RE: SPOILERS: Lost World Comments

[Chris Haswell <deinonyk@deinonych.com>]

I am not a professional paleontologist either, and I agree with your comments 
below. However, I did not enjoy the movie quite so much, having read the novel 
first. It is almost as though Spielberg never read "The Lost World" and only 
recently finished reading "Jurassic Park." That is, many of the elements found 
in the first novel (which never made it to the first film) showed up in the 
second movie:

1. The opening scene in the movie where the little girl is bitten by the pack 
of Compsognathus. This never occured in the second book, but was the opening 
scene of the second.

2. The second film focused on a trek across the island, whereas a major portion 
of the first novel focused on Alan Grant's trek across the island to reach 
safety.

3. The "showdown" scene with the triad of "Velociraptors" (we all know that the 
creatures depicted more closely resembled Deinonychus antirrhopus, but I 
digress) was reminiscent of the closing scene of the first novel in which the 
raptors quarried their human prey in and around the main lodge.

4. The attack on one of the mercenaries by the pack of Compys was indeed 
classic, but never occurred in the second book - it was, however, how John 
Hammond met his demise in the first book.

<begin venting>
Fortunately, I was prepared for the many differences between the movie and the 
book before I saw the movie. And, I must say that I agree with your comment 
regarding the revitalization of the interest in dinosaurs by the general 
populace. However, I still feel cheated by Spielberg's "paraphrasing" of the 
novel. Where was the chameleon-like Carnotaurus? Where were Levine and Arby? 
Where were the discussions and observations of dinosaur behavior? It seems that 
most of the book was deemed too intellectual(!) and complex for the average 
consumer. Instead, we are treated to yet another romp through the jungle 
replete with dinosaurs giving chase to screaming humans (could a mass of 
hysterical human REALLY outrun a Tyrannosaurus rex?) The plot, as it were, 
seemed to dissolve after the first half hour. And the Godzilla-like antics of 
the T. rex at the end of the film was laughable.
<end venting>

While I understand that the purpose of this movie was to entertain rather than 
inform, I felt like it could have been so much more.

CH
-----Original Message-----
From:   William J. Bevil [SMTP:ceratosaur@juno.com]
Sent:   Monday, May 26, 1997 7:25 PM
To:     dinosaur@usc.edu
Subject:        SPOILERS: Lost World Comments

Although I am not a professional paleontologist or similar creature, I
simply cannot resist the temptation to comment on some aspects of "The
Lost World: Jurassic Park"...

Before I go into my round of nitpicking, I should first say that despite
occasional perceived errors, I LOVED the movie, will likely see it five
times, and am very happy to see Dinosaurs on the cover(s) of every
publication in the U.S. this week.  Anything that makes people,
especially children, interested in Dinosaurs is OK by me.  One of the
neatest things I noticed this weekend (see next message re:JurassiCon)
was that it was the kids that noticed the errors first - and boy were
they quick to point them out! :-)

Now for my comments-

1.) OK, so Sarah Harding has been studying "predators" for years and
"knows what she's doing", right?  If that's the case, will someone please
tell me why she hung that bloody jacket out to dry in the wind like
that?!?!?  I think the most annoying aspect of this error was that it
wasn't even necessary!  It is entirely plausible that the T. Rexes could
have tracked down the party without the jacket- and it would not have
required the "dumbing-down" of her character.

2.) I assume we can all agree that Pteranodon was capable of flying or
gliding great distances?  How do they plan to keep the island isolated
when there are beasties that can so easily get off of it?

3.) Lastly, not really a complaint, but just a thought...it seems likely
that some other dinos managed to be stowaways on the ship and they ate
the crew.  Certainly the "compys" would be small enough to go unnoticed. 
But, only a pack of raptors would have the attitude and appetite
necessary to pull off such a feat - assuming they could get on the ship
at all.  I guess this means something else may have survived and is alive
and well in San Diego...

4.) Some favorite moments from the film?  The behavioral scenes with the
Stegosaurs (protecting their young), the T-Rexes (protection and
encouraging feeding "technique") and the Compys (bite, poison, and stand
back and wait until it's too weak to fight back - a Komodo dragon
couldn't do a better job!)  Loved it. ;-)

William Bevil
Co-Chairman
JurassiCon - June 5-7, 1998 - Atlanta, Georgia
http://www.esosoft.com/evolution