Have you ever liked the movie more than the book?

I agree with Jaws.The only other times I thought the movie was as good as the book was The Color Purple and The Silence of the Lambs :)
I usually don’t last through most movies.—I fall asleep.Just ask Vunessuh—XD

Hm. Good question. I can’t think of any! Perhaps Apollo 13…but it wasn’t a book. However, I did stumble across a Life magazine from 1969 that featured their story. It was uncanny how closely the movie followed the actual account those guys gave….

Apologies to you younger folks for using such an old movie as an example…
“The Red Shoes” (1948), one of the most beautiful movies ever made and certainly the best one about the art of ballet, was a film first and then a book. The book filled in some gaps, but the movie was by far better—for the acting, the direction and the cinematography.

Books after the movie are the worst.

I don’t know that I would say I like the movie better than the book, but in a few instances I have been really impressed that the movie was so close to the way I imagined things as I was readling.

Better than the book:
.
– Atonement
– Children of Men
– A Series of Unfortunate Events
– The Neverending Story
– Pinocchio
– Notes on a Scandal
– Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
– The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
– The Other
– The 39 Steps
– The Stepford Wives
– Invasion of the Body Snatchers
.
.
Crap but still better than the book:
.
– Deliverance
– Twilight (all three movies so far)
.
.
As good as the book:
.
– Persepolis,
– Let the Right One In
– To Kill a Mockingbird
– The Prestige
– Sideways

Sleepy Hollow, an enjoyable little romp. Still I do get my kicks more from visuals so probably unfair on Mr. Irving, i’m a little bias towards movies in general.

@Dutchess_III, normally I would agree with you 100%, but actually, the novelized version of “The Red Shoes” is pretty good. It was wirtten by the same guys who wrote the script. It’s just not as good as the movie.

I’m going to say it: Lord of the Rings.

Since I was only able to force my way through the first book, I can’t speak for the other books and movies, but Fellowship the movie was better than Fellowship the book.

All right, I’m ready for my crucifixion.

@KatawaGrey… that is one of the movies that I was thinking did a good job of capturing the essence of the book. Although they did have to leave some of the details out because they were pretty long as it is.

@KatawaGrey : You know I agree with you on that. I still bear the metaphorical scars of saying so in the ‘70’s…

@KatawaGrey I left that off my list to avoid being hunted down and murdered, but now that I’ve got someone to be strung up with, I’ll say that should’ve been on my list, too. And I have read the whole series. More than once, even.

@MacBean: Oh good, we can be murdered together!

@MacBean : Three on the gallows…we should provide quite a show!

Oh, I just remembered a couple more. The Midnight Meat Train should be on the “better than the book” list and A Single Man should be on the “as good as the book” list.

I have yet to find a movie that is better than the book i’ve read.

I liked the movie version better than the comic book version of “The Crow”

Ok, how about a book that I liked equally as well as the movie? I just saw Dear John about a month ago and just read the book. Loved both.

I agree with @ucme. I am currently reading The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and I am just trying to race through all the crap- he repeats everything sooo many times- to get to the actual exciting story bit. 80% into the book and I think I’m there. I love the movie- and even if I’d read the book first, I would still like the movie better.

Also, I’m going to try to explain something else here. Although the Harry Potter books are pretty much my favourite books of all time and probably always will be, because the movies started coming out quite early, I also love them so much. They obviously could have done better with the first couple, but because they hold special memories for me and came out while I was still young, I can’t not love them. And they have gotten better as they go along- truer to the books. They still… I don’t know. They obviously haven’t put everything in that they should have or could have, and might have to make up for that in the last two movies… but I love them just the same. I love them the most when I don’t actually compare them to the books. When I don’t nitpick. So maybe like MacBean I have an “as good as the books” list, and the Harry Potter movies are on it, mostly for sentimental reasons, but maybe in the case of the 6th, and hopefully the two halves of the 7th, for the movies themselves.

Ooh ooh and I thought of another one! Holes. The movie is pretty much identical to the book by Louis Sachar. I’m pretty sure that’s because he wrote the screenplay or something. But yeah. Love them equally so in my “as good as the book” list too.

Ok, I just finished reading The Lenged of Sleepy Hollow and…... nothing even happened! Like nothing. I was just like “is that it?!”. Movie is wayyyyyy better.