Michael Crichton.

I feel like writing about something other than film, or at least not only about film.

There are many good authors out there and I just want to make clear that by writing about Crichton I am not rating him compared with other authors. I just want to write about what his books and films mean to me.

And writing something about Crichton is impossible without writing of film, but I will try to keep it on the down low.

First of all, lets look at how many books he wrote. (Fictitious work).

1966 Odds On as John Lange
1967 Scratch One as John Lange
1968 Easy Go as John Lange (also titled as The Last Tomb)
1968 A Case of Need  as Jeffery Hudson (re-released as Crichton in 1993)
1969 Zero Cool as John Lange
1969 The Andromeda Strain
1969 The Venom Business as John Lange
1970 Drug of Choice as John Lange (also titled Overkill)
1970 Dealing as Michael Douglas (with brother Douglas Crichton)
1970 Grave Descend as John Lange
1972 Binary as John Lange (re-released as Crichton in 1993)
1972 The Terminal Man 
1975 The Great Train Robbery
1976 Eaters of the Dead also titled The 13th Warrior
1980 Congo
1987 Sphere
1990 Jurassic Park
1992 Rising Sun
1994 Disclosure
1995 The Lost World
1996 Airframe
1999 Timeline
2002 Prey
2004 State of Fear
2006 Next
2009 Pirate Latitudes posthumous publication
2011 Micro posthumous publication (unfinished)

 

Right away we recognize a lot of film titles. And within that I would like to bring out one fact about Crichton‘s books that I really admire.

He would apparently go to great lengths to study what ever subject he was writing about, making the final product not only “Factitious” but also plausible enough so that when someone had the idea to make a film out of it, they didn’t need to rename or rewrite his work.

Or perhaps want to.

Yes there is things changed and omitted in almost all Crichton adaptations. But the difference here I think is that who ever made the film/screenplay Wanted to leave the title intact as a homage to the original author. And the titles are short, catchy and to the point. Unlike for instance Blade Runner (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) or The Thing (Who Goes There?).

27 books.

And how many have been made into film?

13, so far. Not a bad outcome.

They are:

• A Case of Need (The Carey Treatment) – Enjoyable book, and Enjoyable film.
• Binary (Pursuit) – An exciting book, haven’t seen the film.
• The Andromeda Strain  – One of my personal favorites, suspense and intrigue with that Crichtonesque smart simple solution to a problem.
• Terminal Man – A good book, a slightly less good film. But NOT a bad one.
• The Great Train Robbery – An enjoyable book and an equally enjoyable film. Who can say no to Sean Connery in a top hat?
• Eaters of the Dead (The 13th Warrior) – Perhaps my least favorite book, but not the worst I’ve read. And the film wasn’t that enjoyable either.
• Congo – A really good book, filled with suspense and action – the film was however a lesser experience, with Laura Linney as the only enjoyable element.
• Sphere – A fantastic book, full of mystery and suspense. The film, well, so and so. It didn’t quite make it all the way to the end. But a B- for effort.
• Jurassic Park – Once again a Fantastic book, with a fresh idea. Filled with action and wonder. And the movie. Well need I say the magic word? Spielberg, there I said it. Great film, looking forward to seeing it in 3D as soon as my copy arrives.
• Rising sun – A suspenseful “whodunnit” book, I think I read it in one sitting. The film lost something along the way though but is very watchable with a solid cast.
• Disclosure – An Amazing book, also a one session read. The film was also very enjoyable, even though I really don’t like Demi Moore.
• The Lost world – We need more dinosaurs. And we got them. A surprisingly good sequel in text. And a slightly less impressive film, still the magic word is there. Spielberg, ha I said it again.
• Timeline – A really great book, had me at “the edge of my seat”  (mostly lying in my bed though) the whole time. Intresting story filled with action and mystery and timetravel. (Who wouldn’t like that). The film sadly was a let down, It just wasn’t as exciting. Perhaps due to the fact that I had read the book first. The only good thing in it was Billy Connolly really, and he’s just good because he is Billy Connolly.

 

Well that being said. I would like to say that I would welcome anyone to make a film out of State of fear, which perhaps is my favorite Crichton book. It caught me head on and still hasn’t let go.

And I would also like to mention that Crichton wrote the following scripts:

Extreme Close-up, Coma, Westworld, Looker, Runaway, Twister and perhaps another that I failed to remember.