The book was better than the movie

Murder on the Orient Express ~ Which is better?
The book, the 2001 adaptation or the 1994 adaptation?

By far!

Had I realized that of the two adaptations of Murder on the Orient Express that I found on youtube were so different, I might have taken the time to watch them both. Or perhaps I would have picked the Masterpiece Theatre version that I'm guessing was closer to the story. The opening of the Masterpiece Theatre version, from 1974, was so noisy in the opening scenes, I thought it would be more "pleasant" to watch the newer version. I think I made a mistake. I might go back and watch that one next.

I also discovered that a new adaptation of the book is currently in the works. Perhaps I should wait for that one to come out?

Do you recall that I wondered how this story could possibly be set in more modern times? The version that I did watch was a TV version from 2001. And from the looks of it, it was set in 2001. Yes, in the book I had to suspend belief in accepting the way Poirot solved the mystery. In the 2001 version, I had to suspend belief over and over and over again.

Some of the differences?

• Instead of being stuck due to a snowstorm, there was a rock slide.
• Instead of a burnt note about Cassetti and the Armstrongs, Poirot finds a VHS tape that Ratchett had attempted to destroy.
• Instead of finding a pipe cleaner and a handkerchief in the compartment, they find a stylus for a "handheld computer" (something like a palm pilot?) and a handkerchief.
• Instead of using his wits, Poirot relies on what appears to be the Internet. I guess it was recent enough to be possible but... he connected the laptop computer he was using to the Internet... by what sounded like dial-up... yet it didn't seem to be connected to anything.
• There was no doctor to test his murder theories with.
• There was no red kimono.

And of course, so much of the interesting detail about the characters in the book were lost. Either because the characters were mostly Americanized or because they were adapted in a really big way. Interestingly enough, all the names of the characters remained the same.

In this case, the book was much better than the movie.