Life Defining Movies – Jurassic Park (1993)
What makes a movie ‘life-defining’? It may be a bit ostentatious to describe a movie in that way, but sometimes they have such a profound effect on us as people that it seems accurate to do so. Yeah, yeah, it’s just a form of entertainment and it shouldn’t move us drastically, but we aren’t in full control of how a movie involves us. I wouldn’t say ‘life-defining’ is a movie that shapes your life direction in any significant way, and by that I mean changing your thoughts and morals and sending you into your older years with a different thought process than perhaps you would have had before you experienced those 90-120 minutes or so of cinema. I would say that for a movie to be ‘life-defining’ it must deliver an impact on you that will stay with you for the rest of your life, changing how you look at and feel about certain things but not changing the core of your human being. You will never forget how it made you feel the first time you saw it and these feelings will be revisited with every watch. You will never fail to be entertained even when you know exactly what’s coming next and that’s where the true exhilaration comes from. For a movie to be 'life-defining', it must be unforgettable.
Before you carry on and read this piece on the genre and generation defining 'Jurassic Park', please press play on the audio track below. It is the main theme to the movie, originally composed by John Williams, slowed down 100% by SoundCloud user 'BirdFeeder'. It will add to the purposeful mythology and fantasy elements the movie weaves between science and special effects, hopefully making this piece a lot more interesting, especially if you think of Jurassic Park as a nothing more than a pile of Triceratops dung.
Jurassic Park Theme (1000% Slower) by birdfeeder
Before you carry on and read this piece on the genre and generation defining 'Jurassic Park', please press play on the audio track below. It is the main theme to the movie, originally composed by John Williams, slowed down 100% by SoundCloud user 'BirdFeeder'. It will add to the purposeful mythology and fantasy elements the movie weaves between science and special effects, hopefully making this piece a lot more interesting, especially if you think of Jurassic Park as a nothing more than a pile of Triceratops dung.
Jurassic Park Theme (1000% Slower) by birdfeeder
Okay, so to begin, let me just say this. Jurassic Park is without a doubt my number one favourite movie of all time. I went through various periods of my life where I wanted to be cool and hip with a critically respectable or strange choice for that honour (that's not to say Jurassic Park isn't critically respectable, but perhaps a choice that wasn't directed by Steven Spielberg). So when asked what my favourite movie of all time was, I'd jump down throats by saying Blade Runner, The Shining, The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Goodfellas, Trainspotting, Leon (The Professional), Taxi Driver, Fargo, A Clockwork Orange, Fight Club, American Psycho, The Departed, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 28 Days Later or Old Boy. Sure, they are movies I genuinely love, but by singling them out as my absolute favourite above anything else, I was perhaps misguided and probably felt a need to impress with my choice to seem like somebody who put screenwriting and cinematography ahead of action, gore and one-liners in the cinematic stakes. In most cases I’d say I do, but there is something alluring about seeing a huge explosion, a guy in sunglasses saying something equally ridiculous and hilarious or somebody getting eaten whole by a Tyrannosaurus-Rex while sitting on the toilet, which in some cases renders other elements of film-making obsolete. We all enjoy a true ‘popcorn movie’, which is what Jurassic Park is. It’s just the kind of movie that falls into that bracket that is genuinely iconic, helped by great writing, acting and direction (amongst other just as important components). Stephen Spielberg is by no means my favourite director but I have always found it remarkable how he manages to combine fantasy elements pulled straight from a child’s imagination with intense dramatic situations, particularly in his family friendly movies like E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial the Indiana Jones trilogy (let’s not include the fourth film in this series for the sake of this point).
“Ian! Freeze!”
That is exactly why Jurassic Park is the perfect movie in my eyes, for a rich plethora of reasons but also for a reason that no new release will be able to gain from me. That reason, along with the compelling over-the-top elements that make a ‘popcorn movie’, which is more than likely the key reason I love Jurassic Park, is nostalgia. Every scene, sound effect, line and heart-stopping moment reminds me of Jurassic Park takes me back to exactly how I felt the first time I experienced them.
I was 6 going on 7 years old when I sat in the cinema and I still remember feeling the hairs on the back of neck prick up when the first low notes of the already mentioned John Williams score faded in along with the title card, thumping in the same fashion as my heart. It was that musical backdrop which formed the stage for this magical experience, the magic perhaps enhanced by the familiarity of the ambience the score created due to the my love of John Williams composed music from other childhood favourites, such as Jaws, the original Star Wars trilogy, Raiders of the Lost Ark (my favourite of Indy’s adventures) and Home Alone.
“Clever girl…”
What followed was a movie experience unlike any other I have experienced since, which may sound sensational and like something printed on a promotional banner for the film, but is without a doubt the truth. If I had been older when I saw Jurassic Park then I’m sure I wouldn’t think of the movie as such a masterpiece. My cynical eye may take over after years of cinematic abuse at the hands of various awful fantasy/science-fiction movies and I may have gone into Jurassic Park expecting more of the same, especially given the content of the movie. Come on, cloned dinosaurs in a theme park? If it was released this week it may be a ‘wait for DVD’ kind of movie for me, which makes me eternally grateful that it hit cinemas in 1993, when I was altogether more open to the content included and engrossed by the monsters I saw coming to life before my eyes.
Here may be a good point to give some sort of insight into exactly what Jurassic Park is about, for anybody who hasn’t seen the movie or has absolutely no idea what the subject matter is. I know, I’ve already said ‘cloned dinosaurs in a theme park’ and yes, that is basically the jist (just don’t go thinking a Tyrannosaurus-Rex running around Alton Towers), but there is so much more, so here’s a brief synopsis taken from IMDB.
“On a remote island, a wealthy entrepreneur secretly creates a theme park featuring living dinosaurs drawn from prehistoric DNA. Before opening the attraction to the public, he invites a top palaeontologist, a paleo-botanist, a mathematician/theorist, and his two eager grandchildren to experience the park and help calm anxious investors. However, their park visit is anything but tranquil as the park's security system breaks down ant the prehistoric creatures break out.”
And for further affirmation, here’s the original trailer for the movie.
And for further affirmation, here’s the original trailer for the movie.
So, that’s the ‘meat and potato’ of the movie, but there are many other underlying themes and ethics addressed by the content. One theme, which is something I let completely pass me by during my first viewing and perhaps during my next ten viewings on VHS, was that of the ‘chaos theory’ (which is unsurprising as I was much more of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles enthusiast than a chaos theorist at this time) addressed by Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). It is something that zigzags throughout the movie, taking centre stage during the theorist’s monologue after Dr Henry Wu reveals what precautions the park takes to control breeding of the dinosaurs. It’s simple confidence in the fact that, as Malcolm puts it, “life will find a way.”
The other theme is one that Spielberg has visited before (a director trademark, if you like) and it’s the theme of fatherhood. Central protagonist Alan Grant (Sam Neill) has no interest in becoming a father, his only love in life palaeontology, and we watch his clear character arc progress when thrust into a situation where he is the sole protector of two children. It’s a theme that’s relevant in society today and probably always will be. I’m sure that a noteworthy percentage of men watching can understand how it feels to have such responsibility thrust onto their shoulders when they are used to only looking after themselves.
Alan Grant is the character that changes the most from the beginning to the end of the movie, the stern uncertainty while he attempts to avoid even sitting next to one of the kids in the park’s touring vehicles gradually turns to grit and determination as he consistently risks his life to ensure the children don’t get hurt. It’s a divine transition and allows the movie to roam free as a different beast and is a welcome break during the onslaught of adrenaline. On that note, it is the adrenaline we all watch this movie for, right? The adrenaline that is enhanced tenfold by the sight of a dinosaur ripping a man in half, which at 6 years old I was probably way too amused by.
“Hold onto your butts.”
Before and after my first viewing of Jurassic Park, I was fascinated by dinosaurs. I’m not sure where this fascination began, although I do have a memory of visiting a dinosaur exhibition at a museum which included animatronics of the beasts and full size skeleton replicas, which may have been where the first seed of interest was planted. This manifested into a vast collection of dinosaur related magazines, figurines, soft toys, lunchboxes and the like. These external influences, shaped in an existing love for the subject matter of Jurassic Park, made sure the movie would have an everlasting effect on me, helped in part by innocence due to my years and also by endless enthusiasm for every moment I witnessed on screen. Jurassic Park quite obviously increased interest in dinosaurs and palaeontology to a new level, a high which hasn’t come down since. For a movie to have such an effect on both pop culture and education is quite a feat, something that I’d be confident to say hasn’t been equalled.
Something Jurassic Park does well is creating a world that's entirely believable while addressing the impossible. You know everything you are seeing on screen has spilled from somebody's impressive imagination and, although you know the visuals have had the help of millions of dollars to bring them to life, you know exactly how the characters are feeling when being stalked by a long-extinct creature. The special effects, which still hold up well now almost 20 years later, don't take away from the tension and excitement that comes from great storytelling. That is exactly why Jurassic Park succeeds in making standard background elements of the film appear iconic after all of this time, elements of which become etched on my subconscious like a tattoo on my brain. I know for sure that I will never be able to look at a restaurant kitchen with stainless steel work surfaces without remembering the moment I saw a Velociraptor open a door with a clawed hand, or at an electric fence without imagining young Timmy (Joseph Mazzello) flying through the air as an electric current zaps through his body turning him into a 'human piece of toast'. The same can be said for trees, for at many times when I have climbed one since Jurassic Park I imagine a jeep falling from its branches or a Brachiosaurus eating from its leaves. Then there's the thought of can of shaving foam, a goat tied by a chain to a post, a rippling glass of water, a lit flare, jelly on a spoon and night-vision goggles, all of which will only ever remind me of this movie.
“Dodgson! Dodgson! We have Dodgson here!”
The world of Jurassic Park is also populated by diverse and intriguing characters, not one person seeming like they have been put there to simply make up the numbers. From the pre-mentioned uptight yet logical lead of Alan Grant and the charismatic eccentricity of chaotician Ian Malcolm to the dynamic between the smaller parts of Ray Arnold and Dennis Nedry, played flawlessly by Samuel L Jackson and Wayne Knight, the characters have been plucked from the pages of Michael Crichton original novel which the movie is based upon. Once they have been fleshed out on screen it's hard to imagine any other actors portraying them once you go back to the source material. Sure, the movie doesn't follow the book page for page, with many characters altering from the book (park owner John Hammond's 'blood-sucking' lawyer Donald Gennaro is a lot less spineless and Dr Henry Wu has a bigger part to play), but the movie irons out the creases of the story by putting the characters on a level playing field, meaning that no human character takes centre stage. That is indeed saved for the dinosaurs in question, each scene that they appear in they are the absolute focal point, which is just the way it should be. If we are given a second to hear the inner thoughts of the human characters witnessing them, as the book often does (and must do), it takes us out of the moment of awe and allows us to see through the trickery the movie is using to show us these prehistoric beasts.
The pacing of the movie (by some thought of as one telling problem, but not by me) allows us to experience amazement when we see the first glimpse of a dino in an early scene on the park's island, where the gargantuan Brachiosaur feeds overlooking a plain full of other species, as well as the unrelenting terror when the likes of the poison spitting Dilophosaurus, pack-hunting Velociraptor and the big boy himself, (forgive me, girl, let's not forget that all of the animals in the park are female), the mighty Tyrannosaurus-Rex make their appearances. The fact that the human characters share the screen perfectly with such attention-grabbing creatures, don’t bore us when they aren’t competing with the dinos and never feel out of place is an ode to screenwriting prowess, because there are only 16 minutes of dinosaur footage in the whole movie, which leaves a lot of time to bulk up the story around the ‘money shots.
“What do you call a blind dinosaur?”
Just before I wrap up, I must give an honourable mention to the Jurassic Park video game which was released around the same time as the film. I have fond memories of playing the game versions of my favourite films as a kid and they usually go in tandem with my overall attitude towards them. But Jurassic Park on the Sega Mega Drive was damn near impossible! I was hopeless at that game and that wasn’t through lack of trying. I got to the end but only with the aid of a cheat, which was gaming sacrilege. Check out this guy in the video below, blasting through the game like a seasoned pro in an impressive 27 minutes! I swear games seemed longer than that back when I was a kid.
It is safe to say that Jurassic Park will always be my favourite movie. It’s the nostalgia that surrounds it that will always bring me back, which is proved by my inability to change channel if I stumble across it on TV. It’s the movie I think I have seen the most times, followed closely by Ghostbusters. I wore out my VHS copy, my current DVD copy has been watched on countless occasions and I am very much looking forward to seeing a Blu-Ray print, which will apparently hit stores later this year. I think it will be then that we can accurately see just how much of an advancement in special effects Jurassic Park acquired in 1993, the screen resolution sure to point out the movie’s age. If I was to make a prediction, I’d say it will look as amazing as ever, because that’s exactly the way it should be with ageless classics.
Thanks for reading. Here’s Ian Malcolm with his final thought.
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