It was thirty years ago when the definitive dinosaur movie appeared, and it has lost none of its potency during that time. This is a film I’ve seen multiple times and yet I still marvel at its incredible effects and dramatic highlights. And while it may not be the greatest dinosaur movie ever made (more on that later), it is a genuine classic, one which has spawned five sequels and thrilled and frightened millions of viewers around the globe. It is a genuine classic.
Steven Spielberg’s film — based upon Michael Crichton’s bestselling novel — lures paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), as well as chaos theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to a Costa Rican island where billionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) is preparing his lifelong dream: an amusement park built around live exhibits — actual living, breathing dinosaurs. Also arriving for the fun are Hammond’s grandchildren and a tropical storm. What could possibly go wrong?
The movie plays like an amusement park ride, generating wonder one moment, terror the next. And when it’s good, it’s great. Despite some annoying continuity errors (once you notice them you cannot un-see them) and some unexplained plot drama (what happens to Ellie’s leg?; why wouldn’t Hammond have paid Dennis Nedry to properly program the park?; what’s the deal with the Barbasol can being buried in mud?), the movie brazenly triumphs over its biggest obstacle — the dinosaurs seem absolutely real. It’s like watching Superman fly in the 1978 movie; one factor becomes the lynchpin to accepting and appreciating all the filmmakers are attempting. It works wonderfully well.
Why 3 1/2 stars and not four? This has been my rating since 1993 and it has not changed. The movie has issues, some technical problems, and a few larger thematic questions that cannot be answered. How could Hammond have kept his pet project secret from almost everyone (except, evidently, a rival company), including the top experts in paleontology? Since he “spared no expense” for so many aspects of the park, why would Hammond trust Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) to program everything? It just doesn’t make sense. My other qualm is that there isn’t enough wonder. Just two sequence evince the mind-blowing wonder of the fact of bringing ancient, extinct species back to life, and both of those sequences make me cry every time I see them. I wish there were more.
Crichton and Spielberg have fashioned Jurassic Park (and all of the sequels) as horror adventure. That’s their right. Michael Crichton specialized in imagining a quantum leap of science and then examining the sociological and technological effects which that quantum leap would cause — and he foresaw that most of those effects would be dangerous. Many of his books (and movies) reflect the tagline he utilized for his 1973 film of Westward: “Where nothing can possibly go worng.” Spielberg saw parallels with his own Jaws and loved the time travel nature of the story, thrusting scientists who study prehistoric fossils into actual conflict with living versions of those animals. Nature vs. society; primitive vs. modern; people vs. predator. Of course it’s a horror film. With humor and adventure, because Steven Spielberg is a master showman.
For many years I have referred to Jurassic Park as the ultimate dinosaur movie. I still feel that way, although I have to admit that two other dinosaur films are at least as good. One is Jurassic World, the 2015 reboot directed by Colin Trevorrow, with Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. I think Jurassic World, the fourth of the six “Jurassic Park” movies, is probably an even better movie than Spielberg’s original, but it would not exist and would not have such a meaningful backstory without its illustrious predecessor. And way back in 1925, First National Pictures produced the first, and still definitive, version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel The Lost World, with Wallace Beery as Professor Challenger and some incredible stop-motion animation effects by Willis O’Brien. This film is primitive by today’s standards but at the time, predating King Kong by eight years, it was a dramatic and visual sensation. It remains a four star film, and the best dinosaur movie ever produced. It’s just not something that has the immediate power and impact of these newer dinosaur adventures. Jurassic Park remains the gold standard for modern dino drama, and with good reason. ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2. 17 September 2023.