Saturday, May 16, 2009
The main character of Jurassic Park is named Alan Grant. In the book, he is a bearded paleontologist who is very interested in dinosaurs and does not mind kids at all. In fact, he loves meeting kids as interested in dinosaurs as he is. The movie manages to capture the way he feels towards dinosaurs and portrays these feelings the way they are portrayed in the book. However, the way he feels about kids is completely the opposite from novel. In the film, Grant does not like children very much. In fact when a child named Tim tries to talk to him in the movie, Grant tries to get rid of him, as opposed to the book, in which he happily talks with him.
Another thing the movie changes are the ages of Tim and his sister, Lex. In the book, Tim is eleven years old and older than Lex by four years. Due to the fact that Lex is so young, she acts the way a normal seven-year-old girl acts. In the film, however, Lex is much older than Tim. Therefore she acts more mature than she does in the book. Also, in the book it is Tim that learns how to fix the computers, but in the movie it is the much more mature Lex that manages to fix them and get the security systems back online.
The film even changes the characteristics of the theme park employees that bring the dinosaurs back to life and try to control them. One employee that it changes is Robert Muldoon, the head of security. The only difference between his character in the book and his character in the movie is that he dies in the movie and lives in the book. Another character is Donald Genaro, the lawyer and head of the genetic company that recreated the prehistoric creatures. In the novel, he is panicked and worried about the park, trying to see if the park is safe or not; in the film, though, he is just trying to think of ways to make money off of the park and ends up getting eaten by a tyrannosaurus rex. Also, two important characters named Henry Wu and Harding were hardly even mentioned in the movie. It even left Ed Regis, the tour guide, out completely; the only employee they kept exactly the same was John Arnold, one of the computer workers.
Some other characters in Jurassic Park are Ellie Sattler, Ian Malcolm, and Dennis Nedry. Sattler is Grant’s friend and business partner in the novel. However, in the movie she is his girlfriend. Malcolm is a mathematician who tells everyone constantly that the park is bound to fail and is portrayed exactly the same in the book as he is movie. Nedry is the designer of the park’s computer system. In the book, he is a little smarter than he is in the movie. In the novel, as soon as he hears a dinosaur near him in the park, he starts running, whereas in the film he stays to see what it is and confronts it.
Finally, the last important character is John Hammond. He is the creator of the park. It was his idea that got the company and the theme park started. In the movie, all he cares about in the beginning is getting the park started, but as the film goes on, he learns that the park was a mistake. In the novel, however, all he cares about from beginning to end is the park; he even wants to rebuild it even after things go wrong and ends up breaking his ankle and getting eaten by many small dinosaurs.
One scene that is missing from the movie is the river scene. In the book, Grant, Tim, and Lex enter a raft to get back to the visitor center and run into a tyrannosaurus rex that swims after them. After they escape him, they enter a giant bird cage and get attacked by pterodactyls. When they get back, Grant turns on the main generator to get the power back on. In the movie, however, Grant and the kids only have to climb an electric fence before Ellie turns on the generator and gets the power back on.
Another scene that is different is the velociraptor scene. In the movie, Grant and Sattler push against a door to stop the velociraptors from coming into the control room while Lex tries to activate the security system. In the book, Grant lures the creatures into the hatchery so Tim, Lex, and Genaro could get to the control room. Once the velociraptors were in the hatchery, Grant poisons dinosaur eggs and roles them towards the vicious animals. When the eggs reach the dinosaurs, they eat them and die.
One last scene that is different is the final scene. In the film, Grant, Sattler, Tim, and Lex escape velociraptors in the visitor center and meet up with Malcolm and Hammond, whom they escape with in a helicopter. In the novel, though, after leaving the visitor center, Grant, Sattler, and Genaro go to the volcanic part of the island to find the velociraptor nest and count how many of the creatures were born. After they count, they follow them back up to the beach and discover that they are trying to migrate and are closely eyeing passing ships. After that, they climb into a helicopter that just landed on the beach with Muldoon and the kids already inside. Once in the helicopter, Muldoon gives them the news that Hammond is dead.
Due to the fact that the movie has changed these exciting characters and scenes, it makes it slightly less entertaining than Crichton’s thrilling novel. The book is longer and is filled with many more exciting adventures than the movie is. It is also slightly more suspenseful. The book even features the death of the man who created the deadly park to begin with. For these reasons, the book version is better than the movie version of Jurassic Park.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Twenty-Five Things I Want to Do Before I Die
- Get married
- Become a film director
- Meet Tim Burton
- See a solar eclipse
- Go into space
- Hike the Grand Canyon
- Become a dad
- See my children's weddings
- Meet George Lucas
- Meet Steven Spielberg
- Act in a movie, show, or play
- Go to Italy
- Visit London
- See Paris
- Go to Hawaii
- Go skydiving
- Win an award
- SCUBA dive with my dad
- Go to college
- Get drivers license
- Visit Eastern State Penitentiary
- See the Statue of Liberty
- Win the Lottery
- Meet the President of the United States
- Make the school golf team
There are many interesting and exciting things to do in one's lifetime. However only five things really stand out to me. I have been wanting to do them for a very long time and have made them my life goals. Some of them are even life-changing. The five things I want to do before I die are get married, become a film director, meet Tim Burton, see a solar eclipse, and go into outer space.
One thing I would like to do is get married. Love is one of the best feelings in the world. When I fall in love, it will be one of the happiest times of my life. Once I get married, however, I will be even happier because then I will be able to spend the rest of my life with the girl of my dreams. Marriage is the beginning of true happiness. When I am married, I will be truly happy.
Something else I would like to do is become a film director. I love movies very much! I enjoy just sitting down and watching a good movie. However, I also have some good ideas for movies, as well. I spend most of my free time thinking of movie plots and ideas. I really hope to see those plots and ideas on the big screen one day.
Another one of my goals is to meet Tim Burton. He is my favorite film director. His movies are so strange that I cannot help but like them. The way he interprets movie plots is unlike anything else I have ever seen. For this reason, I have seen all of his movies except for one. Meeting a director like him would be simply amazing. I also hope that I will get to work with him one day.
A fourth goal of mine is to see a solar eclipse. I have seen a few lunar eclipses in my life, but I have never seen a solar eclipse before. It is such a rare and awesome experience. If I ever get that opportunity, I will go out of my way to see it. It is the most amazing natural event by far. I really look forward to seeing it sometime during the course of my life.
The final thing I would like to do before I die is go into outer space. Not many people get to go into space. It is a very rare opportunity. To actually be able to do it is extraordinary. Right now, I can only imagine that feeling. However, maybe one day I will be able to feel it for real.
So, the five things I want to do before I die are get married, become a film director, meet Tim Burton, see a solar eclipse, and go into outer space. These are all amazing experiences that would be simply extraordinary to see or do. Some of them would even change my life and the way I see the world. They are not just my life goals, they are also my dreams. If I got the chance to accomplish all of them, I would be the luckiest person alive.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
A Friend and a Fool
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Autobiography
In 2001, I went to the Florida Keys on my second major vacation. When I was there, I actually swam with dolphins, and I even kissed one. Unfortunately, I got an ear infection and was not able to swim after that. I only swam once! So it was both a good and a bad vacation.
When I was in fourth grade, I wanted to play hockey, so I decided to learn how to ice skate. On January 29, which is my mom's birthday, I fell backwards during my skating lessons. A girl, trying to stop, ended up sliding into me, and the edge of her skate hit my head and cut me. My dad took me to the hospital and I had to get three stitches. That was probably my moms least favorite birthday.
My dad is a photographer, so he photographs many weddings. One time, he had to photograph a wedding on an island known as St. John, so my family and I went there on vacation. On our vacation, we also stayed on St. Thomas, where my dad and I went snorkeling. We saw squid, a huge school of fish, a barracuda, and a green sea turtle. It was one of my favorite vacations.
I am very good in math and I like acting. In seventh grade, I took a test to get into the advanced math class, and I passed. Then, however, I found out that I could take an all-year drama class, instead. My mom called the school during the summer to make sure I was put into the drama class, but I was put into the math class instead. Once I began school in the math class, however, I decided it was easier to simply stay there, instead of having to switch classes.
I enjoyed that class. My teachers were nice, I was being challenged, and I made some new friends. The work was not too hard, either. I had a good time in that class that year. I am glad I decided to stay.
I even joined a few clubs and activities growing up. When I was in first grade, I joined boy scouts for five or six years. I did many things as a scout. I raced wooden cars, toy sailboats, and slept over at a park one time. I was even able to sleep on a United States battleship!
The battle ship sleep over was amazing. I got to eat food prepared on the ship, ride in a flight simulator, and I even got to take a tour! That was one of my favorite things as a scout. However, I did not stay a scout much longer. None of my friends stayed and I never liked it that much, so I quit.
I also got into the National Junior Honor Society in seventh grade. My family was so proud of my grades and that I was able to get into the Honor Society, and so was I. I will never forget the day of my induction ceremony. It felt amazing to actually accept my induction certificate. I even took pictures of the next year's ceremony for the Society with two other photographers.
In seventh grade, I walked with the Honor Society to raise money for a disease known as A.L.S. I was going to walk the following year as well, but it was cancelled. However, I did collect money in the lunch room with one of my friends in the Society. That year, I graduated from eighth grade wearing a sash signifying that I was in the club. Its was extraordinary to get the opportunity to actually graduate as a member of it!
Another thing I did growing up was play soccer. Although I played it, I did not like it that much. I stopped once I got to middle school. However, I recently became interested in golf. I plan on trying out for golf soon.
I also like to read. My favorite book series is A Series of Unfortunate Events. I have read the entire series. Those books are the ones that got me interested in reading. Without them I probably never would have read as many books as I have today.
Well that is my life. It is filled with both pleasant and unpleasant events. However, i am really enjoying it so far. I definitely have some interesting and funny stories from it. I cannot wait to see what happens next!