Jurassic Park

This movie is definitely one to remember. Despite being filmed in the 90s, Jurassic Park continues to be a classic to this day. Watching the movie now highlights the contrast between the effects then and the special effects available now. This, along with some acting that is a tad overdone, are the only real critiques I would give this film. The child actors were especially hilarious to me-the young boy, Timmy, has moments that really capture a reaction that a child in real life would have ("I threw up." "Well that's ok! That happens sometimes"-Allen-is one of my favorite quotes). Another extremely influential aspect of this film is the music that plays over certain intense scenes and the iconic theme music in the opening/closing. The music combined with the diegetic sound of the dinosaur stomping/approaching builds the suspense and creates an intense tension in the audience. As a classic worldwide, it's no wonder that this movie provided the basis for generations of movies to follow.

What can I say? Jurassic Park is one of the most underrated movies ever. Yes, I did say underrated. True, it is the fourth highest grossing movie ever (for the time being) and was a motion picture bible for eight-year-olds across the country, but it has never been regarded as artistically superior. When, in reality, it is one of the most artistically inventive movies ever. It contains all of Spielberg's magical strokes of genius from fantastic art direction and wonderful camera techniques to astounding technical quality ( which comes from his well known control over technology). The minor flaws of a theme park are masterfully embedded into the art direction, script etc. and the acting is superb. This is one of the only movies I've seen with great acting by children. Spielberg's camera usage ranges from foreshadowing the appearance of dinosaurs with extreme up-angles to exquisitely composed scenes of the dinosaurs' "interaction" with the characters. Aside from technical quality, Jurassic Park bears powerful social messages of human intrusion and destruction of natural environment and the self-revering nature of man. Also, it had an undeniable effect on cinema being one of the first movies to use CGI at such a large scale. However, the most ingenious aspect of the film is the portrayal of the dinosaurs as animals rather than ruthless monsters. At many times throughout the movie, the humans are portrayed as antagonists and the respect and appreciation of the dinosaurs is wonderfully developed. And, best of all, like star wars you can analyze the movie all you want or just sit back and enjoy the ride.

What can be said about this movie that hasn't already been said? Who knows. We all know that this has some of the greatest special effects, even today. Also, if there's anything that can match the awesome T-Rex, it's the movie's musical score. I swear, listen to it more than once, and you're bound to see the movie yet again, if for that sole reason. It's that powerful. Oh sure, acting isn't this movie's strong suit, but who looks for acting in a Dinosaur thriller? Who?!

Anyway, I think I've made my point. Jurassic Park: One of America's greatest classics. Steven Spielberg created magic with this movie. If you haven't seen it once, you haven't seen it at all.

Wow! That's about all one can say about this movie. The first time that I saw it I was mesmerized. The movie looked so cool and hey, it actually had a good plot. If you haven't seen this movie yet, get out from your cave and see it right away. I have seen this movie umpteen times and it still shocks and suprises me. If you have a DVD player I suggest that you buy the Jurassic Park 2 pack as soon as possible. The movie sounds and looks great, and the extras are cool too. So to summarize go see this. Spielberg is a true genius. Almost all of his movies were great. 10/10!

The biggest attraction of this film back in 1993, of course, was the realistic computer graphic animation of the dinosaurs by SGI coupled with the realistic sound effects and the good use of suspense built around them both.

After I first saw this movie in the theatre 24 years ago, I laid in bed awake for hours, not from fright, but from the lingering excitement of the entire experience. Up to that time, nothing like it had ever been done on that scale. This is hard to remember when, since then, the Discovery Channel came up with the whole "Walking with ..." series of documentaries on dinosaurs, early man, and creatures before the dinosaur that use the same techniques that this film did, and thus people have become accustomed to this level of realism in animation both on the small and large screen.

Thus with the "shock value" of the animation removed, this movie doesn't seem quite as "5-star" as it did during its first run. The dialogue, in particular, seems a bit thin now. One aspect of the movie that still impresses me that doesn't get much mention is the outstanding use of sound and sound effects. For example, when the T-Rex first appears in the movie, it is not just the sight of the thing that terrifies, but its tremendous roar. It is still great action adventure viewing for the entire family.