Jurassic Park

This movie kicked off a trend that's still going on today, namely the summer blockbuster that boasts jaw dropping special effects. Each year tries to outdo the last and sometimes to the cost of the story and movie itself. So do we have a lot of blame to lay at the door of this movie? No we do not so let me elucidate. The story here is central and the effects, whilst also essential are there because of the story, not the other way around.

By now I think most people will have seen this one so I wont waste a whole heap of your time going over the plot, suffice it to say a venture capitalist has the bright idea of resurrecting dinosaurs using DNA extracted from their fossils in order to create a theme park. Once he gets things up and running he brings in some people to give the park the once over. Only thing is, something goes wrong, very badly wrong.

From a relatively slow start the film builds up a good head of pace and by the end it is a frenetic race for survival. The first proper reveal of a dinosaur is a proper jaw-dropping moment and you're left wondering just how they did it as the dinosaurs in question and throughout the film look utterly convincing. As i have already mentioned, the effects are driven by a damned good story and that's a trademark of the director, some chap called Steven Spielberg. In this movie he touches on themes of peril and adventure although there is a slightly underlying touch of ecologically aware preachyness, in that mankind really shouldn't interfere in nature.

The criticisms I have of this film and they are minor ones at that are that some of the writing can be a little bit clunky at times and some of the characterisation is a little shallow. Also there are occasions of blatant product placement that jars somewhat. On the plus side the child actors in this movie pull off the rare trick of being likeable and most of the other protagonists match up to their example. On your first viewing there thrills and jumps aplenty but they pale a little on repeat viewings. The special effects were groundbreaking for the time but they have been surpassed by now but at the same time the story more than makes up for that.

Jurassic Park more than stands up to minor criticisms and you will find yourself returning to it time and time again.