Movies based off of books sometimes make drastic changes to the source material they’re based off of, in many cases improving the original narrative with some key differences. It’s a common adage that books are often better than their movie counterparts as a whole, enjoying many benefits the medium of film can’t offer, such as longer stories, insights into characters’ thoughts, and more bizarre or fantastical descriptions moving images can fail to capture. But movie adaptations of books can often work as a better second draft of the original story.
There are multiple ways in which films can improve on a book’s narrative. Movie adaptations of books will often vary wildly in how faithfully they stick to the original story. In many cases, a film’s need to consolidate or cut out unnecessary scenes results in an overall improvement to the plot, trimming the fat of a bloated story. Other times, directors take it upon themselves to make quite intense changes to certain characters that take them in a very different, and often, more interesting, direction.
10
Removing Lucy Mancini’s Subplot
The Godfather
Despite bearing the title of the greatest movies ever made for many, few people may realize that The Godfather films are actually based off of a book by crime author Mario Puzo. While Puzo himself helped write the sequels, which weren’t based off of pre-existing material, the original film follows the novel of the same name fairly closely. One big exception is made in the removal of a subplot surrounding Lucy Mancini, the bridesmaid that Sonny sleeps with at Connie’s wedding.
In the book, Lucy’s story is expanded more in a way that serves to mythologize Sonny, hiding out in Las Vegas following his murder, only to find that Sonny was such a physically gifted lover that no other man can satisfy her. She ends up literally getting surgery to address this problem with intimacy, something that’s not only gross but totally biologically incorrect. It’s a good thing the movie opted to cut this weird, misogynistic plot line that proved Puzo was no savant when it comes to writing women.
9
Toning Down The Mature Content
Wicked
The recent release of Wicked comes far down the telephone game of story adaptation, being a movie based off of a musical play which was based off of a book which was a spin-off of a beloved movie which was also based off a book. The original Wicked novel compares quite strangely to both the play and the movie, being such a drastically different experience tonally that it’s hard to believe the three are all technically telling the same story. As a whole, the book is shockingly dark for those that might go back to give it a try.
The written work even opens with mature themes, with a rumor that Elphaba is intersex being waved around on the very first page. From there, the story focuses much harder on Elphaba’s activism and the struggle of the talking animals, being far more overt in its themes. That’s not even to mention more adult bits from the book, like Elphaba biting off a midwife’s finger as an infant or Fiyero being married at the tender age of 7. For a story based on such a happy-go-lucky classic film, it makes more sense for Wicked to be family-friendly.
8
Ridley Scott Went With A Better Title
Blade Runner
Another all-time great book adaptation is Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, which works as a translation of the load-bearing science fiction novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick. Both stories are great in their own right, but if there’s one element that Ridley Scott unambiguously improved upon, it’s the title. A “Blade Runner” originally refers to a person who transports sharp medical equipment such as scalpels, which translates interestingly to the universe as a title for a person whose job it is to hunt down Replicants.
In fact, the words “Blade Runner” and “Replicant” don’t appear in the novel at all, which the movie uses to give some great flavor to the unique cyberpunk world. Ridley Scott took the title of Blade Runner from a completely different science fiction novel, purchasing the rights to use for his movie adaptation. It’s hard to argue that the snappy, intriguing, two-word title works far better for a major film release than the rhetorical question of a title that is Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?.
7
Getting Rid Of Robert And Sophie’s Romance
The Da Vinci Code
Kickstarting the Robert Langdon film series inspired by Dan Brown’s novels, The Da Vinci Code tells the thrilling story of Havard religious symbology professor Robert Langdon and cryptologist Sophie Neveu in a race to find the legendary Holy Grail. The two engage on a globe-trotting adventure to find the mythical item, slowly falling in love by the end of the first book. Interestingly, the movie chooses to omit this romantic subplot, instead allowing the narrative to focus on the intrigue and symbolism Dan Brown excels in.
Granted, there’s something to be said about the symbolic joining of the masculine and feminine Dan Brown plays with in The Da Vinci Code that is reflected in Robert and Sophie’s romance. But ultimately, the narrative is stronger for omitting the unnecessary relationship, the busy plot having more than enough to focus on without it. Sophie and Robert Langdon work just as well as colleagues, and it’s almost impressive that the movie is the one to not force an unnecessary romance for a change.
6
An Ending That Makes More Sense And Is Tonally Consistent
Fight Club
If there’s one movie that’s often heralded as the poster child of a film that’s better than the book, it’s none other than Fight Club. Even the book’s original author, Chuck Palahniuk, admitted that the movie was better when it came to laying out the story he wanted to tell. While there are a variety of differences that separate the two stories, the dramatically different ending of David Fincher’s Fight Club leaves a far better final impression than the novel’s.
The book ends with the narrator attempting to kill himself, seemingly waking up in heaven to have a conversation with God which is revealed to actually be a hallucination, as he’s actually confined within a mental hospital speaking to the staff, revealing themselves to be loyal Project Mayhem members, looking forward to Tyler’s next instructions. The film’s famous ending with the narrator and Marla holding hands as the bombs go off to the tune of The Pixies’ Where Is My Mind? is a far more compelling final image.
5
Giving Lex Murphy Something To Do
Jurassic Park
As great as Michael Crichton’s original Jurassic Park is, it’s no secret that the gifted science fiction author isn’t the best at writing children. Lex and Tim Murphy take up a huge portion of the plot in both the book and the iconic Stephen Speilberg movie, which is seen as the weakest link in both by many fans. One way in which the film improves upon the Murphy siblings’ presence in the story is by not making Lex a useless bystander.
In the book, Lex is portrayed as somehow bored by the prospect of dinosaurs being brought back to life, only interested in baseball. Meanwhile, Tim is both the dinosaur lover and the computer expert, making Lex functionally irrelevant and lacking agency in the story. Giving Lex Tim’s computer hacking skills in the book give her more of a reason to exist in the narrative at all.
4
Making Jack Torrance The True Villain
The Shining
Famously, Stephen King isn’t fond of The Shining as it was re-told by Stanley Kubrick. The horror master wrote the original story in a way that clearly establishes The Overlook Hotel as a deeply haunted, evil location, essentially possessing Jack Torrance and forcing him against his will to commit unspeakable atrocities. Meanwhile, Kubrick supposes that Jack himself always wanted to murder his family, The Overlook’s presence just being the tiny push he needed to follow through with his darkest desires.
It’s interesting to see the personal stakes King has in Jack’s character, openly admitting to using him as a stand-in for himself as an alcoholic writer who has struggled with anger and abuse. Kubrick forces the story to reflect on Jack as an inherently bad person that only needed a tiny supernatural excuse to unleash the true monster deep within him, which is, in all honesty, a far more compelling premise than an evil building. There’s a good reason the film still eclipses the book so heavily in pop culture today.
3
The Weirdly Happy Ending
A Clockwork Orange
Speaking of Kubrick adaptations of books, the visionary director just couldn’t seem to miss when it came to adapting grisly books. A Clockwork Orange is quite a dark story, both in film and written mediums, explaining the life of a depraved young adult, Alex, who is forced to undergo a brutal rehabilitation program in order to straighten him out into a functioning member of society. The book and the movie end up exploring two very different avenues for the outcome of such a program by the end of the tale.
The film ends on quite a dour note, with Alex undergoing a new form of therapy to undo the damage his first extreme treatment caused, all the while dreaming up new horrific crimes to commit, having learned nothing from his imprisonment. Meanwhile, A Clockwork Orange‘s 21st chapter ends on an oddly positive denouement, with Alex running into an old member of his gang who found happiness in simple martial bliss, causing Alex to reconsider his lifestyle and begin seeking out a wife of his own. This ending simply doesn’t work and betrays the themes of Alex’s arc.
2
Cutting Out Forrest’s Adventures In Space And Africa
Forrest Gump
Forrest Gump is an odd story, weaving the intergenerational tale of a simple man who finds himself wandering through major historical events and meeting all manner of famous political and pop culture figures. As bizarre and nonsensical as these connections may seem in the Tom Hanks movie, the books get even more absurd, particularly in the sequel book Gump and Co. As far as the first novel goes, Forrest engages in some adventures that are hard to believe even by the standards of Forrest’s varied life.
The book describes a segment in which Forrest somehow ends up as an astronaut in space whe NASA realizes Forrest’s penchant for doing math in his head, partnering him with an orangutan named Sue. Sue ends up wrecking the mission, stranding Forrest in Papa New Guinea, where he meets a tribe of cannibals who teach him how to play chess. This bit wouldn’t only have made the film exponentially more expensive, but stretches the story’s suspension of disbelief way too thin. It’s a good thing the film didn’t even entertain putting these chapters to screen.
1
Chani’s Reaction To Paul’s New Bride
Dune: Part 2
By and large, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune series has stayed quite faithful to Frank Herbert’s original stories, though the expansive tomes obviously necessitate a lot of trimming of extraneous material. The one place Denis makes some very overt and decisive changes to Herbert’s vision is with the treatment of the Fremen girl Chani, whom Paul Atreides falls in love with during his time on Arrakis. Despite their budding romance, Paul’s embrace of his destiny as Lisan al Gaib ends up forcing him to take the princess Irulan’s hand in marriage in order to secure his victory over the Emperor.
In the books, Chani seemingly accepts her place as Paul’s mistress, remaining his true love behind-the-scenes even if Irulan is his bride on-paper. Conversely, Zendaya’s Chani is heartbroken by Paul’s ascent to power, looking betrayed and shocked when he announces his proposal to the princess. It’ll be interesting to see how this movie difference, which makes Chani a more believable and interesting character, progresses in the upcoming Dune: Part Three.
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