What books have you guys read that have been adapted into films and do you like the film or book better?
Me:
A Clockwork Orange-film
The Thin Red Line-book
Rum Punch-film
High Fidelity-book
Lord of the Flies-book
Jurasic Park-film
oh yeah!!! Requiem for a Dream-film
Currently reading-American Psycho
sorry if there is already a thread for this-redirect and lock- if so. Thank You :
Virgin Suicides - film
Godfather - film
Get Shorty - film
Lord Of The Rings - book (well, duh...)
Cry The Beloved Country - book
To Kill A Mockingbird - book
Great Expectations - book (vs Lean version, I will not watch the new one)
EDIT: Catch 22 - film (by a hair... just because it's so underrated)
Quote from: SoNowThenGreat Expectations - book (vs Lean version, I will not watch the new one)
didn't the guy that did "y tu mama..." do the new one. i saw a little bit of it, it looked pretty good.
Clockwork - film
Fight Club - tie
Trainspotting - film
Requiem for a Dream - film
The Color Purple - book
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - film
The Oxbow Incident - book
QuoteSoNowThen wrote:
Great Expectations - book (vs Lean version, I will not watch the new one)
didn't the guy that did "y tu mama..." do the new one. i saw a little bit of it, it looked pretty good.
Nothing really against it, I just want a straight up adaption.[/quote]
Quote from: NEON MERCURYWhat books have you guys read that have been adapted into films and do you like the film or book better?
Me:
A Clockwork Orange-film
really, i think the book is much better than the film. the last chapter of the book isn't even in the film. don't get me wrong, the film is brilliant but the book is so much better.
imo, i would say the only films that bet the books are FIGHT CLUB (palahniuk is entirely overrated as a writer) ADAPATION and BATTLE ROYALE.
HIGH FIDELITY is close. the book and film are completely different (in a good way).
Christ, this list would be enormous if I ever looked at my books. I'll just ring some of the ones I liked the most off:
Fight Club
Trainspotting
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Virgin Suicides
The Ice Storm
Jesus' Son
The Godfather
Lord Of The Rings
A Clockwork Orange
The Thin Red Line
High Fidelity
Lord of the Flies
Jurassic Park
Requiem for a Dream
About A Boy
American Psycho
2001: A Space Oddyssey
Catch 22
Permanent Midnight
Silence Of The Lambs
Red Dragon
Hannibal
The Stand
Shining
Lonesome Dove
And of course all the Stephen King short stories made into something or other, which are just way too numerous to mention...
I am not sure if its even worth trying to figure out what I liked better, because they're mostly so goddamned different. I also tend to watch a good movie and want to read the book, which makes it harder to be objective.
aw
Quote from: rudieobQuote from: NEON MERCURY
Me:
A Clockwork Orange-film
really, i think the book is much better than the film. the last chapter of the book isn't even in the film. don't get me wrong, the film is brilliant but the book is so much better.
imo, i would say the only films that bet the books are FIGHT CLUB (palahniuk is entirely overrated as a writer)
Well, I'd be curious as to why you think the Clockwork book is better. As far as the last chapter goes you have to have heard the story that the version of the novel published in America did not contain the final chapter because the publishers felt that it betrayed the spirit of the rest of the novel and this is the version Kubrick based the film on. When he later read the final chapter he felt that the version without it is better, which I tend to agree with.
And don't even start on Palahniuk...
Quote from: BonBon85Clockwork - film
The Color Purple - book
Good lord, yes. That movie was a rank bastardization.
Any of the books Godard made into films, I prefer the films. He purposely used books with little "literary value" so that he could feel absolutely free to transfigure them...
My list would be enormous, too. One that sticks in my mind is The Hours. It was pretty faithful to the book, and considering that the book is almost entirely made up of interior monologues, I was amazed that it worked so well. The book and the movie are both a lot better if you've read Mrs. Dalloway, however.
the only movie from a book that ive preferred in movie-version has been The Shining...
Kubrick > King
(and nevermind the laughable King -miniseries version of the film)
Quote from: GhostboyMy list would be enormous, too. One that sticks in my mind is The Hours. It was pretty faithful to the book, and considering that the book is almost entirely made up of interior monologues, I was amazed that it worked so well. The book and the movie are both a lot better if you've read Mrs. Dalloway, however.
i just got a shipment from paramount of all these screener videos the other day including the hours. They came with no note and were addressed to a Dr. Steve. The return address says Paramount Home Video and it's somewhere in California. I don't know ANYBODY that works for Paramount. Anyway, you bringing up that movie reminded me and I think I'm going to watch it tonight. Weird though, huh?
Quote from: ProgWRX
Kubrick > King
I like King, but I can't help agreeing with that.
Oh man I have to say Clockwork Orange is better as a book. I mean, it's a visual blowout and amazingly done, no arguement. Yet I think it reaches a higher zenith on a literary level using the Nadsat, though Kubrick did a good job of bringing that flavor to the screen. I think the book is also better for first laying down the philosophical themes it proposes. Burgess came up with a brilliant style and theme, and its development was executed beautifully. I don't think Kubrick made an adaptation that can go above and beyond, despite his epic visuals and insight. However, I am a little biased, I find it too be his most overrated film. But on a lighter note, I prefer the inclusion of the 21st chapter. :angel:
I think it matters if I've seen the book or the film first. Whichever I've seen/read first is normally what I liked better.
Thing about Palahniuk is, Fight Club was great, yes, but he hasn't had anything like it, or even close. Uhls has to be credited for such a great screenplay. I read Palahniuk's latest book, Lullaby, and it was decent, but not too amazing. So yeah, maybe I need to read more of his stuff, but I was a bit let down there.
Quote from: BonBon85
Well, I'd be curious as to why you think the Clockwork book is better. As far as the last chapter goes you have to have heard the story that the version of the novel published in America did not contain the final chapter because the publishers felt that it betrayed the spirit of the rest of the novel and this is the version Kubrick based the film on. When he later read the final chapter he felt that the version without it is better, which I tend to agree with.
A CLOCKWORK ORANGE: i think the point comes across better the the book as opposed to the film. many people just like the film because it's violent and cool but they miss the deeper meaning which is apparent in the book. also alex and his gang are much younger in the book which makes it more disturbing. i really like the last chapter of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and it makes the book much better.
Quote from: SHAFTRI think it matters if I've seen the book or the film first. Whichever I've seen/read first is normally what I liked better.
That's very true. My opinions are always highly shaped and left extremely biased. You just naturally grow into a relationship with the characters as you see them, and an actor trying to dupilicate that or a book narrating the point just seems an inconsistent, unreal and distanced connection.
Quote from: rudieobA CLOCKWORK ORANGE: i think the point comes across better the the book as opposed to the film. many people just like the film because it's violent and cool but they miss the deeper meaning which is apparent in the book. also alex and his gang are much younger in the book which makes it more disturbing. i really like the last chapter of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE and it makes the book much better.
Absolutely. Clockwork Orange gets too much hype and credit for being Kubrick's best film many times for its graphic violence and sex. It didn't just have cheap shock value but was so influential and ahead of its time as well, which definetly deserves credit. But it doesn't mean it's the best friggin Kubrick film because he could spew out some hardcore stuff into cinema. If it were released today, would it receive the same hype considering the violence/sex level in cinema? Not nearly as much and it wouldn't last and stand out in the generations to come as his top work. Quoth the Raven.
I wrote my senior thesis paper in high school on the differences between the book and the movie of Clockwork Orange, and why I thought the movie was better. I came out in favor of the movie, and I still sort of agree with myself. The mature choice would be the book, since it conveys the story better (as books are wont to do) and has a more rounded, meaningful narrative (especially the last chapter). But the movie has a sort of orgiastic glee that still wins me over every time, and I think on that level I'd rather not have Alex growing up into a normal adult. But it's really a close call, and in any case both are great works of art.
'Fight Club,' on the other hand -- well, I thought the book was a little too obvious. It was very masturbatory (but did have some redeeming bits of therapeutic value). The movie had the same problems, but had enough overwhelming factors in the visual and sound department to make up for what Phalaniuk lacked on the page.
That's my opinion, though -- I know some people who swear by his stuff, and that's great too. It's all about what connects with you...
Not only do I think the movie of A Clockwork Orange is better than than the book, but I think the book is completely immature in its last chapter because it simply tries to bring the very violent nature of these kids and say it was part of what kids just do. Personally, thats insane given what they do. Artistically, it is unfair to the audience because it tells them what to make out the characters to be and paints them as being apart of a certain profile. The book goes from a wonderful idea and story into pandering for something exact all in the name of the 21st chapter and the bringing the characters into "maturity". Maturity? We decide maturity based upon a sequel, not just some tidy chapter of explaining how all is well. Kubrick's film holds with the greatness and brings in that final audience participation.
I'm seriously considering reading the book for Fight Club becaue of my difficulties with the film and see how the movie approached the story.
~rougerum
Jumanji. :(
about a boy - movie
high fidelity - movie
jurassic park - book had great parts the movie left out but movie had real looking dinasaurs so - tie
fight club - movie
the phantom tollbooth - book
thinner - book
batman the official movie adaptation - movie
man, i really need to read more.
Quote from: bonanzatazQuote from: SoNowThenGreat Expectations - book (vs Lean version, I will not watch the new one)
didn't the guy that did "y tu mama..." do the new one. i saw a little bit of it, it looked pretty good.
the movie is way better. i thought the relationships in the movie were much more involving than in the book.
Are you talking about the new one? I really disagree on that...they tried too hard to turn it into a tragic love story. I enjoyed it for what it was, and it looked gorgeous, but overall it didn't do the story justice. The Lean version is great, but even that doesn't completely capture all that's in Dickens' prose (it's my favorite of the stuff of his I've read).
I have only seen the Cuaron adaptation of Great Expectations which I thought came out to be really weak, but I loved the book. I do agree Gold Trumpet that the 21st chapter is to concised and just picture perfect to end and reverse the prior 20 chapters. However, I don't see a problem with change and evolution towards a better future which may contrast the forced change of will, if it is given time to work. I do agree that one chapter just isn't fair or enough to make it balanced. Seems like a rush-up dab the plot up with a sugar-coated smile job.
for more discussion on Great Expectations (Cuarons version)...
http://xixax.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=972