OK so now I'm in my 40s (sheeeeiiiittt!) and I've done 40 posts this year its time for post No.41 of 2015 on this blog and this un will be on Jurassic Park (the first one that is). So without any further ados let's give this mutha a look.......
STORY
Right so contuining with my new format of highlighting the different sections of my reviews I'll start with the story which begins on a theme park, which contains genetically cloned dinosaurs. However things turn bad at the park as one of the workers are killed while they tried to transport a new velociraptor into the park, and the park's game warden, Muldoon (Bob Peck) has the raptor killed. The story then moves to the Badlands in Montana where the creator of the theme park, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) invites a paleontologist, Dr Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and his girlfriend and paleobotanist Dr Ellie Satler (Laurna Dern) to the park as experts to certify that it is safe. They are also joined by a lawyer Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) and an eccentric mathematician Dr Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). Upon arriving at the park they are stunned to see three Brachisauruses and Hammond takes them to the tour centre to show how they created the dinosaurs. The tour video reveals that they used the DNA of dinosaurs taken from mosquitos that had been preserved in amber. The DNA stands were however incomplete and required the DNA of frogs to complete the gaps and the dinosaurs were all genetically cloned as females to prevent breeding. The experts are however concerned when they see they have raptors at the park and also a T-Rex (which is not seen at this point).
Hammond then invites his grandchildren, Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joseph Mazzello) along to the park as well and they all go on a motorised car tour through the park itself. However the tour doesn't turn out as expected as the dinosaurs fail to appear and the group eventually find a sick Triceratops. A storm then moves towards the island the park is situated on, Isla Nublar which forces the tour to be cut short and most of the employees leave the park by boat except the chief engineer Ray Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson) and computer programmer Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) and Muldoon (and Hammond of course!). Nedry however betrays Hammond by stealing the dinosaur embryos, which he intends to sell to a corporate rival for a bribe and in doing so deactivates the park's fences and security system. This leave the T-Rex break out of its paddock and attack the group as it starts by toppling over Lex and Tim's car, with Genarro running away and eventually being eaten by the T-Rex. Grant then manages to save Lex and Tim as they evade the T-Rex, meanwhile however Nedry in trying to escape the park crashes his car and as he tries to release it, he trips and falls down a waterfall and meets a dilophosaurus which kills him. Ellie with Muldoon later finds Malcolm injured and they narrowly escape the T-Rex which persues them. And from here the group must try and find a way to get back to safety before the dinosaurs get them......
THOUGHTS
As one of the most commercially successful blockbusters of all time, Jurassic Park is without much doubt a very entertaining film and it features plenty of suspense, thrills and drama along the way. The film is almost essentially Spielberg's retake on Jaws as he couldn't resist making another monster movie except there is alot more to worry about here than just one shark! Steven Spielberg who was the director of course was initially interested in the book which was written by Michael Crichton and even was aware of Crichton's book before it was published. The film is also notable for its superb CGI and use of animatronics to bring the dinosaurs to life and by today's standards they are even better than alot of the CGI that is around just now as CGI at the time was still mainly in its infancy. And its ultimately the dinosaurs that make the film work as well as it does as they provide most of the suspense and fun to found here.
PERFORMANCES
As for the performances its a bit of a mixed bag and just to cut things a bit shorter than usual I thought I would do a quicker look at each actor without getting into massive long paragraphs and quoting loads of line for them (although I might quote a few for fun still). So for starters:
Sam Neil - Sam it has to be said provides a pretty bland performance here as Dr Alan Grant who becomes something of a reluctant hero when he rescues Tim and Lex despite the fact he doesn't like kids very much. Sam still has one or two good lines such as the scene where he scares the young ignorant kid at his dig site and he says to the kid as he demonstrates how a raptor can kill someone by using a fossilised raptor claw. And Grant says to the boy "You see the point is you are alive when they start to eat you. So you know try and show a little more respect?!" and the young boy now terrified simply says "OK". And another good line is one of the final ones where Grant and the others have narrowly escaped the raptors and the T-Rex and Grant says to Hammond "Mr Hammond after careful consideration I have decided NOT to endorse your park!".
Laura Dern - Laura does fair a bit better in her role as the affable Ellie Satler who is Grant's girlfriend. Although it has to be said that their chemistry together in the film is pretty awkward and they don't make for the most interesting couple. Laura does have some good moments in the film as well such as the scene where Malcolm theorises about how the dinosaurs might evolve on the park and Ellie says "Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth!". Then there is the scene where Ellie is about to embark on the dangerous task of trying to get the park's power back on line and as Hammond suggests he should go instead because she is a woman and she groans and says "Look... we can discuss sexism in survival situations when I get back!".
Jeff Goldblum - Jeff actually manages to provide the film's most fun performance as the somewhat eccentric Dr Ian Malcolm who is invited as one of the experts to the park. Goldblum get's all the film's best lines and naturally has some good scenes such as the one where they arrive at the tour centre having just witnessed their first dinos and as Ellie asks Grant what he thinks "I think we are out of a job!" Malcolm says "Don't you mean extinct?". And then there is the scene where Malcolm expresses his concerns over the dinosaurs to Hammond and the others at lunch and he says "What's so great about discovery? It's a violent, penetrative act that scars what it explores. What you call discovery, I call the rape of the natural world". Then there is the scene where Malcolm looks at some massive dino droppings from the sick triceratops and he simply looks at it and says "That is one big pile of shit!". And last of all there is the moment where the T-Rex chases after Ellie, Malcolm and Muldoon in the jeep and Malcolm shouts "Must go faster!" and as they eventually speed away to safety with the T-Rex roaring in the background Malcolm says "You think they will have THAT on the tour???!".
Richard Attenborough - Then we have Dickie Attenborough as the park creator and billionaire John Hammond who provides a fairly charming performance as the genial old fella who wanted to entice and charm people worldwide with his park's creations. Dickie also some good moments in the film that include the scene where Hammond sits at lunch with Grant, Ellie, Malcolm and Gennaro and they are all sceptical of the park except Gennaro who's overawed by the fortune they could make out it. And Hammond says to them "I don't believe it! You're meant to come down here and defend me against these characters, and the only one I've got on my side is the blood-sucking lawyer!". Then there is the scene where Hammond starts the motorised car tour which goes awry and as they wait for the dinos to appear in the park, bored, Malcolm taps the in-car camera and says to Hammond "Now at some point you will actually have dinosaurs on the tour, right?!" and Hammond looks on and sighs "I really hate that man!". Then there is the moment where Hammond let's it slip they have a T-Rex as the group arrive as Grant asks of the dinosaurs "How fast are they?" and Hammond says "Well we clocked the T-Rex at 32 miles an hour". And Grant looks on in disbelief and grabs Hammond's arm and says "Say again?" and Hammond smiles saying "We have a T-Rex!".
As for the other performances:
Wayne Knight is pretty good as the sleazeball Dennis Nedry who betrays Hammond by selling him out and stealing the dino embryos as well turning of the park's security. Knight also has some good quips in the film such as the scene where Nedry having crashed his jeep encounters the dilophosaurus and he attempts to throw a stick at it like a dog and the creature just looks idly at it prompting Nedry to say "No wonder you're extinct!". And lastly Knight has another good scene when the corporate rival, Dodgson arrives to meet with Knight to give him his bribe money and the container for the embryos which is hidden in a can of shaving foam. And in the scene Nedry kids on Dodgson when he calls him over Dodgson says "You shouldn't use my name" and Nedry calls out "Dodgson! Dodgson! We've got Dodgson here!" and nobody pays any mind. And in the scene Nedry also wants Dodgson to pick up the bill for his lunch and Nedry says to him "Don't get cheap on me, Dodgson. That was Hammond's mistake!".
Bob Peck is a bit corny in the film but he isn't too bad as the park warden Muldoon who also shares his concerns with the park. Peck has some good scenes too in the film such as the one when Muldoon tells the group about the raptors and how they keep attacking the security fences "That's right, but they never attack the same place twice. They were testing the fences for weaknesses, systematically. They remember". Another good moment from Peck is when they group leave their tour cars as they are able to unlock the doors which Muldoon disapproves of and complains "I told you! How many times? We needed locking mechanisms on the vehicle doors!". And lastly there is Peck's last scene (SPOILER!) where Muldoon prepares to shoot one of the raptors hidden in the trees and as it appears from the trees Muldoon says "Clever girl!" just before it pounces on him and finishes him off!
Ariana Richards - Ariana does well in her role as the young pre-teenager Lex who visits the park with her younger brother Tim. Ariana also has some good scenes but I won't go into too many but I will mention the one where Lex and Tim witness a goat being let into the park as dinner for the T-Rex. And Lex looks on horrified referring to the T-Rex "He's gonna eat the goat?!" and Gennaro says to her "What's the matter kid haven't you had lamb chops before??" and Lex says "I happen to be vegetarian!".
Joseph Mazello - Joseph manages to upstage Ariana in his role as the younger kid Tim who is something of a precocious youth who goes on the tour with his sister Lex. Joseph has some good scenes in the film as well such as the one where Tim is trapped in the car which the T-Rex pushed off the road and it fell into a tree. And Grant later climbs up into the tree and as he finds Tim, Tim ashamedly says "I threw up!" and as they escape the car it follows them down and they try to escape the car but it falls ontop of them and we hear Tim says "Well, we're back in the car again!" and Grant says "Well at least we're out of the tree!". And lastly there is the moment when Grant, Tim and Lex lie in a tree top and are awoken by a Brachiosaurus and they feed it some tree branch leaves and as Tim notices "Looks like she might have a cold!". And as Lex reaches out to touch the dinosaur it sneezes all over her and Tim shouts "God bless you!".
Martin Ferrero - Martin Ferrero is quite good as the sleazy lawyer Gennaro who at first is concerned by the safety issues of the park only to be bowled over by the dinosaurs and he changes his tune saying "We can make a fortune out of this place!". And later in the lunch scene Gennaro rattles off some figures they could charge visitors to the park and Hammond insists "This park will not just cater for the super rich. Everyone will be able to enjoy these tours!" and Gennaro says "Sure then maybe we could have a coupon day!". Then of course there is the infamous scene where Gennaro panics and flees the tour car when he sees the T-Rex coming toward them and he runs into a nearby portable toilet only for the T-Rex eventually crash through and it then proceeds to eat the lawyer alive!
Samuel L Jackson - and last of all we have Samuel as the chief engineer at the park, Arnold and it shows early promise of what Samuel would later do so well in his career. And Sam's most notable scene is when Arnold tries to get the system back on-line after Nedry deactivated it and he finds out that Nedry has hacked it and loaded a virus, which runs with a pic of Nedry saying "Uh-uh-uh! You didn't say the magic word!" and Arnold yells "PLEASE! Goddamnit! I hate this hacker crap!". And Sam also get's to deliver his often repeated line in the film "hold onto your butts!" just before he does something crucial, particularly in the scene Arnold shuts the system down.
DIRECTOR AND MUSIC
Finally to get onto the film's director Steven Spielberg he does great a job here as he is no stranger to racking up suspense and there several scenes which Spielberg is bound to have the audience screaming. And such examples include the scene where the T-Rex attacks Lex and Tim in the tour car or when the raptors hunt Lex and Tim at the tour centre (he just loves putting kids into danger!). Then we have the film's memorable score by John Williams, which features another one of his hummable themes and again there are some suspenseful and dramatic passages in the score which work really well throughout the film, which make it worth listening to.
FLAWS
Right so flaws...... yes Jurassic Park isn't quite perfect and to start off it has to be said that one of the areas where Jurassic Park does fall down is the human characters themselves as most of them are pretty one dimensional and dull and next to the spectacle of the dinos they kind of rather let the film down. And as an example Hammond comes across as a rather affable guy but in the end his plan is pretty airy fairy and he never really considers the serious dangers of the park and is even as naive as to recruit some pretty untrustworthy employees such as Dennis Nedry. And you think he should have screened his employees prior to hiring them to work on such a hugely ambitious theme park. Hammond also has a rather annoying tendency of saying how he "spared no expense!" at the park and he is quick to remind you throughout the movie (well OK he might have said it only four times). Yes John we get what you are saying! The tour facility and science labs themselves surely are a billion dollar enterprise in themselves. In the end Hammond appears to be a man with more money than sense (in fact when you look at it that's exactly what he is!).
The film also at times features some pretty silly moments such as the one where the T-Rex chases after Ellie, Ian and Muldoon in the jeep and we see that rear view mirror which says on it "Objects in rear view may appear closer than they actually are". And its one of these daft moments which Spielberg must have put in as a cheap thrill for the audience to get off on but ultimately its just a daft inclusion that doesn't really work. Not to mention there is also the moment where Hammond sits and has some soup with Ellie and just before it we see some Jurassic Park merchandise, which shows the film is blatantly advertising itself within the film! Its a pretty shameless product placement moment featuring toys that probably would soon be available in shops!
Another issue is to do with the film's climax (MORE SPOILERS!) as the raptors hunt Lex and Tim and it is pretty silly that the raptors which are shown to be lethal hunters are ultimately fooled by these two kids with fair ease as they escape the kitchen unharmed. Then there is the moment where Grant and Ellie desparately try to hold the door shut in the computer room against a raptor trying to get in and Ellie tries to reach for a shotgun nearby when Tim could easily grab it and take it to them rather than anxiously stand over his sister as she attempts to bring the system back online! Also you hear the raptor break the grass of the security door after it has been locked and Grant shoots at the raptor with the shotgun but it leaves bullet holes in the glass, which suggests that the raptor didn't break the glass at all and it only impacted when Grant shot it! And last but not least there is the scene where the T-Rex saves the day as it kills the one raptor that is about to pounce on the group but how did it actually get in through the tour centre front door without smashing its way in??? Not unless the front was already smashed in but its not immediately obvious if this was the case as the T-Rex just appears out of nowhere.
Anyway so that's the flaws done with.
SUM UP
So to sum up Jurassic Park despite its flaws is stil a very enjoyable film and it easily stands head and shoulders over its two sequels although I can't speak for Jurassic World yet as I've still not seen it (but will get round to it at some point!). And the film has enough thrills, suspense and fun you can forget the more silly stuff and just enjoy it and after 22 years the film's effects are still as impressive as ever.
And with that I shall say goodnight!
