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Huffington Post Readers' Picks: 7 Movies That Are Better Than The Book (PHOTOS)

The Huffington Post   First Posted: 11/03/10 09:21 AM ET   Updated: 05/25/11 07:10 PM ET

Late last month we showed that the tired saying, "the book is so much better than the movie," doesn't always hold true. "Sideways," "The Princess Bride," and "Psycho" among them, we compiled a list of 15 cinematic masterpieces that surpass their literary counterparts. Nevertheless, you came out in droves with many, many more.

So, here's a list of 7 films that were repeatedly mentioned in the thousand-plus comments left on the last slide show.

Still, are there any more? What other movies are better than the book? Also, did readers miss the mark on any of these picks? Let us know ...

This Adaptation
Should've Stayed On The Page
Burns The Book

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Top 5 Adaptations
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Late last month we showed that the tired saying, "the book is so much better than the movie," doesn't always hold true. "Sideways," "The Princess Bride," and "Psycho" among them, we compiled a list of...
Late last month we showed that the tired saying, "the book is so much better than the movie," doesn't always hold true. "Sideways," "The Princess Bride," and "Psycho" among them, we compiled a list of...
 
 
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04:46 PM on 11/25/2010
Disagree with almost all the choices on there, except MAYBE Planet of the Apes. The Godfather is definitely one that should have made the cut. As is Spartacus by Howard Fast, A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes, Walkabout by James Vance Marshall, The Beguiled by Thomas Cullinen, and Bullitt by Frank L Pike.
10:20 AM on 11/13/2010
The Godfather. Puzo's book was good but Coppola took it to another level with the movie.
06:46 AM on 11/09/2010
I had to re watch and re read A clockwork orange for a play i had to review, the book definitely tops the films, the review can be found at the link below :)

http://cult101.blogspot.com
08:58 PM on 11/07/2010
I forgot Harry Potter and the...whoops, no.

Although a case could be made for Order of the Phoenix. God that book just went on and on. The movie was only slightly more tolerable.
08:53 PM on 11/07/2010
Children of Men. The movie was phenomenal, the book by P D James which I read some time ago was merely 'meh', though it had, of course, a great concept. The movie, I thought, was pants-wettingly brilliant.

Agree with the earlier poster about 'High and Low'. The book King's Ransom was pretty good, though I'm not a huge fan of crime fiction, but Kurosawa's adaptation was superb, one of his best films up there with Seven Samurai, Ikiru, Yojimbo and Red Beard.
06:45 AM on 11/09/2010
I totally agree, amazing film, so-so book. :)

http://cult101.blogspot.com
02:38 PM on 11/07/2010
I agree with all bar Carrie, the film is good, but come on have you read the novel. It takes a lot to beat Stephen King, and i don't think the film does it.

http://cult101.blogspot.com
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01:23 PM on 11/07/2010
Ah.... here's one. The original film version of "Get Carter" with Michael Caine. Considerably better than the Ted Lewis book it was based on "Jack's Return Home."
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JDM73
male, 38, writer/draughtsman/ex-musician
06:43 PM on 11/06/2010
"Carrie"? No. Good movie, great book (the indirect way in which King told his story made all the difference).
Actually, I would have put "Naked Lunch" on this list. I'm a big fan of Burroughs but, while "Naked Lunch" is his best-known work, it's far from his finest (that would be "Cities of the Red Night"). My attention wandered when I read the book, but David Cronenberg did a great job of conveying the flavor of Burroughs's writing in the film.
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
SvrWx
Eileen, toora tooluri Eh..
01:10 PM on 11/06/2010
Then there are the movies in which they are better than the book but in the same right, the book is better than the movie. Two come to mind:

"All Quiet on the Western Front". The book is amazing but the movie is to. It almost appears that when you read the book it is superior to the movie, but then you see the movie and it seems better than the book.

the next is " To Kill a Mockingbird".
02:40 PM on 11/07/2010
No!! Just no, come on Harper lee is brilliant. I suppose the film is also amazing but i'm not sure if you can say that

http://cult101.blogspot.com
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
SvrWx
Eileen, toora tooluri Eh..
03:30 PM on 11/07/2010
She is brilliant, but the movie is so well made that when I watch the movie, I find it stands on it's own and appears better than the book. But then I read the book and it is so much better.

One book I wish they would make a better movie of is "Lord of the Flies".
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Fran Jaime
My micro-bio is empty but my life is full!
02:58 AM on 11/06/2010
While I like the movie version of "Carrie", the ending is not nearly half as good as the book's.
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03:54 PM on 11/05/2010
"Clockwork Orange", "2001: A Space Odyssey", and "The Shining". Is there a pattern here?
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01:14 PM on 11/07/2010
The genius of Stanley Kubrick?
02:40 PM on 11/07/2010
very much so. The film is tonnes better!

http://cult101.blogspot.com
01:18 PM on 11/05/2010
The fact that "LA Confidential" is on this list proves what the inclusion of "Fight Club" and "Carrie" made me suspect - whoever compiled this list didn't read the books. Or at least, needs to refresh their memory with a re-reading.
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BlackJAC
It's better to be a black king than a white knight
01:55 PM on 11/08/2010
I would suspect that the choices were made based on the styles of the books in question.  LA Confidential and Fight Club aren't straightforward prose, which is probably why preference is given to the movie adaptations.
08:57 AM on 11/05/2010
Every Stephen King movie has been the pits except the first "Carrie."
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
SvrWx
Eileen, toora tooluri Eh..
01:06 PM on 11/06/2010
I disagree. The majority have been horrid but the few that weren't are: The Shining, The Mist, Carrie, and Stand by Me.
02:42 PM on 11/07/2010
King movies are on occasion good, its just that King is so much better.

http://cult101.blogspot.com
12:27 PM on 11/13/2010
I thought "Misery" was pruty darn good.
08:55 AM on 11/05/2010
The movie, "The Firm" had a much cleaner ending than the book. In the book, Tom Cruise's character was left to run from the mob forever - his life was ruined.
07:17 AM on 11/05/2010
Movie better than the book, says ye? Every Tom Clancy story that was made into a movie.
10:15 AM on 11/13/2010
I totally agree. Clancy books just seem to go on and on and on. Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford's turns as Jack Ryan were all pretty good, especially compared to the books.