Dinosaurs rule the box office in "Jurrasic Park"

Rating: 8/10 (18 February 2006)

A big budget, big imagination, big CG & animatronics, & director Steven Spielberg. What do all these things add up to? One of Hollywood's most successful money-making sci-fi adventure blockbusters to ever hit the silver screen. Children & adults alike flocked to the theaters in droves in 1993 to witness movie-making magic never before attempted. Still today, "Jurrasic Park" ranks in the top ten in highest grossing major motion picture in Hollywood history.
The film features the scientific work of billionaire entrepreneur John Hammond(Richard Attenborough) who creates dinosaurs from fossilized mosquito containing DNA from dinosaur blood. Hammond's research & lab team engineers the dinosaurs to be all female, thus keeping their population numbers stable & have no authorized breeding in the Park. Hammond also builds a mega theme park on a remote island where the dinosaurs are displayed in grand fashion. In order to obtain endorsement approval from his company's stockholders & impress a nervous attorney, Hammond agrees to have a paleobotanist, paleontologist, mathematician, & his unassuming grandchildren to visit Jurassic Park to get their approval. Unbeknownst to Hammond, computer genius Dennis Nedry(Wayne Knight) has plans of his own to cash in on Hammond's dinosaurs. Making a shady deal with crooks, Nedry is selling dino DNA but needs to temporarily shut down the park's security system to gain access to a restricted area. Hammond finds paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant(Sam Neill), paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler(Laura Dern), mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm(Goldblum), & grandchildren Lex(Arianna Richards) & Tim Murphy(Joseph Mazzello). The group is flown in & gets right to Hammond's tour from dino eggs to finished product. Hammond next takes the group by jeep to an open plain where everyone is astonished by the sight of real live dinosaurs herding, feeding, & co-habitating amongst each other in the park!!! Hammond also shows the group his prize Velociraptors who must be separated from other dinosaurs & must be fed by lowering a cow into their pen. The Velociraptors are the most cunning, most resourceful, most intelligent, & most skilled hunters of all the dinosaurs. They also are very vocal, using various calls to signal each other & relay messages. Hammond & his dino wranglers use extreme caution when handling Velociraptors.
After returning to the main park building & a brief explanation of how dinosaurs are created, Hammond takes the group to the motorized tour where the dinosaurs are showcased in their natural habitats. Nedry, determined to make money for black market dino DNA, crashes his jeep on the way to his deal but ends up dino food for some nasty acid-spitting dinosaurs. The trouble now is that only Nedry knows the passcode to turn the security system he created back on-line. The group goes by area after area with dino no-show, faulty equipment, & boredom. Everything goes fairly well with the Jurrasic Park tour until the security system is shut down & the disasters to come are realized! Stopped at the featured T-Rex exhibit, the group is greeted by Jurrasic Park resident menace Tyrannasaurus Rex, who broke through the non-electrified fencing containing him. The giant carnivore sniffs out & attacks the group, killing the bloodsucking lawyer & injuring Malcom's leg. The children flee the wrecked Jeep & run for their lives with Dr. Grant. Dr. Sattler makes her way to the compound where she tells Hammond of the carnage inflicted on the group by the dinosaurs. One other big problem has arisen; the Velociraptors are loose from their pens & are now hunting the group. Dr. Sattler & a Park dino wrangler find Dr. Malcolm just in time to escape the hungry jaws of an angry T-Rex!! While resting in a tree, Dr. Grant consoles the children while encountering one of Jurrasic Park's kinder residents, a frisky Brachiasaurus. Dr. Grant discovers the awful truth of the dinosaur reproductive dilemma; the African frog used to fill the dino DNA strand gap has caused some of the all female dinosaurs to change their sex to facilitate mating!! Hammond, Dr. Sattler, & computer whiz Ray Arnold(Samuel L. Jackson) decide that the only way to reboot the security system for the Park is to shut down the main power & restart everything. Dr. Sattler agrees to run to the power shed & risk her life to save Dr. Grant & Hammond's grandchildren still out in the Park. Luckily, Dr. Sattler makes it to the power shed & rushes down to the main fuse box following Hammond's lead. The plan works but the joy is short lived when Dr. Sattler is stalked by a vicious Velociraptor! She escapes the immediate danger right into the arms of Dr. Grant. The two scientists & Hammond's grandchildren make their way into the main compound in order to find refuge from the ever cunning Velociraptors. After surviving several attempts by the Velociraptor, the group is saved unexpectedly by the ferocious T-Rex!! After boarding his private helicopter to escape the island, the scientists all agree not to endorse Hammond's Jurrasic Park, with the deflated billionaire in agreement.
With record-breaking premiere attendance, superb product marketing, & terrific publicity, "Jurrasic Park" was destined to make movie history. A great film to watch with older kids, there are many reasons to enjoy this film(dinosaurs, story, CG, & cinematography). I give this film an 8 out of 10 with 1 1/2 thumbs up!!!