In defense of what hollywood does to books, its almost required. An author has to write completly different than say a screenwriter because most authors have to use the readers imagination to play out thier story where as screenwriters get actors and all kinds of special effects. so yes a book is usually going to seem better because its your imagination thats creating the scenes not someone elses. most literal translations of book to screen are horrible movies (trust me I've seen quite a few in my american lit classes, if you'd like a few examples feel free to ask)
but anyways back on topic, I am an american consumer. I want to see guns, boobs and explosions. Starship troopers delivered all that plus lots of dead bugs. and I can't wait for starship troopers 2