Book adaptations "better" than the book

[overwatch]

I'm just wondering if anyone out there knows of any movies that are deemed better than the original, hopefully by the author. This isn't a "favourite" thread, I'm just curious to konw of any adaptations that the author actually considered better than his/her original creation. What sparked this, I just finished watching Tell No One, which the author said he thought had a better ending than his own book.

My Examples;
The Prestige (the author's reaction was ""'Well, holy shit.' I was thinking, 'God, I like that,' and 'Oh, I wish I'd thought of that.'", which I interpret as "better than my own book."
Fight Club (I read somewhere that Chuck preferred the movie ending, but I can't seem to find that anywhere)
and Tell No One of course

I know that this isn't an easy thread to contribute to, but I'd really like to know of any other examples.

[LordSimen]

Jaws, The Godfather, Goodfellas.

[gayzilla]

Stephan King has mentioned that he prefers Darabonts ending to the Mist, and i agree.

The original Stepford Wives is far better than the book, also, in Gone With the Wind, I like that they glossed over the fact that our beloved heros were founding members of the KKK, some of Margaret Michells racism is a little much in the book.

[Jig Saw 123]

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Shining
The Mist
A Clockwork Orange
There Will Be Blood

[poopontheshoes7]

JAWS. Definately Jaws. The book is a boring small town melodrama with a subplot about a killer shark.

[g1ng3rsnap9ed]

You can't get any better than the Jaws film, so I would imagine the book being not-quite-as-good. Plus the book kills off Hooper I guess. :(

The Shawshank Redemption.

[ScaryFreak1827]

I'd have to go with The Exorcist; reading about the exorcism is one thing but watching it play out on screen and seeing the incredible performances is a more exciting/disturbing experience. Plus there are sequences such as Regan coming down the stairs like a spider and the levitating above the bed which weren't even in the book.

[bigred760]

I think Anne Rice put out a full page ad in a newspaper (maybe the NY Times) praising Tom Cruise's performance in Interview with the Vampire. Don't know if she liked the movie better than the book though.

[Mr. Fred Krueger]

Definitely JAWS. The book is good, mind you (I've read it thrice in my life), but the film is so much better. While every single character in the book seemed bitter and unlikeable, Spielberg gave us characters you could get behind. Not to mention the shark was much more prominent and terrifying in the film than it was in Benchley's book.

[DarthWade]

Not that it is in anyways a brilliant masterpiece but I have to say the current "Count Of Monte Cristo" was a hell of a lot better than the book.

I read the book and it just drove me up the wall. I hated it.

[bigred760]

"Count of Monte Cristo" is one of my favorite books. The Jim Caviezel movie, while entertaining, doesn't come close to how detailed and intricate the book is.

One book that I thought wasn't as good as the movie was A Time to Kill. I thought the characters and especially the ending were better than the book.

[QUENTIN]

The Godfather is the big one for me. The book has a great story, but Puzo has crude, pedestrian prose and it's not very well-written. The movie is as engaging, absorbing, and powerful as movies get.

Apocalypse Now, Children of Men, The Last Picture Show, GoodFellas, High Fidelity, Leaving Las Vegas, The Leopard, There Will Be Blood, Drugstore Cowboy, Jackie Brown, L.A. Confidential, and Barry Lyndon are all superior adaptations as well, though they are based on uniformly great books.

[speedbeaver]

A Clockwork Orange; love the movie, could not stand the book.

I also preferred the film version of No Country for Old Men over the book.