Non-stop thrills in this brilliant cinematic experience!

Rating: 10/10 (22 June 2014)

This film focuses on the dream turned reality of John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) to bring dinosaurs to life and introduce them to the world through a fully functional theme park. The only obstacle standing in his way is getting the proper legal approval to open his park to the public. A team of scientists consisting of Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neil), Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) are brought in to assess the surprise attractions and give the final stamp of approval. They are quickly joined by Hammond's grandkids Lex Murphy (Ariana Richards) and Tim Murphy (Joseph Mazzello). The beautiful setting quickly turns into one of a nightmare as a tropical storm hits at the same time a Jurassic Park computer programmer Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) shuts down the system keeping the park running, and the dinosaurs caged, in an effort to steal the secrets behind Jurassic Park and sell them to another company. Now the dinosaurs are running wild, there is no immediate source of power, the group is split up, and it is only a matter of time before people start dying.
To me, the theme of Jurassic Park revolves around man's capability for scientific discovery, and the potential Pandora's Box scenario that can result when science of this nature is exploited. I found that a motif existed in the film by means of giving the viewer a sense of awe at the amazing creation born of science, and then quickly replacing that feeling with a sense of panic and terror as these beautiful monsters demonstrate their deadly nature. One thing that stood out to me was the scene where they are all around the table that first night at the park discussing the dinosaurs. You will notice the lighting and angles during Dr. Malcolm's expression of disapproval serve to make his words more meaningful and more powerful, leaving the viewer with a sense of certainty that bad things were coming. You will also notice this theme could be comparable to a movie such as Planet of the Apes, which also looks at scientific innovation gone terribly wrong.