Movie or book first?

[Taltarzac]

Which do people like more? Seeing the movie first and then reading the book or vice versa?

Think how many parts of the Bible have been made into movies? That's probably the most filmed book in the Western Hemisphere.

Other book/movie combinations to recall and/or look forward to:

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
MASH
Gone with the Wind
The Wizard of Oz
Ben-Hur
Catch 22
Lawrence of Arabia
Doctor Zhivago
War and Peace
Mystic River
No Country for Old Men
Reservation Road
The Godfather
Band of Brothers

What other movie/book combinations can people recall? I remember that at the Palm Harbor Library there was a woman volunteer whose son wrote or had something to do with the Road to Perdition book which was made into a movie with Tom Hanks.

[KathieI]

Interesting poll. I started to say reading the book first but then I thought there are times when I see a movie and think it would be so much more interesting reading the book because who knows what lands up on the floor of the editing room. I know this happens a lot that many times the actors are very upset because the end result isn't what they expected. And then again, sometimes I read I book and am so disappointed when I see the movie. Anyway, I'm confused already (that's not new.) :dontknow:

That's just my opinion.

[zcaveman]

I have had times when I saw the movie and then read the book and times when I have read the book and then seen the movie. There are also times when I have seen the movie and read the book and then reordered the movie and then the movie made sense.

There is no way that any movie can outdo the book. A movie does not have the time to get the in-depth look and thinking that the characters do in a book. I have yet to see a movie that does the book justice. Close but no cigar.

That is just my opinion and I stick to it.

[redwitch]

Always try to read the book first and see if the movie lives up to my imagination. Rarely does, but that's okay, I usually still enjoy the movie.

And how could you possibly forget Harry Potter? HUMPH
The Color Purple
Flight of Eagles
The Eagle has Landed
The Bone Collector
at least one James Patterson book, Kiss All the Girls (?)
I Robot (book great, movie stunk)

And I'm sure I'll think of several more before I go to sleep.

Then there's the movies that have caused books to be written such as the Star Trek and Star Wars series.

[Taltarzac]

Always try to read the book first and see if the movie lives up to my imagination. Rarely does, but that's okay, I usually still enjoy the movie.

And how could you possibly forget Harry Potter? HUMPH
The Color Purple
Flight of Eagles
The Eagle has Landed
The Bone Collector
at least one James Patterson book, Kiss All the Girls (?)
I Robot (book great, movie stunk)

And I'm sure I'll think of several more before I go to sleep.

Then there's the movies that have caused books to be written such as the Star Trek and Star Wars series.


I was hoping that someone would mention the Harry Potter books/movies. Sure do like both the HP books as well as the movies.

And you are right that sometimes the movie inspires a book to follow.

[redwitch]

Oops, forgot my favorite author -- Heinlein's Starship Troopers. It really did amaze me that they basically turned a teen sci fi book into such a horrid adult movie. Fortunately, they didn't totally destroy The Puppet Masters.

And, of course, Hebert's Dune series.

Asimov's short stories Bicentennial Man and Nightfall.

Stephen King's books.

Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.

Farewell to Arms; Grapes of Wrath; The Red Pony and so on for Messrs. Hemingway and Steinbeck.

Dean Martin in the Matt Helm series.

The James Bond movies.

Okay, I quit -- at least for now. There are more that keep coming into my head but someone else should have a chance to name more. Right?

BTW -- Do you get the feeling I like sci fi and gore? lol

[Taltarzac]

Reading the book A Beautiful Mind sure tarnished my images from the movie of the same name when I read :read: the book second.

Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington are very good in American Gangster even if Washington looks very little like the real life drug lord Frank Lucas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lucas_%28drug_lord%29