far from crichton's book and even further from spielberg's talent

Rating: 6/10 (2 March 2002)

RATING: 2 OF 10
i agree that no movie, no matter how good, will ever be as good or as fufilling as the book (assuming of course there is a book for the movie) and I agree with spielberg's idea to take certain "liberties" with the making of his movie, but this movie strayed so far from the book that it shouldnt have even carried the same. The story is completely warped, many main characters are completely omitted and some (in fact MANY are added! for example the whole ingen crew of dino poachers! what the hell? not one man from ingen was in the book! there were three poachers steeling eggs and thats all, and they werent planning to take them to some new park in san diego either). one main character that was COMPLETELY omitted was a RICHARD LEVINE. he (in the book) was the whole reason that every one got dragged to the island (brief summary: NOTE: CONTAINS SPOILERS OF BOOK!!! Levine finds island and goes there w/ guide-> guide killed/levine stranded. malcolm, THORNE(older burly guy not in movie(sean connery would have been perfect!)), eddie, ARBY (black kid, also not in movie), and kelley (WHITE and of no relation to malcolm or on any gymnastics team). this team reaches island and find levine. sarah comes afterwards with poachers (doesnt know that they are poachers at the time and was her only way of getting there). poachers are dodgson (nedrys affiliate from the original JP) a scientist named baselton, and a friend of dodgson named king. on the way to the island (isla sorna, by the way) dodgson throws sarah overboard. i assume, he did this because she found out too much. sarah, as strong as she is makes the short swim through the rough seas about the dangerous cliffs, into a cave and onto the island) she later meets up with the rest of the crew, and dodgson's gang begin their egg snatching...) NOW i believe that spielberg could take some liberties here and add HIS touch to it after you establish this basic introduction. anywho, in the end of the book (WARNING: MORE SPOILERS OF THE BOOK!) malcolm (injured leg again), thorne, levine, arby (bably bruised from an encounter with the raptors) and kelly escape on a boat, while all of dodgson's crew were killed (which was a shame becasuse king was a good guy)... If spielberg had followed this basic plot, he still would have been able to put in his ideas and make a great film, some of the images i got from the book were beautiful, frightening, and suspenseful and could have been translated beautifully to the big screen. I respect spielberg greatly and do not mean any disrespect to this great man, but what the hell was he thinking? I loved this book and strongly recomend it to anyone who hasnt read it. if i grow up to become a director, i vow to remake this movie how i envisioned it (if my budget will allow). oh yeah and in conclusion, i suppose, THE TREX NEVER WENT TO SAN DIEGO!! THIS WAS LIKE SPIELBERG WAS SAYING "OH THIS FILM WASNT BAD ENOUGH LETS BRING A DINOSAUR TO THE MAINLAND." this did absolutely NOTHING for me nor (at least i hope not) to anyone else