An all-time blockbusting classic!

Rating: 10/10 (26 May 2004)

Movie magician Steven Spielberg's prehistoric blockbuster Jurassic Park is without doubt one of the directors greatest achievements to date. Combining groundbreaking special effects that will make your eyes water with both joy and fear, with a gripping story and note-perfect script, the king of the Hollywood blockbuster has created a film that will live long in the memory of all who see it for years to come.
Multi-millionaire John Hammond (played wonderfully by Richard Attenborough) has made a discovery that could change the world forever. His scientists have developed a technology that allows dinosaur D.N.A. to be extracted from fossils and then developed into living, breathing specimens of the extinct creatures. Hammond's idea is to breed these monsters and establish a prehistoric zoo, or Jurassic Park as he christens it, on a remote island off Costa Rica and create the greatest tourist attraction the world has ever seen. Sounds like great idea doesn't it? Well it is until during a pre-opening visit by a party of archaeologists and Hammond's own grand children, events take a disastrous turn and the dinosaurs escape and begin to feast on the helpless humans.
The real standout element of the film is without doubt the incredible dinosaurs themselves. Combining animatronics with computer animation the special effects team have created a visual feast for the eyes like nothing seen before. The creatures look so real you could almost be persuaded that they were just that, and several scenes really will leave you picking your jaw up off the floor. The first time you see the giant Brachiosaurus stretch up on its hind legs to feed from a tree you will be simply be amazed by the magic you see before you, and without giving anything away, every scene with the huge bloodthirsty T-Rex is guarantied to either leave you on the edge of your seat or send you cowering behind it.
The story zips along at a rip-roaring pace with plenty of twists and turns to keep the audience engaged between dino-scenes, and the characters, in particular Sam Neill's skeptical archaeologist and Jeff Goldblum's bonkers chaos theorist, prove highly engaging personalities throughout.
So are there any faults with Spielberg's film? Well, for this reviewer at least, I found the on screen action so overwhelmingly enjoyable that I find it hard to pick holes, and picking holes is really all it would be, in a film that provides 2 hours of such pure visual and aural excitement. Steven Spielberg and his crew have created a perfect spectacle the like of which has only come along a scant few times in cinema history and will no-doubt do so only a limited number of times again. Jurassic Park truly is a blockbuster classic and should rightly take its place among film histories finest.