Jurassic Park – Film Review

In Steven Spielberg‘s massive blockbuster, paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are among a select group chosen to tour an island theme park populated by dinosaurs created from prehistoric DNA. While the park’s mastermind, billionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), assures everyone that the facility is safe, they find out otherwise when various ferocious predators break free and go on the hunt.

We humans have a morbid fascination with dinosaurs and we have seemingly always been stuck living in the past in certain ways. We can’t help but wonder what our lives would be like today if these animals still roamed the Earth. Would it be dangerous? Would we all be eaten in a matter of seconds if we ever were to stand near one?

These kinds of questions are posed in Steven Spielberg’s 1993 masterpiece Jurassic Park, while also showing bluntly just how stupid of an idea it would be to bring dinosaurs back and place them inside of a theme park. John Hammond is definitely an ambitious man and the movie never paints him out to be a complete fool, but by the time the film comes to a close, you understand that he certainly made some foolish decisions.

One thing that’s instantly striking in this movie is the script and just how razor-sharp it is. There’s practically not a single line of dialogue here that feels useless. Whether it’s used to describe the sheer terror of the park’s creatures or to further flesh out its human cast of characters, Jurassic Park‘s script is breathtaking.

What’s also breathtaking is the film’s massive size and scale. I wasn’t alive when this movie came out, but I can only imagine just how stunning this film would’ve been to watch on a giant screen surrounded by tons of folks who were just as excited as me to see the new Spielberg picture.

Spielberg’s direction is, of course, basically flawless and the cinematography by Dean Cundey is seriously staggering. Together, the two make a seriously incredible pairing. And of course, it would be a sin to not mention the euphoric and insanely iconic musical score by John Williams which is filled with so much emotion to the point where you’ll more than likely find yourself tearing up at several points in the film. That’s just because of music. And when music has that much of an impact on your senses, you know it’s good.

All of the performances here are also phenomenal. Sam Neill makes for a wonderful lead in the role of Dr. Alan Grant, alongside Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Sattler. The two have amazing chemistry together as well, and combined, they deliver two of the best performances in history. Jeff Goldblum is also, of course, iconic in the role of Dr. Ian Malcolm, as is Samuel L. Jackson as Ray Arnold.

There’s a good reason why, even after all these years, Jurassic Park is still being watched by millions of people all around the world. It’s simply one of the greatest films ever made.