Most of Crichton's work was in one way or another nothing like the book. For example Timeline is an amazing novel and actually made me believe that time travel was possible, and then there was the movie. I read Jurassic Park before I knew about the movie adaptation and got so sick to my stomach that they were going to show the Nedry evisceration scene that I had to go to the lobby.. Congo was.. well it was this. Sphere. Let's not talk about Sphere.

I think if Hollywood's so boners for remakes these days, they should re-do all the Crichton novels-turned-movies they fucked up.

It's odd that so many Crichton adaptations drifted so far from the source material, since almost every one of his novels seemed to be written specifically to be adapted into a movie. He wrote so many action sequences and set pieces into each of his books that could easily be adapted beat-for-beat into a screenplay that it's astounding so many of the movies opted to ditch the plot from the book entirely.

That being said, Sphere was probably the closest adaptation to its source material , and it is... problematic.

And Bruce Campbell.

In case anyone needs further reminders:
http://www.earwolf.com/episode/congo/