Alan Grant (Jurassic Park)

Dr. Alan Grant is a paleontologist who is dedicated to his research, which includes a focus on velociraptors. He believes that dinosaurs are closely related to birds, and also theorizes that the vision of a Tyrannosaurus is based on movement. Grant has written several books on dinosaurs, as referenced in the first novel. He has also written at least two in the film series. In Jurassic Park III, Eric Kirby opines that he liked Grant's first book better, as Grant liked dinosaurs when he wrote it, compared to the second written after his time at Jurassic Park. and is portrayed in the film series as easily irritated. as opposed to her being his graduate student. She wants to have a child, but Grant is resistant to the idea of starting a family. However, over the course of the film, he warms up to Hammond's grandchildren and protects them. Malcolm flirts with Sattler on several occasions, to the annoyance of Grant. Jurassic Park III In Jurassic Park III, Grant and Sattler had ended their romantic relationship on good terms sometime after the first film, but they still remain close friends. Sattler has a minor role, and is now married to Mark, an employee of the U.S. State Department. They have two young children. In the years following the incident on Isla Nublar, Grant has continued his research on fossils, but he struggles to secure financing now that living dinosaurs are known to exist on InGen's Isla Sorna. He dismisses the notion that his research is moot, saying that InGen's creatures are just "genetically engineered theme park monsters" and not real dinosaurs. Grant has proposed new theories regarding raptor intelligence, which he discusses with Sattler while visiting her. He believes that raptors were incredibly smart and possessed advanced communication abilities. Despite this, since the Jurassic Park disaster, Grant has developed an intense fear against raptors. Later in the film, Grant reluctantly agrees to provide an aerial tour of Isla Sorna for the Kirbys, an allegedly wealthy couple, who agree to fund his dig site in exchange. Grant and the Kirbys fly to Isla Sorna along with mercenaries and Grant's graduate student, Billy Brennan. Grant is amazed, when they reach the island, having forgotten what it is like to see living dinosaurs. But the plane crashes and the group become stranded on the island. Grant learns that the Kirbys are a divorced middle-class couple searching for their 12-year-old son, Eric, who went missing eight weeks earlier while parasailing near the island. The Kirbys brought Grant for his expertise, hoping it would come in handy during their search. Eric is later found, and he and Grant bond while navigating Isla Sorna. Grant also realizes that his theories about raptors are correct. He and the other survivors eventually find a satellite phone, which he uses to contact Sattler for help. They are later rescued by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. Jurassic World Dominion Grant, who is now an older man with no family, has continued his work in paleontology. His digs have not been receiving sufficient fundings, due to de-extinct dinosaurs spreading all over the world. This forces Alan to turn them as tourist attractions to stay afloat and to promote the importance of paleontology is to learn what life was like before humans became dominant species. Ellie and Mark have separated, and their children are in college. Now working as a soil scientist, she launches an investigation when giant locusts emerge and begin rapidly consuming crops, threatening the world's food supply. Ellie learns that the insects are bypassing crops which use Biosyn's seeds, leading her to suspect that the company has engineered the insects to boost its own profits. Grant and Ellie have not seen each other for some time. She visits him at his dig site in Utah and convinces him to accompany her to Biosyn's headquarters in Italy, to look for incriminating evidence. They receive help from Malcolm, who now works for the company as an in-house philosopher. While at Biosyn, Grant and Ellie meet Maisie Lockwood and her adoptive parents, Owen Grady and Claire Dearing. Biosyn is eventually brought down. Grant and Ellie rekindle their romantic relationship, and prepare to testify about Biosyn in Washington, D.C. Jurassic World Rebirth In Jurassic World Rebirth, it is mentioned that Grant mentored Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) after the latter earned his PhD in paleontology as a postdoctoral researcher. In contrast with Grant, Loomis is open-minded about genetic power for pharmaceutical purposes despite it is putting him at risk of unemployment, and he won't let his own harrowing experience with the de-extinct dinosaurs deter his belief that their existences can benefit the world but he rather that the mutated ones destroyed. Like Grant, Loomis is also compassionate with people. Other appearances Grant is a playable character in several early Jurassic Park video games based on the first film, as well as the 1994 games Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition and Jurassic Park 2: The Chaos Continues, and the 2001 game Jurassic Park III: Island Attack. He also appears in the 2003 game Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, as the paleontologist responsible for locating material to clone dinosaurs. Grant also makes an appearance in the 2019 miniseries Lego Jurassic World: Legend of Isla Nublar, ==Production background==

Crichton based Grant on the paleontologist Jack Horner. Grant's scientific achievements, including the first description of maiasaurs, are actually those of Horner and Robert R. Makela. Grant has also been compared to paleontologist Philip J. Currie. Jurassic Park film adaptation For the 1993 film adaptation, Grant's introverted personality and dislike of children were implemented because director Steven Spielberg wanted to "provide a source of dramatic tension that did not exist in the novel". Screenwriter David Koepp stated that while the book was able to pull off having a lead character without a personal issue, the medium of film required the audience to have an emotional investment, so Grant's dislike of children was invented. Sam Neill was one of Spielberg's first choices to play the role, although he was busy filming Family Pictures. Richard Dreyfuss and Kurt Russell seemed like obvious choices to Spielberg – the former having worked with him on Jaws (1975) – although he considered them both too expensive. Tim Robbins and Harrison Ford received offers to play Grant. Ford had previously worked with Spielberg, portraying Indiana Jones in several films during the 1980s. Ford received a copy of the Jurassic Park script, but according to Spielberg, he "just said . . . at this point in his life and career, this wasn't his cup of tea". The role was also offered to William Hurt, but he declined it before reading the script, with Spielberg again saying that "it didn't sound like the kind of movie he would be interested in making at this time in his life". with the start of production being adjusted to fit his schedule. Horner coached Neill on his acting performance. The men crafted an offscreen backstory for the character; according to Neill, Spielberg had decided that Grant "didn't have to be American, that perhaps he was from Australia and had lived here a long time." Neill himself said that he envisioned Grant as "someone who had graduated from an American university and had stayed in America his entire career." Neill said this was "a completely appropriate age difference for a leading man and lady" at the time. Jurassic Park III, released in 2001, marked the first time that Neill had reprised one of his roles. Reviews had been critical of the characters in the first film, saying, "I was so over-awed by Spielberg; I think I didn't quite look after my guy [Grant] as well as I might have". Neill reprised the role in order to get it "right this time", Neill was satisfied with his new performance, but found the role to be more physical than his previous films, as it included climbing, jumping, running, and swimming. An early story idea, devised by executive producer Spielberg, had involved Grant living on one of InGen's islands. According to Johnston: "He'd snuck in, after not being allowed in to research the dinosaurs, and was living in a tree like Robinson Crusoe. But I couldn't imagine this guy wanting to get back on any island that had dinosaurs in it after the first movie". In a rejected draft, Grant is seeking donors to finance the construction of a raptor research station on Isla Sorna. Johnston also found this idea contrived. Neill was saddened by the break-up of Grant and Sattler, but said that his character was so "anti-child in the first film she needed someone else". However, Johnston said: "I didn't want to see them as a couple anymore. For one thing, I don't think they look like a couple. It would be uncomfortable to still see them together. And Laura Dern doesn't look like she's aged for the past fifteen years!" However, the project was delayed multiple times, eventually releasing in 2015 as Jurassic World. Neill and Dern do not appear in the film, which introduces new cast members. Colin Trevorrow, the film's director and co-writer, did not want to feature Grant or other original characters without a compelling reason to involve them in the story. Neill and Dern eventually reprised their roles for Return to Jurassic Park, a downloadable content (DLC) pack released in 2019 for the game Jurassic World Evolution. The two lent their voices, but had to record their lines separately due to scheduling conflicts. It was also announced in 2019 that Neill, Dern, and Malcolm actor Jeff Goldblum would return in Jurassic World Dominion, which released three years later. It marked the trio's first appearance together since the original Jurassic Park film. Trevorrow returned as director and co-writer, and the actors collaborated with him on their character portrayal. They were not interested in reprising their characters simply for a cameo, Trevorrow considered the actors to be the ultimate authority on their characters. Neill said about Grant, "People don't change that much. And he's not one to change. He's as ordinary and grumpy as ever". and compared Grant to a pair of old boots: "They've seen better days, but they're really comfortable, and there's no way you'll get rid of those". Trevorrow, Dern and Neill were in agreement on having Grant and Sattler reunite as a couple. Neill explained that Grant's love for Sattler is what motivates him to get involved in the film's storyline: "He's missed her all these years, and the opportunity to spend time with Ellie Sattler…that's what really keeps Alan going. He's happy to be with her, even if it means finding yourself in great jeopardy from time to time". Dern watched Jurassic Park again prior to filming Jurassic World Dominion, though Neill had not seen it since the initial press tour in 1993. For Dominion, Neill planned to prepare for the role by getting into physical shape, as the film would include running. One scene in particular has the cast fleeing from an animatronic dinosaur. Neill, being the oldest cast member, questioned whether he could keep up with the others, though he ultimately prevailed. Neill did not view Grant as an action hero, instead calling him an ordinary person thrown into extraordinary situations throughout the film series. In Dominion, Grant has brief exchanges with Owen, who previously managed to train raptors. According to Neill, Grant has a mixed opinion of Owen, being partially critical of his work with raptors. He believes the two characters also have "quite a bit in common" because of their empathy with dinosaurs, while noting, "We didn't probably quite make enough of that. But I think it's an interesting dynamic". However, they did reprise their roles for the Dominion Biosyn Expansion, another DLC pack. It was produced for the game Jurassic World Evolution 2, and was released on June 14, 2022, shortly after the theatrical release of Dominion. ==Reception==

Reviewing the first film, Adam Mars-Jones of The Independent wrote that Grant's mistrust of technology is "the sort of quirk that a computer might come up with in a doomed attempt to give a flat character a glimmer of dimensionality". Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times also criticized the film, writing that "the sole point of all the carnage appears to be to increase Dr. Grant's appreciation for young people, turning him from a gruff curmudgeon into someone who has the makings of a considerate parent". Peter Travers, writing for Rolling Stone, considered Neill a skilled actor but felt that he lacked the "star presence" needed to portray Grant. TV Guide wrote that the film's action elements "are not matched by its characters, acting, or dialogue. Neill and Dern fail to achieve the larger-than-life stylization needed to register amid the effects". Anthony Quinn of The Independent called Jurassic Park III a "hack work carried out with precision and performed with a heart", stating that Neill's "anchoring presence is always reassuring". Derek Elley of Variety wrote that Grant in the third film "is largely reduced to looking worried and uttering apocalyptic warnings". Jeff Vice of Deseret News found that Neill "manages to make us care about his life-or-death battle, despite his part being underwritten". William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote that Neill "is something like a movie star, and he provides a sage, comfortable, sympathetic human focus to all the mayhem". Mashable's Kristy Puchko, in her review of Jurassic World Dominion, wrote that Grant is treated "like a loser who never made a life for himself out of the excavation pits". Zoe Jordan of Screen Rant wrote that Dominion makes "the barest of efforts" to show character development in Grant. Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com wrote that Neill "seems embarrassed to be onscreen, or at least confused as to what he's doing in the story", further stating that the film does not justify his involvement "other than that he's from the earlier movies and needed to be here for nostalgia-marketing reasons". Nick Bartlett of /Film found Grant to be more comedic compared to the previous films. Writing for Observer, Oliver Jones stated that Neill "spends much of this movie looking like a weekend warrior searching for the right aisle at Home Depot". Some fans were disappointed by Grant and Sattler's break-up in Jurassic Park III, viewing it as a mistake. David Crow, writing for Den of Geek, praised Dominion for reuniting the two romantically, Bartlett called the reconciliation "a lovely moment for the two characters — even if it reeks of fan service". in part because they wear similar fedoras. Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph referred to Grant as "palaeontology's answer to Indiana Jones, but with a geekier hat", while Tom Chapman of Screen Rant wrote, "With his Harrison Ford-esque chiseled jaw, Neill forged Grant as his very own Indiana Jones, but with an added layer of sass". ==Legacy==

Alan Grant became one of Neill's most popular roles. He said, "What has lodged Alan Grant into people's affections is his extreme reluctance to have anything to do with children. He always ends up having to look after one or even two sometimes, and he does a pretty decent job. People often say to me, 'I wish Alan Grant would rescue me right now.'" MovieWeb's Michael Heiskell ranked the original film as Neill's best performance, and wrote that Grant's bravery throughout the series "is what makes him such an interesting character and a fan favorite". ==See also==