Directed by: Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Schindler's List). Starring: Sam Neill (The Hunt for Red October), Laura Dern (Blue Velvet) and Jeff Goldblum (The Fly).
Slightly kooky businessman John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) discovers how to clone dinosaurs from fossilised mosquitoes and decides that it is a good idea to make a theme park featuring them. In order to keep some pesky lawyers off his back, Hammond employs the help of paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Neill), paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler (Dern), and wise talking chaos theorist Dr. Ian Malcolm (Goldblum) to endorse his park. In a freak tropical storm, computer programmer Dennis Nedry (a very funny Wayne Knight) shuts down the park's security system to steal the dinosaur embryos. Meanwhile Grant, Sattler and Malcolm along with Hammond's two grandchildren, Lex and Tim, are stuck outside the T-Rex enclosure. As the security system is shut down, the T-Rex escapes causing Malcolm to become injured and child hating Grant, Lex, and Tim to be stuck inside the park. It is now a race against time to restart the security system, rescue Grant and the kids, and fight off the T-Rex, Velociraptors and friends.
Now we should all know by now that Jurassic Park is one of the greatest movies ever made so there is no point me reviewing the actual movie. As a result I will look at how well the film transferred to 3-D, whether the special effects still hold up today, and the overall viewing experience.
Those devoted readers of this blog will know that I am not a fan of 3D movies. They are well and truly overdone, they seem tacky most of the time, and wearing those glasses for two hours straight is damn-well annoying. So you may ask, why would I spend an exuberant amount of money to potentially ruin one of my favourite movies of all time as opposed to watching it one more time on DVD in the comfort of my bedroom? I will answer that question with another question, can you think of any other classic movie that would be more suited to a 3D conversion? The only other film that could be considered would be Independence Day. As a result, this was the most enjoyable 3D experience I have had. The transfer wasn't perfect as there were occasions when I had to adjust my glasses because there were two Richard Attenboroughs on the screen. Other than that I was pleasantly surprised. The question is, does the 3D add anything to the experience? I am going to say yes for once. If you are as a big of a fan of Jurassic Park as I am, you will have a massive smile on your face the entire viewing even though you have seen the movie several times before. It is well worth a viewing on the big screen just to hear the T-Rex roar at an ear splitting volume.
It is hard to believe that this movie is 20 years old, so the question is, do the special effects still hold up today? Some movies, such as Blade Runner, have special effects that will still wow you today, whilst other movies, such as Tron and Escape from New York, while still are fantastic movies, have aged terribly. It is fortunate to say that Jurassic Park would not look out of place if it was released today. Twenty years ago, Jurassic Park was a technological marvel. Even though the performances of Goldblum and Knight are marvellous, it is the dinosaurs that are the star of the show. It took the genius of Spielberg to bring them to life but my word do they steal the spotlight. I have recently watched this movie at home on my relatively small TV but the tough question is whether Jurassic Park holds it's own on a big 10 m by 10 m screen. Fortunately the answer is yes.
I would like to share something with you all that I saw when leaving the cinema. Upon exiting, I realised that there was a blind woman at the screening. This got me thinking, Jurassic Park would be an amazing film to sit through if you couldn't see. You could make anything of the scene when you hear people panicking when the power goes down to it finally culminating into the roar from the T-Rex. The lady was probably scared out of her mind but it would have been a fantastic experience for her.
Unfortunately, I think this cinematic run lasts for only a week so you will not be able to go see Jurassic Park in the cinema, otherwise I would strongly recommend you do. As an alternative, I propose grabbing the Blu-Ray, finding the biggest TV you can, turn up the volume as loud as you can, and enjoy a fantastic movie.
Film: Top 100 ever made
Transfer: 4 Stars
Next Time: Tom Cruise still thinking he is in his 20's, Oblivion
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