FAQ for
Jurassic Park (1993) More at IMDbPro »

The following FAQ entries may contain spoilers. Only the biggest ones (if any) will be covered with spoiler tags. Spoiler tags have been used sparingly in order to make the page more readable.

For detailed information about the amounts and types of (a) sex and nudity, (b) violence and gore, (c) profanity, (d) alcohol, drugs, and smoking, and (e) frightening and intense scenes in this movie, consult the IMDb Parents Guide for this movie. The Parents Guide for Jurassic Park can be found here.

Yes. Jurassic Park is based on a 1990 novel of the same name by American author Michael Crichton.

Steven Spielberg asked Michael Crichton to adapt his novel into a screenplay, but Crichton preferred not to, having exhausted himself just writing the book. They compromised, and Crichton agreed to write only a first draft, then let Spielberg find another writer to finish the revisions. The final shooting script was written by David Koepp. Under WGA rules, the writer of the first draft must be credited unless said writer declines credit. For this reason, Crichton is credited for his work on the first draft. Koepp read the novel, but decided not to read Crichton's draft, so essentially the writing started over from scratch once he was hired. When Spielberg decided to make the sequel, he opted not to have Crichton write the first draft, but instead to go straight to a writer he knew could deliver a final shooting script.

Differences are plentiful. Almost every character is somewhat different in the book than the film. For example:

In the book Gennaro is a young, muscular man and is a fairly likeable character. Also, in the book, he lives. Near the end of the book, after the main characters part company with Hammond, Gennaro becomes a sort of scapegoat and is blamed by Grant for the dangers they are facing. In the second book (The Lost World) it is mentioned that he died of dysentary on a business trip in between the timeline of the two stories. There is another character named Ed Regis who works on the island and goes on the tour with the others. In the film Gennaro is combined with many of Ed Regis' traits and is killed in a very similar way to Regis.

Muldoon is pretty much the same in both the book and the film, only he is described as being South-African and might have a drinking problem, whereas in the film he is British. In the book he is wounded but lives. In the film he dies.

Nedry is exactly the same, almost down to the last detail. He dies in the same way in both the film and the book, though the book is more graphic. Also, in the book he was planning to shut down the security system, deliver the embryos to some people on a boat, then return to the control room and reset everything to normal, but was killed before he could do any of that. In the film it is unclear whether he was deliberately sabotaging the park and was planning to escape on the boat, or if he was going to return to the control room.

Dr. Harding has a brief appearance in the movie as the veterinarian looking after the sick triceritops, but then leaves on the boat heading to the mainland. In the book, he stays on the Island throughout the whole ordeal. He is wounded by a raptor, but lives.

Dr. Henry Wu has a much more significant role in the book than in the film. In the book he explains in great detail how the dinosaurs are cloned, etc. He too stays on the island throughout the ordeal and is killed by raptors near the end of the book. In the film he leaves on the boat for the mainland and lives.

In the film Ray Arnold is the lead computer engineer. In the book his name is John Arnold (it was changed most likely due to the fact that there was a character named John Hammond, and having two Johns in the film might be confusing.) His traits are very similar in both the book and the film. He dies in the same way in both the book and the film.

Ian Malcolm is described in the same way in both the book and the film, except in the book he is 'a balding man.' He is said to have a deplorablly excessive personality. In the film he is witty and also provides the comic relief. In the book he is much more serious, philosophical and at times condescending. He and John Hammond absolutely loathe each other. He is injured the same way in both the book and the film, but in the book he succumbs to his wounds, slips into a coma and dies. However, he is brought back for the second book, The Lost World, saying that 'I only appeared dead, but the surgeons did excellent work to revive me.'

Alan Grant is very casual in the book. He wears tattered jeans, sneakers, and has a beard. In the film he is much more clean-cut, wearing collared shirts and khaki pants, and is clean-shaven. Also, in the book he likes kids, whereas in the film he hates kids, at least initially. Near the end of the book, having survived the trek through the jungle, he becomes hostile towards Gennaro in Hammond's absence and blames him for the circumstances they and the rest of the survivors are facing.

In the book, Tim is around the same age as in the film, but Lex is younger and doesn't provide much to the plot in the book. Tim is the one who is good with computers and helps activate the park security systems in the book.

John Hammond is very different in the book. He is arrogant, deceptive, disrespectful and rude, and described as almost dwarf-like in his appearance. He recognizes the consequences of his experiments but disregards them in the name of profit. In the film he is still eccentric but he is very friendly, honest and generous, and does not appear to fully grasp the reality of what he's done until the end of the film; at one point in the movie he criticizes Gennaro's idea of the park as a playground for the rich, which is essentially what the Hammond in the book is trying to create. In the book he refuses to leave the island with Grant and instead ventures off into the park by himself, where he injures himself falling down a cliff and is summarily eaten by chicken-like dinosaurs called Procompsugnothids. In the film he lives.

Ellie Sattler is described as being 23, tanned, and is noticed more by the male characters. In the film she is dating Grant and is rather reserved. In the book she is Grant's student and is engaged to someone else.

Lewis Dodgson gets a bit more mention in the book and it's sequel The Lost World. His role in both the book and the film are pretty much the same, he meets Nedry and pays him off, then isn't seen again. But a bit more background on his character is given in the book. In the second book, The Lost World he is the main antagonist and is killed at the end. In the films he pays off Nedry and is never seen again.

For more differences, including plot changes see: here.

Though we never find out in the film, the novel offers the answer: the triceratops digests food like vegetables or fruit by eating small stones that crush and mash the food in the stomach. The stones it eats are too close to the poisonous West Indian Lilac berries. Therefore, when it replaces the stones every six weeks or so, it simultaneously picks up fallen berries and is poisoned again. This is suggested in the scene where Dr. Sattler crouches down by the Lilac berry bush, picks up some small stones, and plays with them in the air for a second.

While it is unclear whether he soiled his underwear upon experiencing the T-Rex knocking the toilet down around him, it is clear that he innitially only went to the toilet to hide from the dinosaur, rather than to evacuate his bowels. His trousers are still around his waist when he is eaten. A scene similar to this appeared in the book, though the unfortunate victim was Ed Regis, who does not appear in the film. Ed Regis is present during the main road attack in the book, and like Gennaro, he abandons the children upon seeing the T-Rex. The book makes clear that Regis wets himself. The film shows a toilet nearby instead.

Earlier in the film, Hammond mentions that "they clocked the T-Rex going 32 miles per hour," so the car could easily outrun it. In real life, computer simulations using the T-Rex's skeletal structure have found that it probably only ran at a maximum of 11-18 mph, and that its' legs, in ratio to the rest of its body, were not large enough to propel it beyond 25 mph.

Contrary to popular belief, the sound is not a comedic insertion by Spielberg; it is in fact the sound of him wrenching the tow cable from the front of the jeep as he slips down the waterfall.

The Visitor's Center was still under construction. There was a large open space for the T-Rex to enter, right behind the white canvas from which the second raptor appeared in the finale. Supposedly, the Rex followed this raptor in. A photo of the T-Rex entering the center can be seen here.

Yes. The series was to have been a direct sequel to "The Lost World: Jurassic Park", a sequel to this film, and was to be the premise of the Chaos Effect toyline, of scientisits cross-breading dinosaurs tht are decreasing in their population, 5 years after the above film. It went pretty far into production, even including creature designs and meetings with Steven Spielberg himself, but the project never took off, and the toys were too far into production, and couldn't be taken off the market, and the toyline was released to mixed reactions, some considering it to be the worst, ugliest JP line ever produced, though some consider it the best toyline ever created. There are some obscure rumors that producers are still considering making this show, but it is highly unlikely.

An explanation can be found here (which does feature some minor flaws itself, but overall explains this scene not to be a total goof).

When Gennaro arrives on the raft one of the guys says "[I bet] 10 pesos he falls". Then somebody tells Juanito they found something. Finally Juanito takes the amber containing the mosquito and says "How beautiful you are". Also afterthat he says "Luz, más luz... muchachos échenme luz!" or in English "Light, more light... guys, give me some light!"