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Jurassic Park (Full Screen Collector's Edition)

Jurassic Park (Full Screen Collector's Edition)

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Things that go
Review: Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg's 1993 blockbuster based on Michael Crichton's technothriler about cloned dinosaurs running amok on a Costa Rican island, is still an exciting journey of the imagination, even though it's been 10 years since its theatrical release. Although its computer-generated effects have been surpassed over the past decade, Jurassic Park's tale of a misguided science experiment fueled by one man's ambition to create the ultimate theme park still packs a Jaws-like mixture of chills and thrills.

As in Crichton's novel, the story revolves around eccentric billionaire John Hammond's (Sir Richard Attenborough) plan to convert Isla Nublar into a tourist attraction that would put all the Disney theme parks to shame. With all the resources of his InGen Corporation, a major genetics research company, Hammond has built a huge entertainment complex/luxury resort/wildlife preserve. But unlike similar resorts in Africa where tourists go on ecologically-friendly safaris to see lions and elephants, Hammond's scientific team has done the seemingly impossible...and cloned dinosaurs.

After an incident in which a worker falls prey to a velociraptor (in a sequence that pays homage to Jaws, Spielberg's first megahit), InGen's board of directors gets antsy and demands that the Isla Nublar complex, Jurassic Park, be inspected by a team of experts to ensure the park's viability and safety. Otherwise, says InGen attorney Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) "if I'm not convinced, they're not convinced," and Jurassic Park will be shut down.

Hammond, determined to open his ambitious dream park, recruits paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill), paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and chaos theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to assess Jurassic Park's safety and viability. Grant and Sattler are swayed to go by Hammond's offer to fund their Montana dig for another year, but Malcolm is openly skeptical. Hammond's dream, he thinks, is a natural time bomb ticking inexorably away, waiting to explode.

Worse yet, Hammond has invited his grandchildren Tim and Lex (Joseph Mazziello and Ariana Richards) to visit, ostensibly to help them cope with their parents' divorce, but mainly to prove his confidence in the park's security features.

Little does Hammond know, however, that his dream park is doomed from various threats. Out to sea, a hurricane approaches Isla Nublar from the east. Inside the park itself, greedy computer technician Dennis Nedry (Seinfeld's Wayne "Newman" Knight) plans to shut down the security systems to be able to steal dinosaur embryos at the behest of a rival genetics company. Worse, one of the techniques to enable the cloning of the dinosaurs -- a scientific short cut -- is backfiring badly, even though InGen's top geneticist Dr. Wu (B.D. Wong) is unaware of it.

When all these elements converge, things go dreadfully wrong on Isla Nublar, and when humans and dinosaurs interact, disaster follows, ending Hammond's ambitious and arrogant science experiment to the sounds of roaring T-rexes and hissing velociraptors.

While not Spielberg's finest achievement ever (Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan and the Indiana Jones movies are better), this is still a fun movie to watch, especially on a lazy, hot summer evening. It is exciting and suspenseful, and like its close cousin Jaws, is better than the novel that inspired it, thanks to a crisp screenplay by Crichton and David Koepp. Adding to the magic are, as expected, composer John Williams and the techno-wizards at Industrial Light and Magic, Stan Winston's live action dinosaur crew, and all the rest who labored on this film. Even more amazing, Spielberg also gave us Schindler's List later that same year, proving his talents in organization and creativity...and diversity as a director.

The Universal DVD Collector's Edition includes the 1993 blockbuster which was the biggest box office hit until Titanic was released in 1997, various making-of featurettes, exclusive DVD-ROM features, and the usual extra features (theatrical trailers, cast and crew credits, and production notes).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Groundbreaking special effects and good directing
Review: Jurassic Park is a landmark film, in that nobody had ever seen special effects like the seemingly living, breathing dinosaurs it assaulted the world with. Steven Spielberg does well on this film, with several classic scenes of killer dinosaurs dismantling vehicles and slowly pacing kitchens.
To leave the best for last, I will discuss what I dislike with this film first.
Jurassic Park's story line is not very believable--mosquitos that had fed on the blood of dinosaurs being found embedded in tree sap later, and the DNA in the blood being used to create infant dinosaurs.
I strongly dislike and disagree with the evolutionary views in this movie. The old term '65 million years' is bandied about quite a lot, when in fact the world has been around for perhaps ten thousand years, and dinosaurs and people had lived together for a time after creation.
There is too much swearing in this film--so what if a woman would belt out four swear words in a row when chased by a T. Rex? We don't need to hear it on screen. Spielberg should have removed all objectionable words from this movie.
Another thing would be the musical score. It seems as though John Williams recycles his old scores in each and every film, and he does not improve much on his former work in Jurassic Park.
There are, however, many fine points to this film. Spielberg's directing is good, with foreshadowing of Velociraptor attacks and great action scenes.
The acting is fair, and none of the actors or actresses stand out as bad. Jeff Goldblum especially does a good characterization as the chaotician Ian Malcom.
The special effects are super, especially when the time at which Jurassic Park was made comes into consideration. The dinosaurs are very believable and alive seeming.
This brings us to the dinosaurs themselves.
The gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex ensures that all eyes are riveted on her, with eerie roars and ground-shaking footsteps. The SUV attack in front of the T. Rex paddock is very well done (and fortunately sans any accompanying music from John Williams.)
The Velociraptors are more low-profile killers, but their capacity for striking fear is probably more than that of the Rex--their intelligence is a step away from human rationality. They open doors, invade kitchens, jump on countertops, stage clever ambushes, and run at "Cheetah speed, sixty or seventy miles per hour," as one of the movie characters puts it.
This film is definitely good for what is usually a cheezy genre, and makes for a good screen spectacle.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It'll take 65,000,000 years to Best It
Review: This movie is awsome!!!!, defenetly among my five favorites movies of all time, and what is not to like?, suspense, action, humor and most important of all reallistyc dinosaurs.
When I saw the trailer I thought that the movie was not going to be good, and man was I wrong?, it's entretaining, and keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time.
The special effects are the best, that's why they got the Academy Award on that category.
Dr. Allan Grant is an unusuall hero, since he doesn't have big muscles or guns, just intellect and good intentions.
Dr. Ellie Saddler is an outgoing lady, very sure of herself.
John Hammond looks like Santa Claus with a cane, he has good intentions, but never takes into consideration the cosecuenses of his actions.
Ian Malcom is a funny geek that no one understands or likes, but as crazy as he looks, it's not strange to find out that he's right most of the time.
Gennaro, maybe not the best portrait of a lawyer, but you will laugh every time you see him.
Dennis Nerdi, there is someone like him in every office, not ecxactly the kind of villian that you expect in a movie, that's what makes him originall and fresh.
The Kids, trouble always seems to fallow them, and Vecoliraptors too.
Mr. Arnold, he smokes to much.
So intresting caracters, a lost island and dinosaurs out of controll made this movie a must see.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This movie is so cool!
Review: I saw this a few years ago and loved it! Sam Neill is a great actor. He plays a paleontologist named Dr. Grant.

A wealthy business man creates a themepark full of dinosaurs. How? With mosquitos. He found mosquitos trapped in amber(fossilized tree sap) from the dinosaur age. He extracted blood from these mosquitos that had dna for dinos. He invites a nervous money-pinching lawyer onto his island for a tour, along with Dr. Grant and his girlfriend who is a botonist. Along with them is a strange (but funny) scientist played by Jeff Goldblum and the two grandchildren of the creator, Lex and Timmy.

When a park malfunction caused by a worker named Dennis allows the dinosaur pens electrical fences to lose electricity, dinos escape. And now the humans are the hunted.

This movie is intense and funny. There was this one scene where the children are trying to hid from some raptors in a large kitchen that kept my friends and me on the edge of our seats, pizza frozen in front of our open mouths. I loved this movie and the sequels.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome. Even years later still awesome.
Review: This is the almost perfect scarey movie. everyone loves dinos. Seeing them come back to life was wonderous. Then the movie turns into a scary triller as good as any i have seen.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One of the most entertaining films in years
Review: How many people haven't heard of it? In ten years JURASSIC PARK has become a contemporary classic and spawned two sequels. It's definitely among Spielberg's most fun films ever made and one of my favorites.

JURASSIC PARK, adapted from Michael Crichton's runaway best-seller, is the tale of a group of everyday people (including a chaos specialist and two paleontologists) who journey to a Costa Rican island to see the brainchild of John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) - an amusement park that stretches across the entire island and is of yet top secret. Disney World copy? Not so, because this amusement park is home to walking, roaring, breathing and hungry dinosaurs. Emphasis on hungry.

The animatronics are perfect, along with Spielberg's always great directing. Michael Crichton and David Koepp write the suspenseful screenplay from Chrichton's novel; the cast is also very good (especially Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum, who would both return in the sequels), not to mention John Williams' always terrific score. Williams' score really stands out in this one.

JURASSIC PARK is definitely a magnificent film and will continue to entertain us for generations to come. In fact, it's one of the most entertaining films in years. But don't listen to me jabber about it. Go see this wonderous thriller for yourself.

OVERALL: 4 [Nearly a Masterpiece] out of 5 [Perfect]

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Hit or flop...verging on two things
Review: To tell you the truth, if it weren't for a couple of elements, this movie wouldn't have been as popular as it became if it weren't for two things: forget Jeff Goldbrick, Or Sam Nelly, they were just there to give the voice of reason and the scientific background (respectfully). Okay, sure the CGI work was beautifully done, but they would have meant nothing without somebody to play against them. What really made the movie work were the young actress picked to play Lex (the beautiful Ariana Richards) and the music written By John Williams, which paced the ariel and dinosaur sequences nicely.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Pretty Awesome Film
Review: Ah, Jurassic Park. This is as classic as movies get.

In Jurassic Park, Doctors Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler are invited by John Hammond to a biological preserve on a remote island near Costa Rica. When they get there, they are amazed at the many attractions that are set up. You probably are, too! However, another guest, chaotician Ian Malcolm, is unhappy with the park and protests that life cannot be contained in the way the park workers think it can. The staff pretty much disagrees with him, until the power goes out. The animals, who were being kept behind electric fences, break free and create disaster all over the island.

The DVD edition contains some great extras, but I was disappointed to discover that there was no audio commentary. Oh well, you can't have everything.

Also, I found some of the changes from book to film kind of pointless. For instance, the two kids, Lex and Tim. In the book, Lex is younger and Tim is the computer nut. However, in the movie, Tim is younger and Lex is obsessed with computers. I would tell you more but do not wish to drop any spoilers around here.

All in all, the movie is great. If you've not seen it before, go do it. NOW!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good Dinosaur Flick
Review: I found this movie to be very informative in displaying a dinosaur's true anger towards the human race for making them extinct.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A special-effects classic...
Review: This is one of my all-time favorite films. Let me just lay that out. This one rules. Hopefully, you've seen it by now and if you haven't you must. This techno-savvy thriller from Steven Speilberg doesn't follow its source novel to the letter, but it's just as fun to watch this movie as it is to read the (very good) book. It's about a theme park gone horribly wrong. The test tourists exploring the dinosaur park soon become dino fodder for the main attractions. This is an immensely fun movie, and is just as deserving to be called a classic as Speilberg's "Jaws" and "E.T." The special effects are still incredible. That scene with the brontosaurus still sends chills down my back. It looks so real! There are plenty of mistakes in this movie, but they're mostly continuity stuff or little things. All the important stuff they got right. Speilberg is a master behind the camera, and "Jurassic Park" proves why. This is a must-see.


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