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82%
Overall Rating
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Ranked #81
...out of 15,250 movies
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Huge advancements in scientific technology have enabled a mogul to create an island full of living dinosaurs. John Hammond has invited four individuals, along with his two grandchildren, to join him at Jurassic Park. But will everything go according to plan? A park employee attempts to steal dinosaur embryos, critical security systems are shut down and it now becomes a race for survival with dinosaurs roaming freely over the island.
--IMDb
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Review by Chad
Added: March 27, 2006
Jurassic Park was one of the most successful movies of the nineties, and I'd imagine that anyone that was around back then has seen this movie. However, for the three of you that haven't, here's how the storyline goes. It all begins when entrepreneur John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), through the use of modern scientific breakthroughs in DNA research, creates a theme park that is filled with dinosaurs. Yes, using minute amounts of dinosaur blood that was found inside of preserved mosquitoes, Hammond and his team of scientists have managed to create an island filled with these prehistoric beasts, and it's destined to be bigger than Disneyland; well, until a small, nagging problem occurs in the form of a worker getting mauled to death by a (I believe) Velociraptor. This leads to the investors of the park getting worried about the safety issues of opening this to the public, which in turn leads them to demand that some outside sources come in to investigate the safety of this operation. Heading up this examination on the behalf of the investigating lawyer is Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), a scientist who specializes in the Chaos Theory, while Hammond brings along his paleontologist friends Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern). At this point, Hammond decides that since he's having to give a tour to these outside sources, he might as well invite his grandchildren to come along as well, so we now have Tim (Joseph Mazzello) and Lex Murphy (Ariana Richards) tagging along with the group. With our rather large group assembled, it's off to 'ooh' and 'ahh' at the modern marvels that Mr. Hammond has created... up until a blunder by greedy scientist Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) disables the security at the park, letting all of the dinosaurs roam free. Whoops.
1993 was the year of Jurassic Park. If you thought that the marketing blitz surrounding the release of Spider-Man or the Lord of the Rings series was overkill, then you obviously weren't around before, during, or after the release of this film. The reason for this is because at the time, this was a revolutionary movie thanks to the special effects used to create the dinosaurs. Sure, there had been other dinosaur movies before this, and there had even been movies using the CGI technology implemented here; however, this was the movie that perfected the process, and with a big name like Spielberg attached to it, it was destined to become something big.
Another thing that helped this movie was the fact that it worked on many levels; for example, I was only twelve years old when it was released, but I enjoyed the hell out of because of the dinosaur effects and the tense storyline. Now, thirteen years later, I can still appreciate this movie for the same reasons, but I also see a lot of the things I missed as a child: there's actually a message here, and there's plenty of scientific facts and such supporting the flow of the storyline. Sure, these facts are rubbish in the real world, but it's beautifully scripted in this movie and it all sounds perfectly plausible. It's quite uncommon that a movie comes along that will appeal to both children and adults equally, but this is one of those rare films that pulls it off flawlessly.
As mentioned, those special effects were revolutionary back in the early nineties when this movie was first released. However, unlike special effects and similar breakthroughs in other films, these do not look dated even today. There have been some astounding advancements in CGI technology since then, and indeed, there have been some great-looking movies that have used the techniques perfected here... but regardless, this movie still ranks up there in my personal top five list of movies that have had the most realistic effects. When you watch these dinosaurs run around and when you see the humans interacting with them (be it petting them or getting devoured), it really looks as though the dinosaur is a flesh-and-blood animal that is standing right there with the actors.
Unlike other films, however, this was not an excuse to throw a bunch of CGI effects on the screen with no sort of storyline to move things along. There's a damned fine storyline here, touching on the "Man shouldn't play God" theory, as well as the tried and true "Nature will always find a way" subplot. Of course, there's also the whole "Man attempts to avoid being eaten by the dinosaurs" thing, and that side of things works out just as well. I wouldn't put this in the horror / thriller genre by a long-shot, but there are definitely some tense scenes when these humans come into contact with the Tyrannosaurus Rex and the Velociraptors. This storyline is also helped by the fact that the actors and actresses involved were all top-notch performers; hell, even the child actors were deserving of some praise here, praise which is very rare coming from yours truly.
An excellent slice of cinematic history, this film revolutionized the way that CGI effects would be used in later years, and even though it's thirteen years old, it still stands up to today's offerings. If that's not enough for you, it also boasts a storyline that is equally on par with the visuals, so when you combine those two aspects, you've got one hell of an enjoyable film. 9/10.
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#1:
Kain
- added 06/04/2007, 08:25 PM
Likely the only reason there are not additional
comments on this particular film is that such
would be nearly something of a superfluity. The
review says it all, and in reality, it's not as
though it was needed. Even children of the newest
generation know this film for it's venerable
impact on cinema history, and incredible
execution. An adamant dinosaur fan as a child,
this movie was a literal wet dream. Nothing on
film before had ever so beautifully or so
accurately depicted the lost saurian world. Now
finding myself a massive herpetological enthusiast
as an adult, I can always sit down in front of
this movie and remember why. On that note, I can
list my only real gripe with this movie; there
simply were a few irksome errors in some of the
animals' designs. Take for instance the venom
spitting Dilophosaurus. This animal did in fact
once exist, but in nowhere near the context in
which it is represented in the film. The animal
was far larger (similar to the Rex in stature,
though not so large), posessed no frill around the
neck (borrowed from the contemporary Australian
Frilled Dragon), and did not spit venom. The
Velociraptor is another case, as in truth, the
animal was considerably smaller and less thick in
build. The animal depicted in the film is far
closer to the Utahraptor, the largest member of
that particular family. These however, were
artistic liscenses taken by the artists behind the
masterpiece, and regardless of accuracy,
masterfully executed. In fact, this was one of
the first films to accurately implement the stance
that the Rex takes during locomotion (rather than
the 'tripod' stance of older reconstructions).
Everything from the soundtrack to the sound f/x
were incredible and memorable (I can hear that big
fucker in my head any time I think about it), and
as has been emphasized, the visual effects were
and still are absolutely stunning. A true
paradigm shift in cinema, that kindled the
imagination of a generation.
-10/10
-KAIN
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#2:
Nirrad
- added 06/21/2008, 01:31 AM
Still as great as it was last time I watched it
well over 10 years ago. The water shaking in the
glass still gave me shivers. Steven Spielberg is a
genius. 10/10
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#3:
Bliss From A Dead Embrace
- added 01/30/2009, 01:53 AM
I remembering seeing this movie when I was about 7
years old in theaters. It still wows me to this
day.
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#4:
Lucid Dreams
- added 06/15/2010, 02:02 PM
I'm not huge into dinosaur movies, but this was
back when Spielberg could make anything good. 9/10
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