Movies better than the book

Movies better than the book:

Serpico. (I'm pretty sure I remember reading that Sidney Lumet was inspired by Peter Maas' book, which is a so-so biography. Of course, Pacino's great performance gives any movie a pretty big advantage over any book.)

The Caine Mutiny. (A great book, but looong and sort of disjointed at times. The movie isn't quite as complex, but it's gripping.)

As far as The Lord of the Rings, I thought the Fellowship was definitely better than the book, because Tom Bombadil and most of the pre-Rivendell wanderings get tedious. But part of me will never forgive Peter Jackson (or more likely, New Line) for not having the balls to end The Two Towers with the "Frodo's dead" cliffhanger.

 

Gone With The Wind.

 

I will arm wrestle you over this one in either incarnation - Broderick Crawford or Sean Penn. Neither adaptation rises even kneehigh to the great novel that inspired them.

 

Didn't like the new one, at all.

Older one wasn't bad, though have little use for BC.

Book WAS better.

 

Here's the formula about film adaptations we use in our little household:

Truly great books rarely result in truly great movies. Most great movies come from mediocre books.

Discuss.

 

To each his own.

 

mr macg,

ATKM: I was talking about the original flick. Liked the book, liked the movie more, but to each his own.

YD&OHS, etc

 

The recent film incarnation of All the King's Men was just horrible.

 

FotF --

Then my chickenbone arms await when next we meet. Right- or left-handy, I'm no threat to anything but the place settings and my own dignity.

 

I think the great books are too vast to be boiled down to a 2-hour film, which is why Blood Meridian would be almost impossible to make into a great movie.

When you chop some of the crap that bogs down a so-so book, you can wind up with a very good film.

 

The Last Picture Show (definitely a classic).

The Godfather (barely).

The Right Stuff was a good movie, but I'd go with the book there....brilliant stuff.

 

I know I'm going back to Page 1 here, but I've been thinking about this point, Piotr.
I love The Scouring of the Shire, and here's why -- it showed how far the hobbits had come. This series, like so many, is a coming-of-age tale and this is really where you understand how different they are at the end than they were at the beginning.