Kubrick however felt that using a first-person narrative would not be useful in a film adaptation :

I believe Thackeray used Redmond Barry to tell his own story in a deliberately distorted way because it made it more interesting. Instead of the omniscient author, Thackeray used the imperfect observer, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say the dishonest observer, thus allowing the reader to judge for himself, with little difficulty, the probable truth in Redmond Barry's view of his life. This technique worked extremely well in the novel but, of course, in a film you have objective reality in front of you all of the time, so the effect of Thackeray's first-person story-teller could not be repeated on the screen. It might have worked as comedy by the juxtaposition of Barry's version of the truth with the reality on the screen, but I don't think that Barry Lyndon should have been done as a comedy.

Jaws

The most significant change from the novel is the removal of an affair between Ellen and Matt Hooper. In the novel, Brody is a native of Amity; his wife, Ellen, was previously a member of the wealthy New York summer holiday set before she married him. Ellen's despair with her life in Amity leads to a short sexual encounter between her and Hooper. In the film, Brody moved to Amity Island from New York with his family to take up the position of the chief of police, and the relationship between Ellen and Hooper is removed.

There are several other differences:

• Brody and his wife have three sons: Billy, Martin Jr. and Sean. In the movie, there are only two Brody children, Mike and Sean.
• Hooper tries to kill the shark with a bangstick, but during the dive he is eaten. He survives in the film.
• In the original script Hooper would have also died in the film, but this was changed during production.
• The mayor keeps the beaches open partly because of his Mafia ties.
• The shark kills a boy and a senior citizen in one afternoon, but in the movie only the boy, Alex Kintner, is killed.
• All events in the final reel of the film aboard the boat occur in one unbroken trip at sea, while in the novel the men safely return to Amity's harbor several times.
• Quint's monologue about the USS Indianapolis is absent from the novel and the original screenplay.
• The shark dies from being stabbed with a harpoon by Quint, and the novel ends with the shark approaching Brody as the boat sinks, but Brody has no weapon and the shark dies from the stab wounds.For the film, something with more visual impact was deemed necessary. Benchley disliked the change and claimed that the airtank explosion was unbelievable.
• In the MythBusters JAWS Special, which aired during Discovery Channel's Shark Week, the Mythbusters confirmed Benchley's theory as the scene was deemed "busted," as the airtank would fly around like a rocket after being punctured.
• Quint's foot becomes tangled in the barrel ropes and he is pulled underwater by the shark, drowning. In the film, he is eaten by the shark.