Superlative Sci-fi thrill ride

Rating: 10/10 (8 June 2011)

While I am not a gigantic fan of Michael Crichton as a writer, I must admit that he does come up with tremendous concepts. Jurassic Park, while little more than a thinly disguised upgrade on Westworld, was a concept that just begged to be filmed. And let's face it, dinosaurs on the rampage are a lot more spectacular than haywire robot gunslingers. The fact that it found its perfect partner in director Steven Spielberg is just icing on the proverbial cake.
Billionaire philanthropist Richard Attenborough gathers a cadre of guests to a private tropical island to view his latest enterprise, a theme park populated by genetically recreated dinosaurs. Paleontologists Sam Neill and Laura Dern are in awe, chaos theoritician Jeff Goldblum predicts doom from frame one, and grandchildren Joseph Mazzello and Ariana Richards are having the time of their lives. Naturally, it does not take long for something to go haywire - in this case industrial espionage that cripples the security systems of the park stranding some of the guests and allowing the dinosaurs to escape their habitats and start a rampage.
There are a number of things that could have detrimentally impacted the film and Spielberg and company navigate them astutely to make the film far much more than just a summertime box office thrill ride. First are the visual effects. From the first moment that we get a good look at the dinosaurs, we never doubt their existence within the confines of the film. They appear to be genuinely living and breathing creatures that behave in perfectly convincing ways. With the minor exception of a close up shot of a brachiosaur that seems slightly underwhelming, the effects are flawless.
While it is the popular stance to proclaim that Crichton's novel is better, I disagree. While there are certain scenes from Crichton's novel that I had wished made it into the film, the majority of the changes are improvements. The screenplay grabs enough of Crichton's long-winded scientific gobbledy-gook to make the concept plausible, but cuts it off before it bogs down into one of Crichton's eye-glazing rants. Additionally, Crichton's novel contained a case of such jaw-dropping, collective stupidity regarding two plot points that have wisely been abandoned for the film. One of Crichton's weaknesses is an inability to craft appealing characters and the novel of Jurassic Park is no exception. Populated by an interchangeable melange of glacial, aloof jargon-spouting ciphers and mustache-twirling villains, it is difficult to give a damn about who lives or dies in the novel, including his two appallingly charmless children characters. By contrast, the characters of the film may not be deep, but they are appealing, humorous and accessible.
The acting is solid all around. Neill makes a stalwart hero, both intelligent and active. Goldblum manages a number of humorous moments as the naysayer in the group. Both Mazzello and Richards are appealing, a marked change from the novel where Richards character especially is headache-inducing. Dern does not have a lot to do, but does it well. The biggest character change from the novel is morphing Attenborough's billionaire from a cardboard villain into a warm grandfatherly figure, whose dreams of providing the world with some splendor take a tragic turn. His tete-a-tete with Dern lamenting his intentions gone awry is a touching moment.
Spielberg is also at the top of his game here. Tonally the film captures the awe-inspiring wonder of E.T. with the gut-wrenching thrills of Jaws, a combination that only Spielberg can do so well. His pacing is pitch-perfect. He allows just enough time to introduce the characters, get the background of the science and the lay-out of the island, before moving full blast into excitement. The first attack by the tyrannosaurus rex is a career highlight, but the film also has a great deal of tension in a more low-key sequence when an industrial saboteur is confronted with an initially docile seeming critter that turns nasty. The concluding moments detailing the pursuit of the main characters outside of and through the main headquarters by a pack of voracious velociraptors is the stuff of white knuckles.
A really amazing and worthwhile film experience that now - even after two sequels and imitators - has yet to be equaled. A rare film that functions as both popcorn entertainment, but also allows you to walk away feeling that you saw something you had never seen before. Avoid the next sequel - The Lost World - which is a dud retread directed by Spielberg on a bad day, with Goldblum's supporting character mind-numbingly bumped to the lead, and concluding with a ludicrous underwhelming rampage through...San Diego.