My parents took us to see this movie in the theatres when it came out. I remember that i really liked the movie (it's dinosaurs, we all love dinos) and i even know i saw the 2 movies that came after this at some point on tape, but i only remembered the basic premise, and all of the movies get jumbled in my head. What i take away from the movie experience is an amazing soundtrack and some cool dinosaur footage. But i never read the book. I realized this and decided to fix that. Because i don't remember any specifics about the movie, i didn't experience the same oh this person died who didn't and vice versa that some other people got when they read the book. I dont remember the characters. I thought the girl was older in the movie than the book, but maybe that's just me remembering a later movie. I loved the book! The thought of these people, trapped on an island with dinosaurs was conveyed so well that i felt the kind of resigned horror that if i were there, it would be unlikely i'd make out a alive. i dont remember having such a definite feeling of the scariness when i saw the movie, but that was only less than 2 hrs and i was a kid. The suspense builds and i could imagine myself in their place. Plus, just the whole concept of cloning dinosaurs, and thinking about what that means... these aren't something we brought back in a time travel machine, they're not the same ancient dinos that walked the earth, they're new, and this is their time, even if they're not really adapted to it. it was just interesting to think about. i love crichton's books. if you have only seen the movie, and not read this book, do it!