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Showmanship is one of my favorite qualities in a film. So guessing my favorite director and Hollywood idol is probably pretty easy. The answer? Steven Spielberg. I’ve seen his movies many times growing up and pinpointing a favorite is nearly impossible. How can you choose between Indiana Jones and Jaws? This weekend, the Spielberg-produced Super 8 (a Goonies meets E.T. looking ‘70s-set throwback), one of my most anticipated films of the summer, is finally being released in theaters and IMAX. While it is soon to be determined if Super 8 will be this summer’s surprise hit wild card, one thing the movie has on its side is release date history. Eighteen years ago on the same weekend frame, one of Spielberg’s biggest hits was released – Jurassic Park.

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.

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