I truly loved dinosaurs as a kid. I remember seeing the first Jurassic Park film when I was 11 years old. Boy, was that a good scare for my young heart, and a dinosaur lover's dream come true as well! I've read Ender's Game more than any other novel, but next in line would be Jurassic Park. It's excellent fiction. Lately I've been re-exploring the franchise, rereading the books and rewatching the films. I just have to put my thoughts out there.
Warning, spoilersaurus ahead!
Actually, I don't know how many spoilers I will really include, but there will likely be some. And though I have many thoughts, I'm tired and won't likely be as wordy as I often tend to be.
After watching the first film, I delved into the book and loved it! I was amazed at how different the film and book were. The plot seemed only the same in the very essentials: old man creates dinosaur theme park by resurrecting dinosaurs with ancient DNA found in fossilized mosquitoes. The characters in name are the same, but appearances, personalities, ages, relationships, etc. are drastically different. Heck, a lot of characters who live and die had even changed. But I loved them both for their different takes on the story, and ultimately the message is the same.
When The Lost Word came out, I read the book immediately, two years before seeing the film. If I thought the first film was unfaithful to the source, nothing made me change that opinion more than the contrast with the fidelity of the second film. The only similarities there were that Malcolm goes to Site B on a different island. There is so little in common, and truly in the end the message is something else entirely. In the book, a competing genetics company sends in a small team to obtain dinosaur genetics to boost their own research. This is the same company that prompted Nedry in the first film/book to steal for them. And the leader of this team is the same man who hired Nedry, Lewis Dodgson, who is a much slimier bad guy than ever shown on film. However in the movie, the bad guys are actually Hammond's nephew and other company folks who have wrested control of the company from him and are trying to financially save the company by taking the dinosaurs back to the US. The plot is so different that it is hard to appreciate, and culminates with the stupid San Diego mayhem that never existed in the book. The movie is such a letdown after such a great beginning to the series that I can hardly stand it.
That's all I have energy to share now. Anyone else want to talk about the franchise, or perhaps just about dinosaurs in general? Note the very flexible title.