Jurassic Park is one of my favourite films of all time. It is in my favourite four list on Letterboxd and will remain there until I draw my last breathe. I remember seeing this film at the cinema back in 1993 and afterwards when I got home I would imagine that T-Rex’s would come bursting through the trees at the back of my garden (I was 10 at the time!!!!).
The set up is that Hammond (Richard Attenborough) invites Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) to the island to say that it is safe and thus allow the opening of the park to take place but of course things go wrong and the rest of the film is about them trying to get off the island without being dinner for the T-Rex or the Velociraptor.
The effects are just as impressive as they were back in 1993. The first encounter with the T-Rex is still one of the most jaw dropping moments in cinema and everything comes together to make it heartstopping. The score is brilliant. I have grown to respect music scores more in the last year or two and even though I have always loved the theme, the score throughout the film is great. John Williams has created one of the greatest theme songs in movie history but there are several action scenes which are elevated by Williams’ great score.
The scene where Nedry was killed is something that scarred me when I first saw it in 1993. Even now at 43 years old I find it a great little moment. It’s hard to feel sorry for Nedry and this shows how you write a good bad character and you feel satisfied that he got his comeuppance.
I will admit I felt sad the first time that Sam Neill appeared on screen. As I write this its been about two weeks since he passed away and this is the first film I saw him in. It’s debatable whether its his best but its on the shortlist. He is introduced as a child-hating person but is forced to spend a good chunk of the film with Hammond’s grandchildren Tim and Lex. Despite being sidelined with the kids, Neill makes it work and the kids make him more of a parental figure and it feels genuine. Laura Dern is great as Ellie and she gets some cool action scenes. There is a love triangle that is hinted at between Ellie, Grant and Malcolm. Thankfully there is more to her character than the love triangle and her moment to shine is when she goes to reset the power and unknowingly electrocutes Tim. Jeff Goldblum is great as Malcolm because…..well he’s Jeff Goldblum. There is a fun vibe to the character and he goes get some of the funniest lines and arguably one of the most memorable when he says “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should”. It’s a great line and it’s makes even better because of Goldblum.
The way that the characters are written is so good that when Hammond is looking sadly at his cane I still felt sad for him. Even after all the death and destruction it is because of Richard Attenborough that you even have an ounce of sympathy. The film also sees Samuel L. Jackson appear as Arnold and whilst the character get short changed with an off screen death, I always forget that he is in the film. This happens when I think of the actors in the film and its has created the ‘Samuel L Jackson rule’ which applies to well known actors who appear in films you really like and have seen multiple times but forget they are in it.
It may not be a huge shock to say that I love this movie. This is at least my third time seeing it at the cinema and I still love this film. It is a great story with some great action scenes and characters that likeable and are easy to connect with. The rest of the franchise never quite live up to this (although the first Jurassic World film gets the closest) but this was Steven Spielberg at the top of his game.
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