Movies that are better than the book

[thegibby.]

While it is a short story I always thought The Shawshank Redemption film was far superior than the short story.

Good one, as well as "Stand By Me" while we're doing Stephen King stuff... as well as the new "Running Man" from the looks of the trailer, and maybe even "The Long Walk."

What was wrong/deficient with those SK stories ? They were some of the finest writing King ever penned. They were, after all, novellas, the more or less complete germ of the films that followed.

All four stories are perfectly fine for what they are, no major flaws at all. Two of the movies though are absolute classics so of course they will be better than the story... Stand By Me especially has way more heart and emotional impact than the story.

The other two (Running Man and Long Walk) it's probably a stretch to say they're better, and it probably doesn't matter anyway because really we're just talking about B-movie genre fare for both story and movie. Long Walk especially has been one of my favorite stories since I was a kid so I doubt I'll consider the movie better, even if the trailer looks pretty good.

I'm looking forward to the film adaptation of King's 2021 novel Billy Summers. Being produced by JJ Abrams and Leonardo DiCaprio, DiCaprio being rumored to playing the lead of Billy. Like Shawshank and Stand By Me, and unlike nearly all King's work, it contains nothing supernatural. Billy is a former Marine sniper and current hitman who's about to accept one last job before retirement. The book was terrific, IMO, and could make for a great film. Billy is mid- 40's and circumstances get him involved with a 21 girl, a role likely to be highly competitive for every young Hollywood Hottie.

I am so tired of hitman/assassin/elite spy stories... From the quantity of movies/shows made about them you'd think these people make up like a quarter of our work force. The genre has become basically a mandatory career choice for aging male actors.

I don't care how well it's done, the genre itself has been exhausted for at least a decade. And once you hear about the phenomenon you can't stop seeing it pretty much every other new trailer.

Lest you go away thinking it's "just another hitman story", it's far more and the actual "hit" is actually a small scene in the book. I consider this among King's best works, if not the best. The characters are richly developed and the themes are fascinating. Here's a very glowing review.

https://zachary-houle.medium.com/a-revi ... ba824ba7c6

The book was just o.k.

IMO

Just curious.... Were you expecting a more Stephen Kingish story?

Knew what I was getting into when I read it; funny, but I thought it dragged out (then built up with excitement; as the critic says) and then act 4 (going after the big guy) was short and sweet. Like I said; it was o.k.

...would have made a better novelette. IMO

could be a decent movie.

...and interesting enough, I just burned my copy; along with 11/22/63.