Movie-First or Book-First?

I love books.

I also love movies (though not as much as books).

But I especially love movies based on books.

I have friends who swear by a movie-first mentality--watch the movie and then read the book because, chances are, the book is better than the movie so this way you are pleasantly surprised by both (instead of being disappointed by a movie based on your favorite book).

I understand the movie-first mentality, though I still follow a book-first mentality. If I see a movie coming out that's based on a book, I run to the library (or Amazon) and read that book in a snap before buying a movie ticket. My reasoning? I like to establish my own mental view of the story/characters/setting/etc. before letting someone else insert theirs into my head. You see, if I watch a movie first, then those actors are what I see when I read it. I'd rather let the author paint the picture.

It's a tricky choice. I've perfected a technique on how to control any seething that may arise from a bad movie of my favorite book. I guess you could say I pride myself on my open-mindedness, so I am capable of maintaining a book-first mentality, but still enjoy the movies.

These thoughts are spurred by some recent re-obsession with The Hunger Games. The movie is rumored to be released next spring and I've been drooling and stalking every new update leaked (purposefully) through the media.

I've rarely found movies that are better than the books, but there are the special few. In my opinion, the following movies are far superior to their novel-forms:

Stardust

The Golden Compass

Harry Potter 6 (The Half Blood Prince)

A Walk to Remember

Ella Enchanted

Questions for the audience:

1. Do you consider yourself movie-first or book-first?

2. What are some movies that you like better than books (or vice versa?)




Nadine Brandes is an adventurer, fusing authentic faith with bold imagination. She writes stories about brave living, finding purpose, and other worlds soaked in imagination. Her debut dystopian novel, A Time to Die, releases 2014 from Marcher Lord Press, the premier publisher of Christian speculative fiction. When Nadine's not taste-testing a new chai or editing fantasy novels, she is out pursuing adventures. She currently lives in Idaho with her husband. You can find out more about Nadine and her books at http://nadinebrandes.com.