View Full Version : Book vs Movie
caitylee
04-14-2009, 9:02 AM
I just want to see which you prefer to read/watch. I just read the book Twilight then I seen the movie and I gotta say I was a bit disappointed in the movie. I just loved the book, the movie left out a lot of stuff that I thought was pretty important.
So what gets your vote?
I actually like both. Why? First of all, the book can be reread and you let your imagination run wild as you read through the book. The details there are more complete in comparison to a movie. A movie simply leaves plenty of details written in a book. The advantage however is you get the picture of what you have imagined when you read a book.
Take Harry Potter for example. I am an avid reader never stopping to reread the seven series. I prefer the book since everything there is complete. I've read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix however the movie by David Yates was very lacking. When I read a scoop from J.K. Rowling not to leave the character, house elf Kreacher out of the movie as originally planned by the director, I was happy about her decision since I thought the absence of that particular character makes the whole movie incomplete. To my disappointment, Kreacher's role never even lasted a few minutes when in the book, his role is very extensive. Same goes with Cho Chang in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The movie tends to leave out plenty of details from the book. Despite that, I still like both in hand.
I am eager to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince having read that book several times. The decision to move it on October 2009 instead of last November 2008 was very disappointing to say the least since I was excited beforehand about its coming release. There is the last saga split in two films. At least, they may show all major details from the book this time and I certainly hope they will.:thumbsup: Can't disappoint a Harry Potter fan!
I might add I've read Da Vinci Code a few times too and the movie, in my opinion, is okay but I prefer the book. Depends but still good to have both in hand.:)
caitylee
04-14-2009, 9:21 AM
Very good point. I have seen several of the Harry Potter movies but have yet to read the books.
I did, however, enjoy the movie Twilight but I have a very vivid imagination and the actors chosen to play the roles were not as I had pictured in my head at all :( Ah well, I am still excited to read the other three books in the series. I'm going to read New Moon as soon as my mom is done with it.
Yes the Da Vinci Code was a great book and I have not seen the movie. They are also coming out with Angles and Demons as a movie too and that book was great. I just love Dan Brown as a writer.
dirtydawg10
04-14-2009, 9:41 AM
I love watching movies. With that said, every time I have read a book first and then watched the movie...the book has always been better.
I think the reason for that is the entire book can't be captured in a movie because it would be too long. It is also not possible for a movie studio to build the sets for a movie the way you can imagine them in your head and keep it within the boundaries of the movie budget. The last reason would be that you are seeing someone elses interpretation of the book which is not always equal to yours. Anyway...I voted book.
red_wall
04-14-2009, 9:45 AM
Books.
I feel disappointed when the character in my head isn't the one from the movie : /
Plus, movies leave out a lot of details.
Dear god, don't read Eragon, and then watch the movie, you'll cry.
Thankfully I watched the movie, then read the book, so, I don't really remember the film.
The Watchmen was spot on with the graphic novel, only one noticeable plot hole, and I think the movie ends differently than the graphic novel (I haven't finished it yet)
tidioute06
04-14-2009, 9:51 AM
I prefer to read the book before watching a movie. If you dont the movie instills the look of the characters and the land ect instead of your imagination.
kjr928
04-14-2009, 9:54 AM
I really like both. Books have a lot of details that are missing from the movies, but movies are much quicker to get through. Both have their benefits.
As for Eragon (I'm sorry, I have to comment on this, lol): Don't read Eragon if you have ever read any other sci-fi/fantasy books in your life. All the author does throughout the book is copy other famous sci-fi/fantasy books. Character names, concepts, storylines, etc. I couldn't get through a single page without finding something that was ripped off. It drove me nuts.
red_wall
04-14-2009, 9:57 AM
...As for Eragon (I'm sorry, I have to comment on this, lol): Don't read Eragon if you have ever read any other sci-fi/fantasy books in your life. All the author does throughout the book is copy other famous sci-fi/fantasy books. Character names, concepts, storylines, etc. I couldn't get through a single page without finding something that was ripped off. It drove me nuts.
Never noticed it, of course, I haven't read too many fantasy/sci-fi other than Hunters Blade Trilogy, and Harry Dresden.
caitylee
04-14-2009, 9:58 AM
I prefer to read the book before watching a movie. If you dont the movie instills the look of the characters and the land ect instead of your imagination.
Very good point, I always prefer to read the book first. I love to let my imagination run when I read. Jason (DooSPX) Doesn't like it when I read kuz I ignore him. But hey, it took me less that 3 days to read Twilight and its almost 500 pages and the first and second day wasn't very much reading :D I read the majority of it the third day.
caitylee
04-14-2009, 11:59 AM
I should have put it multiple choice huh?
kjr928
04-14-2009, 12:11 PM
Never noticed it, of course, I haven't read too many fantasy/sci-fi other than Hunters Blade Trilogy, and Harry Dresden.
Yeah, unfortunately it's true. He's ripped off George RR Martin, Ursula LeGuin, Beowulf, and many more. The worst of it was how badly he ripped off Star Wars.
caitylee
04-14-2009, 12:19 PM
Hmm... Kind of makes me want to read it now to see how badly he ripped off other books.
bettagurl
04-14-2009, 1:15 PM
I actually like both. Why? First of all, the book can be reread and you let your imagination run wild as you read through the book. The details there are more complete in comparison to a movie. A movie simply leaves plenty of details written in a book. The advantage however is you get the picture of what you have imagined when you read a book.
Take Harry Potter for example. I am an avid reader never stopping to reread the seven series. I prefer the book since everything there is complete. I've read Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix however the movie by David Yates was very lacking. When I read a scoop from J.K. Rowling not to leave the character, house elf Kreacher out of the movie as originally planned by the director, I was happy about her decision since I thought the absence of that particular character makes the whole movie incomplete. To my disappointment, Kreacher's role never even lasted a few minutes when in the book, his role is very extensive. Same goes with Cho Chang in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The movie tends to leave out plenty of details from the book. Despite that, I still like both in hand.
I am eager to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince having read that book several times. The decision to move it on October 2009 instead of last November 2008 was very disappointing to say the least since I was excited beforehand about its coming release. There is the last saga split in two films. At least, they may show all major details from the book this time and I certainly hope they will.:thumbsup: Can't disappoint a Harry Potter fan!
Took the words out of my mouth!
And anyone who has read the Eragon cycle has to hate the movie... The book mentions several times that the dragon has translucent, leathery wings, yet she's a feathered fluffy ball in the movie. And many other things... Even hair colors were very off.
I prefer books, I can read them over and over and let my mind make it better than a movie could.
I have to say though, they Harry Potter movies were much better than the Eragon movie, it they practically go word for word with the books.
I haven't read the Twilight books as of yet, when I first saw the previews for the movie I'd never heard of it before, but it sounds good... I was a bit turned off by all of the little girls squealing about how adorable the dude in the movie was.
caitylee
04-14-2009, 2:22 PM
Haha yeah me to, then when I watched it I don't think he is very good looking. I must say all the characters were better looking in my head haha.
jackiomy
04-14-2009, 2:39 PM
I used to drive a charter bus on ski trips twice a week and they play videos on the bus. At that time the Kevin Costner movie about Robin Hood was just released and I had to listen to it over and over. By the time I got to actually watch it I couldn't because I already had the characters in my head and they did not match up. LOL
I liked the book Twilight much better than the movie. I still haven't seen the end because I keep turning it off because I don't like the blond bad guy. LOL The books were amazing. I think that Bella was cast well and the little dark haired vamp (can't remember her name) and the mom vamp just because I LOVE that actress. Everyone else was pretty icky. And the bad vamps weren't icky enough. I really want to see the guy playing Jacob and how they do his transformation from immature wolfling to mature male.
caitylee, have you read The Host? OMG I loved it. It was very different and plausable to me.
caitylee
04-14-2009, 3:05 PM
No I haven't but I want to know :D
very few books written after the movie are any good...but there are lots of great movies made from books. I probably read more than I watch movies.
Winged
04-14-2009, 4:32 PM
Books, definitely. A book you can take anywhere. You can put it down and pick it up later. I like being able to physically hold it. And books are usually better than the movie based on the book. I also like being able to picture the character, the scene, and everything else as described by the book.
I love movies too, but there's just something about a book that draws my attention. There are only a few movie and book pairs where I prefer the movie (Phantom of the Opera being one). Usually it's because I think the book moves to slow in those cases.
As far as the Twilight series goes...I didn't have high expectations for the movie. I can not stand the actress they cast as Bella. Everything I had seen her in before she had been a snotty teenager, which is not how Bella is described or portrayed as being. I had been keeping an eye on the cast list (via IMDB.com) and was disappointed. I was happy with most of the vampires. Unfortunately, Robert Pattinson was not as good as I thought he would've been as Edward. However, they did an excellent job in making the area they were filming in look like Forks and La Push. All in all, I thought the movie was better than I thought it would be (but like I said, I had very low expectations for it). The books are about a million times better though.
book..
If the movie comes out its usually dissapointing if you read the book though >.<
Mgamer20o0
04-14-2009, 6:43 PM
movie.
crimsonmoon
04-14-2009, 7:06 PM
in my opinion, the only movie that has come close to being as good as the book is the Lord of the Ring series. I think they did a really good job on them.
But i have to say, i read eragon and then saw the movie and the movie was freakin the worst. and in comparison to the book, twilight sucked too. the actors got on my nerves too. it kinda seemed low budget. i braced myself for it not being as good, but i have to say, it was worse than i was expecting.
it probably didn't help that the theater was full of 13 year old girls moaning and squealing throughout the entire movie...
stephstar
04-14-2009, 7:32 PM
As for Eragon (I'm sorry, I have to comment on this, lol): Don't read Eragon if you have ever read any other sci-fi/fantasy books in your life. All the author does throughout the book is copy other famous sci-fi/fantasy books. Character names, concepts, storylines, etc. I couldn't get through a single page without finding something that was ripped off. It drove me nuts.
I agree to this, but I still could not put this book down. The second book (Eldest) I did not enjoy and I am still struggling to get through it. Totally disappointed in the movie.
I found that Happy Potter books kind of stole from Lord of the Rings a bit too, but how can a author not be influenced by other writers?
I LOVE the HP series and have read the Half Blood Prince a mitt full of times. I think that I will skip watching the movie, I like my mental images I get from the books more that I get from the last movies.
One movie that was true to the book was The Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe. Read this series as a kid and reread just before the movie came out. Everything I envisioned was captured on film for me.
I disagree about the comment on The Lord of the Rings being just as good as a movie. Although I was totally enthralled with the movies, they left out HUGE sections.
crimsonmoon
04-14-2009, 7:42 PM
sorry, should have elaborated a bit more on what i meant on lotr
they did leave things out, i just liked the movie and thought that they did a good job because it was almost exactly how i imagined it and idk it just worked for me. i was impressed.
i think the standard for movies is dropping though lol there are still good ones coming out, but most (in my opinion) are just..blah. mediocre. not worth the ticket price/line
evelyn80
04-14-2009, 7:49 PM
i love watching movies! even though the books are sooooooooooooooooooooooo much better! eragon was a total dispointment though! they changed the entire story from the book! i was mad at that but the movie was cool 2 watch. i do like readin books better though
mel_20_20
04-15-2009, 12:18 AM
I'd prefer to read the book first, then see the movie, however, movies always fall short in comparison. Lord of The Rings was done well, and probably came closer to the book than any other book/movie comparison in my experience, but a lot of the book was left out, understandably. They would have had to make 5 or 6 movies in order to include everything from the Lord of the Rings.
I read Gone With the Wind first and then saw the movie. I was shocked at how much was left out of the movie. Epic novels, espescially, just can't be fully depicted on the big screen.
Besides, the imagination is so much richer in comparison to any movie.
beabroca
04-15-2009, 12:23 AM
i havent had the chance to read the book yet, i actually just bought the book the other day....im hoping to get to it here in the next couple days? its pretty good eh?
Veloth
04-15-2009, 7:08 AM
I've never seen a movie as good as the book. IMO movies can not come close to the human imagination that comes into play when you read.
noodles62
04-15-2009, 7:56 AM
While I love a good movie, there is no comparison when they attempt to make a movie out of a book. I have yet to see a movie that can do a Stephen King book any justice! You just cannot recreate that kind of genius...
Kashta
04-15-2009, 8:11 AM
Love books and enjoy reading very much. Wish I had more time for it. Movies are okay but much less interesting. All-time favorite author - Donald E. Westlake. Enjoy many kinds of novels... classic, literary works, historic, mystery, horror/suspense, general fiction.
tekonus
04-15-2009, 8:27 AM
Book wins, every time.
caitylee
04-15-2009, 9:46 AM
Wow I love reading all of your opinions. And I agree with all of it.
I love to read because I have a vivid imagination. Jason he prefers to watch movies though, as he says he can't sit and read an entire book. I told him I would read Twilight to him though lol. The book was so much better.
I've come to realize books seem much better so will be voting for books even though movies can be interesting.:)
I love reading books and try not to watch movies of books i have read as they usually are very dissapointing but sometimes it does help if you have read the book as you can understand the missing plot lines in the movie adaptions.
I have read all the nightwatch and daywatch books by Sergei Lukyanenko which are amazing if you like books about vampires werewolves and other supernatural creatures these are well worth a read IMO. When i watched the films i was really let down by how much of the cruical plotlines were left out of the films my hubby couldn't even understand what was going on and i had to keep filling in the gaps for him so i was really glad i had read the books.
caitylee
04-24-2009, 11:03 AM
books win :D
Deanthoreu
04-24-2009, 11:08 AM
Books are always better than the movie un less its a Boovie!
Boovie - book created because the movie was a hit.
Books permit the reader to use their imagination, and knowledge and past to set the scene envision the costumes....Movies take all the fun away and push us into a set standard that removes our creativity.
Wise artist once said - you desire to tap into your inner creativity? turn off the tv, the movies, the newspaper and THINK.
my 2 cents