Readers of this thread might enjoy Dominic Noble's Lost in Adaptation series.

The movie of 'A Scanner Darkly' is the only time anyone did a faithful adaptation of a Phillip K. Dick novel, I reckon. Blade Runner is too different from the novel to even count as an adaptation, really.

I also prefer the film of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen over the book, and Steve Coogan's 'adaptation' of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy didn't even bother to try, and was more about trying to make an unadaptable novel into a movie. I recommend it. (I never did finish the book, but I do remember there being a curse that went on for a full page that was amazing.)

People who like both

I watched and loved the movies before reading the books so my opinion may be biased, but I think Lord of the Rings movies were more enjoyable than books.

I see how the books were great in their time and the worldbuilding of the books is amazing - but the movies do great job at streamlining the story and making it fun.

I hate this stupid take. Books and movies are very different mediums, with very different rules for storytelling. The chance that a director captures what you see in your head is so abysmally small, that you will always be disappointed. Just see the stories as abstract things, with books and movies being different interpretations of it. There are cases where I prefer the book over the movie, and cases where it's the other way around. It's all fine.

The Martian is one example where they're about equal.

It helps that it was a short book, so very little had to be left out.

In the case of The Boys, the show is objectively better than the comic book.

I love the The Expanse books to death, but holy shit, the series was so incredibly good. I love love love the TV Camina Drummer oh my god, she and Ashford defined the Belt for me.

I'm sore that the show was canceled, but I thoroughly enjoyed what we got from it.

The Mist

No, books generally give more information, but that doesn't make them better.

They are different media with completely different aspects that shouldn't be looked at in the same way. The only similarity is that they both tell a story.

I'm always in favour of watching the movie. Since you get the story in 1.5 hours instead of spending multiple evenings to essentially get the same information. And I like visual media in general.

Of course, if no movie exists then reading the book is also a good option. Looking at you Terry Pratchett.

Ready Player One being the exception for this rule

Blade Runner, Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me?

Hollywood can't live up to the power of your imagination!

There are a few exceptions where the movie was far better (Jaws comes to mind). And a few instances where both, while different, stand on their own quite well (How To Train Your Dragon).

But mostly, yes.

In the words of Jim Gaffigan: You know what I liked about the movie? It took me two hours, then I took a nap.

In all seriousness, I really enjoy watching the show/movie first, and then reading the book. I'm not disappointed about the things the show left out, which are often necessary exclusions for pacing or limitations in visual storytelling vs internal narration. And then, when I read the books, it's like I'm getting the director's cut with commentary. It adds depth to characters and sometimes has deleted scenes.

Of course this isn't universally true. I will say it worked spectacularly for The Expanse

Arguably it's not a movie but a show, but for WOT the show was much more enjoyable

The only movie I can think of that is as good as the book because it is, like, 99% identical to the book is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

I was shocked when I found and read the book and felt like I already knew every line because the dialogue is word for word exactly the same, and the movie even includes a lot of narration ripped directly from the book.

A movie made by someone else will never compete with the tailor made vision you created in your own tastes. That’s why people tend to dislike adaptations compared to the source.

Oh, your hard drive has the whole movie series on it? Well I got the whole series right here!

This is why I try to watch the movie first, so I can enjoy both of them.

Can we just appreciate art regardless of the medium?

I feel like the movie Fight Club is at least more fleshed out than the book was.

Agreed wholeheartedly