Remembering Sam Neill and how Jurassic Park and JAWS have shared DNA
Sam Neill, who has died at the age of 78, moved between blockbusters and smaller independent films with ease.
He's of course always going to be associated with Jurassic Park and the role of Alan Grant, a role he reprised in both (the much underrated) Jurassic Park III and Jurassic World: Dominion.
The director of that 1993 classic, it's Alan Grant-less sequel The Lost World, as well as executive producer of every other instalment, including last year's Jurassic World: Rebirth, is of course Steven Spielberg.
Of Neill's passing, he said the following on the Amblin Facebook page, remembering the Jurassic Park star with great fondness - much like everyone who has ever worked with him or been wowed by him on screen.
He said: "I owe a debt of gratitude to Roger Donaldson, Gilliam Armstrong, Graham Baker and Phillip Noyce for casting Sam Neill in the roles in which he was so brilliant that brought him to my attention and led to his playing Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him. Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world."
Sam Neill (left) with Steven Spielberg and Laura Dern
I don't know about you, but reading such comments makes it increasingly dusty. Neill's death hit me harder than I ever expected it to, partly because it was unexpected, especially after the joyous news that he had beaten his blood cancer.
And partly because he'd been such a part of my filmic life for so long - since seeing him as an adult Damien Thorn in Omen III: The Final Conflict (1981, directed by Graham Baker, who Spielberg mentioned above).
Very nearly James Bond, he auditioned and screen-tested for the role - which you can see on YouTube - but was beaten out by Timothy Dalton, meaning he was the second Irish-born actor to lose out to the Welshman.
But that 007 loss was our gain as we got to be enraptured in his performances, no matter what the genre, from the true life drama of A Cry In The Dark, tension on the high seas in Dead Calm, underneath the sea in The Hunt For Red October, on bad guy duties in Memoirs of the Invisible Man, and returning to work with John Carpenter on In The Mouth of Madness. He'd stick with the hell theme with the brilliantly effective Event Horizon, showing how adept he was at playing the good guy and the bad guy, in whatever film he was in.
There's many more to mention - and still to discover, which I'm sure many of us now will, whether that is returning to an old favourite or discovering afresh.
Towering above all of those mentioned - taller than the Brachiosaurus he's first wowed by in the film - is Jurassic Park.
The special effects were – and still are – amazing, but part of the reason you buy them being real dinosaurs is Sam Neill’s performance. We share his sense of wonder and disbelief.
“How Richard Dreyfuss made us fascinated by sharks in JAWS, Sam Neill did the same for us and dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. A truly special actor. Farewell and adieu Mr Neill. ”
JAWS and Jurassic Park kinship
Here’s how that film and Spielberg’s JAWS share some of the same DNA – don’t worry frog DNA was not used to fill in the gaps.
In 1975 and 1993, Steven Spielberg brought us two films that made them summers to remember.
One was about a huge shark attacking the seaside town of Amity, the other about a theme park full of genetically recreated dinosaurs that run amok. Welcome to JAWS and Jurassic Park!
Best-selling books
JAWS was based on the best-selling book by Peter Benchley and Jurassic Park was based on the best seller by Michael Crichton.
Both were bought as film projects before they were even published and in their journey to screens both would change significantly from the books they are based upon.
Universal Pictures presents...
Their logo may have changed in the almost 20 years between each film, but both JAWS and Jurassic Park were released by Universal.
Steven Spielberg and John Williams
We all know that Spielberg and Williams have been a constant winning team since they first worked together on The Sugarland Express (1974), with that relationship solidified with JAWS, which saw Williams win an Academy Award for his pulsating score that delivered adventure, awe and danger...so he best to deliver many of those same ingredients with dinosaurs?
It is perhaps surprising then that the masterful Williams score wasn't even nominated for an Oscar...although don't worry he still took home the golden statue, but for his work on Schindler's List. Incredibly both films were released in the same year.
Location, location, location
Both films are set on islands, with JAWS on Amity Island (played wonderfully by Martha's Vineyard) and Isla Nublar (which Hawaii and Universal soundstages happy doubled for). Although, it is important to remember that they are both only islands if you look at them from the water.
Hero trinity
In JAWS we have chief of police Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), the shark hunting captain of the Orca, Quint (Robert Shaw) and marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss).
In Jurassic Park we’ve palaeontologist Dr Alan Grant (Sam Neill), fellow palaeontologist and partner Dr Ellie Sadler (Lauren Dern) and Chaos Theory mathematician Dr Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum).
Each film finds a way of bringing all these interesting characters together, and it's the sometimes-sparring dynamics and dialogue of these characters that make them so memorable, beloved – not to mention quotable - and enduring.
Money men
In JAWS we have "the Mayor of shark city" himself, Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) who will keep the beaches open at any cost (even human life) to save the town's economy.
That island economy mentality also drives the greed of John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) who unwittingly even ends up putting his own grandchildren front and centre in the danger.
Both Vaughn and Hammond recant and realise just what they have done when members of their own family are put in harm’s way. "My kids were on those beaches, too."
Facing fears
In JAWS it was Chief Brody who hates water, yet by the end of the film he has had to face his fear and take out the shark with Quint's rifle on a rapidly sinking Orca.
Meanwhile, in Jurassic Park, Grant has to face and overcome an even greater fear...children!
Unseen but not unheard
On JAWS, Spielberg released that nothing was more scary than suggestion, the unseen and keeping things in the shadows, which is why – for so long – we don’t see the shark, the velociraptors or the T-Rex, but we know they are there through a movement here – whether that be a piece of broken off pier – or rustling of bushes or disappearing electric fences – there.
Unseen intros
JAWS and Jurassic Park almost have mirrored intros, unseen attacks on their unfortunate victims – Chrissie Watkins and the velociraptor gatekeeper - that are intense and shake the audience before they are even settled into their seats.
Toothy monsters
But when we get to see the monsters of each movie, boy do they deliver, with amazing well-choreographed and orchestrated full reveals that are pure cinema and burnt onto our retinas from the moment we first saw them.
For JAWS that is when Brody is chumming the shark appears to greet him, with bigger boat lines and the crew of the Orca seeing the 20...25 footer pass by the boat.
Just as thrilling is that rain-soaked intro to the T-Rex, that only just leaves you enough room to breathe. Both scenes are expertly filmed, edited and executed and throw our main protagonists - and us with them - deep into the awe and action.
Animatronics
For their time, both JAWS and Jurassic Park had the most sophisticated mechanical creatures, and still look great today. Both also shared the same Achilles – or should that be Estuary victim’s – heel, water. They both malfunctioned in water, the shark – which had been tested fine in normal water – but came unstuck in the salt variety, whilst the poor T-Rex took on water during its rain intro scenes. It even moving on its own accord at some points as it was impacted by the water.
The hunter is the hunted
In JAWS, that is of course Quint, who despite trying to take down the shark is swallowed whole. He even shares a characteristic of the shark, a missing tooth.
In Jurassic Park it is Muldoon (played by the late, great Bob Peck), again he admires the predator and is again ultimately beaten by it. Like Quint, he has a character trait with his beast, his beady eyes – both meet in that opening scene and again in that final moment of demise. Clever girl!
Pipit and the goat
Echoing the loss of the black retriever on the beach, we also see the goat vanish, although this time round there is no mistaking it has got away.
Jump scares
Spielberg knew he had one more jump in his audience when editing JAWS, which turned out to be the Ben Gardner head sequence when Hooper is checking out his boat. Cue a whole generation jumping from their seats.
The arm that formally belonged to Samuel L. Jackson’s character – Ray Arnold - when it falls on Ellie has a similar impact.
Same number of deaths
That’s right, both have five human deaths -in JAWS we have Chrissie, Alex, the Estuary victim, Ben Gardner and Quint.
In Jurassic Park we have the gatekeeper, the lawyer, Nedry, Robert Muldoon and Ray Arnold.
Both have also had theme park rides, enjoyed renewed success being released in 3D and 4DX, both were the highest grossing films of all time at the time of their release, and both won three Oscars.
JAWS is in Jurassic Park
Not a bad bunch of coincidences for this vicinity. AND, if that wasn’t enough, perhaps the ultimate Easter Egg is that JAWS the film actually appears in Jurassic Park.
Jurassic Park, in many ways, is the closest Spielberg has ever been to capturing the wonder, excitement, scares and adventure of JAWS, so it is fitting its cinematic toothy monster cousin makes a fleeting appearance.
That Steven Spielberg Easter egg features Chief Brody (Roy Scheider) chumming for the great white shark on the Orca ahead of the shark popping up scene - regarded by many as the first time you see the shark in JAWS - and right before the classic you're gonna need a bigger boat line.
And it all takes place on the desktop of Dennis Nedry's computer, although you'd think if Nedry (Wayne Knight) was such a JAWS fan he would at least have heeded the warning about wearing bright yellow.
It happens when the creator of Jurassic Park, John Hammond, is complaining to Nedry about the systems not working properly.
As well as the "chum some of this shit" sequence on the computer screen, there is also another scene with Chief Brody and Quint (Robert Shaw) as the dorsal fin of the great white makes its first pass by the Orca.
Upon release, Jurassic Park did a JAWS and was the film of the summer in 1993, and just like JAWS, not only did it become the box office monster hit of the year, but it became the then highest grossing film of all time. Sound familiar?
Its bigger bite from the box office would amount to over $914 million worldwide, a record that would remain until James Cameron’s bigger boat came along in the form of Titanic (1997).
Both may be very different beasts, but in cinematic terms, regarding lineage, sharing several of the same beats, Jurassic Park wasn’t just an adventure 65 million years in the making, it was one honed from the skills18 years earlier on the beaches and in the waters off Martha’s Vineyard.
Harrison Ford may have been first offered the role of Alan Grant, but Spielberg recently said that Sam Neill made that role his own, so much so that you can’t think of anyone else playing it.
Like Matt Hooper doing what he did for marine biology in JAWS and that other man in the hat in a Spielberg film, Sam Neill’s measured, funny and mesmerising performance as Alan Grant absolutely did and continues to do for palaeontology what Indiana Jones did for archaeology. Neill may have had his last fade to black, but he'll forever be on our screens and in our hearts.
And to paraphrase Alan Grant in Jurassic Park, we’ll long continue flocking the way of his films. And, it may not be Jurassic Park, but Sam Neill has left us a couple of cinematic films to look forward to, one of which just so happens to be the latest Godzilla x Kong film, Supernova. Even after death, life – uh – finds a way.
Words by Dean Newman
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