Title: Jurassic Park 3D
Directed by: Steven Spielberg
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: April 5, 2013 (Original Release Date: January 11, 1993)
Rated: PG-13
Synopsis: During a preview tour, a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok. (Via IMDB)
Brian: Seeing Jurassic Park on the big screen for the first time in twenty years was not just an average Sunday outing to the movies for me. It was a blast, to be sure, but it was also a little emotional. There were two events that got me serious about movies, both in 1993, when I was eight. The first was seeing Jurassic Park opening weekend with my dad. I was so scared during the first T-Rex attack that I buried my head in his chest before the screaming ceased on the screen. The second was discovering the reviews of Roger Ebert on the brand new CD-Rom called Cinemania ’94. On Thursday, Roger Ebert passed away, at the age of 70. Three days later I went back to the theater to see one of my all-time favorite movies. It truly is the end of an era. There will be no more movies reviewed by Roger Ebert, and there won’t be any more movies, unless we’re super lucky, quite like Jurassic Park. It’s sad when a twenty-year-old movie, one I’ve probably seen at least twenty times, delivers more thrills and suspense and excitement than any other mainstream blockbuster released today, but that’s what Jurassic Park does. Not a minute passed in watching the film again that I didn’t think to myself, man, they sure don’t make movies like this anymore.
Shaunta: I was in my early 20s when Jurassic Park first came out, and a new mom. I don’t think I saw it at the theater. If I did, I don’t remember. But I love, love, love the movie and I was really excited to take my 8-year-old daughter to see it in 3-D. I knew going in what Brian’s experience was with the T-Rex, so I was prepared to comfort Ruby if she got scared. My little girl doesn’t scare so easy though, because she didn’t flinch once. Her 11-year-old bestie came with us, too, though, and she was terrified. Me? I was enchanted all over again. I spent a lot of the movie thinking, God this is so good. If they can make films this good, why are they making movies like The Host? Seriously. Jurassic Park is still relevant after more than 20 years. It’s still creepy and a little scary and enthralling. It’s a classic.
Brian: Some may scoff at the idea of a twenty-year-old movie being converted to 3D. Some may look at this 3D release as nothing more than a ploy by Universal to steal ten of your hard earned dollars. But I don’t find this to be the case. One, the 3D is incredible. Every shot of Jurassic Park truly does look like it was originally shot in 3D. There’s not the wonder of Avatar, Hugo, or Life of Pi—let’s be fair—but after Titanic and Jurassic Park, I’m all for 3D conversions for older films, if they can enhance the drama and action on screen. And two, I don’t see this as a ploy because the best way, the only way, to watch Jurassic Park is on a giant screen. I watched it here and there on DVD over the last few years, but it doesn’t have the same power as it does in a theater. The film’s as fresh as ever. I understand the plot a lot better today than I did when I first saw it in 1993, and understanding the power of the concept, and the beauty of the execution, makes me appreciate it even more. The pace of the movie is damn well perfect, with a blend of humor and wonder and terror that blends together so effortlessly you’d think Spielberg was a close encounter of the third kind. And could there be a better cast? Harrison Ford was offered the role of Alan Grant (too big of a movie star), Sandra Bullock auditioned for Ellie Sattler (a video I hope surfaces one day), Jim Carrey was considered for Ian Malcolm (how strange would that have been??). No, the best choices were ultimately chosen, and Jeff Goldblum is still the most interesting character in the movie, giving the quiet dialog scenes a fascinating power. And the CGI effects, which were literally groundbreaking in 1993, still, after all these years, look amazing. Wow.
Shaunta: I agree. I’m glad, of course, that I can watch and rewatch movies on my television, but there are movies that were definitely designed to be watched BIG. Jurassic Park, maybe of all movies, is one of those. I really enjoyed the 3-D. Sometimes I like remastered 3-D more than movies shot that way from the beginning, because the movie isn’t manipulated to make the most of the 3-D. I’m someone who gets motion sick really easily, and when a movie has a long scene of running through a maze of some sort to show off the 3-D (think the opening scene of Hugo), it makes me pukey. Jurassic Park only had one or two small scenes that made me take off my glasses. And the 3-D really enhanced the movie. It was beautiful, it brought the dinosaurs to life even more, and it put the viewer right in there with them.
Brian: I can be cynical when it comes to remakes, but I’m an advocate for re-releases. In the old days, before DVD, old movies were re-released to theatres all the time, most famously the classic Disney films. That time has long passed us by, and now we’re lucky if once a year we get some sort of limited engagement for an older classic film. So much attention is paid to the newest movie out there, to the movie that made the most opening weekend, but I always just look for quality films. That’s why I don’t see as many movies in the spring, because very few excellent films are released between January and April, at least by the studios. I’ve seen six or seven movies in the theater since the first of the new year, and the most fun I’ve had, easy, was seeing Jurassic Park on the big screen. (Since last August, Cinemark has started a Classic Film Series, one classic film a week for one day only at participating movie theatres. I’ve watched The Birds, Casablanca, and Lawrence of Arabia, the latter of which I got to see on the biggest movie screen in all of Reno. Yeah. Bliss.) If a different older classic film got re-released once a month, the movies would be a much happier place. Let’s start with a Steven Spielberg retrospective. Who’s with me?
