Movies that are better than their books

'Jaws' (1975)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

The Oscar-winning film undeniably improved upon Peter Benchley's bestselling novel, expertly paring it down to its bare essentials, erasing a strange Mafia subplot, and creating an explosive climax where there wasn't one.

'The Princess Bride' (1987)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

A classic film for past, present, and future generations, the novel's author, William Goldman, wrote the screen adaptation, so there was not much controversy to be had.

'Jackie Brown' (1997)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

Elmore Leonard's 'Rum Punch' was a great novel about an air stewardess mixed up in crime, but Quentin Tarantino made the protagonist a black woman, and gave Pam Grier her career-best role.

'Planet of the Apes' (1968)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

French author Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel is a satirical social allegory about a journalist and a professor who stumble upon an intelligent ape culture, but the film adaptation was groundbreaking and featured a climactic twist that the book lacked.

'Psycho' (1960)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

Alfred Hitchcock changes Robert Bloch's one-line dismissal of Marion Crane into an iconic slasher cinema moment, and he imbues the story with much more suspense and surprise than a book ever could.

'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

Robert James Waller's tale of an affair between a National Geographic photographer and a lonely Iowa farm wife is a book people love to hate, especially when compared to the film, whose leads are two Hollywood legends.

'Blade Runner' (1982)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

The novel 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' is a sci-fi classic in its own right, but the liberties the film took in its loose adaptation, and the ambiguity of whether Deckard is a replicant, changed the entire energy of it.

'Drive' (2011)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

Like James Sallis's novel, the film is a lot of style over substance, but that kind of technique just works better on-screen in this case. Gosling's restraint, and then his bursts of violence, make a much stronger visual impact.

'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

The film shifted perspective from Chief (Will Sampson), who narrates the novel, to McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), and the central conflict between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched became so much more dynamic.

'The Shining' (1980)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

Stephen King was famously unhappy with Kubrick's adaptation of his novel. He didn't like how it diminished Jack's supernatural possession, but grounding Jack's horror in the natural turned out even scarier.

'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

While the film cuts away extraneous subplots and characters, its best feature is Jodie Foster as Clarice and Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter.

'Jurassic Park' (1993)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

The film was a huge technological feat for its time, and its remakes still pale in comparison to the original. Spielberg wows with the fully realized dinosaurs, but also in the way he makes the characters more developed than Michael Crichton's book. 

'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

This film is considered by many to be one of the greatest of all time, and yet people often forget it's based on Stephen King's novella. There's a good reason for that.

'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

James Fenimore Cooper's novel is an 18th-century classic, but by today's standards, it's slow and dense. The film, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, is fast-paced and much easier to get through.

'L.A. Confidential' (1997)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

James Ellroy's novel is a neo-noir classic, but the film adaptation wins this round because of the way it seamlessly captures 1950s Los Angeles.

'Requiem for a Dream' (2000)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

Much like all of Darren Aronofsky's films, 'Requiem for a Dream' contains haunting imagery that stays with you long after it's over, and the imagery far surpasses the book's descriptions.

'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

To be fair, Paul Thomas Anderson reportedly only used the first 150 pages of Upton Sinclair's 'Oil!' for 'There Will Be Blood.' However, the film transforms the dark satire of the novel into something truly formidable, entertaining, and affecting.

RACHEL MCADAMS and RYAN GOSLING in THE NOTEBOOK, 2004, directed by NICK CASSAVETES. Copyright NEW LINE CINEMA / MOSELEY, MELISSA.

'Jaws' (1975), 'The Princess Bride' (1987), 'Jackie Brown' (1997), 'Planet of the Apes' (1968), 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Bridges of Madison County' (1995), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Drive' (2011), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), 'The Shining' (1980), 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991), 'Jurassic Park' (1993), 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992), 'L.A. Confidential' (1997), 'Requiem for a Dream' (2000), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008)

RACHEL MCADAMS and RYAN GOSLING in THE NOTEBOOK, 2004, directed by NICK CASSAVETES. Copyright NEW LINE CINEMA / MOSELEY, MELISSA.

Post Related