If anyone had a stranglehold on the pop culture of the 1990s, it was Michael Crichton. From Jurassic Park to ER, he conquered just about every demographic, and he did it well. And that’s not even to mention his work behind the camera in the 70s. Westworld endures to this day.
The man wrote 29 novels and still somehow found time to make movies, video games, and TV shows. And none of them were bad, well, except for the really bad ones that we don’t really talk about anymore.
Power up your laboratory machines and extricate these 21 photos from fossilized amber, because it’s time to take a trip back to when Crichton reigned supreme. Nobody did science fiction better, and if they did, they didn’t also make the best hospital show ever.
1
The Andromeda Strain, 1971. A chilling sci-fi movie about a deadly extraterrestrial virus, based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton.
2
Behind the scenes of The Andromeda Strain.
3
The Andromeda Strain used over 200 split diopter shots, to great effect
4
Yul Brynner as the Gunslinger in Westworld (1973), written and directed by Crichton.
5
Michael Crichton on the set of Westworld.
6
Yul Brynner, Assistant Director Craig Huston, and Michael Crichton on set of Westworld.
7
Michael Crichton as a teacher in a science class, 1977
8
Behind the scenes of Jurassic Park, probably Crichton’s best known work.
9
Behind the scenes of the dilophosaurus scene in Jurassic Park.
10
Behind the scenes of Congo (1995), another, perhaps less beloved, Crichton-penned 90s sci-fi movie.
11
Congo was a surprise hit at the box office, but saw more success as a campy comedy than the intense sci-fi experience it tried to be
12
Behind the scenes of Twister (1996), written by Crichton. He truly ruled the 1990s.
13
Filmmakers on the set of Twister
14
Another movie based on a Michael Crichton novel was Sphere (1998). Here a special effects artist works on a spaceship miniature.
15
In Sphere, a submarine crew discovers a mysterious spaceship deep underwater. The movie was a box office flop and received negative reviews, but the special effects work was pretty impressive.
16
A forgotten classic and underrated Crichton adaption, The 13th Warrior (1999) starred Antonio Banderas as a court poet from Baghdad who becomes embroiled in a Viking conflict.
17
Behind the scenes of The 13th Warrior.
18
Michael Crichton was also a creator and executive producer of the show ER, which ran from 1994 to 2009.
19
ER revolutionized not just hospital TV shows, but all TV shows in a lot of ways.
20
Sean Connery and Lesley-Anne Down in The Great Train Robbery (1978), a comedy heist movie based on a novel by Michael Crichton.
21
Michael Crichton (pictured here towering over Michael Ovitz and Steven Spielberg) truly ruled the pop culture of the 90s. The reverberations of his films, novels, and TV series are still felt today. Here’s to him!
