The movie was better. . .

In that same vein, Kubrick’s The Shining.

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The Godfather. Hands down.

Even though it contains many elements that would become Godfather 1 and 2, the novel is a hot mess. Mario Puzo was a pulp writer in debt, so the book reads the same. It also turns into subplot central, with Sonny’s mistress ending up with more time and development than some of the main characters.

It’s not the worst read, I still have my copy that I’ve read a few times, but don’t expect Hemingway because of Coppola.

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I need to give Muduch Mysteries another shot. I watched the first two episodes and got distracted. Sadly, I don’t think it’s on NetFlix or Amazon anymore to watch.

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It’s probably petty of me that one of the reasons it’s my favorite adaptation of King’s is that he hates it so much.

I’m told there is an entire chapter devoted to the size of a woman’s…nether regions.

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I mentioned this in a prior thread, but “Stalker” is one of my favorite movies of all time, and the book “Roadside Pinic” is good, but only good. The movie is far better.

As a more recent (and controversial) example, I preferred the movie of “Annihilation” to the book. (I hope Jeff Vandermeer isn’t reading this).

But 99.9% of the time the book is better.

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Logan’s Run. Forrest Gump. Mary Poppins. MASH. Men in Black, which was based on a not-very-good comics series.

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Sadly, you are correct. It’s worse than it sounds.

Oh, and ditto on the Shining :laughing:

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The Sentinel (1977) is much better than the book. I’ve acknowledged elsewhere that it’s a problematic film for a number of reason, yet I still like it quite a lot. Loads of talented actors and a genuinely creepy vibe.

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Michael Winner was walking “problematic” by all accounts.

This was a weird one: Marketed as “blockbuster horror,” trying for some kind of Exorcist/Omen feel, amazing cast, gets released and…just vanishes.

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My heart broke a wee bit to see Roadside Picnic described as “only good”… I’d call it different but equally as good.

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First title that came to mind. The movie Jaws is such a ridiculous quantum leap in quality above its source novel.

The Princess Bride has this one down, too.

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Now my heart has broken a wee bit. I see this as a positive space for all of us. To be fair to the Strugatsky brothers, I probably would have found RP more than “only good” had I not been in awe of “Stalker” in advance of reading the source material…

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It’s a fair point - our first exposure to a work shapes our subsequent reactions to other versions. Personally I’m delighted that folks like both the novel and the movie to any degree, as they are far from mainstream works. MSTies are a refreshingly cultured lot by and large. :hugs:

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If I can break the rules a bit and do comics and TV shows, the comic book version of The Boys is god-awful. I have no idea how it got made into a decent show.

Also, the 1939 Wizard of Oz is far superior to the book, as is the still very problematic Gone With the Wind.

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I’m trying to think if that’s happened to me… I saw the movie Stalker first but was equally knocked out by what the novel was doing and saying. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is another where saw the movie first, love and still love it, but after reading the book I must admit it’s the better of the two.

Hmmm, maybe Let the Right One In? I saw the movie first, and prefer it, mostly based on subjective taste than the quality of writing (I don’t mind that the movie didn’t include the rapey father creature from the novel – though I did like the book, that was pretty gross and a perhaps, too disturbing for me)

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It’s quite possible you’ve developed sufficient contextualisation that one experience doesn’t impinge greatly on the other. A degree of that has come to me over time, where I can now appreciate a work on its own rather than in one-to-one parallel to the source material. And I’ve had some of that reverse-path experience as well, seeing a movie or other adaptation and then going to the book to discover that I like the book even more.

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Someone decide this one for me: can’t make up my mind.

The Right Stuff: the book is a combination of lightness and density, full of fascinating details. The movie is a modern classic, an epic, even.

So which one is the best fighter pilot you ever seen?

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The Silence of the Lambs

Harris has some beautiful prose (some of which was captured in the sadly canceled Hannibal) but the movie preserves the mystery - at least for Clarice - of what Bill is up to. Allowing her to work it out for herself and really earning the discovery

In the Book Lecter just tells her.

Quite rudely too…

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Got any Beeman’s? Loan me some, will ya, I’ll pay you back.

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