I'm guessing that most of you know that I'm a bit of a Puritan when it comes to book-to-movie adaptations. Books are more than just pages with words on them to me, as I'm sure many here would agree; books are an escape, a whole new reality, a brand new world, a dream come true and Heaven on Earth, all rolled up into one. They're magic, plain and simple. Possibly the purest and most subtle of magic.
So when some director decides to bring a book to life, I'm usually suspicious. But every now and then, I find myself surprised. Every so often, there comes a movie that's actually--gasp!--better than the book. For me, these movies are:
The Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
Stand by Me
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (US version)
In my opinion, the thing that makes these movies stand head and shoulders above the other adaptations, what makes them stand even taller than the books they were based on, is passion. Whoever was in charge of these films had a passion for the story, a passion that saw straight to the naked soul of the story and ripped it, whole, from the pages.
Even Peter Jackson didn't accomplish that, with all his special effects and years of filming. At least, not in my opinion.
So! Now that I've had my long-winded explanation, what do y'all think? Any other movies out there that are "better than the book"?
So when some director decides to bring a book to life, I'm usually suspicious. But every now and then, I find myself surprised. Every so often, there comes a movie that's actually--gasp!--better than the book. For me, these movies are:
The Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
Stand by Me
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (US version)
In my opinion, the thing that makes these movies stand head and shoulders above the other adaptations, what makes them stand even taller than the books they were based on, is passion. Whoever was in charge of these films had a passion for the story, a passion that saw straight to the naked soul of the story and ripped it, whole, from the pages.
Even Peter Jackson didn't accomplish that, with all his special effects and years of filming. At least, not in my opinion.
So! Now that I've had my long-winded explanation, what do y'all think? Any other movies out there that are "better than the book"?