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Book v film
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By *aizyWoman 18 weeks ago
west midlands |
"Every Stephen King.
Agreed! "
Me too!
The only two films I can think of that were as good as the books are Shutter Island and Mystic River, they pretty much kept to Dennis Lehane's books so they worked. |
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By (user no longer on site) 18 weeks ago
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"Stardust. I love Neil Gaiman but the film blew the book out of the water. "
Was gonna say the same. The book was way too short, considering the world building. He could've put in so much more detail. |
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"Stardust. I love Neil Gaiman but the film blew the book out of the water.
Was gonna say the same. The book was way too short, considering the world building. He could've put in so much more detail."
I'm torn on this one. I adore the film. It's my go-to comfort film. But the writing...  |
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"Stardust. I love Neil Gaiman but the film blew the book out of the water.
Was gonna say the same. The book was way too short, considering the world building. He could've put in so much more detail."
Agreed. I prefer the ending in the film, plus Robert De Niro was amazing |
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By *aizyWoman 18 weeks ago
west midlands |
"Oh, Blade Runner. I much prefer it to the Philip K. Dick novel."
I do like his books but they could get a bit convoluted, although Total Recall is a good read and a great film, the original Total Recall not the awful re-make. |
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By *aizyWoman 18 weeks ago
west midlands |
"Every Stephen King.
Yep. Strongly disagree on the Gaiman slander (as much as it's a comfort film) but King? Yes."
Oh, I read it the wrong way round, Stephen King books are way better than the films. And I agree with the Gaiman slander, sorry ❤️ |
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By *aizyWoman 18 weeks ago
west midlands |
"Jaws is a better film than the book by far!
I can vaguely remember there was a very well fingered sex scene in the book that saw me through my sticky teenage years"
It was like reading a soft porn book with a massive shark making an apperance every now and again! |
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By (user no longer on site) 18 weeks ago
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I recall seeing a list of films that were adapted from Stephen king's books that Stephen king actually liked.
-It was very short list.
I think "stand by me" was on there & "the Shawshank redemption" & I think the original "carrie" (not the remake.) |
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By *aizyWoman 18 weeks ago
west midlands |
"I recall seeing a list of films that were adapted from Stephen king's books that Stephen king actually liked.
-It was very short list.
I think "stand by me" was on there & "the Shawshank redemption" & I think the original "carrie" (not the remake.)"
I think he liked The Green Mile as well. |
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By (user no longer on site) 18 weeks ago
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I like the film "sleepwalkers"
It gets progressively more silly, but it's entertaining...king has a cameo role in it, like he does in a few films.
Haven't read the book though.
I like Clive Barker's film adaptations a lot though. |
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By *eliWoman 18 weeks ago
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"Oh! The Ritual. Loved the film. The book less so.
Have you read Last Days by him Meli? It was a much better read than The Ritual."
I haven't actually, it's something I'm keeping an eye out for. It's good to know it's better! Loved No One Gets Out Alive and Banquet for the Damned, didn't really get on with The Ritual. |
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By *aizyWoman 18 weeks ago
west midlands |
"Oh! The Ritual. Loved the film. The book less so.
Have you read Last Days by him Meli? It was a much better read than The Ritual.
I haven't actually, it's something I'm keeping an eye out for. It's good to know it's better! Loved No One Gets Out Alive and Banquet for the Damned, didn't really get on with The Ritual."
I didn't either, I was alright till the metal heads living out in the woods turned up! I will say the ending of Last Days is a bit, what?! If you want a good read and you haven't read it there is a book called Twelve by Jasper Kent, it is set in a historical time period has some mean and nasty vampires in it and is a love story, it is a really good read. |
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"I like the film "sleepwalkers"
It gets progressively more silly, but it's entertaining...king has a cameo role in it, like he does in a few films.
Haven't read the book though.
I like Clive Barker's film adaptations a lot though. "
He liked The Mist by the same director as The Shawshank Redemption - he even approved of changes made to the story. |
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By (user no longer on site) 18 weeks ago
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All the films.
ADHD makes it difficult to read books. Reading ahead, glossing over words, forgetting what was written. It's an absolute minefield lol. So I've become used to being visually entertained over the years.
I appreciate that the books are often better though. The main difference is, you have to try and cram potentially many hours worth of reading into a couple of hours. Which is why so many people find the film versions of books lacking in some way.
The exchange of content between the two different media doesn't always translate perfectly. Likely due to time constraints, budget and possibly artistic difficulties or differences. |
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There is a theory that bad books often make better films, perhaps because well-written books tend to lean in to the strengths of prose that don't translate to the screen, or because no-one cares much if a bad book is changed to make a good film. Badge Of Evil for example is supposed to be a pretty poor novel, but Orson Welles turned it into one of the great noir films in Touch of Evil. |
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Tend to always love the books than the films. The beauty of books is that it allows you to make your own image of characters or scenes etc. some films make a great attempt to depict the book but still prefer the book version |
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Right now I'm watching 2010, the sequel to 2001. I haven't read the novel it's based on but I have read other Arthur C. Clarke novels (including the other two books in the series) and so I suspect the film will be better than the book. |
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Is the film meant to be better than the book? For example lotr is a widely known franchise that started of as books and as popular as they are the lotr films were highly praised and even that didn't follow everything to what Tolkien wrote.
No film I think will ever be better than it's book adaptation because it's not choosing to be. |
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By (user no longer on site) 18 weeks ago
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"I recall seeing a list of films that were adapted from Stephen king's books that Stephen king actually liked.
-It was very short list.
I think "stand by me" was on there & "the Shawshank redemption" & I think the original "carrie" (not the remake.)
I think he liked The Green Mile as well."
I believe he is going to be involved in the remake of "Under the Dome" |
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always love the book more. Though the green mile and shawshank redemption are two of my all time favourite films still but i can still think of several of his books id like to see a film off. The dark tower film was bloody awful. As a film i did like misery though too.
I love the lord of the rings trilogy but still prefer the books. Game of thrones though not a film was a great series but the books were better until he stopped writing them half way through which spoiled the end totally and it annoys me that i now have an incomplete set of books. |
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"When they make a film of a book... Which do you prefer.? The film or the book? For me... I can't think of one film that's better than the book.. You.? "
Agreed 👍
With books 📚 your imagination takes over, but films seem to shatter that, when they make a film of it.. |
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By (user no longer on site) 18 weeks ago
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Some Stephen King adaptations are great Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, Misery to name a few but ultimately the books reign supreme in my humble opinion. |
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They're different and I enjoy both. For instance I love the Starship Troopers book, and I also love the film despite all of the material that they cut or adapted. A well made film can be just as good as the book but in a different way.
LvM |
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The only one that comes to mind is Sleeping With the Enemy. Very tense and well-made film, yet utterly mediocre book.
Usually I find a book is better, there are subtleties written which can't really be replicated visually, especially a character's thought process. |
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TV I know but as no one else has mentioned it, the House of Cards trilogy was slightly rewritten by Michael Dobbs after the first BBC series. None of the books are as good as the series, including the US version which was better though it initially followed a similar trajectory in terms of plot
The book of Jaws has a disappointing ending (the shark just swims off!)
No one has ever made a faithful adaptation of Day of Triffids which is mad because the book is thematically rich, full of adventure, interesting under explored ideas, viscious baddies and the walking plants of the title. If I ever had the spare money I'd finance a faithful mini series or a movie in 2 parts like the recent Dune - John Wyndham's masterpiece slaps the piss out of Frank Herbert's! |
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"The only one that comes to mind is Sleeping With the Enemy. Very tense and well-made film, yet utterly mediocre book.
"
completely. i almost never saw the film because the book was so lacking in tension
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Remains of the Day works brilliantly as a film and book.
Jurassic Park while making some Spielberg soft choices offers an experience a book never could.
The Shining (Kubrick) very different from the book and truly iconic. I actually don't rate reading Kings works and also believe Shawshank is a better movie.
There's a few.
Gatsby has never and will never be better than the book. The last film seemed to widely miss that the parties were hollow and meaningless to Gatsby apart from to attract Daisy. |
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"They're different and I enjoy both. For instance I love the Starship Troopers book, and I also love the film despite all of the material that they cut or adapted. A well made film can be just as good as the book but in a different way.
LvM "
The film of Starship Troopers also has the exact opposite political leaning to the book I believe. |
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"They're different and I enjoy both. For instance I love the Starship Troopers book, and I also love the film despite all of the material that they cut or adapted. A well made film can be just as good as the book but in a different way.
LvM
The film of Starship Troopers also has the exact opposite political leaning to the book I believe."
As far as I'm aware, they're both heavily satirical of right wing politics and obsessions with the military industrial complex.
LvM |
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By *eliWoman 18 weeks ago
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"Oh! The Ritual. Loved the film. The book less so.
Have you read Last Days by him Meli? It was a much better read than The Ritual.
I haven't actually, it's something I'm keeping an eye out for. It's good to know it's better! Loved No One Gets Out Alive and Banquet for the Damned, didn't really get on with The Ritual.
I didn't either, I was alright till the metal heads living out in the woods turned up! I will say the ending of Last Days is a bit, what?! If you want a good read and you haven't read it there is a book called Twelve by Jasper Kent, it is set in a historical time period has some mean and nasty vampires in it and is a love story, it is a really good read. "
Oh brilliant, thank you for the recommendation! I've got a few to get through currently (Night Bitch, Out There Screaming, Ninth House, and a reread of The Historian and Gothic Tales because it's that time of year) but I'm definitely adding that to the list. Thank you Daizy, I'll stop with the cheese teasing!🧡 |
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"They're different and I enjoy both. For instance I love the Starship Troopers book, and I also love the film despite all of the material that they cut or adapted. A well made film can be just as good as the book but in a different way.
LvM
The film of Starship Troopers also has the exact opposite political leaning to the book I believe.
As far as I'm aware, they're both heavily satirical of right wing politics and obsessions with the military industrial complex.
LvM"
I haven't read the book but the general consensus is that the book isn't a satire - Heinlein was very right-wing, whereas the film satirises the views expressed in the book. |
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I generally prefer the book over a film, like others have said it can never match up to your imagination. But there have been some books i thought they did well as films: Harry Potter, hunger games, we need to talk about Kevin, and girl interrupted x  |
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By *aizyWoman 18 weeks ago
west midlands |
"Oh! The Ritual. Loved the film. The book less so.
Have you read Last Days by him Meli? It was a much better read than The Ritual.
I haven't actually, it's something I'm keeping an eye out for. It's good to know it's better! Loved No One Gets Out Alive and Banquet for the Damned, didn't really get on with The Ritual.
I didn't either, I was alright till the metal heads living out in the woods turned up! I will say the ending of Last Days is a bit, what?! If you want a good read and you haven't read it there is a book called Twelve by Jasper Kent, it is set in a historical time period has some mean and nasty vampires in it and is a love story, it is a really good read.
Oh brilliant, thank you for the recommendation! I've got a few to get through currently (Night Bitch, Out There Screaming, Ninth House, and a reread of The Historian and Gothic Tales because it's that time of year) but I'm definitely adding that to the list. Thank you Daizy, I'll stop with the cheese teasing!🧡"
I like the cheese teasing 😊 I also love The Historian one of my favourite books, I haven't heard of the others so I'll have a look for them. |
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"Most of the Philip Marlowe movies starring Humphrey Bogart are better than the original novels."
Nooooo. No no no. The films might be decent, but the books are only matched by Dashel Hammet in the genre.
“She was a blonde. A blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained glass window. “ |
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By *agatoXXXMan 18 weeks ago
Gone and completely forgotten. |
"Oh! The Ritual. Loved the film. The book less so.
Have you read Last Days by him Meli? It was a much better read than The Ritual.
I haven't actually, it's something I'm keeping an eye out for. It's good to know it's better! Loved No One Gets Out Alive and Banquet for the Damned, didn't really get on with The Ritual.
I didn't either, I was alright till the metal heads living out in the woods turned up! I will say the ending of Last Days is a bit, what?! If you want a good read and you haven't read it there is a book called Twelve by Jasper Kent, it is set in a historical time period has some mean and nasty vampires in it and is a love story, it is a really good read.
Oh brilliant, thank you for the recommendation! I've got a few to get through currently (Night Bitch, Out There Screaming, Ninth House, and a reread of The Historian and Gothic Tales because it's that time of year) but I'm definitely adding that to the list. Thank you Daizy, I'll stop with the cheese teasing!🧡
I like the cheese teasing 😊 I also love The Historian one of my favourite books, I haven't heard of the others so I'll have a look for them."
Cheese teasing? 🧀 |
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"The only one that comes to mind is Sleeping With the Enemy. Very tense and well-made film, yet utterly mediocre book.
Usually I find a book is better, there are subtleties written which can't really be replicated visually, especially a character's thought process. "
Ah, brilliant performance from Patrick Bergin! |
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By *orny PTMan 18 weeks ago
Peterborough |
Watership Down. Angela Morley's sound track, not many female composers get to write film score like that and and the voices just adds gravitas and pathos. Joss Ackland and John Hurt, along with Hannah Gordon and Richard Briers.
You can't get that from a book. I need sound tracks.
Would Top Gun work as a novel? |
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"Almost always the book for me. Too many films change the plot to simplify and the characters become less nuanced. I get why but it takes away from it for me. "
Slightly off topic, but I hate when films invent stiff they didn’t happen in fact-based stories.
For example, the truth regularly goes out the window in biopics like Bohemian Rhapsody. And historians often end up banging their heads in the wall after shite like Braveheart |
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"Watership Down. Angela Morley's sound track, not many female composers get to write film score like that and and the voices just adds gravitas and pathos. Joss Ackland and John Hurt, along with Hannah Gordon and Richard Briers.
You can't get that from a book. I need sound tracks.
Would Top Gun work as a novel?"
I think Top Gun was based on a large magazine article and Maverick based on an actual instructor |
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By *orny PTMan 18 weeks ago
Peterborough |
"Watership Down. Angela Morley's sound track, not many female composers get to write film score like that and and the voices just adds gravitas and pathos. Joss Ackland and John Hurt, along with Hannah Gordon and Richard Briers.
You can't get that from a book. I need sound tracks.
Would Top Gun work as a novel?
I think Top Gun was based on a large magazine article and Maverick based on an actual instructor"
10 points to you for that.
Quote
"California magazine in May 1983. That article, titled “Top Guns” and written by Ehud Yonay" |
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" always love the book more. Though the green mile and shawshank redemption are two of my all time favourite films still but i can still think of several of his books id like to see a film off. The dark tower film was bloody awful. As a film i did like misery though too.
I love the lord of the rings trilogy but still prefer the books. Game of thrones though not a film was a great series but the books were better until he stopped writing them half way through which spoiled the end totally and it annoys me that i now have an incomplete set of books. "
Never been so disappointed in a film as I was with dark tower. Waited years for it, my all time favourite books and it was dire. |
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It can often depend...
Far more movies are made from books than many people realise.
While many books are far better than they're movie interpretations. It's not always the case.
Blade Runner & Total Recall are both better stories than the short stories they're based on.
Lawnmower Man goes way beyond King's short story about a killer lawnmower.
Shawshank Redemption is a master piece again inspired by a King short story.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a tour de force based on the unknown work 'Who censored Roger Rabbit'.
So there are great films which do amazing things with short stories or bad books.
There have also been cases of very solid books coming from film novelisations. My wife really enjoyed the book of the Last Jedi. Where the the film was a mess with a few fun moments. |
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By (user no longer on site) 18 weeks ago
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Mortal engines by Phillip Reeves was so much better as a book than the film. Peter Jackson was involved to visually stunning film but left half the book out.. 3 stars lol |
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By *aizyWoman 18 weeks ago
west midlands |
" always love the book more. Though the green mile and shawshank redemption are two of my all time favourite films still but i can still think of several of his books id like to see a film off. The dark tower film was bloody awful. As a film i did like misery though too.
I love the lord of the rings trilogy but still prefer the books. Game of thrones though not a film was a great series but the books were better until he stopped writing them half way through which spoiled the end totally and it annoys me that i now have an incomplete set of books.
Never been so disappointed in a film as I was with dark tower. Waited years for it, my all time favourite books and it was dire."
They are making the Dark Tower into a tv series it is supposed to be more faithful to the books 🤞🤞 |
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