Has a film adaptation ever improved on the original book?

[Simon T]

Having just watched the truly awful 'love in the time of cholera' I wondered whether a film can ever top the original book.

 

I guess some books are more suited to adapting than others

 

Off the top of my head, wasn't the godfather originally a novel?

[*Wallace*]

It was yes,i think The Green Mile was a pretty good adaptation.

[JoeP]

I preferred the film 'Field of Dreams' to the book it was based ion 'Shoeless Joe'.

 

Some books are just difficult to adapt and shouldn't be attempted.

 

Something like 'The Godfather' and other big 'blockbuster' type novels have their own issues with adaptation - primarily editing - but because it's usually a linear narrative structure you can usually make a decent job.

[NEKRO138]

Any crap book is better as a film, simply because it takes up less time to find out that the story is ********.

[evildrneil]

I must admit I preferred the film of fight club to the book - heathen that I am!

[Dark Moomin]

don't know about a film, but I always preferred the televised Morse to the books, could never get away with Colin Dexter's writing style

[Jessica23]

I must admit I preferred the film of fight club to the book - heathen that I am!

 

I don't know if I preferred it, but this was one film that I was going to say is pretty damn good adaptation.

 

Another good one is American Psycho. The book is genuinely too much for some people - the graphic violence just ruins it - but I thought the film conveyed the madness without the gore really well. Female director, too

 

Other good ones - Gone with the Wind, Brokeback Mountain...

 

I don't think the film ever improves the book, though.

[Annoni_mouse]

I know many will disagree, but I think the Shawshank Redemption was a far better film than a short story (and I'm saying that as a big SK fan)

[hoba]

I must admit I preferred the film of fight club to the book - heathen that I am!

 

Not a heathen- you, Sir, are absolutely correct. Brilliant book though it is, the film is so much better. It's just all of the little visual touches that make it for me.

[EdnaKrabappe]

Although i like Phillip K Dick, I love the remakes usually of his short stories. Blade Runner obviously , Total Recall, Minority Report although the Paycheck with Ben Affleck was a bit bobbins.

 

I prefer Trainspotting the film to Trainspotting the book and I thought they did a good job on About a boy and Fever Pitch but i still prefer the written version of High Fidelity. Can't believe noone has taken the option to make Tony Parsons books- they'd make brilliant films.