I was revisiting the novels and I realized that Hammond’s death mirrors the baby’s kill in the first act. The text even describes Hammond as feeling tired . Blissful even. Like a sleeping baby. And in the second book, Dodgson almost suffers a similar fate with the compys. He’s sleepy and just barely escaped the little scavengers by hunkering down in a shed. Crichton essentially teased him with the same fate. Only to meet an arguably worse one the next day. A note on the Bob Bakker connection. It was said that when Bakker saw Dr. Burke get eaten in The Lost World film, he said to Horner; "See, I told you T. rex was a predator!" I don't know how true that is, but I like to think that actually happened.
Yes! "Hammond lay very still, as still as a child in its crib, and he felt wonderfully peaceful... Hammond felt only a slight pain, very slight, as the compy bent to chew his neck," which grimly parallels "But long before she reached the bassinet, she could see what had happened to the infant’s face, and she knew the child must be dead." Hammond gets the fate he deserves! I've also heard somewhere that Bakker enjoyed being represented in the film - but who knows, eh? It feels like over time, Bakker is getting the last laugh.
Thanks! It's so astonishing that the book literally begins by having dinosaurs esacping the island and causing mischief on mainland Costa Rica, and all these years later, the films just can't handle it. The "San Diego" incident barely equates (though, it was pretty cool when I was a kid : ) Having unpredictable horrors wash up on the shores of coastal villages would have made awesome movies!
PS: For some paleontology know-how (I'm an educator, work at a museum), yes Procompsognathus would have almost certainly have had at least 4 digits on its hands, as basal theropods tend to have. Compsognathus was initially thought to only have 2-digited hands, but better fossils and relatives clarified it had the more typical Coelurosaurian 3. As for feathers Compsognathus certainly wasm very correct when you said that. It probably looked pretty similar to reconstructions of Sinosauropteryx. As for Procompsognathus, Triassic skin fossils are notoriously rare but given both dinosaurs and pterosaurs both have simple feathers, they likely got it from a common ancestor and so Triassic theropods like Procomp probably had them.
Thanks! I love comparing the original text with the adaptations and obviously to reality at the same time. The sequel films all start becoming "copies of a copy" the further down the line, as screenwriters and directors misunderstand the source text and vary it in bits and pieces as they go. Those are some cool details about the c. longipes and p. triassicus. Thank you!
I would love to see the scene with Sarah Harding and Dodgeson under the Explorer in the Lost World book, on screen. Animated or otherwise. I LOVE that part of the book!
There is a mountain of strange and gruesome material that could be lifted from TLW, totally. It was almost entirely unused by Spielberg, and it's darker, grittier, and "realer" than the first book - which people seem to be desperate for in their JP movies so ... maybe ScarJo will kick a villain out into the mouth of a tyrannosaur while she hides under a car? lol. #spoilers!
I was revisiting the novels and I realized that Hammond’s death mirrors the baby’s kill in the first act. The text even describes Hammond as feeling tired . Blissful even. Like a sleeping baby. And in the second book, Dodgson almost suffers a similar fate with the compys. He’s sleepy and just barely escaped the little scavengers by hunkering down in a shed. Crichton essentially teased him with the same fate. Only to meet an arguably worse one the next day.
A note on the Bob Bakker connection. It was said that when Bakker saw Dr. Burke get eaten in The Lost World film, he said to Horner; "See, I told you T. rex was a predator!" I don't know how true that is, but I like to think that actually happened.
Yes! "Hammond lay very still, as still as a child in its crib, and he felt wonderfully peaceful... Hammond felt only a slight pain, very slight, as the compy bent to chew his neck," which grimly parallels "But long before she reached the bassinet, she could see what had happened to the infant’s face, and she knew the child must be dead."
Hammond gets the fate he deserves!
I've also heard somewhere that Bakker enjoyed being represented in the film - but who knows, eh? It feels like over time, Bakker is getting the last laugh.
Fun to see someone discuss this sort of topic. Really makes me wish the mainland plot from the first two books was maintained.
Thanks! It's so astonishing that the book literally begins by having dinosaurs esacping the island and causing mischief on mainland Costa Rica, and all these years later, the films just can't handle it. The "San Diego" incident barely equates (though, it was pretty cool when I was a kid : )
Having unpredictable horrors wash up on the shores of coastal villages would have made awesome movies!
PS: For some paleontology know-how (I'm an educator, work at a museum), yes Procompsognathus would have almost certainly have had at least 4 digits on its hands, as basal theropods tend to have. Compsognathus was initially thought to only have 2-digited hands, but better fossils and relatives clarified it had the more typical Coelurosaurian 3. As for feathers Compsognathus certainly wasm very correct when you said that. It probably looked pretty similar to reconstructions of Sinosauropteryx. As for Procompsognathus, Triassic skin fossils are notoriously rare but given both dinosaurs and pterosaurs both have simple feathers, they likely got it from a common ancestor and so Triassic theropods like Procomp probably had them.
Thanks! I love comparing the original text with the adaptations and obviously to reality at the same time. The sequel films all start becoming "copies of a copy" the further down the line, as screenwriters and directors misunderstand the source text and vary it in bits and pieces as they go.
Those are some cool details about the c. longipes and p. triassicus. Thank you!
I LOVED THE COMPY'S! They were my favorite part of the book.
I would love to see the scene with Sarah Harding and Dodgeson under the Explorer in the Lost World book, on screen. Animated or otherwise. I LOVE that part of the book!
There is a mountain of strange and gruesome material that could be lifted from TLW, totally. It was almost entirely unused by Spielberg, and it's darker, grittier, and "realer" than the first book - which people seem to be desperate for in their JP movies so ... maybe ScarJo will kick a villain out into the mouth of a tyrannosaur while she hides under a car? lol. #spoilers!