#123. Jurassic Park (1993)

DVD Synopsis: One of the most successful films in worldwide box office history, Jurassic Park remains a most compelling and spectacular experience. This thrilling adventure features Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough. Featuring incredible special effects and action-packed drama, Jurassic Park takes you to a remote island where an amazing theme park with living dinosaurs is about to turn deadly, as five people must battle to survive among the prehistoric predators.

There are a number of exhilarating scenes in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park, most of which involve dinosaurs brought to life by way of some groundbreaking CGI. The sequence in which Dr. Grant (Sam Neill) and his partner Ellie (Laura Dern), two paleontologists brought to the island as guests of its creator John Hammond (Sir Richard Attenborough), first set eyes on the dinosaurs is my favorite in the movie,  It's one of those great scenes that Spielberg does so well, conjuring up awe and excitement in his characters as well as the audience, punctuated as always by John Williams' amazing score.

Scenes like this are alone enough to make Jurassic Park a modern action classic.  But the film also manages to stimulate the mind, raising some very interesting questions about the ultimate responsibility of scientific research. 

As another guest, Dr. Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), points out in one key scene, dinosaurs had been extinct for 65 million years. Suddenly, and without warning, they’re back, sharing the planet with man for the first time ever. “You were so preoccupied wondering if you could do it”, Dr. Malcolm says to Hammond, “that you didn’t stop to think if you should”. In Dr. Malcolm’s opinion, Hammond and his organization have tampered with the natural order of things by re-introducing long-extinct species back into the mix. Exactly what will the ultimate consequences be? 

It’s a very interesting issue for debate, and I did find the arguments on both sides quite compelling. The truly great thing about Jurassic Park, however, is that, as this moral dilemma is playing itself out, we’re treated to some pretty awesome scenes of dinosaurs wreaking havoc on a tropical island.