Yesterday, It took me a Tweet to realise, Jurassic Park released 31 years ago, years before I was born. What followed after the tweet was me going through saved playlist of some of my favourite scenes from the movie. I thought this is a good time to dump my thoughts about Jurassic Park.

The movie I didn’t want to watch

My father nudged me to watch this movie early itself, but the sight of a ‘huge lizard’ with monstrous teeth torturing children and biting into adults like they were a piece of cookie was enough to repel me for majority of my childhood.

My mom, who was equally scared, was my ally as she didn’t want my father pushing me towards watching it (and in turn not compelling her to watch it again)

I was into my teens where I chanced upon a TV screening of Jurassic Park. I probably started at the right time, when the T-Rex broke through the fence.

As much as I enjoyed the watch, my true fanaticism for Jurassic Park started much later when I re-watched during the COVID-induced lockdown.

So, clearly I’m not a fan who started young and got pulled into dinosaurs. I was a movie enthusiast who started to love the movie for what it is - Cinema

Before I summarise my love for Jurassic Park, I’ll probably detail some of my favourite things about the film.

Welcome to Jurassic Park

While, this isn’t the first dinosaur scene of the film which happens in a scary way in the first 2 minutes of the film, almost 20 minutes into the film, we are introduced to the world of Jurassic Park.

With visuals that hold up to date, camera movements and framing which aptly capture the size of a Brachiosaurus. Cut to facial reactions of the shocked scientists and a happy lawyer.

Ian Malcolm wording the now meme “You Did It. The Crazy Son of a Bitch, You Did It” and Dr. Alan Grant falling down on his knees before seeing a herd of dinosaurs drinking from the far-off lake. It’s absolutely perfect.

Score

As I type this out, the score is already playing in my mind for the above scene. It’s grand, it’s ethereal and I totally get why Spielberg had to point out that John Williams is the one who can convince Dinosaurs walk the earth.

Without John Williams, bikes don't fly, nor do brooms in Quidditch matches, nor do men in red capes. There is no Force. Dinosaurs do not walk the earth.

I’m musically handicapped to analyse what makes John Williams score so perfect, but for the normal ear, his score elevates the scene and the movie like nobody else could.

Beyond the score, its the just the sound which adds a layer of conviction to the film. Right from a heavy bass when Brachiosaurus falls on its feet after pulling a twig of the top of the tree, synchornised to the score, to T-Rex roaring as it imposes its dominance.

Its indeed a fun movie trivia to know how some of the sounds were used in the film

• Velociraptors communicating with each other is a sound of mating tortoise
• Horse breathing was used for Raptor breathing (yes, that kitchen scene)
• T-Rex roar was indeed a baby elephant sound slowed-and-reverbed

Breaking the barrier

Probably the scene which denotes the tonal shift in the film. For a film that starts off on a tone of wonder, amazement and concerns on the ethics and limitations of science, this exact scene is where the movie becomes a thriller/horror and some part adventure.

The almost 10 minute scene starting from the cars being stuck in the middle of a storm, with power across the park down. The ripple, disappearance of a goat, the children’s reaction, snapping of the cables and we have the behemoth breaking through.

The absolute build up and the revelation of the whole scene till the moment everyone escapes the place is an absolute legend in cinematic history.

At this point, I don’t need to even re-visit the scene to describe it. It’s etched in my memory. Beyond the audience, the film enthusiast in me is super pumped to know how it all happened:

• an actual life-size T-Rex controlled by hydraulic pumps
• a guitar string creating ‘the ripple’ in water glass
• the skin of the dinosaur not made to resist water throwing added troubles to the unit due to the sprinklers mimicking a rain in the studio
• The smart combination of the above mechatronic model and CGI

The subsequent scenes just have one iconic after the other giving us a thrilling ride like never before. The medley of horror and adventure makes it even fun.

Jeff Goldblum escaping from the T-rex, which is shown on a mirror with the label ‘Objects in mirror are closer than they appear’ is adventure thrill done right.

Take the image of raptor overlayed with the genetic sequence, it’s such imagery where fun and layers are added

In the medley with horror, adventure - The raptors entering the kitchen where the kids are trapped is an incredible horror scene

The movie is basically a contest between humans and dinosaurs like never before.

The ultimate winner of this contest, T-Rex, officially announced in the most wrestlemania fashion, a banner slinging across the dinosaur, while it breaks a skeleton reconstruction. A banner which reads, ‘ When dinosaurs rules the earth.

Unwavering Love

For the past few years, I’ve been noticing a trend with myself. What makes great cinema for me? One of the recurring line of thought I have is, cinema can’t be replaced by a theatre performance. It boils down to the visuals and editing that differentiates a movie from a theatre, because production design, music and many other aspects are pretty much in the theatre performance.

Keeping this line of thought in mind, Jurassic park, keeping in mind the entertainment and the absolutely top-notching staging and visuals of some scenes make it much dearer film to me. The making stories, the technological development which Jurassic Park pushed in the late 80s is a tickle to the tech enthusiast in me. Motion blur, was perfectly implemented for this movie more than ever giving it a more life-like feeling.

It’s a film that’s on top of my list to watch it in theatre and witness the magnitude of John Williams’ score and theatrics of Spielberg. I was lucky to catch a limited screening of ET, Jurassic Park would be a theatre experience like never before for me.