Past, present, and future collide on Isla Nublar

Rating: 10/10 (30 July 2001)

After pretty much hitting the bottom with HOOK, Steven Spielberg bounced back in 1993 with the double-barrel triumph of JURASSIC PARK and SCHINDLER'S LIST. JURASSIC PARK would become only the second film to gross over a billion dollars (E.T., another Spielberg film, had passsed the mark prior to JURASSIC PARK's release), and win three Oscars in the technical fields (sound, sound effects editing, special effects).
Spielberg collaborated with sci-fi writer Michael Crichton for this amazing and suspenseful look at how an ambitious billionaire (Richard Attenborough) finds a way to clone dinosaurs from fossilized DNA and turn this discovery into a reason for an island amusement park 200 miles off of Costa Rica. The problem, however, is what noted paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill) points out: because dinosaurs and Man have been separated by sixty-five million years of evolution and are now suddenly living together, "How can we possibly have the slightest idea what to expect?"
Pretty much everything, is the answer, as Grant, paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and Attenborough's two grandkids (Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards) find themselves at the mercy of the dinosaurs when park security systems are shut off by the park's computer specialist (Wayne Knight) as he tries to smuggle dinosaur embryos off the island. Not all the dinosaurs are to be feared, of course; but then, there's also T-Rex and Velociraptor to contend with.
The 'PG-13' rating attached to JURASSIC PARK is very appropriate; there is intense suspense and brief graphic violence within. But neither this film nor its two (so far) sequels are violent monster bloodbaths. Neill and Dern are excellent in their roles, as is Jeff Goldblum in his role as chaos theorist Ian Malcolm. John Williams' now-classic score seals the deal for JURASSIC PARK.