17 Movie Adaptations That Were Actually Better Than The Books

"The film stayed close to the book, pretty much scene for scene, but the addition of Pitt, Norton, and Bonham-Carter, along with the cool visuals, elevated the whole thing."

–RudeHelicopter4662

"Forrest is vulgar in the book and actually goes to space with a chimpanzee. I could not finish it."

–Steelflight09

"The story was great and filled in some of the gaps but it was definitely dry compared to the movie."

–NilesandDaphne

"Blade Runner is a cultural touchstone. The book it was based off, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep is not bad, but does not achieve the heights of the film."

"In Updike's book, the witches are ugly, unsympathetic characters, and the overall book is kind of heavy and meandering without a satisfying conclusion. The movie reimagines the story as a sexy comedy which I think is a big improvement."

–CourtCreepy6785

"This might be an unpopular opinion. It's an interesting example because Stephen King himself didn't like what Kubrick did with the film, and I can certainly understand why."

–Reasonable-Banana636

"Book is fine, but J. D. Salinger suing and getting his name removed from any adaptation made the movie. The dynamic between James Earl Jones ’s and Kevin Costner's characters made the movie. In the book, it’s two guys who live on farms and have a lot of similarities driving around the country. Somewhat boring, honestly."

–Sopranohh

"I'm gonna have to say The Mist. Loved the book – went into the movie knowing it wasn't going to be great. Came out loving it. The ending was different but man did it make the movie so much better."

–Distinct_Sentence_26

"The film is brilliantly portrayed, but the book is outright disgusting. I've read a few Brett Easton Ellis books, and his attention to detail is incredible, but does make for some confusing chapters."

–gijoe438

"I like Grisham's stuff, but this book didn't land for me. I saw the movie and immediately thought, 'Way better.'"

–HairMetalEnthusiast

"Although it isn't an easy watch, Aronofsky really took Hubert Selby Jr's book to another level and the score is brimming with energy and emotion which makes it all the more impactful."

–lamparillo

"The book totally jumped the shark. I wanted to tear the last chapter out. I think the movie is closer to what the character would have done. But I’m not the author. So what do I know. I just know what I liked more."

–LeePT69

"I unironically enjoy the movie. I liked the book, but it went way deep into weird Sci-FI territory. I liked how the movie was more realistic in how things played out."

–Fyrentenemar

"It's much cleaner and more coherent than the book. It's a great movie. It's also a great, but pretty different book."

–Optimal-Ad-7074

"The movie was much tighter and the characters much better than the book."