Everything Goes To Hell

Jurassic Park (1993)

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 127 minutes

Box Office (in today’s dollars): 586 million (approximately)

Characters: Dr. Alan Grant, Dr. Ellie Sattler, Dr. Ian Malcolm, Lex, Tim, John Hammond, Robert Muldoon, Donald Gennaro, Dennis, Ray, Dr. Henry Wu

Favorite Quote: “Life, uh, finds a way.”

Favorite Scene: T-Rex chases the jeep

Favorite Character: Ray Arnold

Other need-to-see nineties movies directed by Steven Spielberg: Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan

I remember going to the theater to see this when I was in high school. I am pretty sure it was the biggest movie I had ever been to at that point of my life. It was amazing then, and I think it is still amazing now. There are several characters in the movie to watch and enjoy (Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler, Dr. Malcolm), Ray Arnold (my favorite ... it’s Samuel L. Jackson!!). The score is fantastic, probably one of the most recognizable of all time. But the movie is all about the dinosaurs. The CGI was groundbreaking and made the dinosaurs absolutely terrifying. All of your favorites are there: Dilophosaurus, Velociraptor, Triceratops, and of course Tyrannosaurus rex. Speaking of T-Rex: my favorite scene in the movie is when she chases Ellie, Ian, and Muldoon in the jeep.

Visually, there is so much to see during the movie, so I feel that the dialogue kind of gets lost. There are some classic lines: “Hold on to your butts” and “Clever girl”, but mine, and probably everyone’s, favorite is Jeff Goldblum at his finest: “Life, uh, finds a way.” I almost went with “It’s not the raptor you see that gets you; it’s the two that come in from the side.” Side note: one time I was trying to be funny at work, and I told a story about going to a bar once, and it wasn’t the milk I was drinking that got me drunk, it was the two that came in from the side that did. It made no sense, but everyone thought it was hilarious.

I am not absolutely positive about this, but I am pretty sure nobody has ever directed two movies in the same year as big or important as Spielberg in 1993. Jurassic Park was the biggest box office movie of the year, and Schindler’s List won Best Picture. Side note: I have never seen Schindler’s List in its entirety. I went to the theater to see it on a school trip and I fell asleep about 30 minutes into it. I am pretty sure this makes me a terrible person somehow.

Next movie to review: Dazed and Confused