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What Are Some Great Films Not Adapted from Books?

When films are adapted from books, more often than not, I tend to find the books a lot more enjoyable. So I have skipped watching a lot of films in the hope of reading the books later.

So what are some great films not adapted from books? Or what are some films that are significantly better than the book they were adapted from?

murkeyindividual2 ,

Synecdoche, New York Being John Malkovich Unicorn Wars Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Mad God House (1977) Susperia Videodrome

theragu40 , (edited )
  • Pulp Fiction
  • Donnie Darko
  • The Big Lebowski
  • The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
  • In Bruges
  • The Matrix
  • Monty Python and the Holy Grail
  • Ocean’s Eleven
  • Indiana Jones original trilogy
  • Get Out
  • Bladerunner (a book, apparently)
  • Bladerunner 2049
  • 28 Days Later
  • American Beauty
  • The Usual Suspects
  • Gladiator
  • Schindler’s List (also a book??)
  • Saving Private Ryan
  • There Will Be Blood (dammit, a book!)
niktemadur ,

Gonna get pedantic here:

Blade Runner is based on “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep” by Philip K Dick.
There Will Be Blood is based on “Oil” by Sinclair Lewis.
Both were acclaimed in their own right before the film adaptations.

Okey dokey then… carry on!

theragu40 ,

Completely fair!

JoeyJoJoJuniour ,

Also Schindlers List was a book first

dimspace ,
@dimspace@lemmy.world avatar

Or what are some films that are significantly better than the book they were adapted

One of my favourite books, High Fidelity. I think I am in the age range and demo it was written for, so much rings true. When I heard there was a film coming out I was so excited, and then I read it was being moved from London and re-set in Chicago, and my heart sank.

Boy was I wrong. John Cusack was great, Todd Louiso was histerical, and it was Jack Black’s breakout performance. (I honestly am not sure he has been funnier since)

And the Chicago setting 100% worked, better than London would have

quinnly ,

Fargo. Even the “true story” that it’s based on never happened.

Pat ,

Brazil is one of my favourite movies. AFAIK it's not based on a book. It is frequently compared to 1984, but it's not based on it. Just similar themes of a totalitarian dystopia.

Kolanaki ,
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

Star Wars.

IDK why I sometimes hear that Lucas derived the movies from some old book series; that’s bullshit. All the books came after the movies.

quinnly ,

I think Star Wars is a great example of an original film that’s endlessly familiar. It took so many old fantasy tropes, western tropes, war movie tropes, a hefty dose of Kurosawa, and made something that almost anyone can relate to while still being completely alien.

PerCarita ,
@PerCarita@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

You might be interested in reading “The Hero With A Thousand Faces” by Joseph Campbell. Also read the whole discourse and criticisms surrounding the work.

PerCarita ,
@PerCarita@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

The story was beat per beat inspired by Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With A Thousand Faces. Campbell’s metaphorical inmost cave was translated into Luke literally going to a cave in Empire Strikes Back.

Not to take anything away from Lucas’ creativity, of course. But to me it was quite obvious that he read or at least was aware of Joseph Campbell’s theory of stories and that Lucas read Frank Herbert’s Dune

EmoDuck ,

My pet peeve is when people say a story with is hero’s journey is just a rip-off of another hero’s journey. Campbell didn’t invent or discover it, the story structure was used a lot before him and was known as the medicin jurney. He just wrote a book about it

PerCarita ,
@PerCarita@discuss.tchncs.de avatar

He didn’t invent it, but he did try to flatten every story into this masculine take of a heroic life, some screenwriters took this to heart and then we got Luke in the cave.

Sometimes I go through weeks of intensively reading mangas or go back to the Greek mythologies, Homer, Apuleius, and enjoy how different the story beats in these cultures are compared to, well, my boring person’s American hegemony entertainment.

Naminreb ,

Reservoir Dogs

wilberfan ,
@wilberfan@lemmy.world avatar

BOOGIE NIGHTS. An original screenplay, although inspired by some real people and incidents.

Fafner ,
@Fafner@yiffit.net avatar

Crank and Shoot em’ Up.

Both are just a wild ride start to finish.1i

Moobythegoldensock , (edited )

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

King Kong

Little Miss Sunshine

The Raid 1 & 2

Beetlejuice

The Goonies

E.T.

American History X

Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein are very loosely based on the original story (ostensibly Mary Shelley’s verbal retelling of the story before she penned the novel) and both are good in their own right.

GFGJewbacca ,

Any film made by Christopher Guest and Wes Anderson. Every one of them are gems.

colourlessidea ,

Maybe this is controversial - I really like Wes Anderson’s films but they’re more of a visual treat than anything else.

HobbitFoot ,

The visuals are a major reason to watch them. There is more, but the visuals are big.

Vuipes ,
@Vuipes@kbin.social avatar

The Silence of the Lambs
The book was good, but the acting was excellent in the movie.

Mothra ,
@Mothra@mander.xyz avatar

I might say Spirited Away is a good example. I don’t know how many Ghibli films are based on books if at all, but that one in particular fits the bill.

On a similar vein, many western animated films are not based on a book. Examples that come into mind are The Incredibles and Toy Story (Pixar), Lilo and Stitch (Disney), On the Road to El Dorado (DreamWorks). I’m sure there’s more…

Jumi ,

Rambo - First Blood

Moobythegoldensock , (edited )

Book adaptation.

Jumi ,

It’s not

Moobythegoldensock ,

Yes, it is. It’s adapted from First Blood, by David Morrell.

Also, the movie wad just called First Blood, not Rambo - First Blood. You’re confusing the title with the first sequel, Rambo: First Blood Part II.

sanguinepar ,
@sanguinepar@lemmy.world avatar

Great films not adapted from books - most of David Lynch’s work would count here: Mulholland Drive, Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Lost Highway, Inland Empire, and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (though that’s a prequel to the TV show, obviously)

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