Jurassic Park (1993)

★★★
In the summer of 1993, it was Jurassic Park vs. Last Action Hero, with the former soundly defeating the latter in a battle of big-budget motion pictures. Audiences flocked to see Steven Spielberg's dazzling showcase of jaw-dropping special effects while many avoided Arnold Schwarzenegger's underrated action film parody. Jurassic Park suffers a little because it freely omits many intriguing elements of the book in order to concentrate on the action aspect. I read the book in 1994 as part of an English 101 class that I took, yet the sense of wonder generated by its detailed scientific elements still remains. Michael Crichton's novel was loaded with scientific information. He presented his material in such a way that the book often read like a graduate student's thesis on bioengineering. Though the very idea of a prehistoric theme park is outlandish, Crichton found a way to weave all his information into a convincing story. Jules Verne accomplished the same thing with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. That story, about a self-sustaining submarine, would have appeared far-fetched when it was written in the 1800s, yet the scientific detail is enthralling.

InGen founder Dr. Hammond (Richard Attenborough) pulls together a team to produce the unthinkable. Scientists will create dinosaurs out of the D.N.A. obtained from dino-blood preserved inside prehistoric mosquitoes. On an island off the coast (way off the coast) of Costa Rica, they will create a dinosaur ecosystem centered around the idea of a theme park where visitors from all over the world can gaze upon the creatures from the Jurassic era.

To appease the investors, who are concerned about cost overruns and possible instability in the park, Dr. Hammond calls upon Dr. Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Sattler (Laura Dern) to offer an endorsement. Dr. Hammond doesn't reveal what he has in store for them right away, but he realizes that he needs the advice of paleontologists to ensure lawyer Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) that the park is beneficial and will pay for itself in no time. Along for the ride is Dr. Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), an expert in chaos theory whose expertise in his field will allow him to see the real potential in such a park.

The dinosaurs are a marvelous achievement in special effects. Spielberg stands in awe of these creatures, and the first shots we get of the brontosaurus aren't from a faraway point of view. The scene places us at eye-level with the humans, and we stare up at the beasts as if straining our necks to get a good look. Coming face-to-face with a dinosaur is a dream-come-true for someone like Dr. Grant, who can now see for himself if all the theories about dinosaurs, from their eating habits to how they congregate, are true.

Something not really addressed in the movie but made clear in the book is the presence of Dr. Hammond's grandchildren, Tim (Joseph Mazzello) and Lex (Ariana Richards). Dr. Hammond was deceitful and greedy in the book—a real bad guy. He brought his grandchildren to the island not simply to show them a good time, but because they would be the test audience for Jurassic Park. Their reaction to seeing the dinosaurs was supposed to alleviate any doubts from people like Dr. Grant and Dr. Malcolm that this park wouldn't work out. It's a personality trait missing from the movie version of Dr. Hammond, who's a caring and sincere man who had only good intentions from the start.

As Dr. Malcolm feared, the dinosaurs can't be controlled. Several circumstances, from the bad weather to the glitches in the control room, contribute to the park's flaws, but if there is one reason why things get so bad, it is Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight). A rival company hires Nedry to steal vials containing dino-D.N.A. so that it can create its own Jurassic Park. Nedry bugs the computer system so that he can steal the D.N.A. unnoticed, but once he meets an unfortunate end, nobody can control the park and the dinosaurs run rampant. This all leads to the movie's thrilling second half, which is a series of action sequences involving chases and close calls.

The special effects are incredible, even over ten years after its release. However, the movie isn't simply a showcase for visuals. It is an exciting action film to boot. While the movie leaves out much of the scientific intrigue of the novel, as well as several interesting subplots and exposition, there's still a loyalty to the book as far as the flaws of such an ecosystem. Controlling a species that's been extinct for a long time proves too difficult a task for the scientists who pat themselves on the back for their accomplishments. If Dr. Malcolm said "I told you so," nobody would argue with that.

© 2004 Silver Screen Reviews