There’s nothing about Jurassic Park, a nearly perfect movie, I would change. Not the script, not the special effects, not the butt-holding, not the theme park ride, and especially not the ending, when a Tyrannosaurus rex, the film’s nominal villain, saves our human heroes from two hungry raptors. But recently unearthed storyboards reveal that wasn’t how Jurassic Park was originally going to end. In fact, the raptors weren’t involved at all.
The images were discovered by Jurassic Time, and have since been verified to be accurate (they come from The Phil “You Had One Job” Tippett Auction). “From Phil Tippett’s Jurassic Park Early Sequence Storyboard Binder, here is a first-look at the rare storyboards for a thrilling helicopter rescue sequence set to be at the film’s finale,” the Facebook group wrote. “This is an early look of the first version (Version A) of the sequence, and was not scripted at this stage immediately after Crichton’s final draft. It later became adapted into Malia Scotch Marmo’s screenplay, but with numerous alterations.”
Gone is the scene in the visitor center. The action now takes place in a speeding car and helicopter, with Grant, Tim, and Lex trying to fly away from the charging Tyrannosaurus rex. She has different ideas, though. “T-Rex enters frame, snapping at Grant as helicopter starts to gain altitude,” the storyboard reads. She takes a bite out of the chopper, but the pilot still manages to escape and everyone lives happily ever after (until, ugh, Jurassic Park III). It’s an exciting sequence, but the one that made the final version is much better. It’s hard to even imagine Jurassic Park without that iconic roar.
Steven Spielberg should have gone with the original score, though.
(Via Facebook)
