re: "The Movie was actually better than the Book."

It's tough because of the deviations often taken, and filmmakers are often handicapped by the film medium.

However, films I thought were comparable to the wonderful books upon which they were based:

To Kill a Mockingbird

Andromeda Strain (1971)

The Hunt for Red October

The Firm (prefer the film's ending ever so slightly)

A film that I thought exceeded the novel, although it deviated, significantly, from the book - a fan of either would barely recognize the other work as related:

Bladerunner (film based somewhat loosely on PKD's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?")