There always comes a moment after watching a movie when someone turns to you and says: “Yeah, the book was better.” And to be fair, books usually have more room to dive deeper into characters, world-building, and all the little details that don’t always make it to the screen. But every once in a while, a movie somehow pulls off the impossible. Whether it’s a stronger ending, better pacing, or fantastic visuals — some adaptations manage to outshine the books they were based on.
Over on Reddit, people are sharing the movies they believe are better than their original books. I gotta say, I was shocked by how different some of these stories ended up being. Here are the top responses:
—MovieMike007
“God that book was disturbing — and not in the right way.
Every character was a complete and total dick, I didn’t even really care if the shark got them. Also the cheating thing being presented so coyly was weird.”
—These-Software1991
“I believe Steven Spielberg said that, while reading the book, he was actively rooting for the shark.”
—Tight_Contact_9976
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2. “Can I answer this question by asking you guys a question? Have you all read The Godfather?”
—Existing_Set2100
“It’s this. Coppola made a brave editorial decision to not include the side story about the woman’s massive vagina.”
—dersnappychicken
—Acrobatic-Wave-9520
“Best answer every time this is asked. Throws his medal of honour and accidentally kill someone? Greased feces themed professional wrestler named ‘The Human Shit’? WTF is this?”
—kojance
“They took the idea of the book and made something with it. The book itself is terrible.”
—xwhy
“It annoys me to think how much money the author of that absolutely terrible book made because of that movie.”
—ApocalypseChicOne
—LearSpecSilo
“Absolutely, and it’s so improved, and takes so little from the book, I assume the only reason it’s ‘based on’ the book is legal issues/they liked the title.”
—MoridinCP
“FR, I stopped after about 50 pages. Couldn’t believe it was the same material. Skipped around a bit and was similarly confused. Looked up online discussions and saw it topping many of these lists. So disappointing. The movie is one of my favourites and the book just isn’t even in the same stratosphere. All time great adaptation.”
—FTDisarmDynamite
5. “Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Good god. Trust me on this. Even the author retconned the thing in a sequel.”
—GringoJones
“I was an avid book reader as a kid and after seeing Roger Rabbit in the theatre, I HAD to go read the book. I wish I could go back and un-read that book now.”
—Sinister_Crayon
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6. “Maybe controversial, but Stand By Me is better than its book, The Body by Stephen King. Reiner directs the characters incredibly accurate to the book, keeps Gordie’s one good short story — whereas the book has a few more that seem odd for a child like Gordie to write (classic King stuff), and the ending is different. It’s reported that King actually liked the movie’s ending better himself. Also, complete bias, I enjoy that the movie is filmed in Oregon and not Maine.”
—PDXmadeMe
7. “Stardust is so much better than the book.”
—lukewilliam
“This is the first one I think of for these kinds of questions. I saw the movie, loved it so much and then wanted to read the book but I felt like the movie just was more fun and the characters better and so was the pacing.”
—ch4rms
8. “The ending of Stephen King’s The Mist is better in the movie IMO. It is a great ending that took me by complete surprise.”
—RobotIcHead
“Even King agrees that the movie ending was better than his story ending.”
—RaltarArianrhod
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9. “The Notebook. No, really. The big reveal happens in the book FAR too early and totally destroys the rhythm of the story.”
—MadPiglet42
10. “Blade Runner.”
—Signalrunn3r
“I love the movie and recently read the book. I still prefer the movie, but the stories are largely different in a way that I would consider the comparison less relevant. They share a skeleton of a story, but the flesh put on the bones is completely different.
That being said, I think they picked the best parts of the book to make into a movie.”
—estafan7
11. “The Bourne Identity. Jason Bourne in the movies is the Matt Damon badass we all know and love. In the book, Jason Bourne kidnaps Marie and slaps the shit out of her multiple times. Ick.”
—Inevitable_Collar366
12. “How to Train Your Dragon. Hands down. The books didn’t even have half the heart.”
—Marconan
“Well, the books didn’t have a soundtrack that slapped so hard it gave whiplash.”
—TheDogofTears
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13. “Under The Tuscan Sun was a totally different movie than the book. The movie was life-changing for me after a bad marriage. The book was not about starting life over after betrayal. Glad I saw the movie first.”
—Juanna_B_Clever2
14. “The Lord of the Rings. No Tom Bombadil, and I could see the beautiful landscape and didn’t have to read nine pages about it.”
—sonder_ling
What’s a movie that’s better than the book? Let us know in the comments, or share your picks in this form to remain anonymous!
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Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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