Jurassic Park (1993)

Genetically recreated dinosaurs on a secluded island – what could possibly go wrong?

When a group are invited to an early viewing of Jurassic Park, home to a range of cloned dinosaurs, a member of staff attempts to sell the dinosaur DNA, placing everyone on the island at risk.

Twenty years on from its release, the majority of the film still feels as fresh as recent action blockbusters. Despite being labelled as an action film, elements of Jurassic Park can be genuinely scary – like the Velociraptors in the kitchen. This way of portraying the dinosaurs as a genuine threat to the leads’ lives create a brilliant sense of unease. In contrast to these scenes, the cartoon video explanation of how they sourced the dino-DNA attempts to add some light humour, catering for a larger audience and balancing the scary moments. The film’s accessibility is undoubtedly the main reason why it’s become such a household favourite, grossing over $400m by 2013.

The story moves quickly throughout, resisting any unnecessary sub-plots – a credit to Spielberg’s direction and Crichton and Koepp’s writings. Sticking to a single linear plot of the leads previewing the park allows the focus to be removed from the villain, Dennis Nedry, who is kept low key, allowing the Dinosaurs to be portrayed as the main culprits of the devastation. This creates a much more interesting dynamic with human-animal interaction similar to King Kong.

Attenborough’s John Hammond is the most engaging character presenting a youthful vigour and unrivalled passion for the park, attributes which act as a bridge to his grandchildren – a complete contrast to Neill’s Dr Grant who is incapable of interacting with them. Despite this the entire cast work superbly together, with the aligned goal to leave the island.

This film is packed with iconic moments, such as the water-pulsing moment due to a T-Rex approaching however the stand out scene is the Tyrannosaurus Rex escaping the cage and attacking the characters in the cars. This scene is a pivotal moment, setting up a thrilling hunt for the rest of the film.

With expertly executed CGI and puppetry, the film evidently stands the test of time, appearing more recent than its 1993 release suggests. All of this is undoubtedly brilliant, suspenseful, action driven story telling.