James Cameron's version of Jurassic Park

[andrew8798]

In a fascinating tease at what might have been, James Cameron, in a recent interview with The Huffington Post, revealed that he came very, very close to adapting Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park and that Steven Spielberg beat him in securing the rights "by a few hours."

What would a Cameron-directed Jurassic Park have been like?

"I'd have gone further," says the Avatar director. "Nastier, much nastier... [M]ine would have been 'Aliens' with dinosaurs."

Of course, Spielberg's take on the property is widely considered to be a modern classic and even Cameron admits that he probably wouldn't have been able match its cinematic charm.

"[W]hen I saw the film," he continues, "I realised that I was not the right person to make the film, he was. Because he made a dinosaur movie for kids... Dinosaurs are for 8-year-olds. We can all enjoy it, too, but kids get dinosaurs and they should not have been excluded for that. His sensibility was right for that film."

Spielberg's Jurassic Park was released in 1993, spawning two additional sequels. The following year, Cameron released True Lies before turning his attention to 1997's Titanic.

Jurassic Park will return to theaters in 3D on April 5, 2013.

[StuntGranny®]

Personally, from what I just read, I'm glad Spielberg ended up with it. I'm all for blood and gore, but I can't imagine Jurassic Park with it. It was perfect the way it was, in my opinion.

[Perpetual Nirvana]

Well to be fair, the book does have a lot of blood and gore. There's a point where raptors are disembowling people left and right.

[Lazy peon]

Even when I was a kid I would have preferred bloody gorey dino killing to the kid friendly version we got.

[BRAINFADE]

It sounds interesting, but I'm glad Spielberg did it. Mainly because I got to see it as a 7 year old when it was first released.

[Sir Woodrow]

I'm glad Spielberg got it, I was 13 though so a gory Dino movie from the director of T2 and Aliens would have blown my mind

[G✇JI☈A]

I remember the book being real violent, so I would imagine with just coming off 'Terminator 2' Cameron would of stayed close to the source material.

[Mattification]

By the time he would have been making Jurassic Park, Cameron was well into his shift from gritty, violent movies to more box office orientated stuff.

The change in tone from Terminator and Aliens to T2 and True Lies is pretty obvious so I don't really buy that his version would have been massively different from the Speilberg version.

[Legion]

He might have wanted blood and gore, but I guarantee some studio exec somewhere would have stopped him.

They made huge amounts of money off the back of toys and all sorts with that movie. All that goes away if kids cant actually go and see it.

[Hit Girl]

Because he made a dinosaur movie for kids... Dinosaurs are for 8-year-olds.

Only on the surface.

Below the initial wonder of seeing CGI dinosaurs, Jurassic Park has deeper issues of genetic engineering ethics, naturalism vs capitalism, and corporate espionage.

['Foretold' Joker]

^ The book does go into that stuff, the film doesn't

[Dean-o]

I will echo Roger Ebert.

You have an idea to bring Dinosaurs back to modern life, and the only plot these guys can think of is to turn it into just another monster movie?

[Hit Girl]

Sept 15, 2012 8:15:57 GMT -5 'Foretold' Joker said:

^ The book does go into that stuff, the film doesn't

The film doesn't go into as much detail as the book, but all three issues are covered

[Deleted]

Says the guy who made Avatar. Pft. Cameron - just take your money and go home buddy.

[Ryback on a Pole!]

I'm glad Spielberg made it. I loved Jurassic Park, was the first movie I went to see as a kid. Although, after reading the book I am disappointed that Genero was turned from a badass if douchey lawyer (The guy volunteered to accompany Muldoon to go tranq the T-Rex and later, go out to battle the raptors) into a coward who hides in the toilet.

[BHB]

I absolutely love Jurassic Park, it's pretty much perfect the way it is.

But I also love Aliens, Terminator, Terminator 2, Titanic and True Lies - I'd love to see what Cameron could have done with it.

[Hit Girl]

In Cameron's "Jurassic Park", Muldoon would have been better armed and Nedry would have been Michael Biehn

[BorneAgain]

Spielberg was the better choice, if just because he was the ideal guy to utilize special effects and direction to capture the wonder of seeing actual dinosaurs.

[mizerable]

Sept 15, 2012 15:17:15 GMT -5 Hit Girl said:

In Cameron's "Jurassic Park", Muldoon would have been better armed and Nedry would have been Michael Biehn

That's the only thing I hated about the first movie. I have no problem with Muldoon getting killed in the end, but I thought he was at least going to have a chance to look like a badass. Instead, he looks like a chump in the one scene where he gets a chance to prove himself by getting tricked by the raptors.

What I don't get is how Grant could understand how raptors hunted? I mean it can be observed in similar animals, but even sub-species of the same animal have been known to have completely different behavioral patterns.

Also...is this movie coming out in only 3D? I never got a chance to see it in the theater as a kid and I wanted to see it on the big screen, but rather not sit through the 3D.

[Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie]

i'd actually like to see a PROPER adaption of both JP books ..... but i also like to see a whole new trilogy ..... JURASSIC WORLD!!!!!

basically the dinos have taken over south america, and liam neeson finds them and kills them builds a massive "barrier" to stop them crossing over into north america, while CATHY from the second movie is trying to stop them!

we see the return of JOHN HAMMOND, JOHN GRANT and LEXI MURPHY who strikes up a relashionship with CATHERINE. heading into a dino-infested city to rescue several top people of neeson's, the inevitable trouble strikes, as not only humans get in their way but those damned dinosaurs .....

but neeson has a trick up his sleeve .....

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler}being able to partly control some raptors using a implant to make them more controllable ..... possibly with machine guns