Anybody remember the days where Home Video releases took for fucking ever? I do. I hated it when I was kid, because movies I really liked in theaters took too long to come out, and movies I had missed in theaters took even longer. It was bullshit, but in this day and age of DVDs coming out less than six months after the release of the film, it’s pretty easy to forget how it used to be. The first movie I really can remember dying to see on home video was Steven Spielberg’s take on Jurassic Park.
I was six or seven, I think, when I first saw it, and it was on home video. My parents sheltered me a bit when I was a kid, either from things they thought might scare me or things that might go against our religion. This was of the former category, where I wanted to see it in theaters, because, holy fuck Dinosaurs, but they decided not to let that happen. Instead, when it came out on video, a friend of the family said it was fine for kids, her four year old watched it daily, so she let us borrow her copy.I watched it fairly un-phased by the scary parts, even telling my dad to stop fast forwarding through the scene when the Lawyer gets eaten. But then…the Dilophosaurus came on screen. Fuck. That. Shit. I don’t think I slept well for a week. Stupid Neckbeard dinosaur.
Anyway, I sort of became addicted to the movie, despite it’s scares, and even saved up money to buy my own VHS copy, despite my parents protests. So, this seems like it would make a great second entry in my Nostalgic look back series.
Jurassic Park is an adaptation of a Michael Crichton book of the same name, and is far better than the book. While the book is full of techno babble about how the science works, the movie tells you in one or two scenes and gets on with it’s story. This is the genius of Jurassic Park.
It’s a story that has another simple one sentence description. “What if Dinosaurs walked the earth again?” and Steven Spielberg attacks this story with such well tuned skills that its almost perfect. The film does have it’s flaws, but they usually pale in comparison to the things the movie gets right.
The film starts off with a very clever trick. We know the film is about dinosaurs, hell audiences knew that going into the film, the advertising (and even the name) weren’t shy about it, but we aren’t sure how or when we will see these creatures, so the opening scene is full of tension, as we think one of the beasts might be coming through the trees towards the men armed to the teeth…and then it’s a crate. Of course, it’s what’s in the crate that we paid to see.
We follow a group of scientists who were invited by the creator of the park, John Hammond (Ah, Richard Attenborough, you are awesome) to inspect and sign off on his creation. Things seem to go very smoothly at first, and this is also part of the genius of the film. The film lulls you into a sense of security, as the characters are pulled into the awe of the island.
One of the key aspects of this is the wonder of it all. The film was really the first time Dinosaurs were treated with real respect in terms of visual accuracy, and of course the effects were the best anyone had ever seen, so the first time we see a dinosaur, it felt incredibly real, and so we are right there with the characters. Of course, things don’t go as planned, and many of the dinosaurs tend to be less than friendly.
Once the T-Rex gets out of it’s paddock, the shit, as some say, gets real, and the cast gets separated, the children of the group with the Dr. Grant (who doesn’t like children) while Dr. Satler and Dr. Malcom are at the home base, while things go all screwy thanks to Dennis Nedry’s programming.The storyline following the kids and Dr. Grant feels the most Spielberg-ian of the films plots, as it is the closest we get to a father story arc in the film. As I mentioned in my Hook write up, Spielberg is very keen on stories with father issues. Jaws had it, Indiana Jones eventually had it, and in this story there is no real father figure, except for Dr. Grant. It is established early on (in a pretty brilliant scene) that he doesn’t like kids, but it’s mostly lack of experience with them that leads him to this conclusion. In protecting the two kids from the dangers of Jurassic Park, he learns to like the kids, and even becomes fiercely protective of them by the end of the story. He overcomes his dislike, and forms a strong bond with them over the course of their adventure. This is Spielberg’s forte, telling a story of personal growth through some extraordinary means.
The other storyline is more along the lines of a return to the Jaws style horror he started his career with. The whole plot of having to re-start the power is filled with great tension, especially once Ellie sets out to turn the power back on after Samuel L. Jackson fails to do so . The Raptors become the scariest of the villains in the film, because unlike the T-Rex, they have nothing that can protect you. At the time of the films making and release it was believed that T-Rex’s vision was based on movement (now we know this was not the case, and Jurassic Park 3 even makes mention of it, albeit in a shitty way), and thus a way to avoid detection is there, but the Raptors have no such limitation and thus are scarier than any dinosaur in the park for this reason. They are killing machines, and will stop at nothing to tear their prey to pieces. I mentioned being scared by the Dilophosaurus, but these guys are actually still scary to this day. They unnerve me, and it’s the way they look at you. It’s almost human, and that’s why it’s chilling, I think.
Of course, the dinosaurs wouldn’t be anything without the incredible effects work, which is the biggest thing of note here. This film changed the way films were made, and created a world where CGI was a tool for these sorts of movies. The funny part is, now in 2009, there are very few films that have topped the effects of Jurassic Park, made in 1993. The effects hold up incredibly well, which is something that cannot be said for either sequel to the film, or many major films that have used CGI since (I think Lord of the Rings and King Kong achieved similarly great effects, but not much else)
The effects are mostly flawless, which is huge considering it was the first of it’s kind. I think on my last viewing I only noticed one shot where it was obvious they were setting up an effect, and even still the effect was pretty great. ILM really needs to put out something like this again, because as of late they are really becoming less and less of a powerhouse in Hollywood.
And you can't mention the effects without the incredible work on Stan Winston ( )and his crew's part. Jesus, the real T-Rex and Raptors look great, even to today's standards.
The direction of Steven Spielberg is probably the best job he had done in his “amazing adventure blockbuster” films to date, and it shows. The film just shines for it’s running time, and never gets old, and most of that is due to Steven’s dillegence to tell a great story. I spoke at great length about the effects, but Steven is able to take the whole movie down to a single moment of two people talking and make it as interesting. The “Flea Circus” moment is one of the best scenes because it’s about real people in a horrible situation, and the realization that the man who put them there isn’t really learning his lesson.
With Hook he felt like he was just painting by the numbers, with Jurassic Park, he was painting a masterpiece. The difference in direction is almost staggering, and of course after this he went on to Schindler’s List, and won his first Oscar. This was the end of an era for Spielberg, but also the beginning of another.
The cast is pretty damned fantastic. Sam Neil really needs more work, because he’s a great act, and he brings a real humanity to Dr. Grant, who in the hands of a lesser actor could have been a stock action hero (see Jeff Goldblum in the sequel for a text book example of this) and Laura Dern is charming and smart as Ellie. Fuck Jurassic Park 3. Her and Alan are a great couple, despite their differences.
Jeff Goldblum is pretty fantastic as Ian Malcom and steals the movie with his odd delivery and incredibly “excessive” personality. It’s a shame the character got so diluted in the next film, because Malcom is surely the best written character in the film, and a whole film of him, in concept, is great.
Richard Attenborough is my favorite performance as John Hammond. The character is a huge tool in the book, and the movie improves by making him mostly likeable. If he were the dick he is in the book, half of the wonder of the film wouldn’t exist, so the change is welcome, and he bring such life to the performance that you can’t help but love him even in his douche moments.
The supporting cast is also pretty fantastic from Wayne Night to Samuel L. Jackson as staff at the park, and of course the two children who are the most memorable child characters from my childhood (besides Jack and Maggie from Hook) Once again, Spielberg casts a group of people who breath life into the story taking it from simple monster movie to something much more.
I talked about Dean Cundy for Hook, and I feel I need to mention him again, as this was the last time he worked with Spielberg, and again, I feel it’s ashamed he went from shooting Jurassic Park to…directing the third Honey! I Shrunk the Kids movie. His lighting of many of the scenes in this movie is key in creating the mood for the scares and tension that Spielberg created.
All in All, Jurassic Park is still as good as I remember, and it truly is one of the best films of my generation, and will be remembered for years to come. The effects, the story, the acting, and the direction all come together to form a pretty perfect film, and maybe I’m wrong, maybe it’s not perfect, but you know what…it’s damned entertaining, and that’s all that matters, I think.
Nostalgia Rating 5/5
Real Rating 4/5
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