Is the book always better than the movie adaptation?

Movie fans and book lovers have been engaged in a perpetual battle ever since 1899 when French director Georges Méliès brought the classic Cinderella story to life in a motion picture. 

Purists argue that the written word can never be truly represented on a screen. But there are those who base their opinions on merit and concede that, sometimes, a movie can leave its paper counterpart in the dust.

There’s no right or wrong answer

Books capture every detail. Every fibre of the imagination can make its way onto paper restricted only by the author’s ability to accurately apply their trade. A well-written account can take the reader there in person and draw them into the story.

Movies, on the other hand, will take you there almost literally, but only to the places that the director was able to replicate. A lot of important details that make a story so popular can end up on the cutting room floor or never get filmed in the first place. 

Some well-known movie adaptations

There are hundreds of examples of books creating the basis for a movie. And as we’ve seen, not everyone approves. The only sensible conclusion is to look for general consensus and take it from there. As Abraham Lincoln once said, “You can’t please all of the people all of the time.”

To Kill a Mockingbird 

This 1960 classic from Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize and was further ingrained into pop culture as a movie directed by Robert Mulligan. Fans of the book were generally impressed with the movie’s portrayal as it held true to two important elements of the story. The main characters were brought to life and developed in tandem and the slow-burning plot didn’t get ahead of itself to simply please the movie audience.

The Godfather

This 1972 film was adapted from a series of novels by Mario Puzo. It tells the story of a New York mafia family headed by Don Corleone and his son’s integration into the family business. The first movie was a huge success and Part II was created shortly afterwards. Both films won the Oscar for Best Picture and they have been widely accepted as two of the greatest movies of all time by both movie fans and literary buffs alike.

The Girl on the Train

Paula Hawkins’s 2015 psychological thriller, The Girl on the Train, became an instant hit when it was published. Readers were gripped by the accounts of three women, all suffering due to their relationships with controlling partners. Movie producers jumped at the chance to bring the story to the big screen, but despite a fantastic performance by Emily Blunt, critics slammed the movie.

Adaptations in other formats

It isn’t just movies that attempt to recreate stories. Books and original screenplays make their way into other areas with varying success and some movies are even turned into books later on. Total Recall and The Omen are just two examples of where this was pulled off successfully.

Some books find themselves the subject of TV shows and, again, the reviews are generally mixed. The Handmaid’s Tale by author Margaret Atwood was picked up by streaming giant Hulu in 2017 and has run for six seasons. But the problem that many book lovers find with a TV show is that it gives the show’s creators licence to drag out a plot and attempt to cash in on the original idea. 

Of course, the same can be said for movies too, with some JRR Tolkien fans feeling that The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, for example, were simply longer than they needed to be.

One of the most popular formats for developing a story is to create a computer game, board game or slot machine. The essence of the original storyline can be captured perfectly in a number of different ways and here are a few of our favourites:

Mobile games

The Goonies, Ted, Lord of the Rings, Grease, Back to the Future, Star Trek, Gladiator, The Dark Knight, The Wizard of Oz, Beetlejuice and many more have all been immortalised thanks to collaborations between rights holders and game producers.

Top designers are able to reproduce key elements of a movie or book and new mobile slot sites are always keen to unleash the latest games to their customers. Between them, titles such as Ted Cashlock, The Goonies Return, The Expendables Megaways, The Phantom of the Opera: Link & Win and The Karate Kid are all busy keeping fans extremely happy.

Board games

Nerd culture is awash with examples of how a great storyline can live on forever in our hearts. And board games are one of the best examples of how to do this. Producing a physical replica of the basic plot and letting people relive their favourite moments over and over again will never grow tiresome. 

Some of the best-known movie and book board games out there include Star Wars: Rebellion,  The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth and Nemesis (heavily based on Alien).

Console games

Anyone who loves video games will know just how frequently a good book or movie will appear on popular games consoles. The ability to produce an interactive version of a classic never ceases to amaze us. Alien: Isolation, Spider-Man, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Jurassic World Evolution, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, GoldenEye 007 and John Wick Hex are all great examples.

Conclusion

There are no right or wrong answers in this debate. Every adaptation of a book is going to be well received by some and damned by others. It’s a matter of taste most of the time. However, there are some adaptations that are just so bad that everyone can agree on and others that are so fantastic that even the most stubborn purists will concede their success.

The editorial unit