It's the most Dino-riffic Movie of them all!

Rating: Null/10 (6 April 2003)

I'm guessing you've seen "Jurassic Park," because, let's face it, everyone in the whole world has seen "Jurassic Park." For a time, it was the highest-grossing movie ever. I think "Titanic" bumped it to #2 though, although I could be wrong. Even still, being the second-most popular movie of all time, it's unlikely that you haven't seen it.
I love this movie. I watch it at least once a year. I can't get enough of "Jurassic Park" and its sequel, "The Lost World."
But the movie itself really isn't all that great. Nothing about the plot or the characters is even the slightest bit original. We've seen movies that show us why man shouldn't mess with nature, and we've seen movies with scary monsters that eat people. In fact, these are usually the same movies.
So what is it about "Jurassic Park" that keeps us coming back for more? It all boils down to the dinosaurs. Sure, other movies have had dinosaurs in them, but they never looked quite convincing. You could always tell it was a guy in a suit, or that it was herky-jerky stop-motion. Or you could never see the whole creature in one frame, which gave away the fact that it was some sort of puppetry. But in "Jurassic Park," for the first time, dinosaurs were real. They moved, acted, and sounded like real creatures. Thanks to advances in computer technology, there were no more matte lines, no more herky-jerky movements, just what appeared to be living, breathing dinosaurs. Sure, there were animatronics as well, but in this movie it is absolutely impossible to tell the difference between what's real and what's computerized. Spielberg, Stan Winston, Dennis Muren, Phil Tippet and all the others involved really deserve kudos for that accomplishment.
Who, as a child hasn't had some kind of fascination with dinosaurs? Everyone at some point in their lives has fantasized about these ancient, nearly mythical creatures. I'm sure everyone has wanted their own pet T-Rex, or to gaze upon a herd of triceratops. "Jurassic Park" offers that dream, and that's why we love it. It may not be Spielberg's finest work, but for every minute those dinosaurs are onscreen, it's pure movie magic.