Jurassic Park. USA 1993

Bob Peck, Samuel Jackson and a concerned Richard Attenborough

By this stage of his career Attenborough worked mainly as a film-maker with occasional screen appearances; some as a guest star, some more substantial. His character, John Hammond, rather falls between the two. The film itself is part of a genre series and a media franchise. On its release it became the highest grossing film to that date and in its various manifestations it is still one of the all-time box office successes. The film is adapted from a novel by a very successful U.S. writer Michael Crichton. He already had successful screenplay for films like Coma (1978) and Westworld. (1973) The bidding war for the screen rights for this novel started before it was even published. Finally Steven Spielberg, an equally successful film-maker, obtained the rights.

The basic premise of the film is a new Wildlife Park Attraction being prepared for opening. The park uses sophisticated cloning techniques to producer actual animals which have been extinct for millennia. The setting is a fictional island off the east coast of Latin America. John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) is the entrepreneur though he relies on funding from other capitalists and employing a team of geneticists. He invites a palaeontologist to join a tour of the park; Alan Grant (Sam Neill) together with a palaeobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern). There is also a lawyer in charge of safety certification, Gennaro (Martin Ferrero), accompanied by chaotician Ian Malcom (Jeff Goldblum). The latter scientist provides a counter-view to that embodied in the park. During the tour they are joined by Hammond’s two grandchildren, also visiting the island.

The film opens with a series of brief sequences that set up the narrative. An accident involving one of the cloned prehistoric beasts  prompts the need for safety certification. An archaeozoological dig introduces the palaeontologists. And a meeting between two disreputable characters in Mexico, one the computer expert from the park Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) sets up the fix that will disrupt things.

The site of the wildlife park is in a hidden valley on the remote island; a standard generic setting for such disasters. Initially the tourists are really impressed as they see actual live dinosaurs. Hammond takes them through the tourist centre guides that explain [for the audience] how the whole parks and its cloning work., |Ian Malcom continually raises critical points about the park and the way it is run..

A tropical storm causes the majority of the staff to leave by boat. This leaves Hammond, the visitors, a warden Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck), Ray Arnold (Samuel Jackson) and Nedry alone on the island. Sure enough disaster strikes: security breaks down: and the wild prehistoric animals go on the rampage. There are not that many species on show and critics later complained that what is included does not all together stack up. But there are exciting and violent scenes as the main characters strive to avoid injury and death. Arnold, Muldoon, and Nedry all die.. The rest survive. The survivors, which include Hammond, leave on a helicopter passing a flight of cormorants; a reference to an earlier comment by the Malcom.

What happens to the remaining animals on the island, now capable of reproduction, is left open as is the opportunity for endless sequels or even prequels. ‘Bond’ has achieved two dozen: Star Wars has passed a dozen: and Fast ‘n Furious is fast approaching that number.

The film was an immense success and continues with video versions and the addition of 3D as well as spin-offs on television. And there was a vast and successful marketing campaign.. The sequels have done less well. The box office ran into billions and broke numerous records. The majority of critics were equally impressed with all sorts of accolades for the film. Robert Ebert was less impressed, writing,

“The movie delivers all too well on its promise to show us dinosaurs. We see them early and often, and they are indeed a triumph of special effects artistry, but the movie is lacking other qualities that it needs even more, such as a sense of awe and wonderment, and strong human story values”.

I tend to agree. What made the film stand out were the recreations of moving animal images; computer generated imagery, still in its early days. At the time this was impressive, though equal effects have become common in other movies. However, the characters and actions that surround these are pretty conventional. The action at times is stereotypical. And it is reminiscent of tropes in earlier Crichton works, like Westworld or the earlier The Andromeda Strain (1971); both movies rely on supposedly foolproof systems turning out to be flawed.

Richard Attenborough’s John Hammond is an avuncular father figure with little sign of the presumably commercial instinct behind such an entertainment project. He spend most of the film in the tourist centre, not directly threatened by the rampaging beasts, but gradually losing his confidence and surety.  Sam Neill’s Alan Grant is a laid back hero who rises to the occasion, but whose character relies on names and terms rather than demonstrable archaeozoological skill. The same applies to Laura Dern’s Ellie Sattler, who is also a strong and capable woman. The voice of scientific reality belongs to Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcom, facing another of ‘history’s bad ideas’; in fact with little to do but contribute scathing one-liner. The leading players do not seem to have had demanding roles; certainly less so than the numerous craft people credited in the very long end credits. Attenborough’s performance occupies an amount of screen time but much less acting input. The children are best passed over in silence and are typical examples of Hollywood’s ‘cute juniors’. Martin Ferrero, Bob Peck and Samuel Jackson all suffer the fate of supporting stars; death and lower down the cast list. Wayne Knight has just the right physical and behavioural appearance for the incompetent villainy that causes the disaster.

The location filming was mainly in Hawaii but the film relies extensively on computerised inputs. The dialogue is in English with some Spanish, not translated in subtitles. The production values are impressive and the film looks great on a big screen. The music is by John Williams and sounds familiar. The soundtrack is as good as the visuals though the latter command most attention.

As a warning about the possible misapplication of science the film is really too generalised to generate serious concern. As parable of contemporary capitalism it is really insufficient. As usual with Hollywood it is villainy rather than the imperatives of profit that cause the downfall. And the idea of competition between capitalists is with on a poorly managed company that has to rely on crime rather than the forces of the market.

In Eastmancolor and 1.85:1, running time 127 minutes: also released in 70mm blow-up. The film enjoyed the new Digital Theatre Sound System.