Visual masterpiece, exciting adventure and pure brilliance!

Rating: 10/10 (8 December 2007)

I first saw this movie when I was only five years old, and it awed me in ways that no film ever had before. Thirteen years later, I remain just as impressed and the film continues to be one of my favorites. What could have been just another cheesy dangerous-animals-run-amok flick was instead a suspense filled, exciting, scary movie that also carried the important theme of showing humility before nature and having a respect for living things, as well as what the consequences can be when you don't.
I won't go on and on about the brilliance of the special effects or how amazing the dinosaurs were, because there's not much disagreement about that. The T-Rex is one of the coolest things you will ever see, and the raptors are absolutely chilling in their intelligence and agility. Your heart will definitely pound if you've never seen it before. It'll probably pound if you have too.
I have seen some complaints about the script/characters/acting however, and disagree with them for the most part. There's a truly interesting array of characters in this film. Dr. Alan Grant and Dr. Ellie Sattler, a paleontologist and paleobotanist bring so much heart to this movie. The scene where they see the real live brachiasaurus for the first time after dedicating their lives to digging up fossils and making interpretations about their behavior blows me away every time. Their awe and academic excitement is very touching, and combined with John Williams' perfect score, this scene truly is my favorite.
The way Grant is unable to even stand up because of the shock is very endearing. And later on in the movie, after witnessing deaths due to these creatures, the change seen in Grant as he throws away the raptor claw he always kept with him is powerful. His relationship with the two children visiting the park develops in a sweet way as well as he goes from being highly annoyed by their presence to risking his life to protect them when no one else can.
In contrast to the paleontologists, Jeff Goldblum gives a great performance as Dr. Ian Malcolm, an arrogant, sarcastic and very amusing mathematician who studies Chaos Theory, and believes from the start that Jurassic Park is doomed to fail. He's highly opinionated, a little on the rude side and a blatant flirt but he brings a lot of life to the film and despite his quirks is the voice of reason.
John Hammond, the millionaire responsible for creating Jurassic Park also gives a fascinating performance. For those of you who've read the novel, he is a somewhat more sympathetic character than the money hungry Hammond of the book. He is definitely stubborn and infuriating as he refuses to see the horrible danger of what he's doing, but he is doing it with a kindness and desire to bring joy to people's lives, and displays an eventual humility that makes him likable.
Overall, this movie is one of the most fun rides I've ever had with cinema, and even though I've probably seen it over 50 times, it never gets old. There are some truly hilarious lines and truly terrifying thrills and it's the kind of movie that anyone can enjoy, regardless of their age or interests. 10/10