It's time again for the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge hosted by Long and Short Reviews.…
Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Movies that were better than the books
It’s time again for the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge hosted by Long and Short Reviews.
Today’s topic is: Movies that were better than the books
Okay, I have to admit, this topic took a LOT of thinking. Obviously, usually the book is better than the movie… richer, more detailed. There are also some movies I’ve seen based on books I never read (for example, “The Giver”).
Then there are the movies that I think stand strong on their own, but where the books offer additional insight. I know I’m going to get some haters on this, but I truly believe the Harry Potter movies were incredibly well made. Also, the Hunger Games movies. Did they leave out details and change some things? Absolutely–or they’d have needed to be a 20 season TV show, not movies. I also think the Lord of the Rings movies were well made (not so much The Hobbit–while it was a good story, they REALLY changed the book’s story for the movie). IMHO, the Harry Potter, Hunger Games and LOTR movies kept the meat of the story while still managing to reduce it to fit the time they had. However, I do NOT believe the movies were better than the books.
And this post is supposed to be about that. So, in recent years, I can only think of one movie (trilogy) that in my opinion was better than the books:
The Maze Runner trilogy.
Y’all, I read the books and they were BORING. It was all I could do to get through them. Decent story, but S.O. V.E.R.Y. D.U.L.L.
The movies took a lot of liberties with the story, and changed a few pretty big things (including the ending) but I think the movies were awesome and the changes did not hurt my feelings at all (likely because I feel as if the books were just abysmal). I loved the movies. I own them, and in this age of streaming virtually anything and everything, I don’t buy many movies anymore.
So there you have it… the only answer I could think of that fit the question.
I’m looking forward to seeing other answers this week!
I haven’t seen these movies. I’m not that big into sci-fi, but that’s okay. Dh watched them and said they were good. Great post. I had to think long and hard about this one, too.
They honestly aren’t really SciFi — more dystopian adventure. You should give them a try.
It’s been a hot minute, but I remember enjoying the books (at least the first one.. I don’t remember if I finished the trilogy). But.. saying that, I’ll have to watch the movies since you like them 🙂 My post is here: http://jhthomas.blogspot.com/2020/11/wednesday-weekly-blogging-challenge_11.html
Definitely give them a try. They’re really quite well done!
I couldn’t agree with you more about Maze Runner. I was never able to finish the books.
I have to admit I skimmed, especially book two. Book one and the first movie followed each other pretty well, but the second movie really went well off the plot in a good way.
Great choices. I agree with you on Harry Potter and LOTR. Didn’t watch or read the hunger games. Thanks for sharing. Here’s mine.
Oh, you should read (and watch, but definitely read) The Hunger Games trilogy. There’s a reason they were so popular.
I completely agree with you on your choices.
Thanks for stopping by, Patrick!