Good Books that made good movies.

[Guest Anglesault]

*****I'm not sure if this belongs in Movies/TV, because it's more of a discussion on the books, but if you must move it, okay.*****

 

I was going through my attic getting Christmas shit down, when I stumbled around a pile of books. In them, was the the fucking GODFATHER! WAHOO! Anyway, this is like the 1969 edition, so it must have been in the family. I've never read the book, but apparently it's and absolutely great book, a must read if you like the movie. It also supposedly has a really good intro chapter that you haven't seen in the movie.

 

Anyway, My question is, to you avid book readers like me, can you think of good books that made really good moives, or even movies that were better than the books? Also, if there were parts of the book you thought should/shouldn't have made the movie, put those down as well.

[Guest Ravenbomb]

Psycho, Exorcist, Gone with the Wind, AKIRA was a manga, Jesus of Nazareth was based on the Bible (although that was a mini series)

Memento was based on a short story, so I don't know if that counts

The Ring was a remake of a movie that was based on a book

[Guest HBK16]

I enjoyed Lord of the Flies. I saw the movie then a month later I found out my sister was reading the book for her English Class. So I snagged it and read it.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

The film Jaws was much better than the book.

[Guest MrRant]

First Blood.

[Guest Anglesault]

We have a literature folder? Since when?

[Guest Vyce]

Fight Club. Love the novel, love the movie.

 

Same with "Silence of the Lambs" (perhaps the only Harris novel that I actually thought made a really good film).

[Guest HBK16]

Jaws is the absolute best movie ever. My favorite.

[Guest El Satanico]

The Omega Man was a pretty good adaption of I Am Legend

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

That Lord of the Rings movie was pretty good -- I wonder if it was based on a book?...

[Guest EricMM]

Shawshank Redemption!!!!

 

And The Green Mile.

[Guest red_file]

As Eric mentioned, The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile have to take the cake when talking about adaptations.

 

The Wizard of Oz changed from a semi-political satire (and vaudvillian stage show) into a beloved holiday movie.

 

Kubrick's version of The Shining was a very good re-imaging of the plot while practically ignoring the alcoholism subtext. And it's beautiful in a decade of ugly films.

 

Likewise, Clockwork Orange was wonderfully put together and the ending was far more satisfying (for me) in the movie than it was in the book. Something about the "I was cured" rang more true for me than the redemption in the twenty-first chapter. Not to mention that I can't read the book anymore without hearing Malcolm MacDowell in my head.

 

Suicide Kings was based on a pretty decent story, but became a great movie because of the cast.

 

Angus was a pretty good, if lightweight (hehe), movie based on a not so inspired short story. Having George C Scott and Kathy Bates screaming at each other will never leave me.

 

Charley was based on "Flowers for Algernon." Some like it, some don't. Aside from some of the Flower Children scenes when Charly runs away, it's a pretty good movie. The scene where he's "predicting the future" makes me smile every time.

 

Depending on if you liked the comic or not, The Crow was either wonderful or really did a disservice to the original story.

 

Glengarry Glen Ross was originally a stage play written by Mamet. The Alec Baldwin scene was added for the movie, so I'd consider that an improvement.

 

And I liked the Harry Potter movies, but can see where others might've hated them.

[Guest Anglesault]

That Lord of the Rings movie was pretty good -- I wonder if it was based on a book?...

Hated, Hated, HATED the Hobbit. I refused to even look at the rest of the series.

[Guest red_file]

Hated, Hated, HATED the Hobbit. I refused to even look at the rest of the series.

It had some pretty good songs.

 

Fifteen birds in five fir trees

their feathers were fanned

by a firey breeze

but funny little birds

they had no wings

oh what shall we do

with the funny little things

roast 'em alive or stem 'em in a pot

broil 'em roast 'em and eat 'em hot

 

Or maybe I'm just remembering the cartoon. Hmmm.

[Guest starvenger]

The Wizard of Oz changed from a semi-political satire (and vaudvillian stage show) into a beloved holiday movie.

Since the movie was based on the musical, it probably shouldn't count. The sequel Return to Oz was an adaptation of some of the other Baum Oz novels, and probably better represents the dark nature of the books, although I'm sure that that is debatable.

 

And I liked the Harry Potter movies, but can see where others might've hated them.

I can't say I hated Harry Potter, but there really wasn't much there for me to like. On the flipside of your statement, I can see why people would like the movie.

 

Probably the best adaptations that I personally have seen are Get Shorty and Out of Sight - both Elmore Leonard novels.

[Guest SP-1]

I never got through The Hobbit myself, though I don't hate it. I just got sidetracked and it apparently didn't catch my attention enough for me to have returned to it yet.

 

Isn't a novel, really, but Baz Luhrman's Moulin Rouge is actually a modern retelling of the Orphean myth.

[Guest Anglesault]

I never got through The Hobbit myself, though I don't hate it. I just got sidetracked and it apparently didn't catch my attention enough for me to have returned to it yet..

If there's anything I don't careb about, it's elves and dwarfs.

[Guest CoreyLazarus416]

A Christmas Story, the holiday classic, is based off of a few chapters in Jean Shepherd's autobiographic retelling of his childhood The Truth Shall Set You Free (All Others Pay Cash). At least I think that's the title. It's upstairs on my dresser under a pile of clothes I haven't worn since the 7th grade, so I'll go look for it later.

[Guest DrTom]

For recent adaptations, the excellent Robert Ludlum novel The Bourne Identity was made into a good movie. It was a loose adaptation, since a lot of elements in the book aren't in the movie. The book had a lot on its plate, though, and I think omitting things like in-depth discussions of international banking regulations makes the movie better. The ending of the movie kinda sucks, but it's good stuff until then. And the book is first-rate.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

Hated, Hated, HATED the Hobbit. I refused to even look at the rest of the series.

 

Keep in mind that The Hobbit was written for kids, while Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillian were not. It doesn't bother me (especially since Bilbo is my favourite character from LOTR), but some people who like LOTR would not like the Hobbit.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

The movie version of Psycho blew the book out of the water. They made much better decisions in putting the movie on film...and they made the movie work.

 

Jaws sucks in either form.

[Guest shlidgn90]

most elmore leonard's books can be made into movies. he has an cinematic style in his writings.

[Guest starvenger]

For recent adaptations, the excellent Robert Ludlum novel The Bourne Identity was made into a good movie. It was a loose adaptation, since a lot of elements in the book aren't in the movie. The book had a lot on its plate, though, and I think omitting things like in-depth discussions of international banking regulations makes the movie better. The ending of the movie kinda sucks, but it's good stuff until then. And the book is first-rate.

It was 'loose' enough that even Matt Damon was quoted as saying that they'd have to write a sequel from scratch as opposed to basing from the books.

[Guest raptor]

It's called "In God We Trust (All Others Pay Cash)"

 

I believe "Olly Hopnoodles Haven of Bliss" was adapted from that book as well. If not, it's a different Shepard book.

[Guest The Superstar]

I loved To Kill a Mockingbird as both a book AND a film.

[Guest Anglesault]

I loved To Kill a Mockingbird as both a book AND a film.

That's actually what I had in mind when I made this thread. I was waiting for someone to say it.

[Guest El Satanico]

Yes Mockingbird is great either way. I'm not a big reader, but Mockingbird is one of the few books I like. Amazingly i even liked it when we had to read it in School.

[Guest red_file]

Since the movie was based on the musical, it probably shouldn't count. The sequel Return to Oz was an adaptation of some of the other Baum Oz novels, and probably better represents the dark nature of the books, although I'm sure that that is debatable.

Considering Baum wrote the musical (with Paul Tietjens) based on the book, it's not too much of a stretch to say that it's still based on the book (the transitive property?). Anyway, it's probably moot as many elements (it was all a dream, the farmhands being her traveling companions in Oz) were taken from the 1925 silent version of Wizard of Oz. And none of the songs from the musical were used in the film.

 

Suffice to say, you're probably right, it's a hodgepodge of different sources and doesn't make a good example.

 

How would This Boy's Life. A really horrible memoir turned into a very good movie.

[Guest El Satanico]

How would This Boy's Life. A really horrible memoir turned into a very good movie.

Back before Dicapio's acting talent sunk with the Titanic.

[Guest DrTom]

It was 'loose' enough that even Matt Damon was quoted as saying that they'd have to write a sequel from scratch as opposed to basing from the books.

He's right. There's just not enough of the novel in the movie to make the second novel in the series (The Bourne Supremacy) anything other than a title for whatever they write. A shame, really: Marie got the shaft in the first movie (while she's a much different and much more important character in the book), which basically eliminates her from any sequels that are made.