Austin Black
Mr. Honhart
English 10
April 19, 2015
The Escapists, The Caring and The Daring Grossing over a billion dollars and influencing many other films that followed,
Jurassic Park is one of the most successful “book to film” adaptations of all time. Even though it is a “book to film” adaptation, the film ended up beginning very different from it’s source material. Between leaving out subplots to not featuring important characters at all, the film version of
Jurassic Park is different in all the good (and bad) ways. One of the most significant changes in the film is the absence of the “dinosaurs have escaped” subplot in the beginning of the novel. This subplot kicked off the start of the book with a little girl in Costa Rica getting bit by a compy while at the beach. This is totally absent in the film version with instead a scene where a worker is attacked by a velociraptor starts the film. This change was probably made to the film to avoid too many subplots in a two hour long movie, which was an appropriate move. And also, because this is one of the center subplots in the book that would of required a lot of attention that the filmmakers, just didn’t have. But at the least, the film should have hinted, or pointed, at the possibility that dinosaurs are escaping the island. Having that
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would of add more to the “We have this under control” factor that Hammond went on about in the novel. Overall, the film should've included it someway or another, but it is an understandable change on the part of the filmmakers. Unlike the book, the “We have this under control” factor, wasn’t one of
Hammond’s center ideas in the film. In fact, the whole character of Hammond was turned around. In the book, the character of Jon Hammond is a greedy, seemingly cold hearted character, that cares about his beloved park and money over his own grandchildren. By the end of the book, Hammond decides he wants to open a new park and repeat the Jurassic Park process once again. But in the film, Hammond still cares about his park, but actually appears to care for his grandchildren and learns that his idea was indeed flawed and his creation was never suppose to work. This major change most likely was used to make Hammond a more likeable and relatable character in the film. But, this change should of never happened. Hammond played one of the
“antagonist” in the book and symbolized the essences of greed and power throughout the story. Having Hammond be that essences in the film, could of brought upon another theme to the film, making it an even more powerful film with more messages to the audience. The change of Jon Hammond
