Comments

1
is Cronenberg's "Crash" better than J.G.Ballard's novel? .. is Anderson's "Inherent Vice" better than Pynchon's novel?
2
The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut, 2001: a Space Odyssey,
3
Tarkovsky's Stalker was better than the relatively light story it was based on, as was Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox.

And agreeing with #2 also, Kubrick's The Shining was infinitely better than King's book (or terrible remake).
4
Blade Runner is better than Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
5
Never Let Me Go comes in pretty close, but I'd call them about even.

LA Confidential

Jackie Brown

Out of Sight

The Princess Bride

The list goes on.
6
God, The Shining was an unreadable bit of garbage, but what a great movie.

Sometimes a terrible movie of a great book can serve a purpose, though, by for instance sending a person to the library to check out Bonfiglioli's books, as I did a couple of weeks ago. They sound terrific; I'll know when my hold comes up. The movie I will never see, whether I like the books or not.
7
the Lord of the Rings. Tolkien needed an editor and goddamned if Peter Jackson didn't do some much needed editing. The books are kind of stupid in a wonderfully epic way, and the movie's capture that perfectly. The Hobbit is the opposite.
8
No country for Old Men is better then the novel which has his "get off my lawn" vibe.

Tidelands is also superior in that the author is unable to evoke the vast, desolate Midwest landscapes where the camera easily does.

Silence of the Lambs also rises above the workmanlike prose.
9
Inherent Vice while easily the best P.T.A. film and a great adaptation is definitely not better than the novel.

Also worth noting that Clarks 2001 was a novelization of the film (and definitely inferior). 2010 was certainly a lot better than the movie.
10
I've never read Puzo's Godfather books, but there's now way thy're better than parts 1 and 2, right?
11
Stand By Me
12
I mentioned this to Charles.

"Brighton Rock" remains a masterpiece (I haven't read the book but viewed the film because of his recommendation. I've read Vol. 1 of Greene's bio by Norman Sherry) and it's one of my favorite films. I agree the remake was a disappointment considering the extraordinary cast (Sam Reilly, Helen Mirren & John Hurt among others) and the changed time (1964). I asked myself "Couldn't the soundtrack have included some Northern Soul or Brit Pop of the era?"

Sean, I read "High Fidelity" and thought the movie better too. The film set in Chicago (my hometown) is charming. Clearly, Cusack wanted it set there rather than in London (in the book). I did like Rob's "lists". I have many vintage recordings on vinyl & CD. So, the story is indeed close to heart. There's a bit of record snob, Rob in me too.

Finally, the film adaption of "The Red Dragon", "Manhunter" by Thomas Harris is very good but the book was good too.
13
@10 beat me to it. Puzo's books are fun but entirely disposable. The movies are lightyears better.
14
Picnic at Hanging Rock
15
@5: I like the movie of L.A. Confidential well enough on its own merits, but better than the book? No. No. And no.
16
Oh! BTW, I've seen both adaptions of "Lolita". Both are excellent but the book remains extraordinary.
17
Jaws. Trashy book—and, hey, I like trash—brilliant film.
18
Also: anything by Michael Crichton (Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park). Even mediocre films are better than his drivel.

An obscure one: The Beguiled, with Clint Eastwood and Geraldine Page (and a freaky turn by the great Pamela Ferdin), from a novel by Thomas P. Cullinan.

Walkabout, starring David Gulpilil and the most beautiful woman in the history of the world, Jenny Agutter, from a novel by James Vance Marshall.
19
I'm a huge fan of Philip K. Dick, but even so, "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" is a minor short story and nowhere near as entertaining as "Total Recall".

20
Polyanna: the book was one-dimensional and listless, whereas the movie is bursting with the joie de vivre of its titular character. Fried Green Tomatoes: elevated to greatness from its sentimental, racist, sub-plot-burdened source material by brilliant acting and judicious paring down.
21
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is second tier Dick for sure - only Blade Runner has elevated it's stature. That being said their is so much more going on in the novel that it is hard to call Blade Runner an adaptation. BR is a better story though as DADDIES while dealing with more complex ideas is just too undercooked. For PKDs work on his theme of 'what does it mean to be human' there are a lot better books.

Meh baring the fine folks fm Rifftrax giving us a 90s treat with Total Recall is rather reread the PKD short story.

As far as PKD on film gos so far only A Scanner Darkly succeeds as a faithful adaptation and while I love the film, I'd still rather read the book.
22
Wonder Boys was a good book, but the movie excellent.
23
Little Children. I enjoyed the book, but the movie was just beautiful; I sat through the whole thing with my heart in my throat.
24
Descendants was a great book for the beach in Hawaii and only an average movie. Up in the Air might have been a better movie than the book.
25
What's Eating Gilbert Grape? - film is so, so, so much better than the book.
26
@7 Fuck you I want my fucking Tom Bombadil
27
The Devil Wears Prada was an almost unreadable mess populated with barely plausible cardboard cut outs. It was turned into a nice re-telling of the Faust story aided by nuanced performances from Streep, Tucci, and Hathaway.
28
There Will be Blood was better than Oil!
29
I totally second The Shining, Silence of the Lambs, and No Country for Old Men!!! Those books were pretty okaaaaay, but the films were standalone works of art.
30
@2/9:

Clarke actually wrote the novelization of 2001 at the same time he & Kubrick were co-writing the screenplay for the film version. That's why there are major plot differences between the two: for example, Discovery being sent to Saturn in the novel, versus to Jupiter in the film, because during production of the visual effects Kubrick was never able to recreate Saturn's rings to his satisfaction and so had to alter the script when he decided to use Jupiter instead. But, by that time Clarke had already sent the novel in to his British publisher and it was in the process of being printed, so there was no way to incorporate many of the deviations Kubrick had implemented during shooting.
31
The Harry Potter movies.

The Twilight series.
32
Fight Club.
Even the author thinks so.
33
"is Cronenberg's "Crash" better than J.G. Ballard's novel?"

@1 - Nope. The movie is good as an exploration of people benumbed by modern life seeking connection through violent pain and sexual pleasure. The book is an astounding satire of modernity's tendency to numb us and replace our natural desires with consumerist yearnings, as well as an extended aside on the nature of celebrity as modern godhood, using sex and fetishism to connect it all.
34
The Bridges of Madison County. Too obvious? I still get a little shiver of revulsion and embarrassment thinking that I read the WHOLE BOOK. But I was sick, like bedridden sick, and had nothing else to read! [[[sobbing]]] Please don't judge!
Oh, and the movie was surprisingly adequate.
35
@ 5, LA Confidential? Come on. The movie was good, but nowhere near as good as the book. Not with the Hollywood ending they gave it.
36
Another vote for JRR Tolkien's film adaptations being far better than their source material. I've never read The Hobbit, but I did try reading The Fellowship of the Ring. By the end of it, I was convinced JRRT was overrated in all but his world-building abilities. He was utterly disinterested in the plot whenever it was not serving as a means for him to go into further detail about the lore of the world. However, the LotR trilogy are among my favorite films.

For additional reading, I would recommend the Cracked article on the same topic.
37
Way to be wrong on nearly every one of these. Walker is superior to Spielberg in every possible way - and her book proves that. The film was sappy pap, the book is brilliant and important.

The fact that you didn't understand Burroughs source material is not a vote in favor of Cronenberg's unwatchable mess. Sure it was fun, but actually superior? Not in any way.

Attenborough's 'Rock' version was fair, but if you think it's better than actually reading Graham Greene, then you clearly haven't read any Graham Greene.

You make a better case for Noah - except for the fact that the film is an incoherent piece of crap and anything with Crowe in it is automatically worse than anything without him in it. Sure, it's better than the source material - but not by much.

I could go on, but the article simply proves you have a terrible ability to judge books *and* film. Please read more before offering opinions.
38
Surprised no one has mentioned The Godfather yet.
39
Absolutely in agreement with @dissent on the Color Purple. The film took out all the great really radical feminist stuff that was in the book. And it was everything bad about Spielberg amplified.
40
The Bridge Over The River Kwai is a better film than the original book.
41
The Big Sleep
42
My god, how has nobody yet mentioned The Graduate? One of the most revolutionary films of the 60s, kicked off Dustin Hoffman's career (and has a cameo by a young Richard Dreyfus), and the book is a middling piece of trash. Probably nobody's mentioned it because nobody's ever read the book because nobody even realizes the movie was based on a book, it's that unimpressive.
43
I realize I'm trolling the gutter, but every Tom Clancy movie has trumped the book. (I read two in the 90's stuck in Japan with someone else's library, but I remain confident in the assertion.)
44
Another for the list: 1999's "The Talented Mr. Ripley ", written and directed by Anthony Minghella. By tweaking aspects of the characters & settings from the original Patricia Highsmith novel, Minghella turned a moderately interesting book into a riveting & beautiful thriller... with great performances by Jude Law, Cate Blanchett & Gwyneth Paltrow, and a fairly astounding performance from Matt Damon in the title role.
45
Couple More: Gorky Park and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.

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