Review of Jurassic Park (1993) by Adam F — 07 Apr 2014

Even after 20 years, "Jurassic Park" still holds up as a terrific and sometimes terrifying movie experience with cutting-edge special effects. The plot? An eccentric billionaire achieves the seemingly impossible when he uses state-of-the-art technology to clone dinosaurs and bring them back to life. Creating an amusement park to hold them in, he needs to call in a group of experts to approve it before he can open it to the public. As you can imagine, creatures that have been extinct for more than 65 million years do not mix well with humans.

The movie starts off just right, wetting your appetite without showing any dinosaurs but showing that there is some definite danger ahead if man lets things get out of control. It then proceeds to introduce the human characters, which are all distinct and entertaining in their own way. Each of them is efficiently developed with the limited screen time that they're given. Everyone gets that one defining moment, that one scene that will really stick with you and make you remember him or her. It's true that the humans don't get enough screen time but you get a good feel for who they are so you do care about who makes it out alive and who doesn't. Let's face it, you want to see the dinosaurs as soon as possible so it's ok. Most of the characters' stand-out moments are during scenes where they interact not with each other, but with some of the many dinosaurs and these become moments that are memorable because of the dialogue and the action (think of Bob Peck as Robert Muldoon and his moments with the Velociraptors). It helps that there are a lot of great lines that go along with the characters and that there are several unforgettable shots that will really stick with you (how about that deep rumbling with the glass of water in the car?). Helping make this film feel real is the attention to detail, not only in the sets but in the characters. There is a scene for example where the two children (Ariana Richards as Lex, Joseph Mazzello as Tim) run into the cafeteria after not having eaten for at least a day; Lex the more mature one, goes straight for the vegetables while Tim the more excitable one fills his plate with cake and other sugary deserts.

The movie does a very good job creating this convincing place where dinosaurs have been brought back to life. If you really look closely at the movie you will see that every minute detail has been carefully chosen to sell this strange place. From the murals on the walls to the sculpted pillars in the buildings to the ready-made products just waiting to be sold to tourists and even the coverings for the light fixtures, (which have little holes shaped like the letters of genetic coding) it really feels like the people that were building "Jurassic Park" spared no expense. Along with the convincing sets you cutting-edge special effects, the perfect mix of practical animatronics and computer-generated creatures. The dinosaur designs are realistic and the liberties taken are fun and original (more modern research has changed our theories on what dinosaurs look like but the creatures in this film are accurate to the scientific discoveries of the time). If you didn't know any better you would never think that this movie was as old as it is and if you show this film to young audiences you could pretty easily convince them that some of this footage actually was real.

If you happen to have the opportunity to see the film in 3D, you won't be disappointed. The newly released 3D conversion contains several scenes that lend themselves very well to the "jumping towards the screen" effects that make 3D worth the money and because there are subtle depth effects throughout it feels very immersive. You'll really jump out of your seat when you see the scene where Alan (Sam Neill) and Tim have to scurry down a tree to evade a falling car or when the Velociraptors lunge towards our protagonists. If you can see the movie on a big theatrical screen it's even better. You haven't seen "Jurassic Park" until you've seen it in the silver screen, where the Tyrannosaurus is as close to scale as it can possibly be and you can actually feel the dizzying heights of the treetops. You'll also get to experience the growls, snarls and roars at a volume you can't get at home and the movie becomes genuinely frightening even if you already know what is going to happen. The excellent score by John Williams becomes even better when it's played out loud. All of the little details you might have missed in the past finally get the chance to pop out and make an impression on the audience and you're missing out if you don't jump at the opportunity.

It's not that the film is without its problems; some of the character development is lacking, simply because there is so much crammed in this 2hr+ movie and there are a few scenes that feel like they are inserted because cinematically they work, even if logically they do not. I've heard people complain about this second point multiple times but I'll fight them on that being a bad thing because they make "Jurassic Park" such a crowd pleaser that you won't be bothered at all by the few leaps in logic or convenient developments. As an adaptation of the novel, it may not be as serious or as dark (and in some way it's not as thrilling) but it achieves the spectacle of seeing "real" dinosaurs on the big screen in a way that just isn't possible on paper. I've claimed multiple times that for this reason, the film is superior to the book. "Jurassic Park" is a must-see film that will delight your inner child, deliver just the right amount of scares and really impress you with how well it's put together. (5 stars, 3D theatrical version on the big screen, April 16, 2013)(5 stars, Dvd, January 4, 2013).