Alright! Today I'm reviewing the 1993 classic Jurassic Park, which was the highest grossing film of all time (Before being surpassed by Titanic), a movie better than the book, and one of the coolest stand-alone movies ever (Until they bullied the author into writing a sequel and milked five more films out of it).
Jurassic Park is a movie made for 10-year-olds, true and true. For whatever reason, kids absolutely love dinosaurs, and when the movie with dinosaurs comes out, well, that's a reason for it to be every kid's favorite film at least once. The fact of the matter is: Dinosaurs are cool. Everyone thinks dinosaurs are cool. And since Jurassic Park was basically the first movie to portray live-action dinosaurs and do it well, well, it gets all the brownie points. There's no way seeing the T-Rex or Brachiosaurus will not delight your inner 10-year-old.
Speaking of those dinosaurs... for a movie made in 1993, hot dog does it look good. The movie is barely showing its age, and even the scenes that look the most "dated" due to the special effects still hold up extremely well. Sure, it's fake, but that knowledge does not distract one from being awed by the creatures. This is in large part due to the fantastic framing, magnificent score, and reverent awe with which these creatures are always portrayed, naturally incorporating them into the environment and making them seem magical.
That feeling of magic extends throughout the entire runtime. Never for a moment is the viewer not amazed at the events unfolding on screen. The setting plays a large part of that - the tropic island with theme park theming feels warm and inviting, appropriately grand with John Williams blaring, but the ominous events unfolding offer a wonderful seasoning to that invitation.
The blaring of John Williams also has a helping hand in the beauty of the film. The film is a classic, but that's largely due to how utterly brilliant and iconic Williams' score is - It's not exactly controversial to call it one of the most iconic film scores of all time. The majesty of the park and dinosaurs, in addition to clever filmmaking techniques, is largely provided by Williams.
When all is said and all is done, Jurassic Park is just cool. Dinosaurs are cool. All fo the characters are cool and play off of each other well, and I admire how much time the movie commits to the philosophical questions the premise introduces. It's not just "rar rar dino rampage," there's an ethical war being raised here. There's thinking to underscore the action, and alternatively action to underscore the thinking.
Jurassic Park is a movie that's well aware it's premise is fantastic. Everything about the film, from the beautiful soundtrack courtesy John Williams, logo, the character designs, the performances, lines, delivery, legitimate terror, everything lines up to create a bona fide classic.
Overall, I give Jurassic Park a 10/10. "The only thing held with more respect than Jurassic Park is Jurassic Park's own treatment of its dinosaurs"
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