Spielberg and his team have made one fearsome and mesmerising movie.

Rating: Null/10 (29 April 2004)

When I was told about the greatness of the 'dinosaurs' as a young child back in primary school, I had a complete fasciation with some of God's most powerful creatures. Dinosaurs such as Tyrannosaurus Rex have their own strange and unique characteristics which make them so interesting to learn about. So when I heard that Hollywood was making a movie on Dinosaurs titled 'Jurassic Park', I was truly excited. This film gives life back to creatures I wish I could have seen in the flesh.
One of mankind's most thrilling fantasies has come true, an astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. With this discovery we get 'Jurassic Park', a remote island theme park, with actual living dinosaurs. The only problem is, it is about to turn deadly as five people, including two palaeontologists, must battle to survive among these prehistoric predators.
Steven Spielberg has made a film full of terror and scary creatures. I like how the film opens, as it gives us as the audience a chance to see what it is that man has created, and that it might not be the best investment to be involved with. The only problem I have with Spielberg's vision for 'Jurassic park' is the ending. Learning that he thought it up, I feel is a little corny and is too easy an escape for our characters, considering what they have escaped from before all this. Yet Spielberg did a great job in giving us a look at the wonder and/or scariness of the dinosaurs, as I believe I was moved almost every time I saw a scene with a dinosaur.

This was definitely helped by the team that created these dinosaurs for Spielberg. The special effects are terrific, as the dinosaurs seem real and alive in this film. In the last few weeks I have seen films from a similar time as Jurassic Park, and the special effects were appalling. Now they were going to either make or break this film. Thankfully they were good enough to make this film. The dinosaur special effects were very well done by Stan Winston, Dennis Muren, Phill Tippett and Michael Lanteri.
The screen play was the inspiration of novelist Michael Crichton and David Koepp (from MI and MI2). The story to the film is taken from Crichton's novel on the same material. Although some of the character creations for the screenplay might be a little weak, the story is very interesting to see as
it unfolds, as the dinosaurs get into a very powerful position.

At the forefront of the movie are palaeontologists and dinosaur experts Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Fern). They are convinced to come and evaluate a new 'family centric' park with living dinosaurs. The owner of the park is millionaire Dr. John Hammond (Richard Attenborough). The pair are initially overawed by what they see at the park. Neill and Fern are good in what they bring to the film, with Neill the standout, bringing a calmness and sensibility to his character, which keeps everybody from breaking down in many crisis situations.
Attenborough's character could have been better, as it is very strange how he reacts to the situation that he sees 'Jurassic park' in. The two young grandchildren of Hammond, Tim (Joseph Mazzello) and Lex (Ariana Richards) are very good, as they make us feel emotion for their many dangerous situations we see them in.
Yet the rest of the cast cannot get the same credit. Firstly you have a mathematician along for the joy ride here, his name is Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), who is only ever placed in the screenplay for some funny and some stupid lines. Then Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) is one of the computer experts, in charge of running Jurassic Park's main working centre. Now unfortunately Knight is not a good character here, as his storyline lacks in sense and does not add to the film, although it could have. If he got away with what he stole it would have been very interesting.

The film has some very memorable moments. When the character's meet the many different dinosaurs, they truly have a sense of grandeur and amazement. The running herd of dinosaurs are wonderful, as they are very alive and it would be a dream to meet such a flock of animals. All the moments with T-Rex are terrifying, such as when the park shuts down and the two kids are attacked in their vehicle. The lawyer in the car makes a rather selfish and crazy choice. The kids also have a fascinating sequence, where they play hide and seek with two smaller dinosaurs in the park's kitchen.
The musical score to Jurassic Park is another of the film's highlights. Composed by the greatest movie composer ever, John Williams, the score gives the movie an awesome feel when it requires it. Then in an instant changes a scene to make the film seem terrifying. When a musical score does this to a film, it is hard not to be affected, as I know I was.
Steven Spielberg has been involved with some very impressive movie creatures, such as the scary shark 'Jaws', the very unique alien 'E.T', and of course the gruesome little buggers known as 'Gremlins', creatures that love to cause havoc. Now Spielberg has tinkered with Dinosaurs, awesome creatures that are very violent and destructive.
Jurassic Park is a film that only confirms in my mind that dinosaurs are not meant to be played around with and shows what happens when man starts to play God. He soon realises that it is an area that he has no right to deal with. I like this film as I was entertained by the story, love the historical ideas that are presented by the dinosaurs and how man should only remember what Dinosaurs were like, as living with them in today's world could be catastrophic.

CMRS gives 'Jurassic Park': 4 (Very Good Movie)