Jurassic Park turned 25 years old earlier this week, and testimonials and tributes have been popping up all over the internet. How the film was a nerd haven. How it was a game changer. How it made history. How it was a “dinosaur-sized leap” in computer effects. How it was just a damn good movie.
When all you care about is money, bad things happen. That’s the message of Jurassic World, where greedy theme-park executives hoping to spike attendance engineer the “Indominus Rex,” a genetically-modified dinosaur that immediately turns on its creators and runs amok. Designed as a cautionary tale about the dangers of building a meaner, badder monster purely for the sake of profits, Jurassic World works equally well as a cautionary tale about doing the same thing in movies. All of the rationalizations provided by Jurassic World’s employees — “Consumers want them bigger, louder, more teeth.” “Somebody’s gotta make sure this company has a future!” — could have been taken directly out of the mouths of the studio executives who approved this gene splice of a reboot and a sequel. Their creation — the Indominus or the movie, there’s basically no difference — is as advertised; huge, mean, and visually striking. But this experiment is not without consequences.
Pencils (or bricks) down, everyone — this is officially the best Jurassic Park fan-made trailer we’re going to see, ever (unless someone has a line on some sick animatronics). A father/daughter team utilized over $100,000 worth of LEGO pieces to create a three-minute stop-motion Jurassic Park video, featuring some of the best moments from Steven Spielberg’s classic film.
Released in 1993, ‘Jurassic Park’ is still one of the biggest movies of all-time and one of the best action-adventure movies of the blockbuster era. How is it that the visual effects in a movie from 1993 look better than most movies made today? You can find out about that, and all other things ‘Jurassic Park’ in the latest episode of You Think You Know Movies, which focuses on Steven Spielberg’s prehistoric classic. Hold on to your butts!
Although director Colin Trevorrow has done an excellent job of keeping us teased for 'Jurassic Park 4' (officially titled 'Jurassic World'), we're still hungry for more. So hungry, in fact, that we'll endure watching the 'Today Show' footage from their set visit to catch even the tiniest glimpse of something new and cool. If you're a real fan, you'll suck it up and do the same.
You can buy replicas of Richard Attenborough's amber-tipped cane or you can listen to ten minute loops of Jeff Goldblum's oddball laugh but there's something you haven't been able to do in twenty years: hear the roar of a T. rex fighting two Velociraptors from thunderous, surround sound of big cinema speakers. Something you've never been able to do is see it in 3D or in IMAX. Until now. And you do