Jurassic Park Movie Review
Michael Crichton's spine-tingling thriller translates well (but not entirely faithfully) to the big screen due to its main attraction: realistic, rampaging dinosaurs. A rich industrialist (Richard Attenborough) plans to open a theme park whose attraction is genetically cloned dinosaurs hatched from prehistoric DNA. When an unscrupulous technician (Seinfeld’s Wayne Knight) shuts down the computer system in an attempt to steal the dinosaur DNA, all hell breaks loose. The dinosaurs escape from their pens, smarter and less predictable than expected, and change this park from Disneyland to Tokyo in a Godzilla movie. Though the plot is recycled from Frankenstein, and even Crichton's own Westworld, the movie is still tremendously entertaining. The characters are the typical mix of scientists (Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and, most interestingly, Jeff Goldblum), some engaged by the majesty of the dinosaurs, others more incredulous, worried about the implications of man playing God, and of course, the millionaire's grandchildren, who are awestruck by the creatures but end up being terrorized by them. The real stars are the dinos, an incredible combination of models and computer animation, both totally convincing. Violent, suspenseful, and realistic with gory attack scenes. Not for small kids, though much of the marketing is aimed at them. Super director Steven Spielberg knocked his own E.T. out of first place as JP became the highest-grossing movie of all time. Also available in a letterboxed version.
1993 (PG-13) 127m/C Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, B.D. Wong, Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards, Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight; D: Steven Spielberg; W: David Koepp, Michael Crichton; C: Dean Cundey; M: John Williams; V: Richard Kiley. Hugos ‘94: Dramatic Presentation; Academy Awards ‘93: Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Visual Effects; Nominations: MTV Movie Awards ‘94: Best Film, Best Villain (T-Rex), Best Action Sequence. VHS, LV MCA