For those of you who have not seen Jurassic Park yet, let me give you some background. JP is based on Michael Crichton's book by the same title. Starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Richard Attenborough, and Jeff Goldblum (be still, my heart), it was first released in 1993. At the time it was released, it was the highest grossing film to date, and was not surpassed until Titanic in 1997. JP deservedly won three Academy Awards, for sound mixing, sound editing, and visual effects. In fact, NPR recently published an interesting interview with the sound designer. It's pretty interesting, because I'm sure that before Jurassic Park, no two people would imagine the sound of a dinosaur the same way. After Jurassic Park though, it's a sure bet everyone thinks a t-rex sounds like it did in the movie.
The plot for Jurassic Park is fairly straightforward, but also has a great deal of depth. A wealthy businessman (John Hammond, played by Attenborough) decided to build an amusement park filled with dinosaurs cloned from blood found in a mosquito. He wants famous paleontologists Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler (Neill and Dern) to endorse his park in exchange for funding their digs. Join by Hammond's grandchildren, they tour the park, but are halted halfway through their tour due to a tropical storm that knocks out the power. In addition to the power failure, head IT coordinator Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) is plotting to sell the dinosaur embryos to a genetic development company. He cuts the power during the storm in order to steal the embryos, which causes the dinosaurs to break down their fences and run free. After a bunch of close calls when Dr. Grant and the grandchildren almost get eaten by the t-rex, suffer electrocution, a dinosaur stampede, and a velociraptor attack, the power is finally restored, and everyone escapes the island. The viewer is left to believe that the island will soon be overrun by dinosaurs.
When I heard Jurassic Park was being re-released in 3D, I knew it was time for me to see my first 3D movie. Previously, my only experience with 3D was in Disney World (think "The Muppets" and "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids"). I pictured these awful plastic glasses that hurt after having them on for 3.5 minutes. So I was pleasantly surprised when I got an individually packaged pair of glasses that I was able to wear the entire movie without even knowing they were there. I was also pleasantly surprised the movie did not go overboard with the 3D effects. The majority of the movie, with the exception of the major action segments, looked essentially like a 2D movie. My only complaint is that these portions had some blurry footage, especially in the foreground. One scene where I really noticed it was when Nedry met the researcher at the restaurant. There was a fruit stand in the foreground that was very blurry during the camera pan that I had never seen in the original version, and trust me, I've seen the 2D version a lot.
If you, the reader, have not yet seen Jurassic Park, either in 2D or 3D, I highly recommend it. Although released 20 years ago, the animatronics are absolutely incredible. You would never guess the movie came out such a long time ago. Spielberg hired a real paleontologist to assist in their designs and motions. I mean, this stuff made George Lucas cry it was so good. The music for the movie is also just breathtaking, and cannot be overlooked as one of the best aspects of the movie. Camera pans, coupled with John Williams' beautiful theme, give me goosebumps every time I see the helicopter leave Jurassic Park for the final time. And although the relationship between Drs. Grant and Sattler was much different in Crichton's novel than it was portrayed on the screen, the casting selection was excellent. Not everyone agrees with this though; Roger Ebert's review states:
"The human characters are a ragtag bunch of half-realized, sketched-in-personalities, who exist primarily to scream, utter dire warnings, and outwit the monsters."
Um, listen Rog, this movie was based on a book, and the actors were portraying the characters in the book! Look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't scream and crap your pants if a dinosaur had you upside down in a car and roaring at you. Oh wait... you can't anymore. Oops!
Overall, JP3D is just as good as it is in 2D. I had never seen the movie in a theater with surround sound, and it is definitely much more intense on the big screen. I personally thought the most intense 3D moment would be when the t-res dumped the car off the ledge. Instead, I found the moment when I almost ripped off my glasses in fear was when Lex fell through the ceiling. The raptor jumped up to try to bite her leg off, and I actually grabbed my husband's arm in terror. No matter is you see it in 2D or 3D, Jurassic Park is a must see.
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