Over on Reddit, cinemaphiles are getting over the late-summer blues by chewing over one of those questions that tends to pop up from time to time on social media: everyone knows that the book is always better, so…when is that not the case? Surely, there have to be some movies that improve on the source material, right? And yeah, of course there are a few — generally movies that are considered all-time greats, although sometimes it’s just a really solid movie based on a book that could have used another editing pass.
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The original post — although, again, it should be emphasized that variations on this post come up a lot, so not all of them have the same list — started from the point of arguing that Babe, Shrek, and the Princess Bride deserve to be on the list. Most commenters seemed to roll with that list and then add to it, rather than arguing the point.
Dozens of movies came up over the course of the posts that followed, with some more controversial than others. Surprisingly, there was a bit of arguing around Jurassic Park, which one would think might get more of a pass considering its reputation as a classic, beloved movie. Others that came up with at least a few votes included About a Boy (Nicholas Hoult’s first movie, and an adaptation of a novel by High Fidelity‘s Nick Hornby), Neil Gaiman’s Stardust, and a number of James Bond movies, especially On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
You can see some of the most popular candidates below.
The Godfather
It’s not at all surprising this one turned up on the list. Like with The Princess Bride, the screenplay was handled by the author who wrote the book, and he tightened up some of the fat in the original significantly. The book is a long, hefty one with some odd quirks to it, and a lot of that got filed down in making what is widely regarded as one of the best movies of all time.
The Shawshank Redemption
Based on a short story by Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption was another inevitability here. Consistently one of the most highly-rated movies on IMDb’s Top 250, Shawshank infused depth and heart into the story of Andy Dufresne, and is one of a number of King shorter works to earn a mention on lists like this — also including The Body, which became Stand By Me; and The Green Mile.
Fight Club
Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk has praised the movie a lot over the years (even though he also made some comic book sequels that took advantage of how differently his book ended from the movie version).
It’s Palahniuk’s first novel, and it’s pretty highly stylized, which all adds up to a high barrier for entry to some readers. The movie flopped at the box office, but was declared a cult classic almost immediately, and has enjoyed that status for almost 25 years.
Jaws
The original book spent a lot more time on the politics of Amity, and the characters are by and large less likable, according to several commenters. Trimming some of the fat, focusing on the shark hunt, and making most of the characters a bit more human set it up to be the prototypical summer blockbuster.
Die Hard
This one is a movie many people don’t even realize was based on a book, so it’s not surprising that as one of the most beloved action movies of all time, it lands on the list.
Forrest Gump
This one seems to be a case of a book which, like Wonder Boys or High Fidelity, was so character-driven that there was a lot of stuff in it not key to the plot. Cutting it down to the runtime of a feature film tightened up the pacing, and getting an incredible performance from Tom Hanks certainly didn’t hurt.
The Mist
This is another King one, and this one comes with something that is common to this conversation: “the ending is better.”
Stephen King has himself admitted over the years that he can struggle with his endings, and it’s not uncommon for aspects of his endings to change in the adaptation process. In the case of The Mist, a number of Redditors commented that Frank Darabont (who also directed Shawshank) cleaned up the ending a bit.
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