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Michael Crichton, 1942-2008
I was sorry to read of the unexpected death of Michael Crichton, the best-selling author who had a great many of his books made into movies.
One of the reasons I’m sorry is that, unfortunately, not very many good movies were made out of Crichton’s work. His writing was so technical and detail-oriented, it was difficult to adapt it to the screen.
The past 15 years saw a spate of mediocre or worse movies made from Crichton titles: Rising Sun, DIsclosure, Sphere, Timeline, and the lamentable The 13th Warrior.
But there were some good pictures made from his work: Robert Wise’s The Andromeda Strain and Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park leap to mind. The Lost World was not quite as bad as people remember; it had its moments. Twister, which he co-wrote is dumb fun, and I also liked the first theatrical film he directed, the evil robot thriller Westworld.
And then there was Congo, a movie that exists in some weird sort of limbo. It’s not a good movie, exactly, but it was made with such a goofball zeal that I can’t help but smile when I see it.
Crichton will be missed - and I hope Hollywood doesn’t miss an opportunity to make more good movies from his work.
What do you think of the films made from Crichton’s novels? Are there any yet unfilmed that would make good movies?
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