wilkes

Carolina Moon was great by Nora Roberts but the movie left some of the imagination out. (I dont usually admit to reading the romance novel --really I am a closet reader of the genre.) While on subject Nicholas Sparks rocks. The notebook was fantastic. Too short. but great read.

The pilots wife by anita shreeve was really good both in print and on screen but it ended way too abruptly.

Friday night lights MUCH better than the movie. The opening description of imagery was off the hook.

In her shoes was much better on paper.

Cold mountain is a toss up. The movie followed very closely but the metaphors were lost in translation. There was alot of symbolism and literary reference that I missed in the movie--also a really cool quote that was thesis material never made it on the screen. The actors and actress did a great job in being the characters--so that may be the exception.

Flags of our fathers was much better in print. I hated the movie. The best part of the film was the credits You just cant make a two hour movie on that book. It missed alot of symbolisms and didnt explore the characters like the book did. After reading it you felt like you knew the characters. They were personable and real. On screen they didnt give enough insight into the emotions that the soliders went through.

Day after Tomorrow was a great read and really had me worried about global warming until I saw the movie. It didnt have the page turner effect.

Someone should start a thread on books that should be movies. I dont know why--But I always have to see the movie after reading the book. Its fun to see how imagination gets twisted and made into a movie.

I didnt read Hitchhikers Guide to the Glaxy but the movie was so funny!! I liked the robot.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas almost kept up with the book when the movie was made. Hunter S. Thompson was involved in the movie making process, which made a huge difference.

I heard the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was really good. I've read the book several times, but have never seen the movie. If anyone has any insights, let me know.

I know it's "lifetime"...but the Nora Roberts movies are pretty good.

I rarely like the movie better, but one big exception was Like Water for Chocolate.

the only movie that was better than the book is The Devil Wears Prada...the book was horrible, but I loved the movie...the LOR movies were very very good, but I have to say it does not surpass the greatness of Tolkien's books!!

Any of Nicholas Sparks books are better than the movie. ESPECIALLY The Notebook which I consider his best ever. I was also sorely disappointed with A Walk to Remeber. I did enjoy Message in a Bottle, only because I love Kevin Costner.

I think books are almost always better than the movie! I think its a more rare thing when a movie is better than a book. Case in point, I loved the movie Stardust, so I picked up the book, thinking it would be even better. WRONG! Book absolutely stinks!

Pet Cemetery was so much better than the movie

My list of books better than movies:
Children of Men
Lonesome Dove (also any other book written by Larry McMurtry that has been turned into a movie)
The Stand
...I could write more, but I don't have the time...I agree with everyone else that books are sooo much better than the movies that are based on them.

I agree with smplyuniq that the books are probably always better than the movies.
A better and more interesting question would be to ask if anyone knows of any movie/TV show that is actually better than the book/story.

The Davinci Code. The movie was awful.

The Beach, by Alex Garland. By far my favorite book, and one that I've read more than a dozen times and still appreciate. But the movie with Leonardo diCaprio? Pathetic.

Of course, I also think that all of the Harry Potter movies are horrible, while the books are excellent.

Oh, and there's the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Whoever wrote the screenplay for that movie just didn't get it.

As I type, I keep thinking of others, but I think I'll let it go... for now

The book is ALWAYS better than the movie. There's no way Hollywood can came close to our own imagination and an hour and a half movie can't go into the depth of feelings (not to mention how hard it is to communicate that in pictures) that a full book can. Movies can be great, but nothing will ever replace a really good book. Just my opinion...

Jurasic Park, The Relic, The Dark Half, Dreamcatcher

Can you think of books that you read that was better than the movie?
Try "Must Love Dogs" by Claire Cook. If you liked the movie Just Like Heaven then you'll love the book it was based on "If Only It Were True" by Marc Levy.
Also try "Tuck Everlasting" by Natalie Babbitt.