SiftPop

by Jason Mack, Contributing Writer

In honor of the release of Jurassic World: Dominion, I decided to look back on where it all began. No, not 65 million years ago, but also not as recent as the groundbreaking 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park. I finally read Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel by the same name to see how faithfully Steven Spielberg adopted the source material.

It seems like a safe bet almost anyone visiting SiftPop has seen Jurassic Park. However, I’d also guess the largest percentage of people have not read the novel, so I’ll provide a broad overview before diving deep into spoiler discussions.

With Jurassic World: Dominion likely bringing a close to the franchise, the clock is already ticking for the studio to green light a reboot. I previously would have cringed at the idea, but reading the novel provides some ideas on how this could be worthwhile. The odds are they would still find a way to make it cringeworthy, yet the possibility exists for something great.

Jurassic Park is virtually untouchable as a perfect blockbuster for the whole family, but “for the whole family” is the key phrase. With a much darker tone in the novel, an R-rated take on the story could be incredible and unique enough to separate it. Lengthening it to a streaming series would be even better. They could take inspiration from shows like Lost, The Haunting of Hill House, and Orange is the New Black by having each episode progress the story while also delving into the backstory of a character.

It’s rare for a novel and a movie to coexist without one being vastly superior. Top honors usually go to the book since movies are handcuffed by what plot points they can feasibly put to the screen and how much of the source material they can fit into a limited runtime. Jurassic Park achieves this with the movie making enough drastic changes to achieve a unique identity while staying true to the spirit and themes of the book.

Crichton’s novel is notably darker than the movie, as it opens with multiple examples of children in Costa Rica being attacked by dinosaurs, and it doesn’t get any cheerier from there. The action and fear are felt viscerally throughout, and Crichton holds nothing back in the disturbingly gory descriptions of the attacks.

Imagine the bemusement from meetings with studio executives wanting Spielberg to develop a family-friendly adaptation of the grisly and terrifying novel. It sounds improbable, but much like Dr. Ian Malcolm said about life, the legendary director, “uh, finds a way.”

Spielberg is a legend of creature features, having directed the top two of all time — Jaws and Jurassic Park. Necessity led him to inspire fear with what wasn’t shown in Jaws due to the well-documented failures of Bruce the mechanical shark. Those problems didn’t exist in Jurassic Park thanks to a revolutionary blend of animatronics and CGI, which still hold up today. However, the lessons learned from Jaws served Spielberg well as he knew when to imply danger and when to show it to maximize the tension and fear. This also helped to maintain the family-friendly status, while being scary enough to make seven-year-old me throw his mostly empty box of candy several feet into the air in the theater.

Along with being darker, the book also sets itself apart by having the time to establish greater backstories and character development. Dennis Nedry remains the scheming jerk who set the downfall of the park in motion, but his motivations are more understandable with the backstory provided. You may even imagine acting similarly in his situation. Besides, if Ian’s mathematical models and chaos theory are to be believed, the downfall of the park was inevitable. Dennis just sped it up a bit.

Despite their differences, the book and movie both expertly drive home the theme of mankind’s loose morals in the face of discovery, which Ian summarizes perfectly by saying, ”Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” He is more long-winded in making this point in the book, but the sentiment is the same. What makes this conflict great is being able to see both sides. Even knowing Ian is correct, how many of us could resist the temptation of seeing living dinosaurs?

Both properties are iconic pieces of pop culture, and they complement each other well. I can only imagine the extra layer of suspense the novel would have featured if I hadn’t already seen the movie, but it still was an enthralling read, which I highly recommend.

Now for the fun of diving into spoilers and comparing key differences between the two.

As I touched on above, the violence is exponentially more graphic in the novel. Think about how Dr. Alan Grant scares the kid at the beginning of the movie with his description of how the raptors would slit your belly and eat you while you’re still alive. This essentially happens to Dennis when he is killed by the Dilophosaurus. His death in the movie was equal parts funny and scary, and it felt justified. There is no humor in the book as his realizations of being blinded and of holding his disemboweled organs chill you to the core and elicit pity.

Alan and Dr. Ellie Sattler are a couple in the movie, and he is awkward around children. It makes for great character development as he becomes a father figure while protecting the kids. In the book, they are not a couple and he is great with the kids from the start. This is one of the biggest advantages the movie has going for it.

Speaking of the kids, Tim Murphy is roughly the same age in both properties, but Lex Murphy is notably younger. Both versions have their advantages. Having a younger child to protect raises the stakes and the difficulty as Lex often struggles to grasp the severity of situations. It also ratchets up the anxiety like when she won’t stop haranguing Tim as he tries to get the power back online. However, having an older version of Lex provides more balance between the characters. She serves as the protective older sister, while Timmy is free to focus more on being a pesky dinosaur expert.

The children highlight the differences in their grandfather John Hammond. The park owner is blinded by his ambition in both versions, but his motivations are purer in the movie. He is driven by greed and a desire for notoriety in the book. The grandchildren highlight this as he invites them to the park in the movie to give them a great experience, while in the novel he only brings them because he thinks it will make his lawyer Donald Gennaro less likely to shut the park down.

The fates of John, Donald and Ian are another stark difference, as they each survive in one version and die in another. John’s death is poetic as he is taken out by the same dinosaurs which were taking out children at the beginning of the novel. Donald’s death in the movie is one of the highlights, as he gets instant karma for abandoning the kids by being taken off the toilet by the Tyrannosaurus rex. Ian’s death in the book serves little purpose other than emphasizing Hammond’s lack of empathy.

An elevated number of dinosaurs in the book works both in its favor and to its detriment. The Velociraptors are the biggest difference, as the movie features just three while the book has over 20. The novel does an even better job at showcasing their intelligence and coordination, but the struggle to grasp how many there are distracts from the impact. Focusing on the trio in the movie gives them a feeling of personality and heightens the effect knowing how impactful such a small group can be.

Spielberg chose the big moments well with the initial Tyrannosaurus rex attack stealing the show. Still, there are some amazing set pieces in the book I would love to see put to film. The top one also features the T-Rex as Alan, Tim, and Lex are stalked and attacked during a raft ride down the river, and it waits for them at the base of a waterfall.

If I could pick only one to go back to, it would have to be the movie. However, the novel is a close second and is something I will absolutely enjoy returning to down the line. While I never feel an urge to watch the sequels after a viewing of Jurassic Park, experiencing the novel does have me eager to read The Lost World.

You can follow Jason Mack on Twitter and Letterboxd