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Books vs Movies

Discussion in 'Movies & TV' started by Kitcat, Mar 31, 2018.

  1. Kitcat

    Kitcat New Member

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    Most people praise well adapted movies but still say "the book was better". Has anyone watched a movie which was better than the book?
     
  2. Gichanga

    Gichanga New Member

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    I am not a book nor a movie person per say but between the two I would choose the movies. they are much vivid and memorable both with actions and words unlike the books where you are left speculating on wild imaginations of what the background setting of the story looks like.
     
  3. cmoneyspinner

    cmoneyspinner New Member

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    Many books which were written by Charles Dickens have been adapted to film. Not just adapted but adapted several times. It's almost as if actors or actresses who get a part in any of these films prove they have what it takes to make it in the entertainment industry.

    There was a TV mini-series that I watched several years back. It was an adaptation of the historical novel written by Dickens and published in 1859, Everybody knows this novel by the first few words "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, ..."; the opening sentences for "A Tale of Two Cities". The series aired in 1989 and starred James Wilby, Xavier Deluc, and Serena Gordon. Although I have seen other adaptations, for some reason this one stayed with me. Even now when I think of a work by Dickens adapted to film, this TV mini-series comes to mind. If it's not better than the novel, then it is most certainly a faithful adaptation and all parties involved in the production of the mini-series did their best to stay true to the author's intent and purpose.
     
  4. EfficientNinja

    EfficientNinja New Member

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    This has been a classic debate that has been going on for a time.

    I can't really relate much because I just started reading books this year. The only book that I've read that has been produced in a film is Harry Potter's first movie and book. I've watched this movie countless times since I was a kid and then I read the book now. It feels more epic when I was reading the book because Hogwarts feels more alive and the characters especially Dumbledore acts differently in the books.

    I feel that a book will always be better than its movie adaptation because a short 1-3 hours film cannot hope to express all that is written in a book. :)
     
  5. njigs

    njigs New Member

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    Books. I would go with books rather than movies. Books give a sense of peace and calmness when reading especially in an unruffled environment. Books, especially historical books have humongous information which cannot be compared to most historical movies. Although I agree that movies may have the upper hand on the basis of audio-visual advantage, adapted movies may have some flaw. They may either have wrong, added or depleted information.

    To add onto that, book stories are only limited by ones own imagination. Since the settings of most parts of stories in books are not described, one can imagine the setting from his or her wildest dreams. Studies and research have also proven that a habit of regularly reading books increases your mental health. In conclusion, for me books will always be better than movies.
     
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  6. lenmanalang

    lenmanalang New Member

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    I prefer books because in some movies adapted from books, there are parts that they do not include which makes the movie incomplete. If you have read it already before you watch the movie, you will have high expectations from it but if some parts were missing, you will not reach your expectations which leads you to not liking the movie as well. And in books, you will really feel every scene and every emotions in the story because you can imagine whoever person you want to as the characters. for example, if you don't like the actor or actress in the lead role, it will somehow affect the movie. You might not like it and appreciate the movie because you don't like the person acting.
     
    Last edited: May 2, 2018
  7. cheridbell

    cheridbell New Member

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    Most books are better than the movie versions. Movies can only include so much, especially in a 2-3 hour span. Most of the time, movie versions have been cut or they modified the story so that it fits in that time-frame. Also, the story is presented in the director's viewpoint, which can be different from your viewpoint.

    Books allow you to use your imagination which provides a much richer experience.
     
  8. j_bar_

    j_bar_ New Member

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    I always prefer to read books rather than watch their adaptions. Books encourage you to use your own imagination as opposed to movies.
     
  9. ryugun46

    ryugun46 New Member

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    I think movie will be my choice because reading books is just wasting some valuable energy on trying to know some story. Also you gotta imagine the story and feel how would it be in real life.

    But movies will not only show you the whole story but also it will tell you the story. All you got to do is sit back and relax. The second thing you got to do is keep your eyes and ears open. So reading a book is way too much hard work when it comes to movies.
     
  10. Cindy Christmas

    Cindy Christmas New Member

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    To be honest I don't know a movie that was better than the book. However, some people say 'Die Hard' the movie was better than the book.
     
  11. Gibson

    Gibson New Member

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    One of the things that always surprises me is how many people love movies but spend no time reading books. Now this is especially surprising to me because you stop to consider how many movies are based on popular books.
    One of the very sharp distinctions between books and movies and one of the experiences that books offer and movies do not is that novels allow readers to participate in the telling of the story in ways that movie goers cannot.Let me explain.
    A written story absolutely requires the participation of the readers imagination. Think about when a new character is introduced in a novel, we immediately create in our minds a visual representation of that character. We see who they are. A character of our own mental creation.
    We do the same for all kinds of scenes and situations in the novel. We have no choice but to supply the imagery of the story because the author can only do so much. By contrast, when we go to the movies all of the visuals are determined and supplied to us by the movie director. I love movies because I love good writing and good storytelling. But I also recognize that the movie director dominates the whole experience while the author of the novel gives me the opportunity to co-create the story by filling in the visuals with my own imagination.
    In a way reading is more mentally engaging than watching a movie. That is why reading can be a really tiring experience compared to staring at a TV or movie screen. Reading requires more mental energy because our minds are fully engaged in co-creating the scenery and the personalities involved in the story.
    I would never say that books are superior to movies or vice versa, both are about the writing. My point is simply to draw this distinction which I think is lost on many readers and movie goers. That is the distinction between the mental activity of a book and a movie. The next time you are reading a piece of fiction or a nonfiction, take the time to notice how much more engaged your imagination is rather than simply absorbing the motion pictures of a movie watching experience. Grab a good book and let your imagination run wild.
     
  12. silvermists

    silvermists New Member

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    Books and movies have their unique characteristics and benefits. When reading books, our imagination is stimulated, we do the thinking along with the author, conjuring up images and all that in our mind. Books helps us to grow our imagination and creativity, heps us to unleash our mind and soul and get inspired. But there have been movies which were as good as books, they were based on. One such movie is Misery. A brilliant thriller based on the novel of same name. Although the novel is a good read, but the movie with its realistic performances, good screenplay and soundtrack comes out better than a book. It's true that a book and it's movie adaptation should complement each other, but sometimes a film can do things that the novel simply can't do.
     
    Last edited: Jun 5, 2018
  13. Unknown

    Unknown New Member

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    I prefer books to movies because with books I get to mould the scenes however I see fit. I don't think there's a book I have read without casting Ian somerhalder as one of the characters.
     
  14. blu wish

    blu wish New Member

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    I go with books. While others enjoy watching movies, I find myself enjoying reading books. Reading books help me to develop my imagination and writing skills, it is when I'm reading books that my mind works on its own. One of the many good things that I love when reading books is that I don't need to force myself to think and to create what kind of scenario I want to see. The book dictates specifically what I have to think, leading me to imagine the perfect scene and structure of the places or events. Reading books help mo to improve not only my imagination but also my creativity. I'm not saying that watching movie is not helpful or enjoyable but many movies that based on books are sometimes not accurate on how the book describe the places or the setting. Sometimes in movies, you can see sideline story or a change of the setting or the story itself which is not written on the book, that's why many are really don't know what is the true and original story of their watching. Having saying these things, many of us now have already known different version of story of a single book and sometimes it is hard to tell which of the story is the original. On my opinion movies are gradually changing the original story of the book and eventually replacing it to become their own.
     
  15. Shixmel

    Shixmel New Member

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    I'm an ardent reader, so I would rather read than watch a movie. I'm able to relate to the characters when I read about them .
     
  16. myblogger

    myblogger New Member

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    I prefer books rather movies because in books there are many language you can learn on. Books are the good source of knowledge and gives you wisdom. While watching movies sometimes information are not true while in books all information written on it is real and accurate and passed by thorough examination. Books is good source of information about things rather information from movies. We use book to gather information about everything. There are book about different field like science, history, astronomy. Book is a source of relevant information about things we are interested in. We use book to learn thing that we do not know yet, the books life encyclopedia is full of information about everything like history of different countries, science, discover and astronomy. All of these fields of informations can be found in the books. If you want things to know get your books to know it. I prefer books rather movies because sometimes movie is based on fiction not on reality so movies is not the basis way to know things. I enjoy reading books rather watching movies because I learn a lot of things in the books. I teach my children to love reading movies rather than watching movies to gather real informations.
     
  17. tracy

    tracy New Member

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    I also mostly prefer the books over the movies such as Harry Potter as I feel the movies leave a lot out, but the movies that I felt were way better than the books is The Lord of the Ring Trilogy and The Twilight Series. I found the books for those movies to long drawn out and boring that I couldn't even finish them, although it could be because I watched the movies before I read the books. Whereas with Harry Potter I read the books first.
     
  18. Im_Gervin

    Im_Gervin New Member

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    Books, because I love them. Compared to the movies, they are actually well written and you can know the characters better. In books you have the time to know them while movies progress even if you don't quietly understand it. Books are far more detailed than movies because movies have very limited time length. An average movie is 2 hours, can you really enjoy it if I don't get to know each character very well. Some people may like movies over books but of course each person has personal preference. Most of the movies came from a famous book anyway. We all get the same experience of the story.

    Currently there are tons of E-books (electronic books, digital format, PDF etc.) online but do they differ from books? no. What I want to say is they are both enjoyable. Movies has great pictures that we don't get in books. But the story is same anyway. But I still personally prefer books over movies.
     
  19. tonnie

    tonnie New Member

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    I will say I've never come across a movie that was better than the book itself. This I think is because when you read a book you internalize more than when you watch a movie. When watching a movie some things just pass you without knowing that they existed in the first place. While reading, chances of something escaping your notice are slim (if you actually really read the book and not skim through it) as you will read word for word from sentence to the next with all ideas recorded.
     
  20. AnneJk18

    AnneJk18 New Member

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    I always prefer books than movie. Though I love watching movies too sometimes movie adaptation of my favorite books are not that all good. Whenever I'm reading a book I always visualize the events. Maybe my imagination is really exaggerated but I feel sad whenever I'm watching a movie adaptation and it didn't meet my expectations. I'm not a critic but I'm not also saying that movie adaptations like Harry Potter, Narnia, Lord of the Rings are bad. They are all good in a way specially Harry Potter movies. It just that I'm expecting more because I love first the book before the movie. Anyway, it's just me because I prefer books. Not all people are like. Some they prefer to watch. The most important thing is the value and lesson of the book or movie.
     

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