Jurassic Park

In honor of the release of the trailer for Jurassic World today, I'm reposting my review of Jurassic Park in IMAX 3D. I'm personally crazy excited for Jurassic World. I think it looks promising and as terrifying as the original. So while we wait for June 12 to arrive, I know I'll be rewatching Jurassic Park on a regular basis. 

The first time my parents bought advanced tickets to a movie was to celebrate my mom's birthday. They weren't entirely sure what the movie was about but they had heard it was good so they said "What the heck. Let's go see it." Nothing could have prepared them for what they saw. And now, twenty years later, the movie is back in theaters. But this time it's in 3D and IMAX. So once again my parents went to see Jurassic Park in theaters. They didn't buy tickets in advance but they did take my sister and me to see it. And we saw it in IMAX 3D.

This is one of the movies that I've been watching my entire life. I'm actually older than this movie, which is really strange to consider. And it once again makes me contemplate my parent's judgment about the movies they let me watch when I was a kid. I can't remember a time when I didn't watch this movie. I've probably been watching it since it came out on video but it's never scared me.

There are so many things right about this movie. The music is one of those things. The theme is iconic and gets stuck in your head for hours. The whole soundtrack is actually good but the movie is known for the theme. John Williams is a genius. Also, the dinosaurs look incredible still. They look just as realistic as they did twenty years ago. The sweeping landscapes and the whole idea of a theme park with live dinosaurs just add to the movie's magic.

And then you add in the IMAX 3D factor. I think we can all agree that hearing those dinosaurs--the T-Rex roar and the Velociraptors calling each other--is pretty incredible. Now imagine it in an IMAX theater. I can finally understand why the characters cover their ears when the dinosaurs make a lot of noise. They are loud and it's absolutely magnificent.

There are other things about IMAX theaters that are cool. I could hear doors closing. Doors in the movie that I never considered would make noise and I could hear the sound of them closing. When Alan is scaring the kid at the beginning by describing how Velociraptors hunt you could hear every little comment that the people around were making. When the T-Rex is chasing the Jeep, Ellie is screaming but apparently she's saying "shit" repeatedly which I never knew before. Also, when they are with the sick Triceratops Ellie is so overwhelmed that she's crying. Welcome to the wonder of IMAX and every little detail that you missed before.

Actually I found myself almost crying. This movie is such a huge part of my life. It's something that I've always watched and I've always loved it. Not to mention that I recently read the books, Jurassic Park and The Lost World by Michael Crichton. If you love the movies then I highly recommend you read the books. I'm not a science person and I found myself having the re-read some of the sections with a lot of science jargon but Crichton does a good job of explaining things in laymen's terms. Don't let the big science factor keep you from reading the books. If nothing else, read them just so you can see the difference in the characters. John Hammond bothers me in the movie but I pretty much hated him in the book. And that's only the tip of the iceberg to the books.

So whether you are new to Jurassic Park or you've seen it a hundred times make a point to go see it in theaters while it's still out. I definitely recommend the IMAX 3D version but I think any version will capture the wonder that is Jurassic Park. This is a movie that has stood the test of time. The dinosaurs are as good as they were the first time, the acting isn't overly cheesy and the story is something that would be wonderful yet terrifying if it happened in reality.