Movie adaptations often get a bad reputation and most of the time it is deserved. Book lovers usually face disappointment when their favourite book gets adapted into a movie but there are times when Hollywood creates movies that far succeed their original books.
Here are 9 examples of those movies that did a better job than books
1. Little Women
Credit: The Vox
The classic Louisa May Alcott novel’s adaptation was made by Director Greta Gerwig who is one of the best new directors of 2019 on the scene. Not only was the novel perfect for an adaption but in the movie, it rectifies the ending and adds a gushing new style to it. Every frame of the movie is seen with the artistic vision and functions of Greta Gerwig mixed along with the author Alcott’s semi-autobiographical novel.
The decision for the movie to be shot in chronological order served to highlight the difference between the childhood and adulthood of the characters along with the perception of those particular memories. Also, the little tweaks that were made to the ending were originally what Alcott had in mind but he was forced to change it by the publishers for the novel to have a more satisfactory ending.
2. American Psycho
Credit: Lions Gate/Kobal/Shutterstock
From the beginning, the satiric thriller novel written by Bret Easton Ellis in 1991 is about a young New York City investment banker with a penchant for murders and executions. Most of the critics loved it, several feminists had hated it and most sellers thought it too disturbing to sell and it was also dropped by the original publisher.
Though director Mary Harron’s had decided to turn it into a 2000 movie adaption and she had achieved in making it mostly faithful to the time while she was also able to tone down the dark humour and the gore into becoming more of a social commentary than just sociopathic.
3. The Notebook
Credit: Time Magazine
The 1996 novel by Nicholas Sparks about the infinite love between the characters Noah and Allie wasn’t everyone’s favourite but because of the electric chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. The movie adaptation was more successful in enticing a bigger audience.
4. Planet Of The Apes
Credit: BBC
The 1963 Pierre Boulle (who had also written Bridge on the River Kwai) novel is a decent book, but the 1968 classic had really started the whole franchise and made it an instant classic. The performance of the actors, the score and the overall iconic ending were all so good that many people weren’t even aware of the fact that it was originally a book, to begin with. And to top it off, the 2011 reboot had an even better response.
While the cinematic adaptations were amazing with exploring humanity and our impact, the reboot saga was even more brilliant, it had hit a home run with every single entry of the movies, altogether it had been one of the best movies trilogies in recent memory.
5. The Silence of The Lambs
The Silence of the Lambs was a true classic when it comes to movies and it has gone down history as a wonderful movie which is one of the reasons that people consider it better than its book counterpart. The film had brought the character Hannibal and his way of insight to life in a way that author Thomas Harris could only have imagined from his writing.
The movie had its watchers on edge throughout the movie from the beginning to end with the sheer amount of tension. The performance of the actors Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins was also spectacular and the fact that the movie dominated the Academy Awards also shows just how good the movie was.
6. Bridget Jones’s Diary
Credit: The Cinema Girl
The novel was certainly an enjoyable book which was Bridget’s diary taking shape but the movie was just stronger than the book. The movie was another excellent romance film that had brought the onlookers a bunch of laughs and plenty of emotions in Bridget Jones’s diary.
The movie had just taken the book to a whole new level. The connections that were played through the characters with the on-screen romances and Hugh Grant and Colin Firth were exceptional as well as their rivalry which was also amazing. All the actors and their performance had also helped bring the story to life while also adding their own twist to the characters they played which helped them get even better.
7. The Shining
Credit: indiewire
Stephen King is one of the best authors in his game and it is known that he had hated the adaption movie but that just isn’t right.
The movie was truly creepy from start to finish but the movie The Shining was one of the most iconic movies ever made. Think about it: while the book was amazing in its own rights, the movie is what most people think of when they hear the name. Even if people haven’t watched it, they would still recognise the name, and besides being memorable, the book is simply a top-level movie.
8. Fantastic Mr Fox
Credit: Mental Floss
Roald Dahl is an amazing, well-known author who writes children’s novels, such as Matilda, The Witches, The BFG and of course the famous Charlie and the Chocolate factory. While the 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was also an amazing adaption, Wes Anderson’s adaption of Fantastic Mr Fox is also an amazing and wonderfully creative movie.
The film takes the basic structure and proportions of the original book but it changes it out in the best ways possible and the overall movie is very enjoyable and wickedly funny and heartwarming. The animation of the movie was amazing while the vocal performance from the cast just brings the film to life.
9. Fight Club
Credit: Collider
Even the author Chuck Palahniuk who wrote the original novel in 1996, loves its movie adaption of this classic. He’s also been quoted praising the director, Fincher for his ability to show the original plotline while also able to make adaptations that he himself never thought of making, Brad Pitt’s performance in the movie was also wonderful.
