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Films/TV Shows that were better than the books.


velo army

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I read "The Man In The High Castle" a couple of years back and I quite enjoyed it. It's more of a novella so I was intrigued as to how they would get three or four series out of such a wee book.

The TV show has knocked my socks off though. Some of the characters are the same, but they've just expanded and added more depth to the world that PKD created in the book. The characters are fantastically written and I'm thoroughly invested in all of their arcs. The acting is absolutely top notch and the casting is perfect. Seriously, having Rufus Sewell as Obergruppenfuhrer Smith is as perfect a piece of casting as you're likely to see. He's marvellous in this, managing to completely convince as a good man who loves his family, but whose loyalty to the Reich leads him to do awful things. The two main Japanese lads as well are utterly mesmerising on screen. Inspector Kido and Nobusuke Tagomi have such rich arcs, especially in series two, and they both eat up the screen whenever they're on. 

So aye, I liked the book, but the series is just on another level of entertainment, storytelling and characters. 

What other films and shows would you say were better than the books they were based on?

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The adaption of American Psycho is much funnier than the book. The Rules of Attraction benefits hugely from cinematic flair and style, which is probably true of many books that aren't narratively strong.

The adaption of Rita Hayworth & Shawshank Redemption soars above the source material. Some c**t is guaranteed to mention The Shining on this thread, and they need a good shake, frankly.

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12 minutes ago, BFTD said:

The adaption of American Psycho is much funnier than the book. The Rules of Attraction benefits hugely from cinematic flair and style, which is probably true of many books that aren't narratively strong.

The adaption of Rita Hayworth & Shawshank Redemption soars above the source material. Some c**t is guaranteed to mention The Shining on this thread, and they need a good shake, frankly.

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The adaption of American Psycho is much funnier than the book. The Rules of Attraction benefits hugely from cinematic flair and style, which is probably true of many books that aren't narratively strong.
The adaption of Rita Hayworth & Shawshank Redemption soars above the source material. Some c**t is guaranteed to mention The Shining on this thread, and they need a good shake, frankly.
Anyone says Clockwork Orange and they'll be getting banned!
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I loved the Man in the High Castle novella and the TV Series should be right up my street but I've given it a go about three times and couldn't stick it past the first couple of episodes. If Shawshank Redemption is better than the book I hate to think how bad the book is, most overrated film in history. American Psycho stands out as a book I really struggled to enjoy but a really good film. 

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Jesus Christ Superstar is waay better than the bible.

The TV adaptation of Babylon Berlin is better than the book. The characters are fleshed out more and some of the visuals are absolutely stunning.

Catch 22 is another. I mean the original film, not the pishy George Clooney series. I couldn't get into the book at all.

 

 

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3 hours ago, velo army said:

I read "The Man In The High Castle" a couple of years back and I quite enjoyed it. It's more of a novella so I was intrigued as to how they would get three or four series out of such a wee book.

The TV show has knocked my socks off though. Some of the characters are the same, but they've just expanded and added more depth to the world that PKD created in the book. The characters are fantastically written and I'm thoroughly invested in all of their arcs. The acting is absolutely top notch and the casting is perfect. Seriously, having Rufus Sewell as Obergruppenfuhrer Smith is as perfect a piece of casting as you're likely to see. He's marvellous in this, managing to completely convince as a good man who loves his family, but whose loyalty to the Reich leads him to do awful things. The two main Japanese lads as well are utterly mesmerising on screen. Inspector Kido and Nobusuke Tagomi have such rich arcs, especially in series two, and they both eat up the screen whenever they're on. 

So aye, I liked the book, but the series is just on another level of entertainment, storytelling and characters. 

What other films and shows would you say were better than the books they were based on?

Strong disagree on the Man in the High Castle - I thought it was incredibly dull and boring both in spectacle and plot for a show about an Nazi victory in WWII got about three-quarters into first season before ditching it.

Blade Runner is the obvious one - arguably (the new) Dune as well.

Jurassic Park as well - although that is a much looser base to the source content.

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5 hours ago, Genuine Hibs Fan said:

I loved the Man in the High Castle novella and the TV Series should be right up my street but I've given it a go about three times and couldn't stick it past the first couple of episodes. If Shawshank Redemption is better than the book I hate to think how bad the book is, most overrated film in history. American Psycho stands out as a book I really struggled to enjoy but a really good film. 

Tbf I didn't get into TMITHC until after the first few episodes. I was off with the covid so had the luxury of time and nothing else to watch. The first series was decent, but the second series is outstanding and they've really fleshed out the characters more. 

American Psycho sounds like a rough as f**k read. I've known two people to have read it and while they say that some of it is very very funny, the brutal parts are off the scale brutal. 

 

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5 hours ago, Ray Patterson said:

Strong disagree on the Man in the High Castle - I thought it was incredibly dull and boring both in spectacle and plot for a show about an Nazi victory in WWII got about three-quarters into first season before ditching it.

Blade Runner is the obvious one - arguably (the new) Dune as well.

Jurassic Park as well - although that is a much looser base to the source content.

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I thought The Man In The High Castle was a mid show with some proper great performances (the ones mentioned by the OP) and not bad world building on a loose concept.

Lord of the Rings is a better movie than books thanks to Jackson trimming a lot of the fat and understanding what made the books good. Those movies ruined blockbusters for me though by showing 20 years on how lazily made most blockbusters are.

The first four seasons of The Expanse is better than the books but I think that’s because the writers were still figuring out their writing chops. By book 5 I think the writers of the books started nailing it.

American Psycho movie much better than the graffiti scribbler.

I wouldn’t say it’s better but Annihilation is a good adaptation and a type I wish there was more of where the director takes their own direction instead of faithfully following the novel.

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15 hours ago, Paul Kersey said:

Jesus Christ Superstar is waay better than the bible.

The TV adaptation of Babylon Berlin is better than the book. The characters are fleshed out more and some of the visuals are absolutely stunning.

Catch 22 is another. I mean the original film, not the pishy George Clooney series. I couldn't get into the book at all.

 

 

The bible is a massively overrated book. The ending in particular makes little sense. 

The catch 22 film with Art Garfunkel was the most irritating thing i've ever seen and i've watched Joe pasquale. 

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Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films are magnificent, but the books are far better. That only becomes quite as clear though when you have read it a few times and understand the interlacing and the wider lore. The hobbitry bits aren’t for everyone but when they are more understood they are better. 

Bombadil, Fog on the Barrow Downs etc are exceptional. Book 4 which is all Frodo, Sam and Gollum is bleak, but it is supposed to be. It too has critical things such as Faramir. 

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The Godfather. The book is pure pulp. I’ve read it and only really remember the weird subplot about a woman’s overly tight vagina needing surgery to facilitate sex with a well endowed male character. Also, for some reason Vito’s wife is constantly frying peppers.

The 70s Poseidon Adventure is probably better than the book. The book is claustrophobic and far, far darker than the movie - but it is pretty damn shocking in its treatment of women. Linda Rogo (Stella Stevens in the film) is portrayed as an evil shrew (justified after her death by her husband revealing she’d been gang raped as a child); Ernest Borgnine’s character in the book is a racist homophobe; and, horrifyingly, Pamela Sue Martin’s character is raped by a crewman in the novel (which ends with her dreamily hoping her now-dead rapist impregnated her, because she wants a part of this stranger to live on). It’s just … new levels of wtf. The film sensibly cut all the rape stuff out, toned personalities down, and instead of having the ship turn over in the middle of the day, had it flip bang on midnight on NYE.

I haven’t read Jaws but people generally find the movie better.

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On 19/01/2022 at 18:02, Paul Kersey said:

Jesus Christ Superstar is waay better than the bible.

It really doesn't get said often enough.

23 hours ago, Antlion said:

The Godfather. The book is pure pulp. I’ve read it and only really remember the weird subplot about a woman’s overly tight vagina needing surgery to facilitate sex with a well endowed male character. Also, for some reason Vito’s wife is constantly frying peppers.

I haven’t read Jaws but people generally find the movie better.

That was Sonny, wasn't it? He had a massive wang and his bit on the side struggled to cope with it  :lol:

IIRC, Benchley's Jaws spends a lot of time on real estate and loan sharks, and Brody's wife bangs Hooper.

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