The failure was the "Jurassic Park" movie. From a twisted, thought-provoking, dark book it turned into a PG-13 disaster movie with all the characters dumbed down and the plot straightened to the point of stupidity. Actually, something like that happened to all adaptations of Crichton's books. The filmmakers were concentrating on characters and action sequences; neither of which was ever Crichton's strong suit. On the other hand, the pursuit of the truth, the intellectual quest ?€“ where he excelled ?€“ was apparently considered too difficult for Hollywood producers and their audiences. I only know of a single example to the contrary: the recent TV adaptation of Crichton's early classic, "The Andromeda Strain." The characters are one-dimensional, the action is so-so, but the gripping power of the scientists' race against time with the deadly virus is preserved. It is this intellectual eagerness that made Crichton's books such page-turners.
Another problem with Crichton adaptations was that he always was a maverick, and political correctness seemed to irritate him. The screen versions of his "Rising Sun" (evil Asians are going to take over the world's economy) or "Disclosure" (an evil female boss sexually harrasses her male colleague) had to be toned down quite a bit; a screen version of his recent "State of Fear" (evil environmentalists hoax the world into fearing a nonexisting climate change) is unlikely to appear at all. In one of his public speeches, he went as far as claiming that the danger of passive smoking was an elaborate hoax (with facts and figures, as always).
I've mentioned Crichton's success with Russian audiences; it was the medical drama "E.R." It was quite important for the United States, eventually paving the way for today's TV renaissance, such as "House M.D.," " Bones," "Deadwood" and others ?€” but for Russians, whose only idea of a long-running series had been Mexican soap operas with long-legged blondes and entire populations in a coma, "E.R.," which Crichton masterminded, was a true revelation.
People like different kinds of airport reading; some prefer romance, some crime mystery. For me, the ideal author was Crichton. I have read all his novels and eagerly awaited each new one. The intellectual joy that he inspired was very puerile, I know, but I will miss it. There is no one like him on either side of the Atlantic, let alone in Russia.
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