"Jaws" with feet!

Rating: 10/10 (7 June 2000)

WOW!!! "Jurassic Park" is a spectacular special effects extravaganza. Steven Spielberg's "Jaws" of the 90s has action, adventure, thrills, excitement, everything you would expect from a special effects picture. "Jurassic Park" is about a theme park on an island in the Pacific Ocean that features much different attractions than your usual amusement park. Genetically created dinosaurs are the main attraction here, and a group of scientists, a lawyer, and two kids are invited to view the park. The park is owned by Dr. John Hammond, portrayed by Oscar-winning "Gandhi" director Sir Richard Attenborough. He invites paleontologists Sam Neill and Laura Dern; mathematician Jeff Goldblum; lawyer Martin Ferrero; and grandchildren Joseph Mazzello and Ariana Richards to Jurassic Park and they go on the ride of their lives! If only they can survive after things start breaking down over the park and the dinosaurs begin to run amok. This movie features probably the best special effects ever created for a feature film. The dinosaurs look incredibly real, and they're awesome to watch. The sound effects are scary, especially if you saw this in a theater. The visual effects, sound, and sound effects editing won well-deserved Oscars. Some people said that the performances here come off flat. Well there's no doubt the dinosaurs upstage the humans in the film, but I think the performances are terrific too. Neill, Dern, Attenborough, Mazzello, Richards, and especially Goldblum are very good in this movie. And there are two other familiar faces in the cast in smaller parts: Samuel L. Jackson and Wayne Knight as computer technicians who work on the island. "Jurassic Park" is one of Steven Spielberg's best movies. It's great fun from start to finish. Followed by the excellent second movie "The Lost World: Jurassic Park".
**** (out of four)