Team-BHP - The English Movies Thread (No Spoilers Please)

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Originally Posted by mobike008 (Post 1327812)

Caught up on "The Odessa File" starring Jon Voight. Based on Fredrick Forsythe novel, it was quite good and Jon Voight acted well in this Nazi thriller.

However, i found the book much better.

3.5/5

Coincidentally I am reading the same book for the third time!! FF is a master of his art.

Does anyone remember any movie based on a book which ended up being better than the book itself?

Watched Dog Day Afternoon starring Al Pacino. The movie is about an unprofessionally executed bank job by three friends led by Pacino's character. It's a very good movie but I was a tad disappointed because I expected/wanted more firework in John Cazale's character. BTW John Cazale played Fredo in GF2.

Dog Day Afternoon is a classic, man. Darkly comic and good performances, although a tad slow.

A better movie than the book.....ummmm.....Da Vinci code:D, maybe Angels and Demons as well. The stories on the books totally sucked. Details were nice though, which were captured well in the movie as well.

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Originally Posted by anurag_p80 (Post 1330012)

A better movie than the book.....ummmm.....Da Vinci code:D, maybe Angels and Demons as well. The stories on the books totally sucked. Details were nice though, which were captured well in the movie as well.

My wife who had read 'Da Vinci Code' before watching the movie felt the book was much better than the movie adaptation. As for me, since i hadnt read the book, couldnt comment.

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Originally Posted by anurag_p80 (Post 1330012)

That's strange. My wife & I have read the book much before it was made a movie. We were disappointed with the movie. In fact the book blows away the movie, too many details are left out from the movie to fit into the 2 hour show. Also, I didn't understand why they made Bishop Aringarosa as a bad guy in the movie, in the book is misled by the Teacher.

Also, one of my colleague read the book after seeing the movie. In fact, it was the first novel read in his entire life. He was literally shaken to the core that books can so much better than the movies, which was certainly the case here.

Angel & Demons is again an extremely good book, with vivid narration of every major point of interest in Rome. Hope they don't screw it up.

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Originally Posted by benbsb29 (Post 1330139)

My wife who had read 'Da Vinci Code' before watching the movie felt the book was much better than the movie adaptation. As for me, since i hadnt read the book, couldnt comment.

I agree with your wife, the movie is nowhere close to the book.

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Originally Posted by Samurai (Post 1330166)

Second that. The movie is sort of condensed, it leaves out many other underlying things. I can't remember them now, but there are plenty of things I felt were missing in the movie.

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Originally Posted by JVH (Post 1330189)

Lord of the rings is one movie which I remember.

Though it's visually stunning and one of my favourites, I still don't think it does justice to the book. Just my two cents

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Originally Posted by JVH (Post 1330189)

Lord of the rings is one movie which I remember.

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Originally Posted by f450 (Post 1330195)

Though it's visually stunning and one of my favourites, I still don't think it does justice to the book. Just my two cents

I have read the entire series including the Hobbit. I think it made more justice to the book than any other movie, but it is still so far away from book. A movie can never make justice to the book because the format doesn't allow it. The books have too many details that can't be fitted into movie format, it might confuse the audience.

BTW, I was quite shocked how much they deviated from the book in the "Return of the King". Faramir never tries to take Frodo to Minas Tirith, they make him look petty in the movie. Also, they completely removed the battle of Bywater in Shire. That would have been very interesting. I know, that would have made the movie 5 hours long.

I never read Godfather, so I can't comment.

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Originally Posted by Samurai (Post 1330221)

Agreed and as you said it is very difficult to capture the details in the movie. Most of the times, the story is edited with the help of the author/writer to capture the theme of the book with changes here and there.

Regarding Godfather, I liked the book better. The movie became a hit because of outstanding performances from the actors and the direction. Very few movies can match this masterpiece. The writer Mario Puzo himself couldn't write a better script after this.

Lord of the Rings is a stunning book. Am a big fan of JRR and own all his books, including The Hobbit. Lots of details from the book were missing. Movie, although well made, does not even come close to the book.

Samurai, point about Da Vinci code is well made. What I was pointing to is the story in the book is very lame and uninspiring. Only all the symbolism/ interpretations and tidbits about Da Vinci and the Illuminati make the book interesting. I felt the story in the movie was tighter and more engrossing, albeit slow. Similarly, the story in Angels & Demons is just okay sorts, and the ending is ultra lame. Heard they changed the ending in the movie. Hope they changed it for the better:D.

Otherwise, any book centered movie that I can think of, be it Name of the Rose, Godfather, Day of the Jackal, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Bourne series et al don't even come close to the book. My 2 cents...

Since i used to be a book-worm before moving onto enjoying movies. I still consider books to be supreme in the way each detail is etched out that remains in your memory forever, whereas a movie cannot bring out so much detail, including the movie Godfather.

As a matter of fact, whoever read that book may agree with me, the book is simply awesome and i also agree that probably that is one movie that came a bit close to actual novel.:)