Benjammin
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I was talking with a friend once about the movie The Shining, and talking about how much better I thought the book was than the movie. My friend said "well yeah, the book is always better than the movie..." then went on to explain why they loved the movie. But that got me thinking about the idea of book versions compared to the film versions, and while I tend to prefer the stories as told through the books, in some cases you just can't argue with the experience (sights and sounds) you get from watching a good movie
Jurassic Park is one example, I love the book because of the greater depth of story and character development, but you can't argue with that image of the T-Rex eye looking in the window of the jeep. In this modern age of movies constantly being re-made, I can see how a remake of Jurassic Park (in another 10-15 years) might actually give us a movie that benefits from the advancement of technology (some of the stuff in the book just wasn't possible in the early 90s when they made the movie) and the bits of story and character that were changed or left out of the original. Not saying it should be remade, only that I think a remake that is closer to the book, would be worthwhile in it's own way. Same deal with The Shining, even though the did do a tv mini-series that was closer to the story of the book, it was a pretty low budget affair, and now that that was 20 years ago, I for one would pay money to see a full blown, big screen remake (let's see how It pans out...)
The Godfather is a case where, I think the book is excellent, it gives you a certain perspective into the world and character of Vito Corleone slightly different from the movie (which seems to revolve more around the Michael character). But some of the added story and focus on minor characters doesn't do much in the long run. They really trimmed the book the perfect amount to make the movie, without sacrificing anything too specifically (the back story from the book went nicely into the Godfather Part 2. It's a shame they never got around to making the Sonny Corleone story from the 30's)
Game of Thrones is a lesser example, where I think the books outshine the tv show in every possible way. But the show is great because you get to see some of the crazy shit go down (the Battle of Blackwater Bay, Viserys' crown of gold, etc)
What are some of your favorite examples, where either the book, or the movie, is clearly the better version?
Jurassic Park is one example, I love the book because of the greater depth of story and character development, but you can't argue with that image of the T-Rex eye looking in the window of the jeep. In this modern age of movies constantly being re-made, I can see how a remake of Jurassic Park (in another 10-15 years) might actually give us a movie that benefits from the advancement of technology (some of the stuff in the book just wasn't possible in the early 90s when they made the movie) and the bits of story and character that were changed or left out of the original. Not saying it should be remade, only that I think a remake that is closer to the book, would be worthwhile in it's own way. Same deal with The Shining, even though the did do a tv mini-series that was closer to the story of the book, it was a pretty low budget affair, and now that that was 20 years ago, I for one would pay money to see a full blown, big screen remake (let's see how It pans out...)
The Godfather is a case where, I think the book is excellent, it gives you a certain perspective into the world and character of Vito Corleone slightly different from the movie (which seems to revolve more around the Michael character). But some of the added story and focus on minor characters doesn't do much in the long run. They really trimmed the book the perfect amount to make the movie, without sacrificing anything too specifically (the back story from the book went nicely into the Godfather Part 2. It's a shame they never got around to making the Sonny Corleone story from the 30's)
Game of Thrones is a lesser example, where I think the books outshine the tv show in every possible way. But the show is great because you get to see some of the crazy shit go down (the Battle of Blackwater Bay, Viserys' crown of gold, etc)
What are some of your favorite examples, where either the book, or the movie, is clearly the better version?
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