JP does it for me!

Rating: Null/10 (10 August 2001)

`Jurassic Park' is truly one of the last true Classics. It combines intellectual brilliance with action and suspense. Jurassic Park explores scientific theories of Chaos and the abuse of mankind's powers of science.
Unlike it's terrible and pointless sequels, the original Jurassic Park provides viewers with an unbelievable story that goes beyond people getting eaten by dinosaurs. For example, the scene when the tyrannosaurus rex escapes from his fence and attacks the Ford Explorer is far more than action. The scene goes for a good five minutes or so before the T-Rex eats anything or attacks anyone. Rather than just having the T-Rex come out of his fence and begin attacking the Fords, Spielberg (and Chriton) build up suspense by letting the viewer wonder what the tyrannosaur is going to do next. The viewer actually sees what the children in the SUV do to make the the tyrant lizard king attack them before he actually attacks (I'll let you see the film to find out what that was).
Later in that scene, the Tyrannosaur come back towards the Explorer as Dr. Grant (Sam Neil) proceeds to help the kids out of the truck. Instead of having the T-Rex simply come and attack them right away, the scene, as before, builds up suspense by showing the dinosaur's foot stomp into the mud in front of them as they fear for their lives, and then the dinosaur begins sniffing around for the humans he wishes to dine on before he attacks the SUV. This is much better than having the T-Rex simply come back towards the truck and begin attacking it, because it makes the scene more memorable and long-lasting. In `The Lost World', `Jurassic Park's' Sequel, a similar scene was ruined when the tyrannosaurs simply came running up to the Mercedes-Benz SUV and in less than a minute and a half, was eating the man inside. When you produce a film that is all action, you have no story, and less suspense, but `Jurassic Park' avoids this because each action in the film is a reaction to something that has happened in the minutes before. The non-action events explain why the action happens, and build up suspense before the action happens.
The special effects are also outstanding in `Jurassic Park.' These dinosaurs look real. The action looks real. Out of any film Spielberg has ever directed, this one takes the cake in the field of outstanding special effects. In my favorite scene, discussed before, at the moment that the tyrannosaur comes out of the fence, the lighting was so perfect that it could not have looked more real. The way the dinosaurs walk, especially in that scene, looks very real and animal-like. Why wasn't `King Kong' scary? Because the Special Effects were so lousy. Why was `Jurassic Park' scary? Because those dinosaurs looked real! The sequel, `The Lost World,' had equally superb special effects, but they were ruined by lack of story and action scenes that happened too fast. `Jurassic Park' was also full of superb sound effects, which was why it won an Oscar for that. The sounds of the dinosaurs and their mighty roars are another thing that made `JP' more realistic and more scary.
Although this film left out many things from the book, for the purpose of time restrictions, everything in the movie more or less follows the book closely. And although many people who read the book complain that the film was not as good, I feel that it is better because the movie left out many of the gory blood-and-guts elements that made the novel unsuitable for younger readers. This film is very suspenseful, but by no means gory. I feel that this film is suitable for anyone who won't be afraid of it. This film is also a heartwarming film about a man who hates children bonding with children, and finding his place in his heart for two special kids.
`Jurassic Park' is a film of intense action, but also intense storytelling. It is a film which has special effects that amaze the eye and make the viewer believe. This film builds up suspense before anything happens. Before the viewer even see a dinosaur, they are afraid. The sound is realistic and Spielberg's directing reached it's all-time peak in the making of this 1993 film. `JP' is an excellent compromise between sticking to the novel's storyline and fitting the time slot, and that of providing horror without gore. All of this is the making of a true classic.