An adventure sixty-five million years in the making

Rating: 10/10 (11 October 2007)

"Jurassic Park" is Steven Spielberg's immensely popular movie about a theme park with live dinosaurs made possible by replicating preserved dinosaur DNA. Through a calamity the dinosaurs escape their fenced confinements and run amok in the park. The park was created with impressive sets and scenes. John Williams' score is of the highest quality and greatly adds to the majesty and intensity of the film.
On paper it sounds as though "Jurassic Park" could be just another "monsters attack" movie, but there are several factors that make this film far better than just another monster movie. There is some character development and importantly each part is perfectly cast, which means that each character makes a distinct impression and has memorable lines. Richard Attenborough is the perfect man to play the genial park owner John Hammond. The way Hammond mused about his dream of creating Jurassic Park even when the park was in shambles was great. Sam Neill and Laura Dern were apt choices to play the respectable paleontologists Drs. Grant and Sattler. Jeff Goldblum creates a memorable character in the eccentric Dr. Malcolm. I enjoyed seeing all of the characters in this film.
Of course there are the film's famous dinosaurs, which are amazingly realistic. There is enough variation in the types of dinosaur encounters and the context in which they are encountered such that they don't become boring. The situations with the dinosaurs are created such that tension is created. "Jurassic Park" manages to rise far above being simply another monster movie.