Quoted from Ryan1 Very similar structure in Jaws and JP.  The opening, shocking death scene.  The authority figures who just don't "get" the danger that they're in.  The intellectual (Goldblum/Dreyfuss) who tries to warn them all.  The troubled everyman who winds up saving the day. I think one difference to look at is how Spielberg first shows us the T-Rex versus the shark.  The T-Rex is this ominous buildup with the missing goat, the thudding footsteps.  In Jaws the shark comes out of absolute nowhere from the chum.  Tension versus pure shock.  Both techniques work beautifully.

Actually, RL, we see the shark earlier, albeit it briefly, when it eats the guy in the pond. And it looks very much like a real shark ( they used different mech sharks, some were only half ones, they seemed to look the best).  Not that this movie is my fave of all time or anything, lol...

I remember reading the JP novel in one day while I was on holidays, then saw the film the next week. Great film, but I've always rated the book as 'better'. A scene where the T Rex swims in the river to chase them wasnt used in the film, prolly because of the logistics.

The JP 2 novel as great too but the film turned out averge.

Quoted from B.C. In the last week or so Scripshadow has given a 'wasn't for me' rating to scripts written by Sophia Coppola and William Goldman and 'what the hell did I just read' to a script by David Lynch. What I learned? Question everything. Especially the internets. Back on topic, Aliens is similar.  How long before the first Xenomorph?  More than an hour?

Yeah it would about an hour I guess, if you count it coming out of John Hurt's guts as the first sighting.

Quoted from stevie Actually, RL, we see the shark earlier, albeit it briefly, when it eats the guy in the pond. And it looks very much like a real shark ( they used different mech sharks, some were only half ones, they seemed to look the best).  Not that this movie is my fave of all time or anything, lol... I remember reading the JP novel in one day while I was on holidays, then saw the film the next week. Great film, but I've always rated the book as 'better'. A scene where the T Rex swims in the river to chase them wasnt used in the film, prolly because of the logistics. The JP 2 novel as great too but the film turned out averge.

True we get a quick glimpse of the shark chomping the sailboat guy's leg off.  But we never got the full on shot of the shark until the chum scene.  

JP2 is a film I'd rather forget ever happened.

I remember watching a documentary on Spielberg and he claimed the reason the shark wasn't seen more often was because the mechanical shark broke and sank

So he had to shoot it from the perspective of the shark to make up lost time and in doing so created a lot more suspenseful movie...  which all worked out in his favor

Mark

Quoted from Forgive this wasn't pitched, and rumour has it that bids for the rights were going out before it was even published ...

The story I heard (whether true or not) was that Crichton was pitching Spielberg this "medical drama" of his that Spielberg passed on, and eventually became the TV show "ER." Spielberg asked him what else he had and Crichton said something along the lines of "..well I have this dinosaur story."

Regardless of how it went to film, I like the comparisons others in the thread have made to "Jaws." And I don't see the problems in structure in either, in regards that they don't give you the chaos until later in the script. Both do a fantastic job of creating suspense, giving you just enough intrigue to anticipate something huge down the road. They're both very Hitchcock-like in that respect. They gave us intriguing characters in intriguing circumstances, and laid enough intriguing bread crumbs to keep us watching (or reading).

Having said that, yeah if this was a spec script from a Nobody, some studio hack might've insisted on showing the "naughty bits" earlier. Thank God it was put together by people with clout who knew the story stood on its own.

Incidentally, the novel was also fantastic, and I would say even better than the movie (as most novels are) if not for the CGI that made these dinos life-like for me, and the incredible cinematography and score (John Williams, again, wasn't it?). I think the only other movies I've enjoyed better than the books were "Godfather" and "Tell No One."

Hope to see JP in 3D before it's gone--or maybe it already is. Has anybody seen it in an I-Max yet?

Quoted from irish eyes I remember watching a documentary on Spielberg and he claimed the reason the shark wasn't seen more often was because the mechanical shark broke and sank So he had to shoot it from the perspective of the shark to make up lost time and in doing so created a lot more suspenseful movie...  which all worked out in his favor Mark

The DVD extras I watched confirm this. A happy accident that worked in his favor. Shark wouldn't work and he had to shoot without it till later in the film. Wonder what his initial intentions for the film were, specifically, when and how he planned to first introduce the full-fledged shark.