Jurassic Park - Snapshot

As part of the run up to the release of Jurassic World, I decided to re-watch all the Jurassic Park movies. First up, was the original 1993 release, which kicked off the franchise; which at this point I would go as far as call a classic, cause heck, were talking dinosaurs, in a true to life form. I remember watching it in the theatre, and then years later on cable when I was in college; but revisiting it today, it was without doubt well worth my two hours, even 23 years after its release. While I was a little prepared for some sense of degradation, owing to the time lapse, the movie remained surprisingly solid. The plot rolled out well, the performances were impressive, the visuals were breathtaking, and overall it made for an excellent watch. Being older, I could better appreciate the characterization, with Richard Attenborough as John Hammond standing out for his portrayal as the sweet old man with a dream; his performance was truly brilliant. Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum also turned in good performances, with their initial expressions seeing dinosaurs for the first time being amazing. To say awe and astonishment would be putting it lightly. It was interesting to see Samuel L. Jackson as Ray Arnold, in a fairly boring and unimportant role, far from his current power roles such as Nick Fury in Marvel’s Avengers. The sequences wherein suspense builds are superb, including the tremors in the water, and the shaking spoon of green jelly. In most cases you can’t complain about the special effects, but there was the occasional instance when I was wondering if the dinosaurs could be made to look better with today’s CGI capabilities. Overall Steven Spielberg has done a fine job with Jurassic Park, so much so that it holds its own very well, even after all these years. John Williams deserves special credit for the soundtrack and specifically the Jurassic Park theme song, which is just fabulous. There were at least 5 instances when I got goosebumps during the movie, the first and most intense being early on, when the theme song played for the first time, as Hammond and his crew approached the private island that houses the park. A phenomenal movie pretty much, and if I were watching it today for the first time, I’d say Kick Ass for sure.

My Recommendation: Watch It + (A modern day classic, bringing Dinosaurs to life)