[Movie Review] Jurassic Park 3D

I must be one of the only guy born in the 80s who have not seen the 1993 Jurassic Park movie by Steven Spielberg.

When I was in my teens, I was a bit of an artsy snob with my choice of movies. Jurassic Park was too mainstream. The more others rave about it, the more adamant I was, not to catch it. Before I knew it, 20 years have passed and I have still not seen a single installation of the Jurassic Park movie franchise.

With the crave of nostalgia for the good old 90s and the determination to satisfy my two decades long curiosity on what made the film such a big hit,  I was very eager to catch the remastered and IMAX 3D version of the Jurassic Park. 

I did that earlier this week on Wednesday at the Singapore preview of Jurassic Park 3D, courtesy of the folks from United International Pictures.

For those who have not seen Jurassic Park, here is a quick background of this iconic film series, via wikipedia:

Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is based on the 1990 novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. It stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Ariana Richards, Joseph Mazzello, Martin Ferrero, Samuel L. Jackson and Bob Peck. The film centers on the fictional Isla Nublar near Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast, where a billionaire philanthropist and a small team of genetic scientists have created a wildlife park of cloned dinosaurs.

Before Crichton’s book was even published, many studios had already begun bidding to acquire the picture rights. Spielberg, with the backing of Universal Studios, acquired the rights before publication in 1990, and Crichton was hired for an additional $500,000 to adapt the novel for the screen. David Koepp wrote the final draft, which left out much of the novel’s exposition and violence and made numerous changes to the characters. Filming took place in California and Hawaii.

Jurassic Park is regarded as a landmark in the use of computer-generated imagery and received positive reviews from most critics. The film grossed over $900 million worldwide, surpassing another Spielberg film, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, to become the highest-grossing film released up to that time (it was surpassed four years later by Titanic). It currently ranks as the 18th-highest-grossing film worldwide, and 15th-highest-grossing film in North America, unadjusted for inflation. It is the highest-grossing film released by Universal and directed by Spielberg. Jurassic Park won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects.

The film’s success led to two sequels being made: The Lost World: Jurassic Park also directed by Spielberg, which was released on May 23, 1997, and Jurassic Park III, directed by Joe Johnston, which was released on July 18, 2001. A 3D re-release was released on April 5, 2013, to commemorate the movie’s 20th Anniversary. Jurassic Park 4 was originally scheduled to be released on June 13, 2014, but has re-entered development with no current release date.

As I walked out of the theatre, I was very impressed by what Spielberg achieved twenty years ago. The dinosaurs in the movie did not look too dated and the animatronics were used to great effect, balanced with a good dosage of CGI. I find many current days action adventure films too heavily ladled with CGI.

The sub-plot on the paleontologist lead-character overcoming his adversity to children by interacting and saving two of them in Jurassic Park was a tad cheesy. Modern audience may find it a little hilarious. Other than that, I find the movie still very much enjoyable, twenty years since it was first released.

The introduction of the dinosaurs were paced adequately and the director did not try to overwhelm us with too many CGI dinosaurs at one shot till they lose their novelty in subsequent scenes.

There were good old-fashioned nail-biting moments during the T-Rex scene. Here, the 3D effects were a welcome addition, as with many other action scenes or scenes featuring dinosaurs.

Overall, I found the movie very enjoyable and it will be great family fun for parents with young kids. There were lots of excitable kids in the theatre during the preview screening. I can hear them laugh and whimper, reacting to what was going on in the big screen.

Jurassic Park 3D will be showing in Singapore cinemas from 5 June 2013 (next Wed). Whether you will be watching it for the first time like I did or just to relive the cinematic moments of this iconic film, Jurassic Park 3D will be delightful to catch. 🙂