A milestone in its time

Rating: 8/10 (27 March 2017)

The biggest attraction of this film back in 1993, of course, was the realistic computer graphic animation of the dinosaurs by SGI coupled with the realistic sound effects and the good use of suspense built around them both.
After I first saw this movie in the theatre 24 years ago, I laid in bed awake for hours, not from fright, but from the lingering excitement of the entire experience. Up to that time, nothing like it had ever been done on that scale. This is hard to remember when, since then, the Discovery Channel came up with the whole "Walking with ..." series of documentaries on dinosaurs, early man, and creatures before the dinosaur that use the same techniques that this film did, and thus people have become accustomed to this level of realism in animation both on the small and large screen.
Thus with the "shock value" of the animation removed, this movie doesn't seem quite as "5-star" as it did during its first run. The dialogue, in particular, seems a bit thin now. One aspect of the movie that still impresses me that doesn't get much mention is the outstanding use of sound and sound effects. For example, when the T-Rex first appears in the movie, it is not just the sight of the thing that terrifies, but its tremendous roar. It is still great action adventure viewing for the entire family.