If you haven’t heard, Robert Pattinson is back. After a two-year break from acting, the actor has returned with his latest film, featuring alongside Australian star Melissa Leo. The film, entitled Fury, is an adaptation of Michael Crichton’s 1973 book The Great Shark Hunt, and tells the story of a group of scientists who become entangled in a conflict with a gangster involving a number of sharks.
The film was actually screened in Australia last month, and received a mixed review from critics there. While it wasn’t universally panned, some critics felt that the book’s more sophisticated language and detailed scientific content may have proved challenging for the general audience that the film was aimed at. We’ve had a chance to see the film, and consider how well it holds up compared to the source material.
The Filmmakers’ Viewpoint
While we don’t get to see Michael Crichton’s viewpoint in the film, we do see the directors’ cuts of the author’s speeches. In one of the trailers for the film, we see Crichton deliver a speech about the importance of sharks; in the film, this content is adapted and presented in a more cinematic fashion (which, for better or worse, didn’t make it into the book).
Speaking with Den of Geek, Australian director Peter Strickland said that he and his team approached the film as a cinematic experience, and that this viewpoint was one of the things they tried to convey to audiences.
“The fun of it is watching it as a moviegoer, and feeling like you’re in the midst of this world of sharks that the character Johnny Fryatt invents,” Strickland said. “We’re trying to bring that energy into the cinema, and that’s the fun of it.”
Strickland also noted that while they stayed true to the spirit of the original novel, which is ultimately about scientific discovery and how it’s affected by greed, they did make some changes to ensure that the film would appeal to a larger audience. These included changing characters’ names and removing some of the more gruesome and violent material, in particular the frequent use of firearms by the characters (the novel was already somewhat lighter in this regard).
While we don’t get to see Michael Crichton’s viewpoint in the film, we do see the directors’ cuts of the author’s speeches. In one of the trailers for the film, we see Crichton deliver a speech about the importance of sharks; in the film, this content is adapted and presented in a more cinematic fashion (which, for better or worse, didn’t make it into the book).
According to his IMDB page, Michael Crichton wrote and/or edited over 45 books, many of which were bestsellers. The author’s body of work also includes Jurassic Park, The Andromeda Strain, and The Terminal Man. He died in 2018 at the age of 88.
What’s The Difference?
If you’ve seen any of the previous films starring Robert Pattinson, you’ll know that the actor has a bit of a habit of playing roles that are very different from his real life. This is especially the case with films set in the Caribbean, where he typically plays a dashingly handsome American who falls in love with an improbably beautiful woman despite being completely unsuited for the role. (For reference, see the films What’s Your Type and Remember Me, both of which are available to stream on Netflix.)
There are some superficial similarities between the character of Johnny Fryatt in the book The Great Shark Hunt and that of Robert Pattinson’s character in Fury. Both are in their early 30s, and both hail from England. However, there are a number of important differences between the two characters. For one, Fryatt is a marine biologist who studies whale sharks and other animals in the sea. He also invents a method of immobilizing and identifying sharks by tagging them and monitoring their movements from underwater vehicles. (For reference, see the documentary film Shark Hunter.)
Johnny Fryatt is an important figure in the story of The Great Shark Hunt, serving as a foil to a character named Max Hansen, a big game hunter who is absolutely ruthless in pursuit of his prey. In the book, Hansen is a recurring character who appears throughout the course of the story, but he is never called by his first name; instead, he’s always referred to as Mr. Hansen, or just ‘Hansen.’ In the film adaptation, this character is renamed Johnny Radd, and he is played by a Hollywood superstar named Tom Hardy. (For reference, see the films The Drop and Mad Max: Fury Road.)
To learn more about Johnny Fryatt, check out these documentaries:
- Shark Hunter
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- The Drop
The Great Shark Hunt
Fans of Michael Crichton’s work may also be familiar with another of the author’s seminal works, which has been turned into a number of films: The Great Shark Hunt. This is the story of a band of scientists who travel to the Bahamas in the 1970s to study whale sharks, and eventually set sail for the Caribbean in search of more exotic creatures. During their stay in the Bahamas, the scientists become embroiled in a conflict with a group of dangerous and powerful criminals known as the Gemini Coasts.
The film adaptation of The Great Shark Hunt was released in 1975 and starred Richard Chamberlain and Claire Bloom. While it was neither a financial nor critical success at the time of its release, the film has gained a considerable amount of cult status since then, and even today is considered by many fans to be one of the best Shark movies ever made.
The film is a little over 90 minutes long, and is highly recommended for fans of Michael Crichton. As the novel on which it is based, it is also a fascinating study of nature versus nurture, featuring an invigorating debate between a father and his young son about whether or not DNA can be modified through artificial means. The film’s climax sees a whale shark named Betsy attack a boat, causing several fatalities. (For reference, see the films Deep Blue Sea and 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.)
Fury
Fury is the first feature film from Australian director Peter Strickland, and it boasts an all-star cast that features some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Based on the popular novel by Michael Crichton, the film adaptation of Michael Crichton’s 1973 book The Great Shark Hunt sees a group of scientists become entangled in a conflict with a gangster involving a number of sharks. The film stars Robert Pattinson, Melissa Leo, and Joe Manganiello. (For reference, see the films What’s Your Type and Remember Me.)
While we don’t see much of Michael Crichton’s original novel in the film, we do see a good chunk of his famous debate with his son Tim concerning DNA and its modification. It’s been 17 years since the book’s publication, and in that time the two have sold over 10 million copies of their award-winning debate. (For reference, see the documentary series Great Debators, which is hosted by Michael Crichton and his son Tim.)
Speaking with Den of Geek, director Peter Strickland said that he and his team approached the movie as a cinematic experience, and that this viewpoint was one of the things they tried to convey to audiences.
“The fun of it is watching it as a moviegoer, and feeling like you’re in the midst of this world of sharks that the character Johnny Fryatt invents,” Strickland said. “We’re trying to bring that energy into the cinema, and that’s the fun of it.”
Strickland also noted that while they stayed true to the spirit of the original novel, which is ultimately about scientific discovery and how it’s affected by greed, they did make some changes to ensure that the film would appeal to a larger audience.
These included changing characters’ names and removing some of the more gruesome and violent material, in particular the frequent use of firearms by the characters (the novel was already somewhat lighter in this regard).
While we see many shark species in the film, including great white sharks, cookie cutter sharks, and even a bull shark, it’s not entirely clear what kind of shark is referred to as a ‘grey’ in the credits. (This could be the land shark, Carcharias gladiator, which is also known as a grey shark.)