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| I'm tempting the Rex |
Introduction
Welcome to my Jurassic Park movie review. Dr. Alan Grant gets a personal invitation
from John Hammond to check out a theme park that he insists will capture the
world’s eye. A small group of visitors
visit a distant island and are in absolute awe at first but then something goes
disastrously wrong. The survivors must
do anything in their power to out maneuver the parks attractions in order to
get off this island. It’s one adventure
you’ll have to see to believe and I’m going to give you a monster of a review
for it’s my all time favorite movie.
I’ve broken it down in every way I possibly could with quoted dialogue
along with my own added commentary. I
truly hope you can enjoy it as I have.
Beware the Velociraptor
The
opening scene gives you a glimpse and tease of what’s in store for you later in
the movie. Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck) is
the game warden who is in charge of moving a deadly velociraptor into its
holding pen from a transporting crate.
That should be a piece of cake, right?
The raptors are intelligent dinosaurs as Muldoon will have you know, he
thinks they should all be destroyed. He
has a logical point but isn’t there quite a bit of money in them alive? John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) thinks so
and he would never do anything of the sort.
These extinct species are his stamp he very much desires to put on the
world. Richard was the perfect actor to
portray Hammond. If you read the book
you’ll discover it to be true. The
raptor waits in the cage while the hapless gatekeeper raises the gate to the
raptors new residence so to speak. The
dinosaur then charges the opposite side of the cage knocking said gatekeeper on
the ground. He gets grabbed by the
raptor as the sparks of ten or so electric prods zap the dinosaur in the
cage. It’s of no avail; no matter how
many times Muldoon shouts “
Shoot her!”
as the first causality is seen. It could
be an over exaggeration but the raptor took a lot of electricity to stop or the
other workers were missing horribly at point blank range. Perhaps the scene was to demonstrate the
power of the dinosaurs and give you a chilling feeling of how inferior we are
to them. At any rate the success of being
terrified of the extinct creatures is confirmed!
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| Prehistoric amber is the new gold |
Now
it’s off to a mining cave elsewhere in the world to discover a piece of the
puzzle as to how dinosaurs get brought back to life. Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) is a lawyer
paying a visit to Rostagno (Miguel Sandoval) in hopes of nabbing him for a
weekend visit to Jurassic Park. This guy
ends up making the best decision of his life!
They briefly meet as Rostagno gets called into the cave for a new
unearthing. A mosquito frozen in amber
is handed to him as he gazes upon it knowing a huge payday is coming from Mr.
Hammond. Rostagno refuses the invitation
obviously as he is only in this scene but they don’t acknowledge it at
all. Instead they opt to talk about how
much Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) won’t leave his site in Montana either. Gennaro asks why Grant won’t consider it as
Rostagno replies, “
Because Grant’s like
me, he’s a digger.” I like that line
as you already get character development from someone you haven’t even seen yet
while gazing wondrously at the amber.
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| You'll, umm, fully fund my dig? |
John
Hammond in the flesh decides to venture all the way to the Badlands to coax Grant
and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) to visit his island as a sort of weekend vacation. However moments before that Grant scares the
pants off some cocky kid ragging on the raptor skeleton Grants team just dug
up. You know I hated that kids attitude
when I was a boy and always am so pleased to see how frightened he looks after
discovering what the ‘
six foot turkey’
could do to him. After Grant explains
how the raptor will kill you he closes with, “
The point is you’re alive when they start to eat you.” I’m a Sam Neill fan and this scene is a
classic for me. In the trailer Grant is
surprised to see Hammond popping the cork off a wine bottle. I’d probably be a bit upset too if some old
man was drifting into my site and drinking all of my aged wine. Hammond wastes no time in luring the two to
come with him to visit his theme park.
He simply offers to fund his dig site and thus money is power, even more
so than dinosaurs though? Grant doesn’t
know that yet and what you don’t know can’t hurt you right? Nice trick you old little man, kudos Hammond! I love the sly comment Hammond delivers, “
Its right up your alley.” I’ll bet it is if you like dinosaurs looking at
you like you’re a mc Nugget!
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| Nedry the shout it out sellout |
Lewis
Dodgson pays a visit to our fat friend Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) in Costa
Rica. You
couldn’t possibly cast
Nedry more perfectly than with Mr. Knight.
He was popular at the time and he could have jumped out of the book and
you’d believe it to be true. From one
who read the book trust me you get a treat from it with this casting
choice. Dodgson is from a rival genetics
company bribing Nedry to steal some samples.
They discuss the drop off location and time while Nedry feasts on a
ridiculous platter of food. Nedry
complains about not getting paid enough for what he does for Hammond and is
solely in it for the money. He could
care less who has dinosaurs and who doesn’t as long as his payday arrives which
it does as Dodgson hands him his upfront cash.
Once again money plays a dominate role is luring something to the island
of dinosaurs or off of it in this case.
Dodgson gives Nedry the classic shaving cream transportation device for
the embryos. How cool is that
contraption? To this day I still want
one for the reason being, I just want one.
Dodgson pays for Nedry’s meal reluctantly as Nedry says, “
Don’t get cheap on me Dodgson that was
Hammond’s mistake.”
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| Chaos theory, Chaos, CHAOSSSS! |
Ian
Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) makes his presence felt with jokes and questionings of
what Hammond is up to on his island on the helicopter ride to the island. Chaos theory is the driving point in his life
that deals with the predictability in complex systems. Naturally he is convinced Hammond’s little “
science project” is doomed for
failure. Goldblum does a terrific job
bringing the comedy element into the movie which I admire. You get the sense that Hammond doesn’t like
Malcolm at all and blames the lawyer Gennaro for bringing him along. Grant shows visible signs he doesn’t care for
Malcolm either. The scenery is amazing
as they land on the island with the music score dominating all else. It gets me right in the heart every time as
Hammond looks out the window and says, “
There
it is.” That sense of excitement
creeps into you as you stare upon this beautiful island that truly looks like
it would be inhabited by dinosaurs. In
the jeep ride to the park area itself Gennaro is questioning the crap out of
Hammond as he insists to enjoy himself.
Gennaro refuses that this is a review of the islands stability from the
investors. Don’t you love it when the
money men send a meekly lawyer to do your dirty work for you? Something just makes me hope the lawyer gets
eaten. Forgive me I jest I don’t know
what came over me.
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| Beautiful & Majestic at the beginning |
The
first dinosaur sighting for the audience to gasp upon has arrived. It’s the long necked brachiosaur towering so
far up you’d need binoculars to see the top.
Everyone is amazed and astonished at this viewing which in turn makes
Hammond very pleased. He goes on to tell
Grant that they clocked the T-Rex at 32 mph.
Grant nearly passes out from sheer bewilderment as Hammond says his
classic line, “
Welcome to Jurassic Park.” Nobody could deliver that better than
him! I studied this scene in my younger
age at the moment the jeeps pulled up to the lumbering dinosaur. Ellie says something that I couldn’t make out
and I rewound the tape, yes on VHS, over and over until I could understand
it. She was holding that plant leaf in
her hands while muttering, “
This
shouldn’t be here.” She was
referring to the plant life that also has been brought back from extinction
although that’s never mentioned much.
Did mosquitoes ingest plant cells too?
Grant looks out to a somewhat distant watering hole to discover the
dinosaurs moving in herds. He is
marveled to be learning more than he could have ever imagined about the
creatures he loves from the ancient past.
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| D.. da.. Daaa.. Daddy! |
They
arrive at the visitor’s center to check out how a dinosaur is made not exactly
a sex education course mind you. They
get a comical presentation from a video of Hammond being cloned. That’s all interesting stuff and does explain
how the amber played a role in this whole process but the audience is now
begging to see more dinosaurs. As our
visitors ride along this journey through the making of Jurassic Park they come
to a hatchery. Upon seeing the eggs
Grant, Malcolm and Ellie barge into a hatching area to see the birth of a
velociraptor. Grant is ultimately
horrified to learn they were breed. “
You bred raptors?” I can’t help it; Neill can deliver these
lines effortlessly. Overall it’s another
awing moment for the group and a step in the right direction for Hammond to
please his investors. Of course we all
know a newborn baby raptor can’t eat anyone, we save that for the grown up
ones! They also explain the dinosaurs
are all female which Malcolm refuses to believe due to his chaos theory that
any complex system has to be flawed in some way to bring a collapse to
itself. Henry Wu (B.D. Wong) insists
genetically altered DNA will always result in a female dinosaur. “
What
did someone do, go out into the park and lift all the dinosaur’s skirts?” Malcolm’s inquiring comment. It’s accepted for now as Grant wishes to see
more raptors. It’s a shame we don’t get
more from Wu as this is his only scene in the movie. It’s still cool how he was fit in from the
book at all though.
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| Getting the low down on the raptors from Muldoon |
The
raptor pen is probably the most dangerous place on the island. Muldoon explains their intelligence compared
to modern day animals as well as their speed and agility. He is not approving of their existence. He goes on to explain how they try to figure
things out, like problem solving situations.
I love the aspect the raptors play here; you’re terrified of them even
more without even seeing them yet. The
idea of a long ago extinct animal with such intelligence snaps at my science
fiction brain! I’d believe it in a
second, well I actually already do. Grant
is eager to learn all he can of them as he asks a million questions to
Muldoon. It must be a dream come true
for him to see in the flesh the dinosaurs he has loved and admired his entire
life. I’d have to come to conclude as of
now this is the highlight moment of his life.
They feed the raptors a live animal and the bushes shake wildly with
screaming raptors heard below. You don’t
see the raptors so yet again you are left teased. After the feeding Hammond invites them all to
have lunch, I guess seeing an animal get ripped to shreds would make anybody
salivate.
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| I really have to go to the restroom. - Lawyer |
At
lunch Hammond is out to seek approval from all his guests but only the “
bloodsucking lawyer” is on his side, go
figure. To be honest I’d be shocked as
well as it did look like everyone was rather impressed with what they saw
altogether. Grant, Ellie and Malcolm all
spat out less than interesting theories or ideas of why they disapprove of the
park. We know Malcolm isn’t on board but
the other two seem to be excited enough about it. In all honesty this isn’t the better part of
the movie, but it’s short and leaves Hammond quite dumbfounded. Hammond’s grandchildren Tim and Lex have
arrived to the dismay of Grant. They all
head outside to the explorer trucks that run on electricity from a track in the
middle of the road. Ellie annoys Grant
by sending the kids to talk with him as he tries to avoid them. “
She
says I should ride with you because it would be good for you.” Lex states to Grant as he gives Ellie the
look of ‘
I can’t believe you sometimes.’ The kids ride with the lawyer in the first
truck and the others ride in a second truck as they are off to see what
Jurassic Park is really like. Do you get
the feeling something bad is going to happen soon? What a tropical storm is being tracked near
the island? I’m sure it will miss them. What could possibly go wrong?
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| I chain smoke to your health Mr. Hammond |
The
tour begins as they pass through the towering gates of Jurassic Park. They are supposed to see a dilophosaurus but
it’s nowhere to be seen. That’s a good
thing though right? As the voice in the
trucks claim it spits poisonous venom at its prey. There didn’t seem to be much protection
against it with gaping space in the electric fence. Everyone is sorely displeased with the no
show dinosaur. What do you expect
Hammond; the dinosaurs are going to pose for the humans in the truck? You must find a way to lure the dinosaurs
into view better. Then you get Arnold
(Samuel L. Jackson) spotting all the glitches in the system while Nedry is
complaining as usual about how everything is his problem. Hammond and he have a go around about money
which seems to be ongoing. Muldoon
interrupts them all, “
Quiet! All of you, they’re approaching the
Tyrannosaur paddock.” Muldoon shows
often very strong leadership character with sound logical decision making. I also like the performance Mr. Jackson does
as Arnold; it’s one of his better roles.
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| The tripped out Tric |
The
explorers arrive to yet again see no dinosaur.
Malcolm looks into the camera in the truck to ask, “
There will be dinosaur’s on the dinosaur tour yes? Hello.”
Hammond with disgust stares at the feed, “
I really do hate that man.”
I love the back and forth those two perform during the movie, it brings
a spirit of humor that really keeps the movie from becoming stagnant. The dinosaurs can bring a huge impact to the
movie but you still need a human element to smooth out the overall experience
of the adventure here. A goat is brought out to lure the Rex but it
doesn’t bite. Grant explains that it
wants to hunt not be feed.
Disappointment abounds in the vehicles as they drive off once
again. Lex is thankful as she is a
vegetarian and the thought of a goat being eaten was disturbing to her anyway. Tim was rather excited about it though. Malcolm flirts with Ellie as he explains
chaos theory to her while Grant spots something outside and takes off. Eventually all the occupants rush out to
follow him as Malcolm spats out some humor about chaos theory. Muldoon gets pissed and rants about having
locks on the doors, a topic he apparently has notified Hammond of before. “
How
many times did I say we need locking mechanisms on the vehicle doors?!”
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| Fertilizer exporting is another of Hammond's enterprises |
A
triceratops lay sedated in an open field as the group comes out to take a look
at it. Why not right? If the only way to see a dinosaur is to go out
and find it for yourself then live dangerously I say, thanks Hammond. Jurassic Park where you find our lost
dinosaurs! Grant expresses it’s the
dinosaur he loved as his favorite when he was a kid. Ellie gets gross as she touches the tongue
and even dives her arms into piles of dino droppings. Malcolm of course reminds her to wash her
hands before she eats anything. I
personally love the delivery by Malcolm as he stares at a huge pile of crap, “
That is one big pile of sh!t.” Ellie at this juncture separates with the
group and stays with Dr. Harding who has a gas powered jeep to take her
back. The rest of them head back to the
explorers as lightning and thunder start to make their presence known to the
humans below. I like to see the
frightened look of the lawyer as the storm arrives. Don’t worry my friend all your fears will
swell up soon enough then disappear just as swiftly. Now why on earth would I say such a thing? Nedry meanwhile is talking with his contact
about not leaving so soon because of the storm; he hasn’t completed his
dastardly deed yet after all.
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| My financial problem will soon be yours Hammond! |
Arnold
tries to calm Hammond a bit by stating although it’s been an unfortunate series
of events it’s not all that bad. “
Two no shows and one sick triceratops”
Hammond states in dismay, he needs to see the positive here, at least nobody
got eaten! Nedry meanwhile fumbles with
some words about getting some snacks in the vending machine. The others in the room basically ignore his
banter. His actual goal is to go steal
the embryos and dump them off with the contact at the ship. Nedry can see the dollar signs before his
very eyes. The question is can he
successfully do this? He runs his
computer virus program to disable a variety of security systems which shouldn’t
backfire in the slightest. I’m sure
everything is going to be just fine for our good buddy Nedry. An honest man such as him deserves to be
treacherous at least once in his life, right?
The scenes toggle back and forth with Nedry stealing and the explorer
trucks coming to a halt. The control
room with Hammond, Arnold and Muldoon begins to become aware of some security
outages. They overlook it for now
believing Nedry’s previous gibberish about the systems going on and off.
Grant
and Malcolm try to figure out why the explorer has stopped while Nedry is high
tailing it toward the dock for his drop-off.
The control room notices that the fences are now failing all over the
park and a subtle panic begins to show itself.
Who wouldn’t be fearful of that?
Imagine Hammond’s reaction if someone got injured while trying to ensure
everything was going smoothly at his park.
Bottom line is the failing fences are freaking him out! Muldoon alertly asks, “The raptor fences aren’t out, are they?” You see Muldoon knows what the true menace on
this island is and he’s totally cool as long as the raptors are still in check. They frantically check the raptor pen but
notice it’s still active. What is Nedry
up to they wonder. They try to hack into
Nedry’s console to stop whatever it is he has done but to no avail. Arnold doesn’t have the skill to combat
Nedry’s tech savvy.
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| Does it get any better than this? |
The
Tyrannosaurus Rex scene is the terror the audience has been waiting for and
it’s finally arrived. The tropical storm
is in full effect, the power is out and the Rex has the munchies. The Rex tests the fence and learns that the
power is out as you see its tiny forearm grab a line. It devours the goat and becomes visible to
the people at last. The lawyer totally
freaks and vacates the explorer then makes a mad dash for the toilet. Malcolm delivers possibly his best line of
the film with the, “
When you gotta go,
you gotta go.” The Rex easily breaks
through the fence and roars to let his dominance be known. It checks out the explorers to see what they
are when that stupid idiot Lex turns on a strong flash light and spins it all
around easily attracting attention to their vehicle. Why on earth would you think this is a good
idea? My only plan would be to curl up
and try to keep a watchful eye on the Rex if I was sure he couldn’t see
me. It’s funny I say he for the Rex
although it’s a female, it’s noted in the book that it seems only natural to
assume the masculine form when addressing such beasts.
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| I suppose it does get better! |
Tim tries
to shut the driver’s side door the lawyer so carelessly left open but even
that’s a bad idea at this point. The Rex
is checking out their vehicle and Tim slams shut the door! Why slam it?
Couldn’t you at least try to ease it shut? It’s clear they are terrified but if you’re
going to try something so foolish at least attempt to use your brain
still. The Rex proceeds to destroy the
explorer as Grant and Malcolm helplessly watch on. As the explorer flips over Grant decides to
use a flare to gain the eye of the Rex and draw him away from the kids. It’s a noble deed by Grant and a daring move
as he successfully lures the Rex away. “
Ian freeze!” That’s Grant’s
professional advice that is promptly ignored.
Malcolm foolishly attempts the same but ends up getting chased to the
restroom area. You can’t help but say
things like, ‘
Idiot and dummy’ as he
gets knocked out as the Rex destroys the restroom leaving the helpless lawyer
sitting alone on the toilet exposed. One
big bite and a couple good shakes take care of the lawyer which deserved it for
abandoning children. Grant rescues the
kids from the rolled over explorer with a close up of the Rex inches away from
eating them as well. I’m sure the Rex
could smell them even if his eyesight was poor.
I’d imagine they should have been eaten as well but they manage to
escape the wrath of the Rex as they climb down into the wild park itself. There wouldn’t be much left of the story if
everyone was eaten too soon right?
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| Lethal 'loogie' |
Our pal
Nedry has now crashed his jeep after nearly making it to the dock. The dilophosaurus we were robbed of seeing
earlier now makes its appearance much to the dismay of Nedry. He is trying to tie a cable from the front
end of the jeep around a tree to drag it free of the mess he crashed himself
into. The dilophosaurus is small and
playing with Nedry at first. Nedry does
get in a last comical line as he tosses a stick away and wants the dinosaur to
chase it. The dumb looking dino doesn’t
go for it and Nedry says, “
Eh, no wonder
you’re extinct. I’m going to run you
over when I come back down.” He
slips up and falls when the dinosaur seizes his opportunity for dinner. It spits its venom on Nedry forcing him into
a panic to get back to the car. He opens
the door and takes that safety look back toward the dinosaur which proves to be
his downfall.
You were there Nedry, all
you had to do was climb your fat butt into that jeep and run the dinosaur over
but you had to look didn’t you? The spit
hits him right in the face, amazing accuracy for the dinosaur! He screams and turns to get into the jeep but
conks his head on the top of the door and falls over. His secret shaving cream can of embryos jars
lose and flow down the stream he is laying in.
He’s lost everything he risked his life over now. How long he lays there is unknown, but it
couldn’t have been for too lengthy a time.
The dinosaur in that time climbed into the jeep and waited for Nedry to
wake up and get in. Why though? I’d imagine the dinosaur ripping Nedry to
bits while he lay on the ground. It
doesn’t seem plausible except for the fact to hide the death inside the
confines of the jeep. It’s not rated R
you know, pity.
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| Close call for Grant |
Grant
now is forced to get Tim from the explorer dangling in the tree. He hides Lex in a wide drain pipe at the
bottom safely. “
He left us, he left us!” Lex
says slightly hysterical but Grant assures her he won’t do that. As Grant reaches the truck Tim looks mortified
as he should be. Grant must talk Tim
into getting out of the truck and back to the visitor center. When they get out the truck it loses its grip
and begins to fall slowly. How they
managed to swiftly move down that tree so quickly is incredible considering
according to their conversation neither of them liked trees anyway you’d think
they were expert climbers. Somehow the
huge trunks break branch after branch as the music carries the people downward. I do rather like the score being played
during this scene and that’s probably the most enjoyable aspect of it for me. The size of some of those branches couldn’t
possibly break straight down as the scene depicted. I’d imagine the truck would slightly dip
outward if it were to fall out of the tree as it fell. They miraculously make
it down as the truck falls on them without causing any injury whatsoever. It’s a faulty scene but it’s an adventure
movie so you need excitement. Tim also
gets to add a touch of humor to the situation, “
Well, we’re back, in the car again.”
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| How terrified would this make you? |
Muldoon
and Ellie arrive in a jeep to retrieve the people in the explorers. When they notice a truck missing and the
fence mangled they fear the worst. I’m
sure it was only the wind, the tropical storms can get – who am I kidding it
was only the best cinematic experience to date that happened only moments ago! They come across Malcolm’s tattered body and
question whether to move him or not.
Malcolm insists they chance it as a distant roar from the Rex is heard. They also find assorted parts of the lawyer,
yuck. Ellie discovers the other truck
off the edge and she goes with Muldoon down to check it out. Its unclear how much time has passed since Grant
and the kids left but it had to be enough as they didn’t hear all the screams
from Muldoon and Sattler. They return topside
to find Malcolm rushing them forward from the truck as the Rex pursues them. “
Get
off the stick, bloody move!” Muldoon
demands of a frightened Malcolm. It’s a
close call as the Rex nearly catches them but Muldoon is able to get them to
safety no thanks to Malcolm jamming the stick in a panic. “
Do
you think they’ll have that on the tour?”
Malcolm asked sarcastically. I
mean for thrill seekers in this day in age anything’s possible!
Grant
and the kids climb up a tree for the night to rest. I believe they need it after such a
terrifying ordeal they barely escaped. The
kids cuddle up with Grant as he lets them realizing how scared they must
be. You can see a weakness in him as he
is accepting them more and more. It could
be his last hours alive so why not give kids a chance, ha-ha! He pulls out his fossilized raptor claw and
talks about how the world might change in his line of work now. As the kids fall asleep Tim makes some funny
dinosaur jokes that are still entertaining to hear. “
What
do you call a blind dinosaur?
Do-you-think-he-saurus. What do
you call a blind dinosaur’s dog?
Do-you-think-he-saurus rex.”
It even gets a chuckle out of Grant.
He at the end of the scene throws away his claw as what he always sought
to see has made him uneasy enough to carry it with him anymore. You haven’t seen anything yet Grant old boy! I’d keep that claw though no matter what
though. Imagine how many more memories
you can tie to it aside the fact you found it in the first place. It’d be a treasure I’d never part with; I’d
probably have it buried with me. That is
a disturbing thought.
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| Ellie I told you to bring some cookies with this feast! |
Hammond
and Ellie are devouring ice cream at the visitor center while other people are
being eaten alive. Have you no shame? Do you have hopes that the ultimate brain
freeze will conjure up the solution to this horrible mess? They were all melting you say? Then let’s dig in, it could be our last meal
anyway right? Hammond gets delusional as
Ellie reminds him you can’t pretend to not see this happening. He shares a story about a flea circus he ran
when he first came to America which gives a nice little background to how long
he’s been up to this kind of enterprise.
He insists all they need is control again and it will all get
resolved. Ellie reminds him he never had
total control but didn’t he? Everything
seemed in order until that fat turd Nedry shut off the power everywhere. From Ellie’s viewpoint I don’t see how “
All of this is just an illusion!” The dinosaurs sure seem really enough to me,
ask Malcolm or even the lawyer! Had
power stayed on I do believe everything would be satisfactory.
The Dinosaurs are Breeding
Grant
and the kids wake up to the sight of a friendly brachiosaur eating leaves from
the tree. They all get to touch it
without fear while having fun for once at this accursed park. The dinosaur
eventually sneezes all over Lex as Tim smiles and blesses the dinosaur to get
well soon. Lex is infuriated in the
meantime. On their journey back to the
visitor center Grant makes a startling discovery of hatched eggs! He explains that “
Some West African frogs have been known to change sex from male to
female in a single sex environment.”
Life finds a way as Malcolm phrased earlier when nobody really believed
his nonsense. He didn’t know it would be
the result of the sequence gaps provided by frog DNA but technical it was
nature that provided the breakthrough against the controlled genetic experiment
Hammond was attempting. They don’t
reveal the eggs species but does it matter? Hammond doesn’t have the control he thought he
had after all. This must be the illusion
Ellie refers to but she has no clue the dinosaurs are breeding and furthermore
I don’t believe she even suspects it! It’s
rather a subtle hole in the story and I highly doubt most viewers even notice.
Decisions, decisions
We jump
back over to the control room where Hammond is opting to shut down the entire
system to erase Nedry’s treachery.
Arnold is skeptical of this as they have never shut it all down before
so it’s an unknown that it will restore itself, it’s only in theory that it
would. Hammond goes a bit mad and
screams that people are dying to make his point dominant. He is the head honcho so he gets to decide
the ultimate course of action anyway.
The power goes off then back on.
“Hold onto your butts.” Arnold mutters in a weary voice. Over the years I’ve grown fonder of that line
even though it’s nothing special. It’s a
success but the buildings need a reboot from a shed outside the compound near
the raptor pen. Nedry knew better than
to shut off those fences but a total shutdown wouldn’t know that. Muldoon could have mentioned that before shut
off but I think he secretly wanted a shot at hunting the raptors. He did express interest in destroying them
all in the beginning. Muldoon, Hammond, Ellie
and Malcolm all head to safety in the emergency bunker. Arnold goes alone to the shed? I’d refuse that; I’d want a gun and Muldoon
since he’s the game warden after all. Of
course I’m sure Arnold will be just fine though, the power is back now.
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| Tim they're not in the sky |
“
They’re flocking this way.” The gallimimus stampede scene is always edgy
as Grant and the kids narrowly escape it.
It’d be awful but perhaps having one of the kids trampled would have
enhanced the scene. A tragic death could
have brought high emotional levels to the movie and audience. I can imagine Hammond’s deep sorrow as not
only did he lose his park but his own blood.
Alas I forget we’re trying to appeal to the kids for merchandise sales
so killing one might hurt that cause along with all the screaming mothers
crying how damaged their kid was upon seeing that scene. Does anybody have a backbone anymore? Why is everyone so paper thin? It’s only a movie and tempting to cross a
line is often what brings some of the best moments. Grant comments “
I bet you’ll never look at birds the same way again.” I understand that the study now is that
dinosaurs may have ‘
evolved’ into
birds but even I can’t help but chuckle at how that’s possible. The Rex nabs one of the gallimimus and has
another meal as Tim is rather engrossed in that moment. Was he hungry as well or was he the kid that
liked to torture small animals? Tim’s
revealing secrets are withheld though.
I’ll bet he was hungry though, a dino-burger might be an invigorating
meal!
Mr. Arnold, where are You?
 |
| Cocked, locked and ready to die, eh Muldoon? |
Let’s
go back to the bunker where Hammond claims all major theme parks have
delays. Malcolm adds that “
When the pirates of the Caribbean break
down the pirates don’t eat the tourists.”
It’s one of his better lines in the movie and at this stage the comedy
is welcomed as the tension mounts.
Muldoon finally decides to go after Arnold; you’d think he would have gone
earlier since he’s very cautious of the raptors anyway. I get it now, he didn’t really like Arnold
from a previous gambling debt he had with him over some poorly played late
night poker games. The debt is wiped
clean now that Arnold is in pieces.
Muldoon you’re sick you know that?
Ellie accompanies him and off they go to restore power with some walkie
talkies. Take a gun with you woman
please, who cares if you never fired one in your life the raptors don’t know
that! Muldoon said “
You can’t just stroll down the road you know.” He basically is stating he knew Arnold was on
a suicide mission the first time but phrases it in a way that makes him sound
unknowing about it. Smooth Muldoon but
what comes around goes around!
 |
| We're officially doomed, the raptors are loose |
Its
toggle scene time as we have Grant and the kids climbing over a tall fence to
get back to the road as Muldoon and Ellie discover that the raptors have indeed
busted out of their electric prison. “
Even Nedry knew better than to mess with
the raptor fences.” Muldoon mutters
as the odds suddenly turn against them.
He tracks one down and tells Ellie to make a run for it to the
shed. He claims “
I’ve got her.” but do you Muldoon, do you? Grant and the kids make it over the top as Ellie
bungles her way through the darkened shed.
Hammond and Malcolm guide her to the control panel to reboot the power. Should I rephrase that? Hammond leads her to dead end after dead end
as Malcolm reads a schematic correctly leading her to the reboot console. She activates the sequence which triggers an
alarm that scares the living crap out of Tim!
He koala styles the fence in a panic.
“
Are you crazy? I’m not going to jump!” You may want to reconsider my soon to be
toasted little friend. Ellie restores
complete power while zapping the frightened little Tim clean off the
fence. He had to get down and Grant
warned him about it so I can’t feel sorry for the lad. Grant resuscitates Tim while Dr. Sattler gets
attacked by a raptor as she thought she was perfectly safe.
 |
| Pee in pants, poop in pants, then scream in agony |
It’s
clear that the raptor is still hungry as it has no blood on its teeth. Maybe it wasn’t the one who killed
Arnold. How do I know he’s dead? Well I don’t exactly but his cold dead arm
falls onto Ellie as she thinks it’s actually him. Wouldn’t it be crazy if Arnold didn’t die but
only lost his arm? He is hiding in the shed
waiting for a rescue but they just leave him to die. He should have taken a walkie talkie with him
and maybe he could have survived. Ellie
should confirm he’s actually dead! The
raptor is secondary right? Wait, no you
better run for life. Meanwhile let’s
watch Muldoon think he’s successfully hunted down a raptor. The “
Clever
girl” sidles him up and mangles him.
It’s swift but horrifying as nobody wanted Muldoon to perish in this
film. I didn’t at least; his character
in the movie was much more likeable than the book. It’s also true since he was supposed to be
the expert on raptors he should have known about their attack tendencies. Grant knew and he only knew them as fossils,
sorry Muldoon. Bob Peck really played the
role well, RIP I’ll always remember this classic role of yours.
 |
| Deal with this Chef Ramsey! |
Grant,
along with the kids, arrives back to the visitor center and the kids go to work
on the food laid out before them. Grant
leaves them and goes to search for the others.
I can imagine him thinking at last I can dump them off! Lex sees a raptor shadow moving against the
wall and grabs Tim. It’s a classic
moment as she is so happily eating her jello then the nervous shaking jiggles
that jello. They run to the kitchen,
shut the door and hide behind a counter.
Can you feel death approaching children?
The raptor figures out how to open the door and after feeble attempts
finally head butts it open. I was so
impressed and amazed when it opened the door as a kid I would go on and on
about it. I probably annoyed so many
people talking about how awesome that scene was. I still feel that way too! The raptor calls for its companion to join
and now two raptors begin to stalk the kids.
“
It’s inside.” A terrified Lex whispers. Grant cocks a gun and asks if the children
are contained. They should be unless
they can open doors Ellie says sure of herself.
They’re smarter than you think guys and hungrier too I might add. The kids crawl around making plenty of noise
to make known their position and I’m sure there sweaty smell by now should
easily alert the raptors but that’s overlooked.
The situation the kids were put in would certainly spell ‘
dino-side’. I got it; the raptors like to play with their
food!
Lex
crawls into an oven with the reflection appearing on a very clean stove metal
door. She coaxes the raptor at her and
it smashes into the stove head first.
That raptor really wanted to taste her flesh to lunge so wildly. Still, it’s an inventive tactic by Lex. The second raptor is tricked into a freezer
that Tim limps toward. How did the
raptor not pounce on Tim? The tile floor
provided traction problems for that clicking claw? It pursues him and they both fall inside, Tim
scurries up first and Lex helps him lock the door. The music score is the best in this scene
aside the visuals on the raptors. John
Williams turns in one of his all time best performances that carry this movie
above and beyond what it should be. I
can’t express how much I, to this day, will hum any given musical part of this
movie. The kids run out of the kitchen
and dodge death yet again. The ending
scene shows a pissed off looking raptor glaring deadly in their direction. Humans aren’t as easy to catch as they appear
at least in the movies!
 |
| At least one of the kids is useful |
Everyone
is together now except Hammond and Malcolm who are hiding away in the bunker
still, lucky for them. The system
control needs to be booted up by computer and Ellie takes a seat. The raptor opens the door to Grant’s
astonishment and Ellie joins him to help keep the door shut. Tim, Lex it would have been useful
information to mention to Grant or Ellie that the raptors can open doors! Grant drops the gun on the floor just out of
reach at the same time. Lex takes the
seat in the chair as she is a computer nerd that is mentioned earlier in the
movie but I decided to withhold it until now in crunch time for added effect. Tim is jumping up and down like the little
turd he is while he manages to do nothing to help either Lex or the grownups.
 |
| Nowhere left to run |
I mean he was recently barbequed but he’s
walking around so he should be able to contribute something. I have always wondered why Tim never gave the
gun to Grant or why Grant never yelled for the gun from Tim. The gun gets completely left out in a moment they
need it most. Perhaps Grant felt that
gun violence may push Tim over the edge and cause his death later when he
returned to his hometown. It also may be
that seeing Tim handling a gun even if to hand it to Grant would make mothers
around the world unite against this movie and what it’s encouraging kids to
do. Of course I’m not stupid enough to
think such non sense but that doesn’t stop those people from thinking it. Jurassic Park tells our kids to use guns! Did I stray?
Sorry let’s return to the action as Lex saves the day for the moment and
gets security and phones back up online.
There is a brief moment of happiness as Grant phones Hammond “
Call the mainland; tell them to send the damn helicopter.” The raptor bust through the glass in
aggressive style dodges bullets from the gun and forces the people up into the
ceiling. Not too shabby for an extinct
dinosaur if you ask me.
 |
| King of Hammond's Castle |
They
scramble across the ceiling as Lex nearly falls to be another victim of her
grandfather’s death trap. Grant kicks
the raptor in the head and pulls Lex up to safety. That’s what I’m talking about Grant, ninja
kick these dinos! They crawl through the
vent shaft and out into the main lobby with the hanging dinosaur
skeletons. The raptors are ready and
jump onto the skeletons with them as they try in a last ditch attempt to flee
the menacing dinosaurs, as you watch though escape seems highly unlikely. Grant foolishly dropped his gun in the
control room so any thought of blasting them away is gone. He missed earlier at point blank range so
it’s probably of no consequence. I’m a
paleontologist not a pre-historic hunter!
Eventually everything tumbles down raptors, skeletons and humans alike,
gravity has no prejudices after all. The
last stand is here and the raptors would have their prey if the Rex didn’t make
a triumphant return and snatch the very raptor that would pounce on Grant
keeping him out of any sequels. How did
the Rex get in? It looked like there was
an opening from outside but the moment is so dramatic that it’s easily overlooked. The group rushes outside into the waiting
jeep with Hammond and Malcolm already.
Grant comes to a decision. “
Mr. Hammond I’ve decided not to endorse
your park.” “
So have I.” Hammond replies! When dinosaurs ruled the earth is on a banner
that drifts downward across the Rex as he gets the closing scene of chaos.
The
ending happens quietly as Hammond waits on the helipad for a gaze upon a past
recreated. You feel sorry for the guy as
his meek oldness plays you. Grant brings
him to the helicopter and they fly away from the island. The music takes you away as the scene fills
you with a satisfying close. Grant has
the kids nestled up around him as he gives a look of ‘well I guess they’re not all bad’ referring to kids. My most memorable movie of all time that I
can never imagine being supplanted ends and every time I watch it a feeling of
immense joy crosses my entire being.
Be sure to read my
Jurassic
Park – How it’s bonded with my DNA as well, it’ll blow away what’s left of
your mind. You can go directly to the review here:
Rating: 100,000,000 years of all
time greatness!
I’ve used my own images for this review and hope you find them suitable.
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Grant
and the kids wake up to the sight of a friendly brachiosaur eating leaves from
the tree. They all get to touch it
without fear while having fun for once at this accursed park. The dinosaur
eventually sneezes all over Lex as Tim smiles and blesses the dinosaur to get
well soon. Lex is infuriated in the
meantime. On their journey back to the
visitor center Grant makes a startling discovery of hatched eggs! He explains that “Some West African frogs have been known to change sex from male to
female in a single sex environment.”
Life finds a way as Malcolm phrased earlier when nobody really believed
his nonsense. He didn’t know it would be
the result of the sequence gaps provided by frog DNA but technical it was
nature that provided the breakthrough against the controlled genetic experiment
Hammond was attempting. They don’t
reveal the eggs species but does it matter? Hammond doesn’t have the control he thought he
had after all. This must be the illusion
Ellie refers to but she has no clue the dinosaurs are breeding and furthermore
I don’t believe she even suspects it! It’s
rather a subtle hole in the story and I highly doubt most viewers even notice.
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