For movies based on books: Do you read the books first or Watch the movie first?

Philippines
July 10, 2009 8:45pm CST
Generally, I like watching the movie first then reading the book afterwards since it helps me appreciate both better. I've tried reading the books first (like with the Harry Potter series) and although the movies were great, I found them lacking. I have already imagined what the scenes would look like and sometimes my imagination is better. Hehe. If it were the other way around however, having watched the movies help me visualize the things happening in the book and I love having 'Eureka!' moments while reading and discovering more things I was ignoring during the film. How about you?
4 people like this
27 responses
@ongtina (1232)
• Singapore
11 Jul 09
Having seen the movie , I don't read the book. I tried but didn't get far. Maybe nowadays, I don't seem to be able to have time to do things I like. Tied down by family/children. Hardly read books now as they take up too much time. Movies is 2 hours as is with the computer. Kind of do my reading on the net.
@ongtina (1232)
• Singapore
14 Jul 09
That's true. Doing things that we like keeps us sane and happy. So when we don't get to do it, our temper seems to fly. I'm rather hot tempered. It would be so nice if we can do as we please whenever we want. Missed my freedom, but no regrets.
• Philippines
12 Jul 09
Aw. Sad to hear you get to do what you like anymore. Try to find time to do so as it is actually healthy for you. Keeps you sane too. LOL
@blue65packer (11826)
• United States
11 Jul 09
No,no,no,no,no,no,and a no! After seeing a few books that where turned into movies I never will agian! I get very disappionted and don't like it! The movies don't follow the books at all or very little! I rather read the book and never see it made into a movie when it is! The book is usually better then the movie anyway!!!!!
@mr_mlk (364)
11 Jul 09
I think "never watch the movie" would be too harsh. I have found a few times when the film has (IMO) matched the book. cthulhulives.org made a black & white Call Of Cthulhu film which I felt really matched the book.
• Philippines
11 Jul 09
Ei, won't hurt to try. But then again, to each his own. I think I understand how you feel. It gets rather disappointing at times.
• Romania
11 Jul 09
Some movies based on books actually leave me with a very pleasant feeling after watching them. having read the certain book beforehand. For example, the movie All The World's Mornings (based on the book Tous Les Matins Du Monde by Pascal Quignard) was directed and played very well. It was quite surprising, there were things that I didn't see portrayed that way, but they worked like a charm and cello music being involved, it was a really great experience. Moreover, the casting choice was beautiful, with both Depardieus - Gerard and Guillaume, playing the younger and older version of a character. For A Clockwork Orange, I read the book afterward. I wasn't disappointed, although the ending was different from what I had seen in the movie. Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events was just a mess, with bits and pieces of all the books crammed in the 2 hour-long movie. The child actors were pretty good though. As for Catcher In The Rye.. We may never get the chance to see it on the big screen.
• Philippines
13 Jul 09
All The World's Mornings sounds good. You made me interested to watch it. Thanks.
@mr_mlk (364)
11 Jul 09
Depends on the book. Mostly the book first then the film. Sometime this works out to be a very bad idea. Like with with I Am Legend. The film was a mediocre zombie flick but the book is fantastic (and completely unrelated to the film). So I enjoyed the film much less than I would have would have if I watched the film first (or if they just named the film something different).
• Philippines
12 Jul 09
I forgot about I am Legend. The movie took a very different turn than the book and ended up giving 'Legend' a different meaning than what the book intended. The movie lost the personality given to the zombies in the book.
1 person likes this
@uicbear (1900)
• United States
11 Jul 09
I agree with you. If I know that a movie is coming out and it is based on a book, I will wait until I see the movie before I read the book. Usually, I will always enjoy the book better. It always has more detail and many times better plots than the movies. Movies tend to fit the story into what Hollywood will think will sell. To appreciate the movie for itself, it really works better if I haven't read the book yet.
• Philippines
12 Jul 09
Ah... Hollywood. I certainly agree. They do make a few good ones though.
@dmark5 (41)
• Portugal
11 Jul 09
I first read the books and next the movie like happen with harry potter saga. But in some movies based on books some of them are diffenrent in some ways
• Philippines
11 Jul 09
sad but true
• Philippines
11 Jul 09
I agree with you. The movie, "Twilight" is not that good.
@anetteh (3590)
• Sweden
11 Jul 09
god morning mynestegg, welcome to mylot, hope you already enjoy the staying here. I sometimes have read a book and then the book have turned to a movie. And always, the book have been better then the movie...they can never show it perfectly as the book reviel the story, some things that are in the books, are not in the movie, and those things can be what make the book so god. However, I did read the story of a vampire of Annie Rice, and the saw the movie with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruse and I must say both of those to wonderful caracters did the movie great, even though some stuff did not showed in the movie, however, those things did not make the book...so, I have to say, that the artists made a god movie out of that book. But mostly it is not.
• Philippines
12 Jul 09
Hey thanks! I am enjoying myLot a lot. I find it has more substance than other social networking sites plus it doesn't hurt to be earning a bit on the side. I'm learning a lot too. Looks like there are more of us here who prefer books.
@greenline (14838)
• Canada
11 Jul 09
It works both ways for me. But, more often, I have been watching the movie first, the main reason being the lack of time to read the book in its total length. A book like "War and Peace" would take me days to finish ! I guess I am a slow reader !
• Philippines
11 Jul 09
Hehe. I've downloaded most of my targeted reading to my phone so that when I have idle time I can just read ebooks. You should try that if you've been meaning to read a book but never find time to.
@moneyandgc (3428)
• United States
11 Jul 09
I usually read the book first and then see the movies. Harry Potter and The Green Mile are probably the only two that I haven't been completely disappointed while watching the movies after reading the books. I loved the book Timeline but they absolutely butchered the movie! I saw Twilight on dvd and haven't read any of the books but my friend is now insisting that I do.
• Philippines
19 Oct 09
Unfortunately, I was gravely disappointed by how the 6th installment of the Harry Potter series was played out. The Half-Blood Prince could've been made better...
• India
14 Jul 09
I definitely prefer reading the book first. I have always found that the movies omit or atleast change some part of the book. It just causes a loss of charm of the story, I think. Besides, I find books more engaging. You are free to let your imagination wander. Once you see the movie, you're bound to think of only what you've seen. Cheers:)
@pyre82 (103)
• Philippines
11 Jul 09
I'm a reading advocate so definitely I love to read first rather than watching the movie. When you have read the book before a movie you become more aware of what will happen next and if the script writer tried to change some parts of the scenes. I read all the 5 books Harry Potter before it was shown to a big screen that's why i can say that the book is better than the movie itself. There are also scenes from the book that you can't find in a movie.Sometimes these scenes are very important so that you can analyze why the characters act the way it is. Like in the movie of "the lord of the rings" you can't understand the saga of that movie if you haven't read first the book "the Hobbit" who is the real owner of the ring before Frodo. But it was a great movie indeed and I love watching it.
• Philippines
12 Jul 09
Wow. I can tell you really are a reading advocate. I admit the LOTR alone is already a long albeit interesting read. I don't think I would go as far as reading 'The Hobbit'. I've stuck to the Harry Potter series though but I really don't read much of the add ons they have.
@Elaine77 (315)
• China
21 Jul 09
hi there. I would first watch the movie to see if it's good enough, then I'll read those book especially when it's a movie series , and I need to find what's next to show on the screem. Happy mylotting!
• United States
11 Jul 09
I prefer reading the book before i see the movie. Typically movies leave out a lot of the good parts of the book, or change what happens in the book. Like harry potter, i read the books when i was still in elementary school, and i loved them so much. I loved picturing the castle, and all of the magical stuff, but then you see the movies, and yes, theyre good movies, but theyre just not as good as you imagined it in your head. And i also read the book coraline before seeing the movie, and the movie was good dont get me wrong, but it left out a lot of the book, and changed a lot too. I think some people would rather watch the movie because its just easier, but reading it is better for me.
• Philippines
12 Jul 09
I certainly agree, sometimes my imagination is better. I do think a lot of myLotters prefer movies now given the rate at which we live our lives. We're almost too busy to slow down.
• United States
11 Jul 09
It depends I enjoy both. If its a movie a saw, I like to read the book to get better depth into a story. Or if its a movie I liked and saw it was a book I read that later. Movies kind of stink when based on books, if you read the book first that is because it sometimes ruined the picture you created of the characters. Case in point Twilight. Another yucky thing about books to movies is sometimes they jam more than one book into a movie and get the story all wrong, and then you are left feeling unsettled and unsatisfied. Ex. Queen of the Damned... On its own would have been a great movie, but once I read the book, I was pretty pissed off!!
• Philippines
11 Jul 09
Or if I really liked the story, I watch the movie, read the book, then watch the movie again. LOL. I haven't watched or read Queen of the Damned so I can't share your sentiments there. I think the only Anne Rice based movie I've watched would be Interview with a Vampire. I'd like to read THAT.
1 person likes this
@KATRINKA (1624)
• United States
11 Jul 09
I have to read the book before seeing the film. Usually I find the film lacking. However, one film I thought was as good as the book was the classic, "Gone With the Wind." More recently I watched "Atonement." I think if I hadn't read the book first, I wouldn't have been able to fill in the blanks the film left out.
@SHAMRACK (8576)
• India
11 Jul 09
Dear friend, As watching movies is one of my hobby and reading is very less. I do like to watch movies than reading. Moreover I could see those in a better way that is away from my own creation while reading. A movies gives more realistic to me than reading.
@thaMARKER (2503)
• Philippines
13 Jul 09
If I were to choose, I’d rather watch the film version. I don’t want to waste time reading but if a good book made into a wonderful movie, I would consider reading some of the other books of that author. It would be exciting. Tendency when you read the book version first or the movie version first, you get upset or disappointed of the outcome. Most of the times, that happens.
@icecroft (449)
• Philippines
11 Jul 09
I usually read the book first. I'm such a bookworm and I would like to first experience through the eyes of the book's author. Most of the time, movies that are based from books tend to take away some of the important parts of the story. Sometimes, they tend to even change the story altogether. But yeah, I do agree with you.. Reading the book after watching the movie allows you to discover (or for me, rediscover) the scenes that they failed to include and the scenes they had to add that wasn't in the story originally.
@lulu1220 (1006)
• United States
11 Jul 09
I usually see the movies first and then read the book. Most of the time the book is always better. In terms of Harry Potter, I saw the first two movies and then read the first two books. Then before the third movie came out I read the book first. After that I read each book before the next movie. While I really loved the books, I thought the movie were great too.
@wendyf (23)
• United States
11 Jul 09
I like to read the books first, but am sometimes disappointed because the movie isn't quite what I had pictured in my head when I read the book. I am really looking forward to seeing My sister's keeper based on the book by Jodi Picoult.