You saw the movie but did you read the book?

[notoppings]

There are so many books that we read that get made into a movie, and we all have opinions on that. There are also some classic movies that we watch that some don't realize were books first some examples are *The wizard of Oz* *Frankenstein* *Gone with the Wind* or even *The Ten commandments*.

My question is after having watched a movie, and you see in the credits "based on the book" do you ever go and look up that book and read it?

It's been my experience that most Hollywood adaptations of books have fallen short of the authors vision so I like to read the book to find what was so special about it that someone thought this would make a good movie. How about you ever find a movie then read the book and found a gem of literature? After reading the book did you hate the movie or like the movie that much more?

[weirdel]

In my opinion, you get more out of "the book." Mostly because movies are about "action" and speaking, and you don't get the subtle closeness you get from reading a simple description of a statement, or a quote, or a gesture.
Some movies are very well paced though, despite that fact.

Movies stimulate the eyes and the ears, satisfying what you want to see (I.E. your favorite book character actually doing something on-screen, in faux-reality).
Books are more imaginative. I think it's the only way to let my mind wrap around how a person is feeling in a book. Or, more or less, understand a motive a little better.

In the end, I read so many books that I sometimes end up reading them before they're a movie, and thinking "LOL it'd be funny if they tried to make THAT a movie." And then being bombarded with people around me saying "OMG that movie was awesome! ExplozionBOOMboomLOL!"


L.P.E.

[Homini Lupus]

A story can be turnet into a movie quite smoothleslly, but a book most of the times has too many interlaced ideas to become a movie as is. A good movie can be done taking only a bunch of threads from a book and adding the visual information, wich at times works (By example "blade runner", wich wipes out some themes of "Do androids sleep of electric sheeps?", expecially mercerism, changes a lot the idea of android and adds the visual atmosphere of post nuclear city but is still an enjoiable movie). Still, I would prefer an original story and new ideas rather than using something done by somebody else.

[Linwenilid]

I think it depends on how much of a *purist* you are. :p I'll use a scale to explain my point:

Not annoyed - I became a fan of The Lord of The Rings after the second movie, so I went to see the third without having read the book. I loved it, and when I read the book, it gained an additional dimension, even though the differences were visible.

Kind of annoyed - Around the same time, I became a Harry Potter fan, and I started to read the books. I ended up hating Goblet of Fire because it totally messed up Hermione's character (I don't like Emma Watson's performance a lot, anyway), and I'm fully aware that, if I didnt' know the original character, I wouldn't mind the actress' portrayal of her that much (same for Daniel Radcliffe).

Very Annoyed - I am a huge fan of the Three Musketeers, and can't stand any movie that's not true to the story, or at least the essence, and on top of my dislike is that Disney movie, with Chris O' Donnell as D'Artagnan. Urgh.

[JessicaHavenLea]

I was slightly annoyed by The Order of the Phoenix because they changed details that didn't need to be changed. I'm afraid to what they've done to the Half-Blood Prince.

They almost ruined The Golden Compass. I hople they don't bother making the other two books into movies.

[demvesalius]

I saw the movie Starship Troopers in High School before reading the book in college. The movie is basically the equivalent of a Saturday Night Live sketch of the book. It would take an entire essay to say how the movie and the book were different, but basically in the book the philosophy is much more complex and so is their military strategy.

I also saw "I am Legend" before reading the book. I thought the movie was not at all true to the book. They missed the whole point of why Neville became a "Legend" and the vampires in the book act like mindless zombies when there is actually more complexity to them in the book.

[Jughead]

Very, very few movies do books justice.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was pretty good, though. The 2005 version. I had a couple of peeves with it, but fewer ones than with most book-turned-movies.

[Linwenilid]

They almost ruined The Golden Compass. I hople they don't bother making the other two books into movies.

Keep dreaming. :p Their only goal is to make money; they just try to be coherent with the original story to hide that fact. I liked the Golden Compass; I haven't read the book, though I did read an article about how they'd made the subtones generic rather than specific.

I saw the movie Starship Troopers in High School before reading the book in college. The movie is basically the equivalent of a Saturday Night Live sketch of the book.

The one with Denise Richards? That movie was so bad it was actually hilarious. I didn't know there was a book, and frankly, it makes me happy to know that it actually makes sense.

[NephilimAzrael]

I'm an outrageous purist when it comes to movies conversions of stories, particular comics that I am an avid fan of.

[LionsPride]

To put on a different spin, I have seen movies where I then read the book and was completely let down by the novel. The one I remember being the biggest disappointment was Jaws. It wasn't because the visuals in the movie added so much, rather the book had too much dead space in it. In the book there's a whole poorly written and pointless side story on the main character's wife's love affair.

I was also let down to find the novel "fight club" did not have a whole lot in it that the movie missed. It's not that it was a bad book, but I was looking forward to additional information and there wasn't much. I'd say I enjoyed the movie more than reading the book.

[Hitorijime]

I feel like I'm always searching for the perfect portrayal of my favorite books in movie form. I keep telling myself that no movie can ever be as good as the book, but still I'm hopeful. Usuallly I refuse to see a movie unless I've read the book first. The one exception to my read-first-watch-later rule was Memoirs of a Geisha, which I saw for the first time earlier this year. I really liked the movie, so I went out and read the book. In this case, I would suggest to some people that they watch the movie first, because if they don't like it then they'll really dislike the movie. But that's mainly for people who could be really uptight about the whole "Japanese prostitute" stereotype.

Harry Potter was a nightmare. I refuse to see any more of them. My memory has thankfully obliterated almost every detail of all of those movies, especially the most recent.

I'm really a purist when it comes to books being turned into movies, and I'll get so mad over the stupidest little details that were changed or left out, mostly because it's usually the details that make books so good and realistic. Most movies do a really great job with special effects and such, but it's always a disappointment when they sacrifice plot for flash. Movies can really drip with the cheese sometimes.

[Danisty]

I don't tend to go after the books after watching the movie, usually because I already know how it's going to end, so I'm not that interested. The only movie I can think of that I saw that made me pick up the book was The Count of Monte Cristo. It's been a favorite ever since and no Monte Cristo movie could even scratch the surface of the novel. They wouldn't even be able to get all the characters into a movie.

[Kisai]

Very, very few movies do books justice.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was pretty good, though. The 2005 version. I had a couple of peeves with it, but fewer ones than with most book-turned-movies.


Despte the slow beginning of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, absolutely no one gives such a great performance as Veruca Salt's actress. She's just amazing as the most stuck-up bitchiest little girl in the whole wide world.