Does It Hold Up?: 'Jurassic Park' (1993)

Photo: Mohammad Hossain

By MOHAMMAD HOSSAIN

It was 1993. People stormed into dark rooms, and the smell of overpriced popcorn and the cold breeze of cranked-up air conditioners hit their faces. But despite the poor temperature management, they were thrilled to finally watch the movie everyone was talking about, “an adventure 65 million years in the making.”

The original Jurassic Park was a huge hit, with a worldwide box office total of $912 million, an insane amount at the time. It also won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and the People’s Choice Award for Favorite Movie. But does it hold up by today’s standards?

The film’s plot goes like this: A rich entrepreneur, played by Richard Attenborough, brings dinosaurs back to life by harvesting DNA from fossilized amber, to fulfill his dream of creating a unique island theme park. But things go wrong of course, and it’s only a matter of time before loose T-Rexes are eating lawyers and chasing scientists and children in jeeps.

The movie does suffer from some common 90s tropes and dated technology. The CGI is laughable compared to today’s tech, and doesn't do the movie any favors in winning over a modern audience. However, the animatronics are outstanding. They are extremely detailed, and the realistic material the skins were made of still remains a trade secret.

There are also a few film production mistakes if you know what to look for. Like when the velociraptors try to find the kids (Lex and Tim, played by Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzell) in the kitchen, a hand is visible for a short moment, trying to adjust the raptor. Or the time when a string is noticeable on the dilophosaurus when Dennis Nedry (played by Wayne Knight), who steals the dinosaur DNA, comes face to face with it when his car gets stuck in the mud. But things like these don’t hinder the atmosphere or the tension in these scenes because they are hard to notice.

The acting in the movie is fantastic. Attenborough (who plays John Hammond), Sam Neill (Alan Grant), Jeff Goldblum (Ian Malcolm), and Laura Dern (Ellie Sattle) are all great actors who did an incredible job giving their characters life through small details in their behavior. They were excellent choices for the cast, and the movie would not be as good as without their help.

The story does feel inconsistent, though. Some scenes are original and ingenious while others are full of more dino dung than the pile Ellie dives her hands into.

[Spoiler Alert!] There is a scene where one of the kids (Lex) tries to go to the computer and reactivate door locks while a raptor tries to open the door and Alan and Ellie try to keep it out. A few feet away is a shotgun they could use to defend themselves, but they are so busy closing the door that they can’t reach it. Everyone is struggling to do their job except Lex’s brother Tim, who is actively telling his sister to hurry up when he could have easily just handed Alan the gun. It’s a groaner of a moment, and there are a few of them in here.

The movie is also super-inaccurate. Velociraptors are not that big, dilophosauruses didn’t spit poison, and a T-Rex only moves 30 miles per hour max. That last one really matters, because one of the film’s most famous scenes is a car chase where the tyrannical lizard catches up to the group as they are trying to escape in a Jeep Wrangler, and almost kills everyone. That would mean that they were only driving 25 miles per hour, which makes it look like they all had death wishes. Of course, if you’re a viewer who doesn’t mind dinosaur misinformation, maybe this won’t bother you.

But as surprising as it sounds, the story is not about the dinosaurs, it’s about the people who are struggling to survive, and how they grow as people from the experience. Hammond realizes that not all aspects of life can be controlled, and Alan realizes that jumping into the unknown is scary, but we must be brave enough to step out of our comfort zones to improve.

This focus on character is the reason most people can still enjoy the original movie, and it’s something that the newer films in the series can’t match, while they focus on showing off their special effects. Overall, Jurassic Park remains a masterpiece of its era, despite some cheesiness, and it still holds up to this day.

★★★★☆