Written by Hollowman - February 18th, 2005
Jurassic Park (1993)
Starring: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight
Director: Steven Spielberg
Rated: PG-13
Rating: * * * *
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When Steven Spielberg released “Jaws” in 1975, he breathed new and improved life into old, B rated monster films that no one could ever take seriously. But, with “Jaws” he perfected the formula as to which it not only made Hollywood and audiences take a new respect for the potential of these kinds of films, but it also set the bar for new kinds of scare tactics for movies.
Unfortunately, hack directors and producers exploited the genre, making it grow tired and unexciting. More and more monsters rolled through the assembly line, lacking in quality of scares, story, and even good visual effects. Once again, Hollywood needed a hero to step in fix up the movie monster genre again. And, once again the hero is Steven Spielberg.
With the fast pace, eye candy, scary fun of “Jurassic Park”, Spielberg unleashes a new kind of era spectacle of the monster/adventure film. The most notable part being the highly affective CGI (computer graphic image) dinosaurs paired up with Stan Winston’s genius work on the life size puppets.
In the film, billionaire industrialist John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) has been financing the recreation of dinosaurs through the magic of DNA extraction (the description of how it’s done is pretty unique and interesting). An accident happens while workers bring in the newest addition to the park (the vicious velicoraptors). Now, in order to get the lawyers off his back, Hammond brings in three scientists to give their expert opinions and put all outside questions aside. The experts are Alan Grant (Sam Niel), Ellie Satler (Laura Dern), and Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). Along for checking insurance of the safety of the park is the lawyer played by Martin Ferrero (guess how long he lasts for). And, being a loving grandfather (and that the more people Spielberg has for the dinosaurs to chase, the better), Hammond also invites his grandchildren, Lex and Tim, for the weekend.
As the guests go through the park, a conspiracy to take dinosaur embryos off the island endures, causing a total shut down of the security systems, this including the electric fences that surround the animals. Thus, terrific and exciting dinosaur action happens throughout the park. With plenty of human victims running around, there’s plenty of opportunity to show off as many dinosaur effects as possible, and that is the thriving part of “Jurassic Park”. Like when the original “King Kong” film was released in 1933 (which mirrors the same kind of monsters chasing humans formula) “Jurassic Park” creates special effects that are ground breaking and jaw dropping. There’s a beautiful scene when Grant, Satler, and Malcolm are in awe as they watch a giant brachiosaur moving around in harsh daylight. The specific artistry of the movie makes “Jurassic Park” a mogul of not just monster/adventure films, but films themselves.
The only thing to mark against the film is the lack of any real character development. In Spielberg’s “Jaws”, the three main characters were given deep backgrounds and a chance to show off what it is that makes them the way they are. In “Jurassic Park”, they are not as dimensional and are there more as dino-feed than anything else. But, with non-stop and well choreographed action, with incredible special effects, art direction, and scenery that out-shadow this flaw, “Jurassic Park” is a terrific film.
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