Seven Films that were better than the Books they were based on!
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APR 21, 2024
NimishAndAkriti
"It is pretty good, but you really should read the book it is based on," if we had a buck for every time we have heard that phrase after watching a film that was based on a book (and so many are), we would have had enough to start a small library of our own. The battle between book lovers and the films they have inspired them is a long one, and has been going on for a while. By and large, to be fair, books tend to have a deeper impact than the films based on them - authors are not restricted by time and production casts and are often able to weave more detail, characters and intricacies in their narrative, than those making a film are. However, there are some occasions when films actually turn out to be WAY better than the books they are based on. These seven are prime examples of the filmed story beating the written word.
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NimishAndAkriti
The Godfather was a bestselling novel by Mario Puzo before Francis Ford Coppola's film came out, but take it from us, the book is VERY different from the film. Puzo's work is spread over a wider canvas and has many more characters, which kind of makes it a little scattered and almost without a central plot. Coppola's film rendition is way sharper and sticks mainly to Don Corleone and his sons. Of course, the casting helps with Brando and Pacino turning in performances of two lifetimes, but the film is sharper and way more impactful.We have lost count of the number of people who bought the book after seeing the film and were disappointed.
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NimishAndAkriti
Ken Kessey's tale of life inside a mental institution with a tyrannically controlling nurse and submissive patients, which changes when a spunky new patient arrives, is a classic in its own right. But truth be told, it is not the easiest book to read and is told from a single perspective. Milos Forman's film on the other hand lets us see the plot from other angles too, marking one of the rare occasions when a film seems to have a wider perspective than the book. The film is also way more taut and sharp than the book - Jack Nicholson as the rebellious patient Randle McMurphy and Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched are wonderful to watch too, giving the characters totally new dimensions that leave a deeper impact than the ones in the book,
NimishAndAkriti
Let us get one thing straight - Thomas Harris' Silence of the Lambs was a terrifyingly good book. It revolves around a young FBI trainee, Clarice Starling, who is asked to talk to a dangerous serial killer, Hannibal Lecter, to try and get a perspective on a number of sickening murders that are taking place. The book is all about how Starling uses Lecter's advice and inputs as she tries to solve the murder with the help of her boss, even while the dangerous Lecter himself uses the opportunity to try and escape. The book was dark and terrifying. So imagine how good the film must be! Jonathan Demme's film adaptation lacked the sheer width of Harris' book, which actually gave us a better idea of the murderer's mind, but then it gave us Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling and the magnificent Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. And suddenly we found ourselves going to the film more often than the book because they were THAT good. The tense conversations riddled with romance, ridicule and revulsion between Starling and Lecter got a whole new dimension when brought to the silver screen by Foster and Hopkins.
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NimishAndAkriti
Steven Spielberg's film about a rogue white shark wreaking havoc on a small town has become such a cult classic, that many people do not even know that it was actually based on a book. Peter Benchley's book which was also called Jaws was actually a bestseller in its own right, although it got mixed reviews. Benchley's book was actually more about how life in the town got affected by the shark attacks and the personal life of its police chief. Spielberg turned the focus totally on to the shark and the hunt for it, and turned what was a mildly thrilling experience into a terrifying rollercoaster that would redefine cinema, with memorable performances from Roy Schneider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw.
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NimishAndAkriti
Another Spielberg film that totally overshadowed the book it was based on. However, unlike Jaws which was hardly a literary classic (although it sold well), Schindler's List was based on a book that had won the prestigious Booker Prize - Schindler's Ark by Thomas Keneally. The book was about how a German industrialist called Oskar Schindler rescues Jews from death in Hitler's Germany by employing them in his factories. The book was very well written but a little tedious and almost scholarly in places, giving out information that was disturbing but whose impact tended to be scattered because of Keneally's slightly long drawn out narrative and wide canvas. Spielberg changed that in a film that was direct, pulled no punches and showed Nazi cruelty at its worst. The film was made in black and white for greater impact and Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson turning in memorable ones. The book disturbed people, the film shocked them. The publishers have since changed the name of the book to Schindler's List. Need we say more?
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NimishAndAkriti
Yippee-Ki-Yay! Another film that many do not even know is actually based on a book. Bruce Willis' epic terrorist takedown in Nakatomi Towers, with a newbie Alan Rickman playing a suave villain have pretty much eroded any memory folks might have had of Nothing Lasts Forever, the book by Roderick Thorp on which the film is based. Director John McTiernan did make some changes to the plot of the book, which actually had a retired detective rescuing his daughter from a terrorist attack in a multi-storied building, and also changed the name of the lead character from John Leyland to John McCLane. Stallone is believed to have turned down the role, but aided with good acting, a super sharp script and amazing action, Die Hard cleaned out all traces of Nothing Lasts Forever, which true to its name has largely disappeared from store, And no, the book did not have McClane saying "Yippee-Ki-Yay"!
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NimishAndAkriti
David Frankel's comedy about a young journalist coping with the whims and fancies of an eccentric and often arrogant editor of a leading fashion magazine is markedly superior to Lauren Weisberger's book on which it is based. The film's cast, most notably Meryl Streep as the editor Miranda Priestley, ably supported by Anne Hathway as her terrified young journo, make the film particularly spectacular. Frankel also adds a few new twists to the film, making it significantly sharper than Weisberger's book, which frankly can at times get a little dull and has too many characters. Weisberger's wit and dark humour often got diluted in the pages of the book, which tried to cover too many bases. The film was way sharper - you ended up hating Priestley and yet waiting for her next intimidating insult!