Ephemeris of the Mind (Film Review) Jurassic Park
Time to read: 2 min read
Movie Poster
God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs.
Past Steven Spielberg film reviews:
- A.I. Artificial Intelligence
- Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
- Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
- Raiders of the Lost Ark
Review
Based on the Michael Crichton novel, the story follows a group of experts which includes the paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill), the paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and the mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). The experts are invited by the eccentric John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) who has created an amusement park filled with revived dinosaurs.
This is one of my father’s favourite movies and I remember watching this with him in Hong Kong on the VHS. Rewatching the film now, I definitely see why many people, like my father, are so enthralled with the film. The film pioneered many special effects such as CGI and even featured life-sized animatronic dinosaurs. Most scenes still hold up well even today. Spielberg is a master of creating suspense and some of my favourite scenes in the film are the ones foreshadowing the arrival of the dinosaurs. While all performances are solid, I particularly enjoyed Goldblum's sardonic Malcolm. The film, as with the book, explore some interesting themes pertaining to human hubris and scientific exploration.
Conclusion
A film that has aged very well.