Based on the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton, Jurassic Park is basically
what its name implies: a theme park filled with live dinosaurs. The process at
which these long dead thunder lizards are brought into the present day is an
ingenious one: dino DNA is taken from pre-historic mosquitoes that are buried
in amber and perfectly preserved. The Dinos are re-created through cloning by
scientists working for InGen, a company owned by billionaire John Hammond
(played by Sir Richard Attenborough), who needs a pair of experts to sign off
on his new park. He chooses paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and his lover,
paleo-botanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) to spend a weekend at Jurassic Park,
while the lawyer who represents Hammond's skeptical investors brings along Dr.
Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), a mathematician. Hammond even invites his
grandchildren--whom he refers to as his target audience--along for the ride.
Directed with great confidence by Steven Spielberg, Jurassic Park is still a fun
ride even after all this time. The special effects--which were cutting edge for their
time--still hold up very well. Stan Winston's effects company handled the physical
effects, including the marvelous-looking T-Rex and the Raptors that menace our
heroes throughout the film. While the shots of the dinos
moving around were done with computer generated imagery. The first appearance
of the T-Rex is still a chilling scene: we only hear its approaching footsteps
as we watch the ripples in a glass of water, as well as in the vibrating rear
view mirror. And once the T-Rex makes its grand appearence, it is an amazing sight
to behold.
Neill, Dern, Goldblum and Attenborough all give solid performances,
which is no minor feat, since in a film like this the real stars are the dinos.
The DVD special features include the usual "making of" documentaries, theatrical
trailers, a dinosaur encyclopedia, as well as DVD-Rom features. Sadly, there's
no commentary from director Spielberg. --SF
And, of course, everything goes straight to hell from here. Thanks to the
machinations of a greedy employee (well-played by Wayne Knight), who deliberately
subverts the park's security system so he can sneak out dino embryos to a
competing company, the dinosaurs are soon on the loose and snacking on their
former human captors.