Jurassic Park - an overview

Jurassic Park started as two books, branched into five movies, and has several games out. Is there a difference in plot when we compare all three forms of the franchise? Let's dive into it. 

Photo by Parade

This Post is covered in spoiler alerts for everything, so if you want to be surprised by anything go read another blog post on my page, such as Is Jurassic Park Possible .

Jurassic Park, the original books, were written by Michael Crichton, who writes other thrillers aside from the two-book series. I have both books and the conclusion I came to comparing book and movies was that they chopped up the books and took creative liberties (lots of them), but left the characters well represented. I'd say the same about some Bond novels, too, but less creative liberties were taken in that series.

I will warn you that I have not played most of the games and am only going by reviews. I think they are a bit intense for me and I, quite possibly, might be awful at playing them control-wise. After I read the reviews I'll decide from there. I may play them someday after my research is finished. From what I know of the games, they take the creative liberties the movies didn't think of. Plot thread unfinished? Cue the Jurassic Park games. And with that, we begin. 

The Books

It has been a while since I read them (and I will again, I promise), so Sparknotes gets the credit for catching me up on little details, which is why I left a spoiler warning for everything here. I am leaving no stone unrevealed in differences. 

Photo by Amazon

It does start in Costa Rica- but among the locals this time! Little Compsognathus (the tiny ones that eat people in large herds) are eating the elderly and children. They got on those supply boats going back to the mainland and got into the villages. One of the many details that the movie left out is that they give off drugs of euphoria when they bite someone and are bird-like. Short explanation, the victims don't scream and a nanny found Compsognathus (Compies, for short) eating a child in a crib. John Hammond is dead at the end of book 1 because compies got him and he was thoroughly drugged by the bites of each compie. The movies show screaming, yet the books reflect there wouldn't be screaming (which is somehow more horrifying). The dinosaur population is already going rogue. The Costa Rican people and government are not happy. 

Lost World is actually supposed to be where all the genetic mistakes went. Yes, there were genetic mistakes and they hid them on Island B. The ecosystem is out of balance to the point that velociraptors are eating and trampling their own young. The herbivore and carnivore populations are not balanced at all on Island B. It is truly awful. You see the first book show the velociraptors raising young with care and the second book contrasts that with trampled nests, two raptors ripping apart a young one of their own species, and general chaos among the raptors. The food supply was low and the children were not being cared for in an effort for the older ones to have food. The movie does not show this to be the case.

The first island is bombed after the first book. No one could have returned to it because Costa Rica just destroyed it without consulting much of anyone. They got the people who were alive off of it and dropped a bomb on it. I think they had the right idea, in retrospect, after the genetic monsters Hammond created went after their elderly and kids. It was an ethically bad idea to start with, as we all know, so Costa Rica may have been in the right. 

The only characters they messed with were the kids, actually, but only because they reversed their personalities. The boy is the nerd and the girl is into sports. The girl wore on me as I read the book, to be honest. She was kind of obnoxious. Like I said, reverse the personalities. I will say that some characters weren't used. 

The tone of this book is both a yes and no match to the movies. Jurassic World matches the level of death and destruction in the books. Content? A little out there, but tone was perfect. Jurassic Park movies (the first three) are a bit tame compared to the books. Given the time period it makes sense. The books are filled with little details and images that, once you think about them, make you realize how intense and dark they really are. They are not horror, but the movies get closer and closer to the genre as we go.

I could go on for a while on how they chopped up chapters, changed plots, and added content to milk it for movies (all of them good). I have no problem with the content differences and enjoy both versions. Not everyone feels that way. While there are scenes that are verbatim dialogue in the movies, they took from one book, then the other in the same movie. It is far from the same. 

Dinosaurs are feathered in the book. Reptile skin? No, feathers! That is a major difference in the books and movies.

Movies

Jurassic Park and Jurassic World are two different time periods of filmmaking. The complexities of the books are not going to fit into a whole film. You'd need budget and CGI out the wazoo for an exact replica. Would I watch it? Probably, but most audiences are not going to sit for over three hours. 

Photo by Jurassic World Wiki

World takes on a modern perspective and creates dinosaurs that look so real that we mourn for their deaths by Indominus and are shocked by their horrible treatment when Ingen comes in. If you are crying as the dinosaurs are forced off the island in Fallen Kingdom you are not alone. The first three movies don't have this effect. This is due to how fake they look in comparison to World's representation of them. World is also more realistic to what would happen in today's world, should Jurassic Park be real. Some might say it looks too real. They took the plotlines a bit far. Aside from that, I loved it. 

The first three movies are closer to the books in nature of plot. The closer you are to the original source, the less you vary from it. It is equally good and worth owning for yourself. These don't have as intense of a tone as the newest movies do. The time period had a lot to do with that. They still look good, yes, but they are not as realistic. I can rewatch these and not feel an emotion for the animals. They also make it seem like it isn't reality, which makes a difference. If it seems like it couldn't happen in real life (it can't, scientifically) people have less of an emotional reaction. 

Lego Jurassic Park is for kids. It ends in some weird, peaceful ending and it is kind of bizarre. I don't think I have to explain why a kids movie would skip the death and destruction. All the same, it doesn't necessarily make sense to adapt this to a kids movie. 

The Games

This is not an area I am an expert in. Please give me grace in this category. If I am wrong about something, comment and I will correct it. 

It started at NES in 1993 and continues today. I don't have the space to go into every game. Some of them are lego, some are park builders, some are survival, and some are dinosaurs fighting each other. I did play one parking building game on facebook for a short time, but I don't think it is anywhere near the same as the survival games. Several games are labeled Lost World. One is where you can survive as a human or a dinosaur. The older games are quite clunky to play. You can play arcade games of Jurassic Park in some arcades.

If  I understand correctly, almost none of the games are based on the books. Most audiences are going to see the movie first. Obviously, it makes sense to a marketing team that you want to point to your cash cow. Most games are like that when taken from a movie. Jurassic Park is definitely a cash cow at this point. 

Conclusion

Jurassic Park does need to be careful of running themselves into the ground. In this way, it'd be wise to stop at this next movie and give themselves a concrete end to the series. You can agree and disagree with me. This is only my opinion. 

I would suggest reading the books and watching the movies. Both are equally wonderful. They are not the same plotlines, yet they are both intriguing thrillers. Try the games, if you like. Let me know how some of the games work and I may try them. 

As always, give me any topics you want to hear about, and God bless!

Sources:

https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/book-vs-flick-jurassic-park

https://twobeardgaming.com/2018/10/life-uh-finds-a-way-a-complete-history-of-the-jurassic-park-video-games-franchise/