book to movie/TV adaptations?

[aurora]

My husband just realized and commented that Game of Thrones has been made into a TV show, which inspired me to think about book/movie/TV adaptations (I haven't seen this particular show). I'm guessing on a book club board that most of us generally like books better, but are there any stories that you think were better told on screen? I'm having a really hard time thinking of one...maybe Jurassic Park?

[hopecounts]

I don't know if I'd say it's better but the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is really good, at could just be my love of Colin Firth though ;-)

I personally like the miniseries of John Jakes North and South series better than the books.

[aurora]

I haven't seen the BBC P&P but I'll have to check it out - thanks.

Your post reminded me that Kenneth Branaugh's (1993) Much Ado About Nothing was really well done and maybe more fun than reading the original, but that might not count since Shakespeare was writing a script for live performance, not a book.

[lemondrop]

May 21, 2012 22:15:45 GMT -5 aurora said:

I haven't seen the BBC P&P but I'll have to check it out - thanks.

Your post reminded me that Kenneth Branaugh's (1993) Much Ado About Nothing was really well done and maybe more fun than reading the original, but that might not count since Shakespeare was writing a script for live performance, not a book.

DH loves Kenneth Branaugh's work. He's not a huge reader, so his opinion of what's better doesn't count!

I like the Harry Potter movies and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie, but I still love the books.

[sparrowsong]

The Notebook is one I think is better as a movie

Hunger Games was well done. As was Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett.

[dorothyinAus]

Sarah, Plain and Tall was far better as the Hallmark Hall of Fame Production than it was as a book.

[annika]

Legends of the Fall
The Prestige
Dexter

[Nonny]

The Shawshank Redemption -- the short story is told in a non-linear manner, and whoever did the screenplay got everything into a more coherent order and made the ending better. (Stephen King does tend to suck at endings...)


I've heard that Dexter is based on some pretty awful books, but I've never read them.

[anglashly]

The Notebook. I couldn't finish the book, but I like the movie a lot.

[ThirdandLong]

I like the Alice in Wonderland adaptations because my imagination is just not wonky enough to really appreciate the written word.

The Lord of the Rings movies were also very well done, and I think it did the novels justice. You can really tell that Peter Jackson wanted to make a movie that JRR Tolkien would have approved of. No movie can contain ALL the info in a book.



Edited to reflect that there were 3 LOTR movies.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

I think The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (US version) was just as good as the book. It hit every high point. Now, the very worst adaptation I've seen is Water for Elephants. That movie butchered a really good book.

[Zoly]

Sex and the City - I can't believe someone decided to make a show from that.
Practical Magic
True Blood/Sookie Stackhouse books - Of course that doesn't mean I've stopped reading them despite the fact that they are incredibly cheesy.

That's just off the top of my head. Of course there are some that I don't think are better but are just as good.

[5kcandlesinthewind]

-The Emma Thompson/Kate Winslet version of Sense and Sensibility is better than the book, IMO. I couldn't slog through that at all, but the movie is one of my happy places.
-I tried to read The Godfather[/i] years ago, and I just couldn't. I can, however, watch the movie any time it's on.
-I think the movie version of The Hunger Games worked really well, though I probably still like the book a smidge more.
- I got addicted to Pretty Little Liars on dvd, and I just read the first book and it was awful. bleh.

[bluelikejazz]

I thought The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was really well done as a movie.

[PinkSquirrel]

The first one that comes to mind is the Sookie Stackhouse series. I only read the first book and it follows pretty much in line with the first season of True Blood, but I could barely finish the book. On the other hand I love the TV series.

[duckduck]

May 21, 2012 23:54:16 GMT -5 dorothyinAus said:

Sarah, Plain and Tall was far better as the Hallmark Hall of Fame Production than it was as a book.

Agree.

I thought The Princess Bride movie was better than the book.

[PinkSquirrel]

May 22, 2012 9:02:47 GMT -5 duckduck said:

I thought The Princess Bride movie was better than the book.

How could I have forgotten this one. The movie is so much better.

[aurora]

May 22, 2012 8:03:13 GMT -5 ThirdandLong said:

The Lord of the Rings movies were also very well done, and I think it did the novels justice. You can really tell that Peter Jackson wanted to make a movie that JRR Tolkien would have approved of. No movie can contain ALL the info in a book.

Have you seen the extra material in the extended version (2 extra DVDs per movie)? It's actually fascinating to see how they agonized over what to cut and re-arrange. I agree that Peter Jackson did an extremely good job, especially given the scope, but I still love the books more.

[bluelikejazz]

Confession: I can't stand Peter Jackson.

[charminglife]

I liked Fight Club better as a movie than as a book.

[secretlyevil]

[quote author=sparrowsong board=nbc thread=7806 post=111318 As was Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett. [/quote]

Hmmm....I am watching it on reelz. It seems slow to me but I haven't read the book yet so maybe it just follows the book really well.

[mdgirl]

I only got through 20 pages of Emma, and the only reason I made it that far was because of Clueless.

[2curlydogs]

Honestly, I'm kinda surprised no one's said anything about Sherlock Holmes.

I think the recent BBC adaptations (Sherlock) have been awesome. I just watched The Reichenbach Falls last night and OMG. OMG OMG OMG.

The movies were also good. It's hard to beat the chemistry between Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, though I know some people were upset with the second movie lacking much "mystery plot".

And, of course, the Sherlock Holmes tv series with Jeremy Brett and David Burke (and later Edward Hardwicke) was the best interpretation of Conan Doyle's original works. Whenever I think of Holmes I immediately picture Jeremy Brett.

[secretlyevil]

There's a Sherlock tv series coming out this fall. I think CBS?

I haven't watched the BBC's new series. I keep meaning too.

[niemand88f]

True Blood and Dexter both are better as TV shows than the books. The writing isn't very good in either series, but the shows are great (or at least the first couple seasons of True Blood were good, it is kind of ridiculous now).

I think they're doing a GREAT job with the Game of Thrones show, but the books are still better just because there is so much more depth and detail.

[msmerymac]

May 22, 2012 8:53:28 GMT -5 5kcandlesinthewind said:

-The Emma Thompson/Kate Winslet version of Sense and Sensibility is better than the book, IMO. I couldn't slog through that at all, but the movie is one of my happy places.
-I tried to read The Godfather

[/i] years ago, and I just couldn't. I can, however, watch the movie any time it's on.
-I think the movie version of The Hunger Games worked really well, though I probably still like the book a smidge more.
- I got addicted to Pretty Little Liars on dvd, and I just read the first book and it was awful. bleh.

[/quote]

I completely agree about Sense and Sensibility. It's one of my favorite movies, but I find Austen a bit dry to read.

[mel726]

The Godfather. I love both the book and the movie, but the movie edges out the books for me.

[dorothyinAus]

May 22, 2012 11:08:20 GMT -5 2curlydogs said:

And, of course, the Sherlock Holmes tv series with Jeremy Brett and David Burke (and later Edward Hardwicke) was the best interpretation of Conan Doyle's original works. Whenever I think of Holmes I immediately picture Jeremy Brett.

I can't think of Sherlock Holmes without seeing Jeremy Brett either.

And David Suchet is THE perfect Hercule Poirot. The BBC/WGBH/A&E productions of the Poirot mysteries are very well done, equal to the books in my opinion.

[pooh8402]

Lonesome Dove. Robert Duvall WAS Gus McCrae.

[shananagins]

I agree with several that have already been mentioned; Sex and the City, lord of the rings and the notebook especially. I think The Devil Wears Prada was better as a movie. I think Meryl Streep was able to make that character believable and she wasn't in the book.