Jurassic Park is a sci-fi adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg that released in 1993 and was based on the Michael Crichton novel of the same name. On release, Jurassic Park became the highest-grossing film released worldwide and was loved by critics and moviegoers alike, going on to receive multiple sequels that have since rebranded the franchise as Jurassic World.
However, when it comes to the original film, there are many fans that might be surprised to hear that there are many differences between the book version and the final film. Check out ten of these differences just below.
10 The Raptor Pack
At the end of the film, the characters find themselves having to escape the pack of Velociraptors on the island, but the well-timed appearance of the T-Rex sees the dinosaurs attacking each other, allowing the characters enough time to escape.
In the book, the raptors are a must larger plot point as it is discovered that they had been breeding and are attempting to migrate away from the island. They also have a different fate; instead of being attacked by the T-Rex, Grant kills them by feeding them eggs that he has injected with poison.
9 Alan Grant
Dr. Alan Grant is shown to dislike the kids at first in the film, but eventually bonds with them over the traumatic experiences that they share together. However, the book version of Grant is much different, acting as an almost father-figure to the kids from the very beginning.
Additionally, there is an underlying romance plot between Dr. Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler in the film, but in the book, there is no chemistry between them whatsoever and in fact, neither of the characters are expanded upon greatly in the novel.
8 Procompsognathus
Noticeably, the Procompsognathus feature heavily within the novel, to the point where they are the culprits behind Hammond’s death, yet they don’t appear at all in the film version of Jurassic Park. The book opens with a small girl being attacked by a pack of Procompsognathus, very small dinosaurs who are incredibly dangerous in packs.
Interestingly, this scene from the book was later used in the movie sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park and was largely unchanged from how it was presented in the book.
7 Henry Wu
Dr. Henry Wu is a relatively small role in the original Jurassic Park film, which is a surprise to most fans as he features far more in the Jurassic World movies and Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous animated TV series.
However, Wu is a major character in the book and is actually the person who came up with the idea of filling in the gaps in the dinosaur’s genetic code by supplementing in the DNA of amphibians. Given how important Wu’s character was in the book, it makes a lot more sense as to why he reappeared so much in the film’s sequels.
6 Dinosaur Coloration
There’s been a long-standing debate as to what dinosaurs actually looked like, what color their skin was, and whether they had feathers. The film opted to color the dinosaurs in what most people would consider “normal reptile colors”, in hues of brown and green.
However, in the book, the dinosaurs are much more colorful than they are depicted in the film. For example, the Velociraptors are described as “dark yellow with brown stripes, like a tiger“. The dinosaurs likely wouldn’t have been as scary in the film if they were so vibrantly colored.
5 John Hammond
The character of John Hammond, the creator of Jurassic Park, was made a lot more likable in the film, where at the end, he admits the error of his ways and agrees that the park was a failure. However, in the book, Hammond is a bit of a nasty character driven by greed and obsessed with his park being a success to the very end.
Another big difference when it comes to Hammond is that he actually dies in the book. Hammond believes he is being chased by the T-Rex (but it’s actually a recording of its roar) and falls down a hill while running away, unfortunately breaking his ankle and leaving him incapacitated. He is eventually attacked and killed by a pack of Procompsognathus.
4 The Children’s Ages are Swapped
Jurassic Park features siblings Tim and Lex Murphy, but interestingly they had a bit of a role reversal in the film in that their ages were swapped, making Tim the younger brother and Lex the older sister.
In the book, Tim is the older sibling and is highly knowledgeable when it comes to dinosaurs, as well as being a whizz with computers. While Tim kept his love for dinosaurs in the film, his sister Lex was given the technology trait, presumably to make her character more worthwhile than it was in the book.
3 The Book was Far More Violent
Jurassic Park was rated PG-13 as it had its fair share of scary scenes, moderate violence, profanity, and a couple of low-key sexual references or imagery. While there are a number of horrifying scenes, especially where characters are killed or attacked, the film was actually rather soft in comparison to the book.
The Jurassic Park novel is extremely violent with very graphic descriptions of what takes place. Some examples of the gruesome violence in the book include Robert Muldoon slicing the “Clever Girl” raptor in half with a rocket launcher, John Hammond being eaten alive by a group of Procompsognathus, and Dennis Nedry carrying his own intestines after being attacked.
2 Ian Malcolm’s T-Rex Attack
In both the film and the book, Dr. Ian Malcolm is injured by the T-Rex, but the film makes this an honorable moment where Malcolm is trying to lure it away from the children, whereas the book has him running away in a panic when he is attacked. Despite his injuries, Malcolm continues to help his companions and is rescued along with the others at the end of the film.
In the book, after his attack, Malcolm frequently rants while under the effects of morphine and eventually succumbs to his wounds and dies. Interestingly, he makes a comeback in the sequel novel The Lost World, claiming that he was prematurely announced deceased. This is likely because by the time the book was finished, the first film had already released and Crichton may have wanted to keep the books in line with the film series where Malcolm had survived.
1 The Fate of Jurassic Park
At the end of the novel, Jurassic Park is destroyed when the Costa Rican Air Force is flown in to bomb the island in an attempt to rid the world of the dangerous dinosaurs. However, in the last few pages, it is revealed that a few young raptors managed to survive as stowaways on the supply ship.
Of course, when it came to the film adaptation, it was likely hoping to cash in on at least one sequel from the get-go, as Michael Crichton was already penning the novel sequel The Lost World. Having the majority of the dinosaurs and the original theme park destroyed wouldn’t have had the same impact for the film sequels, so it’s understandable that this ending was changed.
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