JURASSIC PARK (1993)

JURASSIC PARK (1993)

Tagline : An adventure 65 million years in the making.
(Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi) [PG-13]

I remember pretty well the first time I saw this movie in theaters. I was blown away. Audiences today can get that same thrill, since due to a lack of theatrical releases in 2020, you can actually see this thing in theaters at the moment (as of me writing this review). This is partly due to theaters having to bring back older movies to survive during this lull, and partly due to the fact that this movie is just awesome. 

In this movie a super-rich old guy decides it’s a great idea to start a theme park revolved around dinosaurs. Part of his plan is to get some experts, two of his grandchildren and a lawyer to come out to the park for a test run of the attractions to voice their concerns and also be a little bit dazzled at how awesome it all is. Unfortunately, nothing really goes as planned, and a power outage unleashes all kinds of hell on an island loaded with stuff that can eat you.  

Acting wise this thing is fantastic. Sam Neill is pretty solid in everything he is in and is pretty awesome as Grant (one of the paleontologist’s in this movie). Laura Dern also does a great job as Ellie, but Jeff Goldblum steals every scene he is in as Malcolm. He kind of plays a smarty pants, but a likeable one. I also enjoyed the two kids in this movie played by Ariana Richards (who also showed up in 2 TREMORS movies) and Joseph Mazzello (who was in G.I. JOE : RETALIATION. We also has a Samuel L. Jackson sighting that almost feels too short. Richard Attenborough also plays Hammond in this movie. The old rich guy. He’s perfect for it, and even likeable as the movie moves along.

This movie was ground breaking in pretty much every way when it came out. It was pretty much the first time CGI and animatronics combined to bring an experience to the screen that was so lifelike that it felt like you were there. Cinematically this movie is one of the top films ever done. Sadly, not very many movies have captured the majestic elements of film making this thing did. Even to this day this is probably most fans of the franchises favorite flick in the series. If there was anything that bothered me about the movie it was the annoying side story with Nedry trying to steal the dinosaur eggs. For me this not only felt out of place but Wayne Knight in that role almost feels more sinister and creepy than it needed too. 

One little tidbit. Apparently Director Steven Spielberg wanted the velociraptors to be 10 feet tall. They ended up going with shorter ones to be more realistic, but a species called Utahraptors supposedly in the raptor family were actually 10 feet tall. The specimens (in real life) were found during filming. The movie also prompted a lot of people to suddenly sign up for paleontology classes. 

Given all of the triumphs in this movie this small issue doesn’t affect my rating. For example, in 2023 this movie will be 30 years old and there are still very few movies that have effects that hold up to what we get in this.

I don’t know anyone that wouldn’t just hand this one a solid 7 out of 7 without a second thought. So that is my rating as well. I loved this movie and still get excited to see it to this day.
 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF UNIVERSAL STUDIOS AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY.  

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