Rish Outfield's reviews
When the site was first begun, one of the movies we promised/threatened to review was Jurassic Park, knowing it would cause people to hate us. Now, years later, it doesn't seem like such a big deal. After all, I was the one who pushed (nay, demanded) that we include Michael Jackson's Thriller.
I will say little about the plot. It's such a well-known movie, it hardly needs any introduction. I will say, though, that I love Jurassic Park. With this film, Steven Spielberg earned forgiveness for Hook. Like every male child, I've been fascinated by dinosaurs since birth, and seeing "real live" dinosaurs in this movie captures my imagination and youthful sense of wonder. It has something of a classic, old time movie feel, like maybe it should have Cecil B. Demille or Radio Keith Orpheum's name on it. The acting isn't all bad–-and some of the players have Horror backgrounds (Sam Neill in The Final Conflict, Jeff Goldblum in The Fly, Samuel L. Jackson in Def By Temptation, and of course, Richard Attenborough in Gandhi).
Spielberg's Jaws, and Lucas's Star Wars get a lot of flak for ushering in the blockbuster era and the popcorn movie mentality. Personally, I'm grateful. I love feel-good audience-pleasers with humable soundtracks. And the naysayers who bewail the loss of thoughtful, dull message-oriented Art can still go see whatever Fox Searchlight, Screen Gems, and Fine Line decides to release. But think of what nasties THIS helped usher into the world (and I'm not just talking Carnosaur here).
The special effects are already a bit dated in some parts, but it doesn't distract from the film. It's still amazing work, whose influence forever changed filmmaking. Computer-generated imagery helped bring some amazing new visions to the screen (although none more amazing as this one), and also helped lazy filmmakers put their unimaginative visions onscreen. But I prefer to fault those "artists" and not the trendsetter that made it so easy for them.
Well-made or not, it's SO slow at the beginning, I'm wondering if I could've stood it as a kid. Ultimately, though, it's a cool movie, and one of my favourites.
Best Scare: Those velociraptors are just mean!
Note: Though Mister L. Jackson had already appeared in Jungle Fever and Do the Right Thing when this came out, they don't count. Why? Because I say they don't.

Total Skulls: 16

Sequel
Sequel setup
Rips off earlier film
Horror film showing on TV/in theater in movie
Future celebrity appears		Samuel L. Jackson
Former celebrity appears
Bad title
Bad premise
Bad acting
Bad dialogue
Bad execution
MTV Editing
OTS
Girl unnecessarily gets naked
Wanton sex
Death associated with sex
Unfulfilled promise of nudity
Characters forget about threat
Secluded location
Power is cut
Phone lines are cut
Someone investigates a strange noise
Someone runs up stairs instead of going out front door
Camera is the killer
Victims cower in front of a window/door
Victim locks self in with killer
Victim running from killer inexplicably falls
Toilet stall scene
Shower/bath scene
Car stalls or won't start
Cat jumps out
Fake scare
Laughable scare
Stupid discovery of corpse
Dream sequence
Hallucination/Vision
No one believes only witness
Crazy, drunk, old man knows the truth
Warning goes unheeded
Music detracts from scene
Death in first five minutes
x years before/later
Flashback sequence
Dark and stormy night
Killer doesn't stay dead
Killer wears a mask
Killer is in closet
Killer is in car with victim
Villain is more sympathetic than heroes
Unscary villain/monster
Beheading
Blood fountain
Blood hits camera
Poor death effect
Excessive gore
No one dies at all
Virgin survives
Geek/Nerd survives
Little kid lamely survives
Dog/Pet miraculously survives
Unresolved subplots
"It was all a dream" ending
Unbelievably happy ending
Unbelievably crappy ending
What the hell?