A Great Dilema

Which is Better: Movie or book

Many of you can remember in high school or college your teacher or professor telling you that you should read the assigned book rather than just renting the movie. I know that most of my friends and classmates did not pay attention to this warning. I tended to do both. I would read the book since I like reading as well as watching the movie.

As I have less and less time to do both, I now have to decide which one I would prefer to do. Read or watch? From the books that I have read and the corresponding movie, I would definitely recommend the book. The following is a brief discourse on some movies and books that I have watched/read and compared. Follow the link listed here to jump to the appropriate section: The Firm, The Hunt for Red October, The Sphere, DUNE, The Man in the Iron Mask, The Three Muskateers.

The Firm: The book was a National Bestseller. The movie was a flop in my opinion. The movie stars Tom Cruise, Gene Hackman, and numerous others. In the book, the main character slowly discovers the evil behind the firm that he works for and must decide what he can do to help the government case against it. He decides to prepare reports and briefs for the government to use to try the firm and the people behind the firm. He does this while running from the mob, the firm, the police, and the FBI while taking millions from the mob. The book ends with the main character, his wife, brother, and a few others on a remote island in the Caribbean discussing their future together. The movie has a similar beginning as the book. However, what is about the halfway point in the book is where the differences first develop. In the movie, the main character, played by Tom Cruise, decides that instead of helping the government prepare a case against the firm, he will help defend the firm against some very small charges raised against it. Obviously, this is very different than the book. In this case, I would recommend the book over the movie even if you don't have time to read the book. The movie is not worth renting unless you can get a good discount.

The Hunt for Red October: The book was a National Bestseller. The movie was a very popular summer hit many years ago starring Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin. In the book, the story is slowly laid out with suspense built up with almost every turn of the page. The main character is Jack Ryan. Jack works with members of the upper echelon of the intelligence community to try to assist the Russian submarine commander and his officers to defect to the United States. I really can't think of any sizable and story affecting differences between the movie and the book. Both end pretty much the same way and both start the same way. One of the main differences that I noticed was a briefing that is given in the movie that is not detailed much in the book. Overall, if you do not have time to read the book, the movie is not a bad way to go. FYI, The Hunt for Red October is the shortest of Tom Clancy's novels that I have seen to date.

DUNE: The book DUNE was and is one of the greatest Science Fiction stories ever told. It started many young authors into a future of science fiction and fantasy writing that they had not considered previously. The movie has a few well known actors in it (Patrick Stewart notably) and several promising actors. The general flow of the story and characters are the same in both book and movie. The movie, in my opinion, does not provide a good detail of the information and depth that the book does. I know that this is the case in many films but it none the less bothers me. The book provides insightful and thought inspiring quotes from characters at the start of every chapter. The movie can not do this and thus lacks some of the wit and intelligence that is in the book. The movie does serve a good purpose. It serves the purpose of providing faces and images to go with what the reader reads in the book. This is a book that I would recommend to everyone and would also recommend the rest of the DUNE series to anyone. I am surprised that more people do not know that there are more books in the series. I would not recommend the movie to the average movie goer. I enjoyed the new remake of the book DUNE. I believe that this book is a more accurate representation of what Mr. Herbert had in mind. The Weirding way of fighting as well as the court intrigue is better played out. Not all things were perfect in this movie but it was definitely an improvement. A few of the items missing or changed is the fact that Princess Irulan plays a greater role in the movie than she did in the book. Another interesting difference is the time in which Paul confronts his mother about being Harkonnen.

The Man in the Iron Mask: I will admit that I did not actually read this book nor The Three Muskateers until I had already watched the movie. The Man in the Iron Mask in many ways is similar to The Firm. In this I mean, both are very different from the book. The movie focuses upon the character of Phillip early on and continues to throughout the movie up until his taking over. Near the end of the movie, we get to see the heroes leaving the burial ground and saluted like the heroes they are portrayed to be. The book happens very differently. In the book, all the "Three" Muskateers die except for Aramis. The king is not overthrown and Phillip never develops as much of a character. For the average book reader, I would recommend the movie over the book since you might not appreciate the depth of the book. If you truly enjoy reading, then by all means, read the book.

The Three Muskateers: There are many versions of the movie but only (in my opinion) two versions of the book. These are the French and the English versions. The two main versions of the movie that I know are the Walt Disney production from the early 90s and then one about ten to twenty years before that. I will refer to the Walt Disney since it is the one that I enjoy and own. I only remember a little bit from the book so I will just mention the parts that I remember. I remember that the Muskateers are sent of the frontline of a war that is no existant in the movie. I also remember in the book that the Countess DeWinter tries to murder (poison) the handmaiden that D'Artagnion is interested in. In the movie she does not, she is just sent to deliver a message from Cardinal Richeleau. I do not remember enough from the book to make a fair recommendation as to which you should choose. I would recommend the Walt Disney version of the movie though. For some reason, I enjoy watching it over and over again.

Battlefield: Earth: The book that inspired a church. I have not seen the movie. I will admit to this right at the start. Just like I plan on going back and reading some more books, I plan on possibly watching this movie when it comes out on videotape. I was not very impressed with the writing of the book. The sales lady asked me if I enjoyed Hubbard's work. Now I understand why. He writes very differently than most other authors. Most authors provide flaws and character weaknesses in the main character or supporting characters. Hubbard does not. His main character is almost God-like in his perfect ability to learn and do things that no one else can do and to accomplish more than what anyone else has accomplished in tens of thousands of years. The book is extremely long and full of very boring sections in which nothing happens. I would not place this book high on my must read list. I will let you know what I think of the movie when I get a chance to see it. FYI. The movie only covers about a half to a fourth of what the book goes into.

A Time to Kill: This was Mr. Grisham's first novel that he wrote. I must say that it shows what a great writer that he is and the promise that he showed to the publishers at that time. The version of the book that I have is one of the new releases in which Mr. Grisham has come back and discussed how he wrote this book. The book, upon its release, was not the hit that the movie was. The movie has several big name stars in it that put on a great performance. This is a movie/book combination that I would find hard to pick between. There are a few differences between the two but nothing I would consider major like there was in The Firm. A few of the differences are the episodes that were left out which in the book make a difference but were not necessary for the entire story. A few items in the book not in the movie are Jack telling Ozzie about him and Carl Lee talking about killing the rapists, a discussion of how Lucien was disbarred, Mickey Mouse being killed, Jack being fired as Carl Lee's attorney, and all the drinking that went on at the office. I believe the screenwriter for the movie still did a good job in their presentation of the story with some additions that do not take away or significantly add to the story. If you don't have a day to two days to read the book then I would highly recommend the movie. If you have watched the movie but not read the book, you miss out on the ending of the trial and how it is concluded.

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