Films that are better than the book upon.......

[peter]

which they are based.

We are frequently hearing from people who having seen a film made from a screenplay based on a book, that "The book was much better". This is I guess not surprising in itself: a book can paint a vivid internal picture for us, explain lots of nuances of feeling and emotion that a film is hard placed to replicate. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but they are all on the surface, on one level if you like, where a book can explore a subject in much greater depth and detail. But there must be cases where the pure skill of a director achieves the near impossible and transcends the work on which it was based. One example which just might be a case in point was Schindler's List. I read Keanelly's book first and thoroughly enjoyed it, saw the film and was truly amazed at what Speilberg had achieved and then last year returned to give the book a second reading. To my surprise I found I was struggling with it and (to my shame) put it down in favour of the next book on my pile.

Now I come to think of it, there are other books of somewhat the same ilk that also fit this category: Bridge of Spies would be one and Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy another, but somehow (and I'm not sure why) these examples all seem like cheating a bit. They are all, excepting the last, documentary style works, and in the last case I just am not all that keen on those slow burn spy thrillers of the cold war period. No, what I am after here is books and films where the film just simply outdoes the book by being better. Any candidates you guys can think of on the spot?

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Most James Bond movies were better than their book versions. If I recall, the books were modern-day equivalents of pulp novels.

The Da Vinci Code was a better movie than it was a book. Dan Brown can be painful to read, in my opinion.

Although not a book, Blade Runner was a better movie than its source material, the short story "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?".

[Cail]

Blade Runner is awful and pales in comparison to the book. Umpteen zillion edits and "director's cuts" have helped, but it still is just atmospheric mumbo-jumbo.

I've found the le Carre adaptations to generally be improvements on the books, particularly The Night Manager.

And I completely agree on the Bond books/movies.