Jurassic Park is one of Steven Spielberg’s most popular and profitable films as the movie broke many box office records at the time for three weeks straight. There is no doubt that this movie has become a beloved classic and even years later a lot of the movie’s narrative and special effects are still being talked about by many passionate film buffs. Many other movies in the franchise would try and recapture what made the original a success. However, none of them would ever come close to the majesty wonder, and pure terror of what made Jurassic Park a timeless classic.
Paleontologist’s Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) are invited by John Hammond (Sir Richard Attenborough) to witness and support the new majesty of his new themed attraction called Jurassic Park after it has been hit with many lawsuits which put John’s beautiful creation at risk. Grant and Sattler are joined by chaotician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) and lawyer Donald Gennaro as they fly on a helicopter to an island off of Costa Rica where Jurassic Park is founded. The experts are suddenly amazed at the pure sight of actual dinosaurs roaming about the lands and after a brief tour in learning how the recreation of the dinosaurs came to be, they are put in automated cars with the addition of Hammond’s grandchildren who Grant doesn’t seem to care for as he can’t stand kids. The Tour starts but things are not looking up as one of the park’s employees has secret plans to steal dinosaur embryos and sell them for money. This causes the whole Jurassic Park system to shut down, and pretty soon dinosaurs start to escape leaving everybody on tour in grave danger. With Dr. Grant stuck with the kids and everyone else in different areas of the park, can the remaining survivors find a way to escape the dangerous island of man-eating dinosaurs?
I’ve never read the book that this movie is based on, but I doubt most people even realized that this movie even was based on a book before seeing this movie. The story goes in many unexpected and dramatic turns that put the people on Jurassic Park at risk of being eaten alive by escaped dinosaurs. The action is well-paced and the weight of the situation the characters are in will have you no doubt rooting for them to get off the island alive. There is rarely a dull moment and everything character arc-related or established rules are never cheated during the course of the journey. The characters we follow throughout the journey have a memorable personality and some of them go through interesting developments throughout the course of the film. For example, Dr. Alan Grant is forced into looking after Hammond’s grandchildren to make sure they are safe from danger, but Grant from the beginning doesn’t show much of an interest in having kids of his own as he can’t stand them. Even John Hammond, the Walt Disney figure of Jurassic Park goes through a tragic but satisfying arc of trying to deny the fact that his creation was a failed Idea with the countless amounts of deaths and lawsuits filed against him.
It’s been almost three decades and the visuals for Jurassic Park are just as impressive now as they were back in 1993. The Dinosaurs themselves are a combination of CGI and practical effects to make for one grand illusion. Now it is true that sometimes the CGI can look kinda fake sometimes, but that’s only because the technology wasn’t quite there yet as computer graphics were still a new thing. Still, that is in no way a criticism of how amazing and lifelike the dinosaurs are even with the limitations of the times. The Famous scene when the T-rex first appears is still just as jaw-droppingly epic as you still can’t believe what a feat this was in bringing a monstrous creature to life. It’s not just the T-rex that gets all the glory through, as many of the Dinosaurs get their own moment to shine to make the world inside Jurassic Park gigantic and unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. The rest of the background visuals are great at turning a fun ride into the park into a dramatic chase between technologically advanced humans and prehistoric hunting dinosaurs. John Willams is best known for creating some of the most memorable music compositions in film history with examples like Star Wars or E.T and this film is no exception. The music emphasizes the grand scale of just how massive Jurassic Park is and the dramatic build-ups during the more dramatic moments really give you the feeling of uncomfortableness in the best ways possible.
In my personal opinion, this may be one of if not the best thing Steven Spielberg has ever directed, and that is all thanks to an action-packed and suspenseful storyline, lovable characters, amazing effects that mostly hold up by today’s filmmaking standards, and a lovely as always music score from the great John Williams. Trust me when I say, you’ll never look at dinosaurs the same way ever again once you’ve seen this movie. This is a film that will continue to inspire and haunt so many moviegoers for many more decades to come.
(Final Grade: A)