Jurassic Park: the 30th Anniversary
The Blind Eternities forum
Posted on June 21, 2023, 8:21 p.m. by DemonDragonJ
This year is the 30th anniversary of the original Jurassic Park film, a truly monumental milestone, indeed. The movie was adapted from a novel by Michael Crichton, but the movie is typically better-known than is the original novel, as it has spawned a massive multimedia franchise and is now a beloved piece of popular culture.
The movie was groundbreaking for its visual effects, using both animatronics and CGI to portray the dinosaurs, and it is quite impressive how well the CGI in that movie has aged, especially considering how poorly CGI from other films in that era has aged, such as the 1998 Godzilla film or The Mummy Returns from 2001. Thankfully, the movie did not rely too heavily on its special effects and spent plenty of time focusing on its characters, helping them to feel well-developed and like actual people. One change from the original novel that may surprise people who have only seen the movie is that John Hammond was originally a cruel and ruthless businessman in the book, but was re-imagined as a kind and grandfatherly figure in the movie, which was a very sharp departure from the source material. I personally feel that every actor in the movie delivered a stellar performance, as some of the are still known for their roles, even decades later.
I remember how the movie provided both a sense of wonder and amazement in its early scenes, as well as the suspense and terror as it progressed; in particular, the scene in which Lex and Tim hide from velociraptors in the kitchen is still a frightening and thrilling sequence, today.
Given the film's popularity, it was inevitable that the studio would make sequels, but I believe that none of the sequels live up to the original, as is too often the case with movie franchises; I saw Jurassic Park 2 and 3, as well as Jurassic World, but I could not bring myself to watch the next two films, since I did not wish to spend my time and money doing so.
Given the movie's fame and significance in both popular cultural and cinematic history, I expect that Universal studios shall heavily hype and promote its 30th anniversary, so I definitely am excited to see what they do, and, even if they do not celebrate the movie’s anniversary, I expect that the fans definitely shall.
What does everyone else think of this year being the 30th anniversary of Jurassic Park?
FormOverFunction says... #3
Definitely still holds up, and probably the all-time best representation of melted ice cream in a movie.
June 22, 2023 2:21 p.m.
KnightsBattlecry001 says... #4
One of my favorite movies ever. Still holds up great and it's amazing how its revolutionized special effects. Hard to believe this movie is 30 years old. Makes me feel old lol.
June 24, 2023 3:44 a.m.
TypicalTimmy says... #5
Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World came out just 10 days after my 8th birthday (May 9th). I was super excited, so my parents took me to go see it for a late birthday present. Despite it being PG-13 and me being 8, I was able to see it with their presence. I remember being told that if I get too scared and want to leave, we can. I was glued to the screen the entire time.
One of the happier memories from my childhood.
TypicalTimmy says... #2
This YouTube channel goes into major depths on all things Jurassic Park related, for those interested.
I've probably even 90% of his videos.
My only small complaint is more of a wishlist to see some "dinosaurs" get their time to shine on the big screen, such as Deinosuchus and Titanoboa and the Plesiosaur
June 21, 2023 9:29 p.m. Edited.