Alot of our favorite horror/scifi movies started out in book form. Are there any books that you preferred over the film version, or vice versa? (However you
spell that) This may depend greatly on which you did first, read or watched, but I was just curious.
1 Kudos
BOOK vs MOVIE/Which Did You Prefer?
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 MikeTheMook |
BOOK vs MOVIE/Which Did You Prefer? |
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(01/08/08 9:18 AM) |
My whole life I've been playing jacks with a square ball.
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PJAceto |
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(01/08/08 1:12 PM) |
I think books have always topped movies for me. I remember reading Salem's Lot at night and scaring myself. Not so with any of the films.
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killer meteor |
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(01/08/08 2:24 PM) |
Jaws and Carrie were average novels made into fine films
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blackbiped |
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(01/08/08 7:25 PM) |
THE SHINING comes immediately to mind. I loved the book, then found Kubrick's film to be a huge disappointment.
With JAWS, of course, it's the exact opposite.
Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way.
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rvoyttbots |
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(01/08/08 9:31 PM) |
If only the Tarzan movies could be as good as the books. DOC SAVAGE THE MAN OF BRONZE is definitely the books. The film is a major disappointment. THE WAR OF
THE WORLDS 1953 is better than the book. As is THE TIME MACHINE.
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Bill Cooke |
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(01/08/08 9:41 PM) |
The movie BUNT OFFERINGS was better than the book IMO, especially in how it ended. I also think Robert Wise's THE HAUNTING is as good as Shirley Jackson's THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE.
Last Edited By: Bill Cooke
01/08/08 9:45 PM.
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blackbiped |
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(01/09/08 12:40 AM) |
I enjoyed reading "Battlefield Earth", but the movie wasn't very good.
"Slapstick" was a pretty good book that made an awful movie, called SLAPSTICK OF ANOTHER KIND or something. John Carpenter's VAMPIRES is a fun horror movie but John Steakley's book was better. The movie version of Whitley Strieber's intriguing fact-or-fiction book "Communion" was very bad. Same with "The Amityville Horror."
Legend, oh legend, the third wheel legend...always in the way.
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Jeffrey Allen Rydell |
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(01/09/08 12:50 AM) |
Bill Cooke wrote: 
- Jeff
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ryanbrennan |
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(01/09/08 1:21 AM) |
Here's some I think made better movies than books:
PSYCHO THE BIG COUNTRY CAPE FEAR TOUCH OF EVIL THE FIRM THE SPY WHO LOVED ME REAR WINDOW (better than Woolrich's short story) PLANET OF THE APES YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND (1961) AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS (1956) BIRTH OF A NATION THE GODFATHER SANDS OF THE KALAHARI BEN-HUR (1959) FAMILY PLOT THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962) SECONDS FRENZY Draws: THE PROFESSIONALS BARRY LYNDON FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE GOLDFINGER LIFEFORCE THE GREAT ESCAPE THE DEAD THE LOST WORLD (1925) ROSEMARY'S BABY THE DIRTY DOZEN THE FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX ON THE BEACH NIGHT OF THE HUNTER THE GUNS OF NAVARONE WHERE EAGLES DARE Movie was very good but the book still has an edge: LITTLE BIG MAN THE SAND PEBBLES WATERSHIP DOWN TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD THE LEOPARD And if you asked, I'd much rather watch FRANKENSTEIN the film over reading Mary Shelley's book again (which I read again in 2006 for a comprehensive article comparing the book and the movie). However, like everyone, I've been bitterly disappointed or at least let down by films like: SHALAKO MOONRAKER THE RUSSIA HOUSE MACKENNA'S GOLD DUNE THE ROAD TO WELLVILLE TOPAZ FOOL'S PARADE MODESTY BLAISE And some movies I liked even though I thought the book was better: CATCH-22 SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL BREAKHEART PASS ICE STATION ZEBRA |
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ryanbrennan |
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(01/09/08 1:25 AM) |
John Carpenter's VAMPIRES is a fun horror movie but John Steakley's book was better.Steakley's book has a special appeal for me. First, Steakley was a member of the Steakley Chevrolet car dealership family in Dallas. Their TV commercials ran for years here locally. Second, one of the big set pieces in the novel takes place in the Cleburne, Texas courthouse which is just a 15 minute or so drive from Fort Worth. But, yes, it's a better book than the movie regardless. |
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Rick |
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(01/09/08 1:57 AM) |
In almost every instance in which I've read the book, I prefer the book. THE GODFATHER would be the one glaring exception that I can think of. Looking at
ryanbrennan's lists, I'm mortified by how few of the books I've read. One does jump out at me, however, and on that one I disagree vehemently.
MYSTERIOUS ISLAND is my favorite Verne, and I've read it at least half a dozen times (though not for years now), while I've always considered the film
of MYSTERIOUS ISLAND very lesser grade Harryhausen. I caught it again on TCM about a year ago and liked it better than I had previously, but it's still
kinda silly, and not a patch on the book.
Most books are, of necessity, pared down to fit into a movie. The one exception I can think of is BEING THERE. The novel (really a novella) reads almost as an outline or treatment, which has been expanded for the film. |
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 captainmarvel1957 |
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(01/09/08 4:26 AM) |
Two that come to mind right off of the bat, when considering The Maltese Falcon the film is so close to the novel, with only a handful of sequences from
Hammet's novel edited out of the movie, that I'd have to give the nod to the film version. After all, it has Bogart in its corner.
I thought that both film versions of The Shining were dismal, the Kubrick film and the made for tv mini-series. King's prose beats the heck out of anything on film in either of those versions. Oh, and somebody tell Ray Bradbury that Moby Dick is definitely a much more entertaining movie than book! |
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HalLane |
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(01/09/08 8:07 AM) |
rvoyttbots wrote: I'd add THE INVISIBLE MAN and make it 3 for 3.
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Hamicus Helen |
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(01/09/08 8:29 AM) |
Flowers In The Attic - I couldn't put the book down, but the film was dire.
Last Edited By: Hamicus Helen
04/16/08 7:09 AM.
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killer meteor |
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(01/09/08 9:47 AM) |
YES - what a tragedy that such a wonderful book was made into such a trashy mess. One's greatful New World never got around to Heaven or My Sweet Audrina
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Omega Man |
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(01/09/08 10:15 AM) |
Not horror or sci-fi, but every film adaptation of a Tom Clancy novel is better than the book.
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killer meteor |
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(01/09/08 10:16 AM) |
I was also very disapointed with the film version of my favourite book, Matilda by Roald Dahl. A wonderful, fairly sinister book was diluted into a sugary mess
that could kill a roomful of diabetics.
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oldmanster |
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(01/09/08 11:06 AM) |
ryanbrennan wrote: What a great set of benchmarks to work with! Thanks, Ryan. I'm in agreement with you on some... but not that many.
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CAPTAINCOMPANY |
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(01/09/08 2:32 PM) |
Hey guys! Well, so far, none of the film adaptations ("The Last Man on Earth", "The Omega Man", and the 2007 film, although each have their
moments) of Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend" have been able to top his original book.
On the other hand, I much prefer the film version of "The Exorcist" over William Peter Blatty's (admittedly good) novel Bryan |
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ryanbrennan |
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(01/09/08 10:41 PM) |
What a great set of benchmarks to work with! Thanks, Ryan. Thank you, Reed. Just a few titles that came to mind. I'd have to think harder to come up with more. I might also add that I think when we're talking classic literature, the book will triumph every time. It just isn't possible in the length of a movie to capture the depth of a work by Dickens, Homer, Tolstoy, etc. Good movies have been made, yes, but the books are still better. I think the novella makes the best transition to film, at least in terms of including all the important aspects of the work. For instance, John Huston's THE DEAD catches everything in the novella. BABETTES FEAST is also a wonderful, deep film based on an excellent short work. However, seeing mention of Melville's "Moby Dick," this does bring up a distinction that might ought to be made. If we're just talking which format is the more entertaining (and, therefore, probably a little less high-minded or purposed) then a lot of people would choose the movie over the book. "Moby Dick" and any other MOBY DICK make a good example. Even though the book is one of the greatest written, the general public would more likely prefer to watch a movie version. I'd bet the same would be true if they were given the choice between Tolstoy's "War and Peace" and King Vidor's (or even Serge Bondarchuk's) WAR AND PEACE. I'm sure most folks would be bored to tears by "The Iliad," "The Odyssey," "The Aeneid," "Beowulf," or "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" despite these being among the greatest literary works ever written. In my movie examples listed above in an earlier post, I'm not weighing the entertainment value, I'm looking at what I think works better or achieves more. Cape Fear and the John D. MacDonald's novel The Executioners are apples and oranges. The novel works on a number of different levels while the film is a stripped-down, solely-focused thriller. I don't think you can really compare these two. I wouldn't want to ruin either the book or the movie for anyone but I found the Peck/Mitchum movie to have a much stronger and satisfying ending than the book. I won't go into further detail lest I spoil something. |
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ryanbrennan |
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(01/09/08 10:51 PM) |
I think another critical factor in how we react to a film version of a favorite book involves our control over the material. When we read the book, we control
every aspect of the casting, production design, etc. Of course, the writer may employ storytelling skills in a manner that works beautifully on the prinited
page but doesn't transfer well to film.. The film is someone else's conception of the novel. We're stuck with all of their decisions. We might
not like the cast, the cinematography, the lighting, the color, the music, the costuming or any othe aspect of the prodution. It might be cheap looking, the
tone may be all wrong, a favorite character may be left out or sub-plots may have been deleted for time and clarity reasons. There's just so much that can
go wrong. Look at "Bonfire of the Vanities" and BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES!
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