4 Books Where the Movie Was Actually Better

[00:00:00]It is widely thought that books are better than the movies, bar none. And while I tend to agree with that sentiment, here are four instances where I believe the movies are far superior to their book counterparts. Hello everyone, welcome or welcome back to the channel.

[00:00:14]My name is Sam. I read books. And today we're looking at four books that didn't really hold a candle to their movie counterparts. We got a wide variety here. here. We got non-fiction, we got classics, we got some heralded childhood classics as well. So, grab a snack, grab your favorite beverage, and let's just dive right in. First book here, I just finished specifically for this video. I needed something a bit lighter to read, and I picked up and thoroughly enjoyed ET, the extraterrestrial, and his adventures on Earth. The book I thought was good, but the movie I believe is far superior. Maybe it's nostalgia wearing off on me, a movie I watched a couple of times in my childhood.

[00:01:03]But yeah, I just liked the movie adaptation better, the 1982 adaptation, if I'm not mistaken, by Stephen Spielberg. Important to note that I believe the book came out after the movie. Also, excuse the book. The front cover just popped off when I opened it for the first time. This is a rather old edition.

[00:01:23]But yes, the book was written after the movie. Um, and essentially just follows the screenplay verbatim. I thought the book was good. You get a little bit of insight into different characters thoughts and things of that nature. You know, a lot more about the mother figure. Even the dog has some thoughts, the dog Harvey. Um, so that was sort of cool to look at and read about, but this might just be nostalgia talking to me, but I I I thought the movie was far far better. Um, a lot more No spoilers here, but the ending was a lot more heartbreaking and thus rewarding in the movie as opposed to its book counterpart. Now, that's not to say the book isn't good. If you want to revisit this story, definitely try to find a book copy because it does give you a few insights that the movie does not cover, but just due to it being ET by Steven Spielberg, just a classic childhood movie, the movie far outweighs the book in my opinion.

[00:02:28]Now, keeping with the theme of movies from the past, movies of our childhood, things of that nature, this I did not know was a book even to begin with. And I am sure that maybe some of you didn't know this as well. A Christmas story originally a book by Jean Shepard. Yes, the famous Christmas movie that you watch every single year started off as a book. And there's probably a reason why you haven't heard of it. It's because it's not all that. Obviously, the movie is amazing, something you watch with your friends and family every single year, where the book tells a bit of a different tale, and that I think is why it isn't as popular. This book takes place over the course of a couple of years rather than uh just one Christmas season. We sort I think we I believe we get two years in the life of our main characters and it is just a little bit disjointed for it being a short book. There is a bunch of jumping around and it's just not as magical as its movie counterpart. Now, I did immersively read this book last holiday season. That is by listening to it on audio whilst flipping through the pages and following along that way. And I found that to be very rewarding. The audiobook version of this is quite spectacular. It has done something that no other audiobook that I've listened to has done before in the past, and that is it had background ambiance noise and sound effects, things of that nature.

[00:04:04]For example, when we're in the shopping mall, there are the background sounds of folks shopping and feet scuttling and people checking out the ruffling of bags whilst that part of the story is taking place. Um, there's a scene that happens during a drought during the summer. That part is not in the movie as we all know and there are sort of like rustic summer sounds and and you really feel like it is hot and you're in a drought yourself.

[00:04:30]So, for that reason, it is still a fine book. Um, rather short as well.

[00:04:35]Obviously, no harm in picking this one up. 130 pages. Maybe check it out on audio if you are on the go for the holiday season. You will not be disappointed. But the movie does hold a special place and I believe most of our hearts and thus I preferred it to its book counterpart. Now the most modern movie on this list. Say that three times fast. Most modern movie on this list.

[00:05:01]When this movie came out, it was heralded as one of the greatest films probably ever shot. Um maybe that is a bit of a hyperbole, but you'll understand when I show this book. The book is American Prometheus.

[00:05:16]Movie is Oppenheimer.

[00:05:19]And what can you even say? The movie Oppenheimer is just in a league of its own when it comes to modern film making.

[00:05:26]I saw that movie in theaters when it came out. The soundtrack is epic. Just the twists and the turns. It turns this quite chunky and sometimes cumbersome non-fiction novel into a very easily digestible Hollywood film, so to speak. And I know what you're going to say. You know, the book is better than the movie. You get more detail and color into the lives of uh R.J. Oppenheimer and his associates, but the movie is just something else.

[00:05:55]This is one of my favorite non-fiction books of all time, but I do prefer the movie to this book. it did get a little bit bogged down in the nitty-gritty details of the scientific explorations and some side characters that aren't really too important towards the latter half of the book. Needless to say, I did thoroughly enjoy my time with this book, hence why I have kept it around for years and years. I believe I read this three years ago. Um, and it is still on my shelf to this day.

[00:06:24]That is a testament to how good this book is, but maybe even a testament to how much better the movie is. If you have not seen the movie, definitely give it a watch. I don't think you need to necessarily read the book first and foremost to get the most out of that movie. It is sort of just on its own epic scale out of its above its peers.

[00:06:44]Like I said, soundtrack is amazing. Some of the shots are really good. Most of the shots, I would say, are really good.

[00:06:51]And I believe it just tells a really good story in a digestible way. Not that this doesn't. It just got a little bit bogged down and that's why I'm making this video. I preferred the movie of American Prometheus or Oppenheimer.

[00:07:06]And last one on this list here, this might be the biggest discrepancy between how I enjoyed the book versus how I enjoyed the movie. This is the one sort of classic on this list. an American classic um written in the 17 1700s or maybe no early 1800s 1820s so to speak.

[00:07:32]A recent read by me and that is The Last of the Moheakans by James Phenomore Cooper. Now I watched the 1992 film adaptation of The Last of the Moheakans just this past week and boy oh boy was it a fantastic film. finished this book, was not left all too amazed by the story it told. Um, and everyone recommended I watch the movie, and so I did just that. And I think I appreciate the story more after seeing what the movie sort of did to the story itself. Not only is the soundtrack epic, one of the most well-known and well-loved main themes of any movie to date is found in The Last Moheakans. I thought the effects were great, the practical effects. Obviously, it was taken during the time where everything was practical effects and excuse me, just a great story. I thought it was also more easily follow followable uh in the movie form as opposed to the book form. Maybe due to the 200-year-old language difference or things of that nature, it just seemed to flow a little bit better. Had a bit more modern pace to it. Obviously, as a modern reader, that would appeal to me more. Needless to say that that isn't a fault of this book. Just sort of a sign of the times, which I've grown to appreciate and expect when reading classic books. But as always, this is just some random guy's opinion on the internet. I did prefer the movie to this book. Now, I enjoyed reading the book and I appreciate it for what it stands and the message it was trying to tell during the time and still tells to this day and I appreciate the movie adaptation of it even more so having read the book.

[00:09:21]And yeah, like I said, just my opinion, argue about it in the comments. Always happy to have a conversation with y'all.

[00:09:26]And that will do it. That is four books that I preferred the film adaptations to as opposed to their book counterparts.

[00:09:37]Let me know down below, have you read any of these four books?

[00:09:43]And what did you think of them compared to their movie counterparts? And also, what other movie film adaptations to books did you prefer to their book counterparts? I recently read and watched Project Hail Mary. That's not on this list. I love the book a [snorts] bit better than the movie itself. So that's why this is not on the list, but maybe that is one on your list. Let me know down below. These are my four picks for films better than their books. And we will leave it at that. I appreciate you watching up until this point. If you are new here, consider subscribing. I love this little community that we're building on the road to 5,000 subscribers, which is just insane. Would appreciate it if you stuck around for that journey. If you liked it, leave a like, of course, so other readers around the world can stumble upon this video, much like yourself. Comment down below what books are you currently reading, and we will catch you in the next one.

[00:10:35]Thanks for hanging out, guys. Bye.