Jurassic Park
Dir: Steven Spielberg
1993
*****
Jurassic Park is probably the best popcorn summer blockbuster since Jaws, which was bought to us 18 years previous by the very same beard. It is Steven Spielberg doing what he does best with brilliant special effects that are still as good today as they were in 1993. I have very fond memories of going to see this on the day of its release. My best buddy got us tickets for a preview showing, making us the first people to see it in the cinemas in the UK and mightily chuffed about it we were too. The cinema was packed, the hype and anticipation for the film was immense and at no point were we left underwhelmed. The entire cinema laughed, gasped, screamed and cheered in unison, the first and last time I (or my buddy) have ever experienced to that level. It was a cinema experience that was like something out of a film and I honestly cherish it and wonder if it wasn't integral to me becoming a Cinephile. It's not a perfect film, far from it, there are mistakes a plenty (as there are in all of Spielberg's films) but it almost doesn't matter that a T-Rex couldn't possibly fit through a normal sized door, it didn't really bother me that computer hacking is a little bit more complicated than just just pressing Ctrl Alt Delete and as much as it did bother me that we were supposed to believe a 10 year old boy would know what a Brachiosaurus with a cold would look like, it didn't spoil the film for me one bit. I've seen it several times since and I still bristle with excitement when we see the wide shot of the Diplodocus go up on its hind legs to reach the top of the tree it's eating from, I'm still thrilled when the lawyer gets eaten by the T-Rex on the toilet and myself and my buddy quote the film at least once every time we meet up. It may well be a fluffed up version of the book but I don't care, it's a golden piece of cinema and I love it.