Since the beginning of the movie industries, people have indulged in making movies out of books. Countless English classics have been transformed to film as well as many popular modern writings. It is tough to translate literature to screen. You have to overcome all sorts of problems such as length of narrative vs. screen time, finding the right cast to fill the shoes of the characters, and conveying the inner thoughts and feeling of the characters without resorting too heavily on narrative techniques like voiceovers and indirect expositions. The hardest part of transforming stories to screen is pleasing those readers who have read the book and who have developed a sense and feeling about the world that can differ from reader to reader (Hsi, Movie Review ). The objective of this research paper is to compare the "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" book to the "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" movie as well as explain how moviemakers use certain elements to create good movies out of books.
Is it better than the book? It's the question on everyone's mind. No, it is not better than the book. Of course that's also the wrong question. When the film is essentially the same as the book, the film is always worse. This is not - as literature snobs often claim - because books are a higher art form than film. It is because they are two different art forms, each with their own sets of strengths and weaknesses. An element that can be a great asset to a book can be a huge liability to a film. Unless steps are taken to change the story to take advantage of the unique assets of film, it will always live under the shadow of the book (Gilman, Jiminy Critic).
Of course, it really depends on the person watching the movie. Age and maturity make play a big role in comparing a movie to a book. For example, the opinion of 28 year old.
"I think that the J.K. Rowling book Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone was and always will be better than the movie because Firstly, the book increases a child's imagination and lets them decide what everything will look like in their mind.
