It’s a sentiment accepted by many a bibliophile that the novel is always better than the film version, but I content such a broad and all-encompassing statement cannot be universally true. Here are a few examples of where I think the films version of the stories exceeded what the novel presented.

Jaws

The iconic terrifying film from Steven Spielberg sent a generation scrambling for the shore fearful of the water is based upon a novel by Peter Benchley. For the screenplay two major sub-plots were omitted, the affair between Chief Brody’s wife and the young expert Hooper and Amity’s Mayor’s debt to local organized crime that made the mayor fearful of closing the beaches and being unable to repay what he owed. Both sub-plots are melodramatic and easily the most forgettable aspects of the novel. While Hooper’s and Ellen’s affair makes both of these characters less sympathetic than the cinematic characters.

The Hunt for Red October

Tom Clancy’s first novel of a Soviet super-sub’s defection to the west produced a terrific film directed by John McTernan and gave us the best on-screen Jack Ryan with Alec Baldwin. The novel suffered from American Uber Alles with everything done by the U.S. Military being exemplary over the far less capable Soviet forces. Reducing this produced a tighter and more tense conflict.

The Prestige

Not as well-know or as beloved as many other films by Christopher Nolan The Prestige took the great liberties with its source material a prize-winning fantasy novel of the same name by Christopher Priest. The novel spans time between the modern day, 1995 for the publication date, and the later 1800 with the feud between the rival stage magicians, introducing concepts as far afield as ghost into its narrative. Nolan’s script simplified the scope, restricting to its time setting, but retaining the multiple points of view and non-linear narrative but most importantly his gave a better motivation for why the feus turned murderous. In the novel it spirals out from one character performing seances, a common practice for stage magician’s, and being exposed for his fraud by his rival, also a common activity for stage magicians of the period. Having an on-stage death for which one is responsible made for a more compelling and acceptable motivation for the feud’s terrible escalation.