"God creates dinosaur. God destroys dinosaur. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaur. Dinosaur eats man."
Release Year: 1993
Country: United States
Genre: Science-fiction thriller
Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenwriter: David Koepp, Michael Crichton
Cinematography: Dean Cundey
Music: John Williams
Editing: Michael Kahn
Actors: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Richard Attenborough, Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards
Ideally, this blog's first real post would feature the very first movie that I watched. Or at least the first movie I ever saw in cinema, but the truth is I could not remember that moment. So, I decided to go with Jurassic Park: it may not be the first movie I ever watched and I am pretty sure I never actually watch it on the wondrous big screen (I was only 4-year old by the time it was released, although I did watch its sequel in cinema twice), but hell if it is not the very first movie that left an extremely powerful impression on me and truly introduced me to the art of movie-making: of crafting a fantastic world that mirrors and magnifies the many aspects of our mundane everyday lives.
or when the Brachiosaurus majestically walk ahead of the awestruck visitors...
or when the Velociraptors stalk around like the "clever girls" they are...
Release Year: 1993
Country: United States
Genre: Science-fiction thriller
Director: Steven Spielberg
Screenwriter: David Koepp, Michael Crichton
Cinematography: Dean Cundey
Music: John Williams
Editing: Michael Kahn
Actors: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Richard Attenborough, Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards
Ideally, this blog's first real post would feature the very first movie that I watched. Or at least the first movie I ever saw in cinema, but the truth is I could not remember that moment. So, I decided to go with Jurassic Park: it may not be the first movie I ever watched and I am pretty sure I never actually watch it on the wondrous big screen (I was only 4-year old by the time it was released, although I did watch its sequel in cinema twice), but hell if it is not the very first movie that left an extremely powerful impression on me and truly introduced me to the art of movie-making: of crafting a fantastic world that mirrors and magnifies the many aspects of our mundane everyday lives.
JP had dinosaur lover and billionaire John Hammond (Attenborough) built a magnificent dinosaur park, following his company's discovery of a cloning technique that could resurrect the previously extinct creatures back to earth. Hammond then invited several selected guests for a pre-opening presentation and tour of his park: paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Neill); paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler (Dern); mathematician cum chaos theorist Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum); laywer representing the investors, Donald Gennaro (Ian Ferrero); and Hammond's grandkids, Tim (Mazzello) and Alexis Murphy (Richards). Although hugely impressed by the initial presentation, the guests voice their concern on how resurrecting dinosaurs could be considered as violation of nature that may lead up to a disaster. Their fears are proven to be true as a series of incidents left them stranded in the middle of the park, while the clever Velociraptors and the vicious Tyrannosaurus Rex are running loose among them.
The movie was adapted from a novel of the same name written by Michael Crichton, but there were so many changes made that the two versions practically had different stories besides the basic concept of "a dinosaur park is created and things went horribly wrong." Basically, the novel is a lot more informative, detailed, and darker in tone, while the movie is (understandably) a more condensed adventure tale that revised the ending, characters, and general tone in order to be more accessible to general audience. However, both versions are great in their own ways, and both told a genuinely terrifying and exciting tale with philosophical overtones.
One of the major changes is the portrayal and eventual fates of the characters. Hammond, for example, is a lot more sympathetic in the movie: he has good intentions and while misguided, we can certainly relate with his childlike enthusiasm and love of dinosaur (in the novel, he is merely a greedy bastard). This is a classic human vs. nature movie conflict: most of the cast are "the good guys" (there is only one clear human villain, who suffered a bloody and prolonged death fairly early), and as is the standard Hollywood operation back then, we can expect all the major and most sympathetic characters to survive the day. Characterization tend to suffer from an oversimplified stereotyping (the paleontologist is shown to be techno-illiterate, while the mathematician is an extreme pessimist), but the script is buoyed by many great quote-able lines and remarkable performances from the adult actors.
But of course, human characters are not the star of the show here. People did not watch Jurassic Park because they wanted to see a paleontologist debating with a mathematician (although it is interesting in its own right), they watch it because of the dinosaurs. And, my God, the dinosaurs really look fantastic here. The movie's special effects and computer-generated images are rightfully lauded by the time it came out, and it certainly still looks great even after so many years had passed.
The movie was adapted from a novel of the same name written by Michael Crichton, but there were so many changes made that the two versions practically had different stories besides the basic concept of "a dinosaur park is created and things went horribly wrong." Basically, the novel is a lot more informative, detailed, and darker in tone, while the movie is (understandably) a more condensed adventure tale that revised the ending, characters, and general tone in order to be more accessible to general audience. However, both versions are great in their own ways, and both told a genuinely terrifying and exciting tale with philosophical overtones.
One of the major changes is the portrayal and eventual fates of the characters. Hammond, for example, is a lot more sympathetic in the movie: he has good intentions and while misguided, we can certainly relate with his childlike enthusiasm and love of dinosaur (in the novel, he is merely a greedy bastard). This is a classic human vs. nature movie conflict: most of the cast are "the good guys" (there is only one clear human villain, who suffered a bloody and prolonged death fairly early), and as is the standard Hollywood operation back then, we can expect all the major and most sympathetic characters to survive the day. Characterization tend to suffer from an oversimplified stereotyping (the paleontologist is shown to be techno-illiterate, while the mathematician is an extreme pessimist), but the script is buoyed by many great quote-able lines and remarkable performances from the adult actors.
But of course, human characters are not the star of the show here. People did not watch Jurassic Park because they wanted to see a paleontologist debating with a mathematician (although it is interesting in its own right), they watch it because of the dinosaurs. And, my God, the dinosaurs really look fantastic here. The movie's special effects and computer-generated images are rightfully lauded by the time it came out, and it certainly still looks great even after so many years had passed.
Seriously, if when the T-Rex shows itself for the first time...
or when the Brachiosaurus majestically walk ahead of the awestruck visitors...
or when Sattler inspects the sick Triceratops...
or when the Velociraptors stalk around like the "clever girls" they are.......if your eyes don't widen and your heart doesn't beat faster, then you clearly don't have a soul.
Sure, Spielberg may romanticized the thing too much (a common criticism aimed at him is that he is "too sentimental") and the happy ending/resolution may be too easy and unrealistic, but the director also successfully evokes a sense of wide-eyed wonder and enthusiasm that becomes the heart and soul of this movie. Detractors complaining about the scientific accuracies (the cloning theory, for example, is completely bogus) are not wrong, but they also missed the point. The main purpose of Jurassic Park (the movie version, at least) is to amaze us with this force of nature called dinosaur...and shows how Nature's most beautiful creations can also be the most dangerous ones. Using pure technology to achieve this effect is simply marvelous, regardless of the inevitable factual errors that stem from its fictional nature.
Despite the relatively disappointing sequels (I enjoyed The Lost World, but it does not live up to the magic of its predecessor, while I can barely remember anything about Jurassic Park 3 besides that it is...completely forgettable), Jurassic Park had left a huge legacy as a summer blockbuster movie. It turned many kids into dinosaur fans (I myself used to had a collection of dinosaur picture books and toys), and triggered a 'dinosaur boom' throughout the entire 1990s. As of now, the franchise and the popularity of dinosaurs can be considered 'extinct' (there were rumors about Jurassic Park 4, but it seems to have died down after Crichton's death in 2008), but this first movie will always hold a special place in my heart.
I love dinosaurs, and I love Jurassic Park.
Sure, Spielberg may romanticized the thing too much (a common criticism aimed at him is that he is "too sentimental") and the happy ending/resolution may be too easy and unrealistic, but the director also successfully evokes a sense of wide-eyed wonder and enthusiasm that becomes the heart and soul of this movie. Detractors complaining about the scientific accuracies (the cloning theory, for example, is completely bogus) are not wrong, but they also missed the point. The main purpose of Jurassic Park (the movie version, at least) is to amaze us with this force of nature called dinosaur...and shows how Nature's most beautiful creations can also be the most dangerous ones. Using pure technology to achieve this effect is simply marvelous, regardless of the inevitable factual errors that stem from its fictional nature.
Despite the relatively disappointing sequels (I enjoyed The Lost World, but it does not live up to the magic of its predecessor, while I can barely remember anything about Jurassic Park 3 besides that it is...completely forgettable), Jurassic Park had left a huge legacy as a summer blockbuster movie. It turned many kids into dinosaur fans (I myself used to had a collection of dinosaur picture books and toys), and triggered a 'dinosaur boom' throughout the entire 1990s. As of now, the franchise and the popularity of dinosaurs can be considered 'extinct' (there were rumors about Jurassic Park 4, but it seems to have died down after Crichton's death in 2008), but this first movie will always hold a special place in my heart.
I love dinosaurs, and I love Jurassic Park.
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