is more imaginative. 

2 minutes ago, Megas said:

Do comic books count? Because the Iron Man movies pretty much saved the character after the beating he took from the Civil War comics. In fact in general I love the movie's portrayal much better than the comics in general

Might as well count The Crow then. The graphic novel is good but the film is iconic. Takes the story of grieving through revenge and adds Gothic style, grit, drama and thanks to Brandon Lee's performance, a heart at it's darkened core to make it all a strangely uplifting movie. 

[cuteycindyhoney 13,307]

"The Martian" I loved the movie. I looked for and found the book. I read page one, and that was enough. I do not like 'gimmick' writing. It was written like a text messages. I deleted it.

[ExplosionMare 18,065]

I liked the “Wonder” movie better than the book because I feel like it the point of view shifts felt more natural in the movie  because in the book, the shifts felt sudden and everyone’s sections were written differently, which was confusing.

[Justin_Case001 4,896]

11 hours ago, Oleks said:

My opinion probably will be unpopular, but for me it's The Lord of the Rings.

I thought I would be the only one with this opinion!  I agree.  I mean, I would certainly say that the LOTR books are legendary masterpieces, but I also found them a little wordy and kinda tough to get through, whereas the movies are some of my favorites of all time.

4 hours ago, cuteycindyhoney said:

"The Martian"

I've never read the book, but I can definitely believe this.  The movie is another of my absolute favorites of all time, but I've heard a lot of bad things about the book.

I'm also tempted to say Hitchhiker's Guide.  I mean, the books are just spectacular, but the movie is so great too.  Some stories are just perfect on their own as books, but I feel like Hitchhiker's Guide demanded the audio and visual elements.  Everything was brought to life so perfectly.  It's like... every single detail in the movie is exactly how I imagined it in my mind when reading the books.  It's really one of the best movie adaptations of a book of all time.  I mean, after LOTR, that is.

[Sepul-Coloratura 762]

If you count Manga as books in your question, I’d say Edge of Tomorrow. I liked Fight Club the movie more than the book, and I think 300 is quite a faithful adaptation and arguably a better one. I also prefer The Lord of the Rings movie. (But not The Hobbit)

I disagree with people about Harry Potter. The first two movies were a very well made faithful adaptations, the third one was a unique and great fun movie. Harry Potter movies started to go downhill since the fourth one and they were very monotonous and gloomy in a boring, less charming way. The movies has its limits, but I think the later ones were neither faithful to the original nor unique in its own way. The Order of the Phoenix was the least fun of the books, but at least all Harry Potter books were quite fun to read.

Edited December 19, 2020 by Sepul-Coloratura

[Brony Number 42 10,069]

Contact by Carl Sagan. The book was so boring. Only 2 short chapters where they talk to the aliens. The rest was the process of what would happen if we got a message from aliens. The movie got to the point and had a better ending.

[Fluttershutter 2,497]

Fight Club is all I can think of.

17 hours ago, Merry Brony 42 said:

Contact by Carl Sagan. The book was so boring. Only 2 short chapters where they talk to the aliens. The rest was the process of what would happen if we got a message from aliens. The movie got to the point and had a better ending.

Oh yeah! Good one!

[cuteycindyhoney 13,307]

21 hours ago, Justin_Case001 said:

I thought I would be the only one with this opinion!  I agree.  I mean, I would certainly say that the LOTR books are legendary masterpieces, but I also found them a little wordy and kinda tough to get through, whereas the movies are some of my favorites of all time.

I've never read the book, but I can definitely believe this.  The movie is another of my absolute favorites of all time, but I've heard a lot of bad things about the book.

I'm also tempted to say Hitchhiker's Guide.  I mean, the books are just spectacular, but the movie is so great too.  Some stories are just perfect on their own as books, but I feel like Hitchhiker's Guide demanded the audio and visual elements.  Everything was brought to life so perfectly.  It's like... every single detail in the movie is exactly how I imagined it in my mind when reading the books.  It's really one of the best movie adaptations of a book of all time.  I mean, after LOTR, that is.

Did you ever see the "Hitchhiker's Guide" miniseries from I think 1980, from the BBC? I actually think that was better than the movie. I did like the books though.

[Fluttershutter 2,497]

9 hours ago, cuteycindyhoney said:

Did you ever see the "Hitchhiker's Guide" miniseries from I think 1980, from the BBC? I actually think that was better than the movie. I did like the books though.

So much better. That movie just went too far from the books and wasn't even very funny.

[Justin_Case001 4,896]

11 hours ago, cuteycindyhoney said:

Did you ever see the "Hitchhiker's Guide" miniseries from I think 1980, from the BBC?

No!  Didn't even know about it.  I outta check it out!

[Ruchiyoto 49]

In my opinion, The Crucible was a-lot better than the original book. Mainly because the movie had shown a much more descriptive and visual than what the story could offer. 

[Harmonic Revelations 8,835]

In my opinion, Tarkovsky's classic film Solaris does so much that the book wasn't able to convey due to the limitations of that medium.

[Fluttershutter 2,497]

It's been a long time since I read Misery by Stephen King but I think the Movie was actually better. Kathy Bates was just freaking scary!

[Sovereign Leader Rarity 12,006]

The How to Train Your Dragon film series is excellent. The books are great too, in their own way, but not quite on the same level in my opinion.

[Will Guide 21,360]

Did you know "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" was based on the book, "Who Censored Roger Rabbit?" Where in the book Roger was actually the victim not the accused like in the film. I heard the author actually did like the film adaptation of his original book, feeling like it was an improvement