20 Things I love about Jurassic Park.
So I guess it's pretty clear that the original Jurassic Park is one of my all time favorite movies. Tonight as it plays on AMC and I'm still recovering from the virus from hell, I felt compelled to watch it for the second time today. (Total comfort movie) So here is a list of 70 things I just love about this movie that I'm pretty sure not everyone really talks about...
1) The old school Universal logo.
2) The first music cue as soon as the opening titles appear over the black screen.
3) The greatest introduction of a character ever. Robert Muldoon. Love the camera slowly coming in close while he holds his gun and the settle music cue almost sounding like a heartbeat as he awaits the cage.
4) A wonderful little nod to Spielberg's classic Jaws, showing the gatekeeper get sucked up by an unseen force and Muldoon struggling to pull him back.
5) The brilliant shot of Muldoon's terrified eyes locking with the raptor's crazed hungry ones.
6) The slow fade out of Jophery's hand slipping out of Muldoon's as the gunfire echoes around, slowly bringing us into the murky muddy water of the next scene.
7) Gennaro hitting his head in the amber mine.
8) The digging scene in Snakewater and how I laugh whenever the person legit uses their finger to clean the dinosaur's nostril in the dirt.
9) This kid. If it really is a younger Owen from Jurassic World that's amazing. #sixfootturkey.
10) Hammond opening up the champagne like a total boss.
11) Nedry's squeal of happiness.
12) Jeff Goldblum's laugh. Arghhahahrawhahaha!
13) The epic music cue as the chopper flies towards the island. I still remember watching this as a kid and getting complete chills.
14) Grant having legit my kind of luck with the seat belts. Such a realistic moment, love the look on Ian's face when he sees this. Total amusement.
15) Elle's honest look of utter and complete amazement. I really have to give Neil and Dern complete props for this scene. Pretty much what I believe anyone would look like seeing a dinosaur in real life.
16) "It's a dinosaur!"
17) "That crazy son of a bitch did it..." = Love the driver slowly turning and looking at Ian in the jeep.
18) Goldblum's laugh and look of utter amazement. It looked so real and genuine.
19) The epic "Welcome to Jurassic Park" line along with the swelling music cue as Hammond, Elle, and Grant look at the valley. #Theymoveinherds
20) Mr. DNA. Love that Spielberg explains how this could even remotely be possible by taking the audience away from the actual film and pretty much breaking it down like one would for a child. Love the way Mr. DNA says "DinoSAURS!" and "BINGO DINO DNA!"
21) "Auto-erotica?"
22) The wonderful use of practical effects, puppets, and CGI. Much like Terminator 2 which was made a year before this film, I feel these two films have the best blend of practical EFX and computer generated creatures of all time. In fact they still hold up. This is how you do it boys. Also love Elle's "Oh God..." line off camera as the raptor hatches.
23) "Life uh...finds a way."
24) The look of complete terror in Grant's face when he asks Dr. Wu what breed of dinosaur he's holding and how serious he becomes when he utters the line "You bred raptors?" Love the shot of the little creature squirming in his hands and right away you know these little fuckers aren't going to be good news.
25) The P.O.V of the raptor cage as it feeds on the cow. Love how we still haven't completely seen the raptors yet but we know they are the bad guys. The stunned look of disgust as everyone watches as the branches and leafs shake and how Hammond watches all of them mildly amused. I love me some cheeseburgers but man, poor cow...
26) "They should all be destroyed." - Love how Muldoon says this right in front of his boss giving zero fucks, and pretty much tells the tour how dangerous these creatures are. Love his line "They remember..."
27) Bomb looking chilean sea bass that nobody touches. Always drove me crazy.
28) The utter look of annoyance between Ian and Grant when the kids tackle Hammond on the stairs. Ian's face is the best. Couldn't find a screenshot of it but next time you watch it look. He's rolling his eyes the way I roll my eyes when children act up in public. It's great.
29) The movie dating itself a bit. Back in 1993 this was awesome stuff. Now it's a look back on a simpler time.
30) Sam Jackson stealing the show in every movie he's in. "Hold onto your butts!"
31) Now there are dinosaurs on your dinosaur tour?
33) Nerdy's workspace. - I love how there are wires hanging from the ceiling. Wires?! What a slob. Also the fact he drinks Jolt cola.
34) Muldoon's legs and utter look of annoyance. Love how he shuts everyone up when the tour approaches the T-Rex paddock.
35) "Woman inherits the Earth..."
36) The chaos experiment. Seems so out of left field. Love the chemistry between Goldblum and Dern (no wonder they later became an item) or how Elle even tries to bring Ian's forward flirting to Grant's attention and he doesn't even care. Were we all really that surprised those two didn't make it in part 3? Let's be real here...
37) Elle and Grant's reactions again with the dinosaur. Another wonderful puppet. Between Elle's crying of happiness and Grant laying on it (love that he lays on a sick animal) it really captures how in complete and utter awe they are of this place. I mean come on, wouldn't you?
38) That is one big pile of shit. How how as Grant walks away he steps in some.
40) I've always loved when Nerdy hits the East Dock sign. I always was able to catch what direction the arrow had originally been pointing. How Nerdy handles the arrow in the rain is pretty much me whenever my GPS fails when I'm on a road trip.
41) Ian and Grant together in the jeep. Love how Ian pretty much asks if Elle is available, and of course the famous "Always on the look out for a future Ex. Mrs. Malcolm." The look on Grant's face is priceless.
42) You didn't say the magic world! - Most annoying chime e-v-e-r! Love all the control room scenes between Hammond, Arnold, and Muldoon. Love the panic after the fences go down and right away Muldoon's first question is if the raptor fences are down or how as soon as everything starts messing up Hammond yells for them to check the vendor machines for Nerdy.
43) These googles.
44) The entire T-Rex scene. As soon as the audience sees the goat missing, the leg being thrown, the large claws, and Ian and Grant watching the fence get torn down you can't help but feel on the edge of your seat. Again perfect blend of CGI and practical effects. Terrifying. I'm sure I wasn't the only person screaming for those stupid kids to shut that flashlight off.
45) "Ian freeze!" Love Grant yelling this line and Ian trying to distract the T-rex as it chases him.
46) This terrifying shot.
47) Lex's death grip on Grant.
48) Nerdy trying to distract the dinosaur with a stick. Love how it just cocks it's head to the side. "See? Stick! Stick stupid!"
49) The look on Muldoon's face when Hammond asks him if he would be so kind to take a gas jeep and bring back his grandchildren. Love how he just blankly stars "Sure..." and walks out. Hammond you asshole.
50) The exchange between Elle and Muldoon as they find where the jeeps were. "I think this was Gennaro..." "I think this was too..." Love that we never actually see what's left but you know it isn't pretty.
51) The epic jeep chase scene. The scream of horror that comes from Dern as she leans back. One of the most suspenseful and awesome scenes ever in an action adventure movie. Love the clever little shot of the T-Rex in the rearview mirror.
52) This killer gift shop.
53) How Elle reaches across that super long table and grabs the tub of ice cream. She casted reach because that sucker was at least six feet away.
54) Grant making dinosaur noises. Love these wide shots of the jungle and all of the dinosaurs turning.
55) The sneeze scene. Love the snot that lands in her mouth. Classic.
56) This.
57) The way Muldoon turns his head like an owl in these scene.
58) The entire shutting off the power scene. Between Jackson's famous one-liner again "Hold onto your butts!" and the lighting. Love the faint blueish light coming from the circular windows and the flashlight beams cutting through the darkness. Wonderfully shot.
59) The flocking scene. Believe it or not this is really the only CGI part of the movie that doesn't completely hold up. Now I'm not knocking it but it hasn't aged as well as the others. I do love the humor of these scene, and how Grant, Tim, and Lex watch the T-Rex attack and feed. Love that this isn't a movie where all the attacks/action happen at night. It shows that even during the daytime you aren't safe.
60) The Pirates of The Caribbean quote in the bunker. I love how even after all of this Hammond is still driven that this park will indeed work even with his grandchildren still out there. Sorta shows the darker crazy side of him that was better shown in the novel. Love how Bob Peck looks at the camera for a split second following this. I don't think this was on purpose but for me it's almost like the 4th wall is broken as if we're supposed to be told "This guy is off his rocker..."
61) Muldoon and Elle discovering the raptors are out. - Between Muldoon's killer legs, or the shot of him staring down at the tracks, this is honestly the only time in the whole movies besides when he locked eyes with the raptor that he looks actually scared. I love the camera shot of them walking by and seeing the raptor fence all chewed up.
62) "We're being hunted. - Love the lighting in the jungle. How there's sweat on the characters, and how shit scared Elle looks. The best is when Muldoon tells her to run and she runs straight into a large branch/log.
63) The horrible wig on the stunt double.
64) Grant and the electric fence. Gets me every time. Love the reaction on the kids. Such an asshole but I love it.
65) Basically everything about Muldoon's death. The lighting, the intense look on the late Bob Peck's face. How he carefully sets his sights on his target, and the music cue of dread when the second raptor pops out. Of course the film's most famous line "Clever girl" and the fact it's a real guy in a raptor suit pouncing on the actual actor. The screams that come from Peck are beyond haunting. Love the shot of the snake crawling by the other raptor staring. #legendary
66) Sam Neil CPR. I always laugh like a jerk whenever he screams "NO TIM!"
67) Mr. Arnold's arm. Pretty much the most gory thing we see in the whole movie but it's so awesome. You never see his actual death but you know it wasn't pretty.
68) Jello. - What I loved about this movie was how realistic these kids were. Yeah they were a little annoying, but they were somewhat likable, and seriously took the beating of a lifetime. By the end of the movie both are a complete mess and are majorly fucked up physically and mentally. I think that's why I didn't feel attached to the annoying little shits in Jurassic World. They didn't even seem bothered they were being attacked by these things. The best is from this scene onward with Tim and Lex. The raptors in the kitchen scene are terrifying but the look of pure terror on Lex's face holding the jello always brings a smile to my face.
69) T-rex saves the day. - After a great action packed chase scene with the main characters and the raptors, we get the greatest reveal of all time. Many joke about how the T-rex just "sneaks" into the visitor center, but if you look closely the place is still under construction so I'm sure there was some huge wall missing where he was able to just stroll on in. Still the huge epic music cue and of course the shot of the T-Rex roaring and the banner falling. Gotta admit it brought a tear to my eye in Jurassic World when the kids went to the original visitor center and picked up the banner. 1993 forever.
70) The final shot. - I love the ending to Jurassic Park. Just the gentle theme playing as everyone sits in the chopper looking as if they just finished some epic battle. I love the silent exchange Elle and Grant have as he sits with the kids between him. Or how banged up Ian looks, and how Hammond just stares sadly at his cane. (Um, wouldn't you be a tad upset two of your friends were just brutally killed?!) Still, love the theme playing as Grant sees the bird flying and looks at peace as the chopper flies off into the sunset. Not really a fan of the sequels, even tho I did enjoy World, I feel this was one of Spielberg's greatest films, and one of the best films of the 1990's. I'm proud to have a tattoo based off this film, and it will forever be along with Jaws one of my favorite movies. Epic.
So agree? Stay tuned and see other movies I pick apart and point out what I loved.
Until next time...Hold onto ya butts!
