Books to movie conversions

[Ultima Ibanez Overlord]

How often have you heard the cliche "oh, the book is so much better"? It seems a lot of people say this without ever taking the two as seperate mediums.

So, how many book to movie conversions can you point out that really illustrate where this cliche is true, and how many that do the.......wait for it.......converse?

Some worthy of note are Manhunt, the adaptation of the Harris series. A really nicely shot film, with a great soundtrack and incredible locations. Fightclub, a stylish book with a fittingly stylish film to go with it. American Psycho was mentioned on this board before, and I think the film did great justice to the central theme of the book (no, it wasn't about shocking murders, but a satire on 80's image-obsession), and the performance by some of the actors is fantastic.

Ok, it's a discussion, so I'll shut up and let you good folk' reply.

 

[lizard]

I tend to like books better, because then its my vision and imagination rather than a film director's. Also, the average movie is about 90 minutes long, so character details and subplots frequently have to be compressed or condensed to fit into time constraints.
That does not mean a movie can't succeed completely on its own merits, though. Black Hawk Down was a completely mesmerizing book, and the movie was too, completely highlighting the bravery of the troops involved; the only downside was not enough blame was affixed to the politicians and generals who put them in that hopeless position.

 

[NapalmForLunch]

sometimes i like the movie more. people just have to think "its not a book. it is a movie. movies cant always be like tha book. it just cant happen some times"

 

[Rusty]

Take The Godfather, the book. It's merely "good" - Mario Puzo's writing style isn't the best ever.

Now take The Godfather films. The first two are excellent, IMO the best two films ever made, and the third isn't bad either.

There's one for your "converse" column, Lee.