Thursday 29 January 2015

Jurassic Park; comparing book to film.

Usually with franchises like this, it's the norm to read the book, then watch the film. I did this with Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games.
However, as I stated in my last post hereI never realised that Jurassic Park was a book, until a few months ago (i'm a slow reader). 
When I was younger I was obsessed with dinosaurs, and Jurassic Park was my number 1. When I was 8 I even wanted to be a palaeontologist (Google it). So you can imagine my delight when I discovered the novel by Michael Crichton.
On the whole, the book seems a lot gorier than the film. However, it's a lot easier for violence and carnage to come across on the big screen, whereas novels rely on the heavy use of adjectives to get their points across.
There are also a few character changes within the book. For instance, Lex, who's character is around 13/14 in the movie, is actually 8 years old in the novel. I have to say I agree with Steven Spielberg on this one. I prefer Lex and Tim's relationship in the film, and this wouldn't have been the same if Lex was 8. In the movie, Timmy is the younger and 'annoying' brother whereas Lex is the more mature and stubborn older sister. Their constant arguing and bickering provides a slight comical effect that then downplays the imminent danger that they are facing, therefore making the movie more child - friendly.
Other changes between the two include some differences to the storyline.
There are a lot of things that have been changed in transition from novel to movie. Having studied Media for 4 years I know that Spielberg will have had very good reasons for doing so, and I for one am glad he did.
I enjoyed the book, but it's still the film that makes it for me. Whether it's because I broke tradition and watched the film before the book, I will never know.
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝

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