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An adventure 65 million years in the making… such is the tagline for Jurassic Park, the onscreen adaptation of Michael Crichton's wildly successful novel about the human-aided return of dinosaurs to planet Earth. One of Steven Spielberg's greatest achievements, Jurassic Park was, and remains, a special effects masterpiece unrivaled by its peers. Dinosaurs roam the plains and scour the forests against the backdrop of conductor John Williams's original score (some of the best music of his career, which is saying a lot). Unlike the Godzilla movies of years past, you can't see human hands or construction paper props in the background of this movie. The computer generated creatures are so amazingly animated, that you'll finish the film believing that Jurassic Park is a real life destination…
Dr. Alan Grant's (Sam Neill) life is dinosaur bones and the study of the various ancient reptiles that once dominated the Earth. He and his colleague Dr. Elli Sattler (Laura Dern) spend their days excavating the barren hills of South Dakota and loving every minute of it. But when Dr. Grant is approached by the eccentric multimillionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) in regard to touring "something of great interest," the man's world of dinosaurs becomes more realistic than he ever thought possible.
Hammond's creation is an isolated island called "Jurassic Park" where his company uses dinosaur DNA extracted from mosquitoes encased in amber during the Jurassic period many millennia before to clone dinosaurs. Prior to opening his park to the public, Hammond wants to take a number of experts on a tour of the facilities, among them are Grant and Sattler, a lawyer named Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero), and a mathametican/philosopher - Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). When everyone but the lawyer expresses great reservations about the very idea of cloning dinosaurs (especially the carnivores), not to mention the safety concerns for an aspiring theme park, Hammond insists on putting their fears to rest personally.
But John Hammond's dream goes terribly awry when a disgruntled computer programmer, Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight of Seinfeld fame), compromises the island's security systems in order to smuggle some dinosaur embryos off the island, where a competing corporation has offered him a handsome monetary reward. Nedry's death, and the inadequate security systems of Jurassic Park, put the dangerous T-Rex and the lightning fast raptors on level ground with the island's human inhabitants. Now, Hammond and his guests no longer spend their idle time assessing the merits of Jurassic Park, but instead spend every waking minute fighting for their survival…
You'll be hard pressed to find a film which rivals the brilliant special effects of Jurassic Park. The Star Wars films are the only movies even in the same league. But Jurassic Park also offers an interesting and compelling story, lots of action, and reams of suspense. Even an occasional lawyer joke helps to break up the intensity… Jurassic Park has it all. A summer blockbuster by a director who almost single-handedly invented summer blockbusters, Jurassic Park is a definite must-see movie. If you shy away from excessively commercial films, then make an exception for this one. I promise, you won't be disappointed…
About the author:
Britt Gillette is author of
The DVD Report
, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one.
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