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Post by spartan on Dec 12, 2010 22:34:38 GMT -5
Here's a thread I have been wanting to make since my first time posting here. In your opinion which movies based on books, and other book-like source material(short stories, comics, magazine publishing's etc) are better than their counterparts? My list begins with JAWS. JAWS has been my favorite movie since the first time I watched it. So finally last year I get around to reading Peter Benchly's novel. I liked it, it was a good book but the movie is just loads better. The things I liked in the book were {Spoiler}Quint is so badass. It's hard to imagine that the character could be cooler but there is a whole "chapter" dedicated to him delivering a monologue about the shark and he knows eventually they will cross paths. And I really liked that the Mayor wouldn't shut the beach down because he was in the mobs pocket. That was a nice touch. What I didn't like was {Spoiler}Brody's wife cheats on him with Matt Cooper who is the younger brother of a former boyfriend of hers. It's one of many things that adds to the whole man vs nature, man vs man thing that poor chief Brody goes through but as I have watched the movie so many times I felt very betrayed by her actions. Furthermore cooper's smug asshole attitude is exaggerated much worse in the book and I hated him. This upset me because he was my favorite character in the film. Cooper also dies in the book, and although this was the original intention in the movie he ended up living. So over all I think the movie is a lot better and it's all because of the changes Spielberg made both by choice and by nature. The next one I wanted to mention was The prince of Thieves/The Town. I started reading it as a way to cope with not being able to watch the movie opening weekend. I ended up seeing the movie before finishing the book. It was very close to the source material and didn't stray to far from Chuck Hogans overall theme but when there are differences they are HUGE. For instance {Spoiler}In the book they don't work for the Florist but Jem is related to him far off and tells him all of the details of their heists. We eventually find out that the Florist is the father of Shy, Kristas daughter. The next key difference is that Claire doesn't find out that Doug was one of the robbers from the beginning from Frawley but from Jem who gets high and breaks into her place. When Doug figures this out he beats the shit out of Jem badly. The ending is also a bit different in that Jem dies by kamikaze with a grenade after being shot several times. Desmond and Gloansy live and are taken to jail and Doug dies in Claires arms after being shot by a punk kid who was selling drugs for jem; All this happens after he kills the Florist. There are more differences but they are small. Frawley really falls for Claire and takes finding doug out as a personal task because she has chosen him over Frawley. The differences made by Ben Affleck for the movie make for a much better and more watchable movie. |
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bob
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Post by bob on Dec 12, 2010 22:35:17 GMT -5
The Shining
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Post by Bishblast on Dec 12, 2010 22:43:56 GMT -5
The Godfather
I'm one of those people that love the movie The Shining, but feel the book is just so much better. Just a personal thing, but I absolutely love Kubrick's version. Definitely one of my top 3 horror/suspense movies. The book just goes more into the character development and everything, just a genius work, I'd say King's best book.
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hollywood
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Post by hollywood on Dec 12, 2010 22:45:36 GMT -5
I respectfully and adamantly disagree. |
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Post by spartan on Dec 12, 2010 22:51:15 GMT -5
I also feel watchmen was a better movie. The theatrical cut, directors cut, and ultimate cut are I think better than the comics which I love dearly.
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Post by Red Impact on Dec 12, 2010 22:52:31 GMT -5
I haven't read it, but I heard Last of the Mohicans was a very boring book, and the movie was awesome.
The Phantom of the Opera was alright, but I actually liked the movie better.
Blade Runner over Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep, even if it is just for atmosphere.
And the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I always felt Tolkein was a better world creator than he was a storyteller, so as fascinating as the world of Middle Earth is, the movies told the story better, I think.
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Massive G
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Post by Massive G on Dec 12, 2010 22:53:24 GMT -5
I respectfully and adamantly disagree. me too. I thought "No Country For Old Men" was a better movie than book. Which may sound obvious at first, since it won Best Picture. But it was written by CORMAC MCCARTHY. Improving something he has written seems like a very unlikely scenario. |
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kidglov3s
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Post by kidglov3s on Dec 12, 2010 22:56:03 GMT -5
The Bourne movies, Battle Royale, Planet of the Apes, 2001: A Space Odyssey (though the book is wonderful at expanding cryptic elements in the film, such as the stargate, painfully dry as it is without the beauty of the imagery/music that gives the film its awe).
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Post by Red Impact on Dec 12, 2010 22:56:06 GMT -5
I also feel watchmen was a better movie. The theatrical cut, directors cut, and ultimate cut are I think better than the comics which I love dearly. I actually didn't like the Watchmen movie, and can't put my finger on why. It wasn't the changes, I understand those completely, something about the movie just made me uninterested throughout it. And I loved the graphic novel. |
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fw91
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Post by fw91 on Dec 12, 2010 23:12:47 GMT -5
The Outsiders even though both were supurb
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Bub (BLM)
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Post by Bub (BLM) on Dec 12, 2010 23:17:19 GMT -5
American Psycho. The book is very slow and plodding, whereas the movie adds some great black comedy. It helps that as a concept, it works much better with the 80's music and the over-the-top headcase performance of Christian Bale.
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Post by Arturo Classico on Dec 13, 2010 0:13:11 GMT -5
Can't believe no one hasn't said this yet but I pick A Clockwork Orange. The movie is amazing visually and has an amazing soundtrack and a superb performance by Malcolm McDowell. While the book was so hard to finish with it weird mix of old English and Russian slang, which at the time might have made some sense back in the early sixties but really doesn't work in today's era and really the last chapter is really horrible and kind of ruins the book's message.
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spec
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Post by spec on Dec 13, 2010 0:52:38 GMT -5
A couple of Stephen King ones:
Christine - The emphasis was on the car itself being possessed in the movie rather than the car's previous owner, the old man Lebay, possessing Arnie, the kid that bought the car from him in the book. Making the car itself more demonic was better.
The Mist - Was very faithful to the written version, but the end bit they added on to the movie made it just brutal. Although moreso for the main character having to live with himself i suppose, the mist actually not subsiding which is how it was in the book would be worse for mankind. Maybe it was partly because i wasn't expecting it, but damn that ending made a great horror story even darker. The only thing they got wrong was the miscast actress playing Mrs Carmodie, she was way too young.
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Post by thesam07 on Dec 13, 2010 1:40:49 GMT -5
Fight Club. Even Chuck Palahniuk admits the film is better than the book.
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Post by Bravo Echo November on Dec 13, 2010 2:07:46 GMT -5
The Shawshank Redemption.
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Post by Sir Woodrow on Dec 13, 2010 6:31:31 GMT -5
Gotta agree on The Godfather.
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biafra
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Post by biafra on Dec 13, 2010 6:33:25 GMT -5
Was going to say The Mist. Godfather and Shawshank. MAYBE Green Mile but it's a toss up.
NO to The Shining however.
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Post by Chronos on Dec 13, 2010 7:01:03 GMT -5
Goodfellas
A Scanner Darkly
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biafra
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Post by biafra on Dec 13, 2010 7:09:37 GMT -5
Yes. Good one. Loved Wise Guys but Goodfellas was better. I'll add Donnie Brasco too. Book wasn't very readable IMO. |
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Post by Neo Het Is Evil Dead on Dec 13, 2010 7:12:23 GMT -5
The number one film that does this is A Clockwork Orange. In the book Alex De Large gives in and Defeats the entire message of the book , it makes people think that a police-state is a good idea because it makes criminal's give up there life of crime when in the movie it's the opposite as it should be.
In the movie, Alex dies because he belives that it's wrong for someone to force him to be something to not even if what he is is wrong and cruel. It's not right to force someone to change through torture just because society doesn't agree with there values. People should be allowed to be who they want to be and that was the message of the movie and the book but it came through clearer in the movie then in the book.
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if I got this for christmas I would shoot stuff from my fanny
