Are You With Us? Jurassic Park
By Ryan Mazie
June 6, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
I love Jurassic Park and it was the film that got me and about every other kid interested in paleontology for a short period of time (in fact, after Jurassic Park was released, paleontology surged, having the highest amount of students ever majoring in the field). While I am sure I have seen the movie more times on TV and DVD and in school than fingers I have to count on (and I have all ten), I haven’t seen Jurassic Park for a long time. So I figured that this would be a perfect film to look back on and see if it is still with us. Besides, Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer didn’t seem quite up my alley.
With a cast of the stars of yesterday (Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Richard Attenborough), it is pretty funny that most people my age today will recognize only Samuel L. Jackson and Newman from Seinfeld (Wayne Knight). However, just because the A-list changes, it doesn’t mean the performance quality does.
Neill is spot-on as the child-dreading, fossil-loving Dr. Alan Grant and Dern as his yang, Dr. Ellie Sattler – the film's main protagonists/paleontologists who are invited to the titular, futuristic theme park. Given an early look for endorsement by park creator John Hammond (Attenborough in a get-up that reminds me of Colonel Sanders of KFC), it is revealed that the dinosaurs in the park were brought to life via blood DNA trapped in amber fossil.
However, just like in real amusement parks, nothing ever goes right. Rides break down, prices are too high, and dinosaurs eat the guests. Well, maybe not the last part, but you get the point.
Steven Spielberg is one of the few directors who has a knack of working successfully with children. Child actors usually fall on the scale somewhere between cute and annoying, but with great casting and direction, Spielberg has the ability to coax out terrific and sometimes award-fetching performances from his adolescent stars. Joseph Mazzello and Ariana Richards, who reached their resume highlights on this film, play Hammond’s grandkids, who scream and run from the pre-historic creatures.
But the true stars of Jurassic Park are the shockingly real looking dinosaurs. Spielberg, the king of special effects, wowed audiences then and today with the combination of CGI and animatronics (let’s be honest here, some of the dialogue is as clunky as a Triceratops). Peter Travis’ review aptly sums it up with, “You won’t believe your eyes.” While I have the sneaking suspicion that it is easier to make audiences believe dinosaurs look realistic since they are distinct creatures that seem unreal to begin with, the combination of real-life actors and the computer creations are still mighty impressive and hold up to current standards, making the film definitely with us.
In fact, Jurassic Park is still so with us that a recent TV showing skyrocketed the film to be one of the top trending topics in America on Twitter June 4th.
Taut with suspense and action, no matter how many times I see the movie, I still am on the edge of my seat during a certain scene involving children, velociraptors, and a kitchen.
Seemingly heavy on Dino action, I was surprised to read that the dinosaurs take up under 20 minutes of the 127-minute running time. But then again, that speaks to Spielberg’s excellent pacing skills.
Released June 11th, Jurassic Park roared to a powerful $47 million opening weekend in 2,404 locations or $89 million adjusted. With legs stronger than a Tyrannosaurs Rex, the film went on to capture $357 million domestic ($678 million adjusted) with an additional $557.6 million coming from overseas – not to mention the millions coming from merchandising with the logo being slapped on to every product imaginable. Jurassic Park held the spot of the top grossing film of all-time for four years, until Titanic nabbed the title.
However, even with a cut of the gross going to Spielberg, it wasn’t necessarily the film that made him the most money. Jurassic Park might be one of the few films where the amusement park ride actually lives up to the hype. I love amusement parks, and the Jurassic Park log flume in the Universal Studio parks captures the film's thrills and spectacles perfectly. With the use of animatronics, water, and an 85-foot plunge, the ride is where Spielberg truly made the money from the film. Spielberg films are a staple in Universal theme parks across the world and he receives 2% of the admission ticket gross.
Novel author Michael Crichton also made a nice lump of change from the film after picking Universal and Spielberg to make the film after many other enticing offers (Joe Dante and Tim Burton were in contention of directing the film for other studios). While I have never read the novel (although I heard many character liberties were taken), Crichton went on record with critics and audiences to approve the movie.
Four years later, the sequel-shy Spielberg released The Lost World (the only continuation he directed outside of the Indiana Jones series), to less fanfare and more than $100 million in lost box office. He then ditched the franchise, having Joe Johnston (director of this summer’s Captain America) take the reins for the third.
Playing it safe, the film just seemed like a rehash of what we have already seen, being the lowest grossing-effort by far. Still, more money was to be made, and Universal was determined to make a part four. However, between script problems and other delays, the continuation plans seem to be shelved for good after Crichton’s 2008 death. With no plot details announced, in a 2010 interview during press for The Wolfman, Johnston let slip that the sequel, stuck in development hell, would hopefully be brought back to the front-burner with Spielberg producing after his Captain America duties were complete. With nothing concrete still, fans of the series have an upcoming planned video game and comic book series to look forward to as far as franchise continuation.
Like most amusement parks, the first visit is always the best. Every other trip loses a bit of the magic. The same applies to this series. While The Lost World and Jurassic Park 3 are fun and exhilarating, it is the first ride that is always the most memorable.
Verdict: With Us
8 out of 10