Jurassic Park

A film set on an island. A businessman has brought dinosaurs back. Blood from mosquitoes in amber, DNA from the blood, frog genes for the gaps; the film explains this with a cartoon. Approval is needed before the park opens. Two palaeontologists, a mathematician and a lawyer are invited to the island. Two children are on the tour as well. From there the film is one night. An employee shuts the systems down to steal embryos, the power goes, and the fences open. What the narrative is interested in is not dinosaurs but hubris: the mathematician states the difference between being able to do something and needing to, and the narrative agrees with him. The first moment of tension starts in a glass of water. The ripple on the surface is a footstep, and the scene builds it on its own; a guitar string was used for the effect. The chase in the kitchen is the best constructed section and there is almost no computer work in it. The effects are a mix of two methods. The animals in close-up are full-scale mechanical puppets; the distant and running ones were made with computers. Another technique was planned for the wide shots when production started, and the method changed once a computer test was seen. The sound design is a separate achievement. The animal calls were assembled from recordings of real animals and none comes from a single source. The director was in Poland in the final stage, shooting his next film, and approved the cut and the effects remotely. The source is a novel by Michael Crichton. Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough and Samuel L. Jackson are in the cast. Steven Spielberg directed. The music is by John Williams. Who it is for: anyone who wants an adventure film that builds tension expertly. Who it is not for: small children; several scenes are frightening and the film means them to be.