Its been 33 years since the release of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. The film was met with critical acclaim, and ended up surpassing E.T. as the highest grossing film of all time, only beaten by Titanic a few years later in 1997.
However, online, the conversation around the film can often devolve into two camps. One says the film is overrated, and anyone who likes it is blinded by nostalgia. Another says it is the greatest movie ever made.
“I haven’t seen a lot of movies, both older and modern. We haven’t had a lot of money growing up, so buying DVDs, or tapes, wasn’t really in the cards for us,” said Fae Clare, who up until recently, had never seen Jurassic Park. “The movies that I watched was, whatever came up on TV, and even that wasn’t a very common occurrence for me.”
Fae highlighted the performance of Sam Neill, who passed earlier this year. “I like the character arc that he [Alan Grant] goes through, and generally building the relationship with the kids in the movie.” She also mentioned Laura Dern, who plays Dr. Sattler in the film, highlighting the empowerment of seeing a woman in a role like her’s. “I think at the beginning she plays a similar role to Alan Grant, but later in the movie it shows that she is not just any woman, but a powerful woman.”
She also mentioned the visual effects, which were groundbreaking at the time of the film’s release. “I do think for 1993, it’s phenomenal. For today’s standards, it’s obviously not going to be as good as the CGI we have now. But it is still good.” She also mentioned the use of animatronics and puppets to enhance the interaction between the actors and dinosaurs. “When I found out that animatronics and puppets were used, I thought that’s incredible. It improved my thoughts on the movie. It was crazy to think about.”
“I think watching it in current times, it’s still a good movie. Not even just a good movie, a great movie.” Fae said. “I enjoyed watching it, I was invested. The pacing was amazing. It kept my attention through the whole thing, and especially the tension. I just think it’s very good. Going in, I thought that it was going to be pretty good, but I expected some flaws. But all of my expectations were exceeded, by a lot.”
All in all, Fae recommended the film to anyone who hasn’t seen it. “It definitely is worth it,” she said.
