Adapted from the best-selling Michael Crichton novel of the same name, this science-fiction
adventure film earned over $900 million, quickly becoming the highest-grossing movie of all
time after it's June 11th release in 1993.
The same year he won Best Picture for "Schindler's List", acclaimed director Steven Spielberg
brings to life a magical experience that dazzled children and adults the world over.
Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum star as a trio of scientists ushered to a secret
island, where billionaire Richard Attenborough has created a theme park populated with cloned
dinosaurs.
Bringing to life the outlandish, but extremely fascinating high-concept plot, they all execute
the memorable dialogue perfectly, with former Best Director winner Attenborough truly embodying
the emotional arc of the story in his first acting role in 15 years.
Playing a quirkier extension of himself, Goldblum famously, and rather stoically warns "life
finds a way" - foreshadowing the eventual terror of the PG-13 picture's second act.
Joined by two spunky, yet frequently annoying grandchildren - the group must fight to survive,
when the unstoppably horrifying dinosaurs break loose, and begin eating people.
The biggest issue I have with the story is that the park itself is inherently sound,
the chaos unleashed on innocents is not due to negligence, but an act of deliberate sabotage
by greedy computer programmer Wayne Knight.
The dino-threats and scientific explanations are creatively handled in early expositional
scenes, like when Neill taunts a boy about the predatory habits of Velociraptors, or
Richard Kiley narrating an in-world cartoon film on the process of DNA-reconstruction.
Inspiring an entire generation of future paleontologists, this 127-minute picture scored three Academy
Awards for Best Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, and Visual Effects: thanks largely in part
to Stan Winston's incredibly life like animatronic dinosaurs, and the revolutionary computer-animation
work from Industrial Light And Magic - everything from the baby raptor puppets to the galloping
Galimimuses look incredibly impressive.
In fact, while supervising the post-production phase of the feature, George Lucas was so
convinced by the technology, he decided he could begin work on the Star Wars prequels.
For the 20th Anniversary re-release, even the post-converted 3D is wonderfully accomplished,
introducing an entirely new depth to the thrills on screen.
With iconic imagery like a cup of water rippling from the vibration of an incoming T-Rex, to
his climatic hero shot that closes out the action - rarely does a sequence look fake.
The beautifully majestic score by famed composer John Williams still gives me goosebumps when
the mammoth dinosaurs make their first grand appearance.
Despite its Oscar-snub, this soundtrack honestly might be my all time personal favorite, and
when combined with the expert surround mix; it is impossible not to be immersed inside
the lush yet frightening world.
A huge marketing and merchandise campaign, even featured in the film itself, helped spawn
everything from video games and action figures, to theme park rides, and three sequels.
Although littered with a number of unfortunate plot-holes and overt continuity errors (not
the least of which transforms the T-Rex paddock into a giant cliff), this picture is mostly
flawless: and elicits true wonder from all fans of cinema.
Seamlessly paced, this is a remarkably entertaining and endlessly rewatchable picture that will
remain a classic for decades to come.
Jurassic Park, "Astonishingly mesmerizing spectacle, visually undaunted."
Now that you've heard my thoughts, lets read your YouTube comment reviews.
The rate-o-matic for "Jurassic Park"... our highest possible score, a double TEN.
Overwhelming praise was given to this picture's visuals, music, and characters: you thought
it was an AMAZING experience.
Not simply a creature-feature popcorn film, this is a real marvel, an inspiring piece
of entertainment that represents everything I love about movies, I think its AMAZING too.