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"An Adventure 65 Million Years In The Making."
—Tagline(src)

Jurassic Park is a 1993 American science fiction-adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, based upon the novel of the same name, written by Michael Crichton. The story involves scientists visiting a safari amusement park of genetically engineered dinosaurs on an island over one weekend. Sabotage by a rival company, Biosyn sets the carnivorous dinosaurs on the loose, and the technicians and visitors attempt to escape the island.

The film began its genesis right before the novel was even published, and Crichton was hired to write a script that skimmed down its plot. Spielberg hired Stan Winston Studios' puppets and worked with Industrial Light and Magic to develop the ground-breaking CGI to portray the dinosaurs. The film stars Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, and Richard Attenborough. It reached near-universal acclaim.

The film grossed $914 million in its initial release, making it the first film ever to gross $900 million, and was the highest-grossing film of all time, surpassing E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, until it was surpassed by Titanic in 1997, the first film ever to gross $1 billion. After being re-released in 2013, which made it gross $1.029 billion, it is currently the 47th highest-grossing film of all time. Most significantly, the film inspired a new breed of films that primarily used CGI for special effects.

The film was followed by The Lost World: Jurassic Park on May 23, 1997, Jurassic Park III on July 18, 2001, Jurassic World on June 12, 2015, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom on June 22, 2018 and Jurassic World: Dominion on June 10, 2022, none of which were as critically acclaimed as the first. The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III weren't as financially successful as the first film, although both Jurassic World and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom beat the first film in terms of profit. The film was re-released twice, first in the cinemas of U.K. on September 23, 2011, then in 3D on April 5, 2013. The 25th anniversary of this film was in 2018.

Plot[]

Gate Entrance (2)

Welcome to Jurassic Park!

On Isla Nublar, an InGen employee is attacked and killed by a Velociraptor, possibly a pack leader known as the Big One, while attempting to transport it to a heavily fortified enclosure. This prompts the worker's family to file a lawsuit against the company, and it successfully scares InGen's investors into thinking that the park is unsafe. The CEO of InGen, John Hammond, decides to reassure the investors by bringing a group of experts to his park in order to gain their approval of it. Among the group he invites is paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant and paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler, two scientists whose digs he's been funding, Dr. Ian Malcolm, a mathematician (or "chaotician" as he calls himself), and his investor's lawyer, Donald Gennaro. Meanwhile, at Costa Rica, Dennis Nedry is meeting with Dr. Lewis Dodgson, a rival scientist of InGen working for Biosyn. Dennis is a computer programmer working for John on Isla Nublar and has recently become dissatisfied with his treatment by InGen. Dennis agrees to steal dinosaur embryos for Dodgson for a total of $1.5 Million.

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Inside the Jurassic Park helicopter.

The group, assembled by John, arrive on the island via helicopter and then take two 1992 Wrangler Sahara jeeps out into the park, where they come across a Brachiosaurus and a whole herd of Parasaurolophus, to their utter amazement. John then takes his assembled team to the Visitor Center, and learn that InGen were able to recreate dinosaurs using DNA taken from mosquitoes, who had feasted on dinosaur blood and had been preserved in amber. The DNA taken from the mosquitoes were spliced with DNA from frogs to fill in the gaps of the genetic code. InGen scientists only cloned female dinosaurs, thus eliminating the threat of uncontrolled breeding of the animals. Afterwards, the crew enter the laboratory, headed by Dr. Henry Wu, and witness the birth of an infant Velociraptor.

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John Hammond and an infant Velociraptor.

At Alan's request, the crew are then taken to the Velociraptor enclosure, where they meet park warden Robert Muldoon. Robert tells the group about how vicious and intelligent the raptors are. He explains that there are only three raptors altogether because the Big One, who has taken over as the alpha female, had "killed all but two of the others", of the total eight raptors. Meanwhile, the scientists lower a cow attached to a harness into a dinosaur's enclosure and observe the Velociraptor slaying the cow, destroying the support cables and tearing the harness in the process. After the experiment, the crew head indoors for a lunch break.

During the lunch break, Alan, Ian, and Ellie start to express concerns about the park after the initial shock and wonder has subsided. Ian questions the ethical morality in cloning species that had not lived for millions of years. Ellie expresses concerns that the scientists may not be thinking of the repercussions that might occur of what they are cloning. Alan remains fairly neutral on the issue though he advises John to be careful. Donald is the only one who completely approves, thanks to the amounts of money they could make off the island. Hammond puts it eloquently, "I don't believe it. You're meant to come down here and defend me against these two characters and the only one I have on my side is the blood-sucking lawyer!"

Dilophosaurus pen

Dilophosaurus fence

After lunch, John's two grandchildren, Lex and Tim Murphy, arrive. John's grandchildren join forces with the crew, and they take a tour through the park in electric Tour Vehicles, consisting of two 1992 Ford Explorer XLTs. Both of them instantly take a liking to Alan, who doesn't appreciate the attention, as he does not garner much interest in children. The tour group visits the Dilophosaurus enclosure first, but to their disappointment, none appear. Next, they head towards the Tyrannosaurus pen where a goat is released into the pen, but the Tyrannosaurus still does not emerge from the forest. Finally, the crew find a sick Triceratops, with veterinarian Dr. Gerry Harding examining it. Ellie decides to stay behind with Gerry, while the rest of the crew head back to the Ford Explorers and go on their way back to the Visitor Center.

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T. rex attacks a car

A tropical cyclone storm hits the island, and most InGen employees leave, except for John, Robert, and chief systems engineer Ray Arnold. During the cyclone, Dennis begins his plan and shuts down the entire park security (except for the raptor fences). As a result, the Tyrannosaurus breaks through the deactivated electric fence surrounding its pen, devours the stranded goat, and wreaks havoc upon the roadway, attacking Tim and Lex hiding in the car, who was left alone by Donald after he fled. Alan ignites a flare to lure the T.rex away from the kids, but Ian inadvertently intervenes, only for himself to be chased to a restroom, where Donald is hiding. The T. rex brings down the hut, breaking Ian's leg, and devours Donald in the process. Lex and Alan battle the T. rex, while the broken Explorer manned by Tim is pushed over the edge of the enclosure and plunges into a tree below.

Nedry death

Nedry's death.

Once Alan and Lex manage to get to the bottom of the enclosure, Alan must climb up the tree that holds the wrecked Explorer with Tim inside. He successfully rescues Tim; however, they have to escape from the Explorer when it begins falling down the tree. Just after they flee the wreckage, Ellie and Robert arrive at the scene. At first, they believe the only survivor of the chaos is Ian, but upon further investigation, they find two sets of footprints: one is Alan's and one belongs to one of the kids. Just then, the Tyrannosaurus returns, and Ian, Robert, and Ellie barely manage to escape in their Jeep.

Meanwhile, Dennis crashes his Jeep into an embankment, and while trying to winch it, he encounters a juvenile Dilophosaurus, who spits out a tar-like venom at Dennis’s eyes, causing him extreme pain before the saboteur manages to get back in his Jeep. When Nedry thinks he's safe, he turns his head and the Dilophosaurus managed to get into the car with him and continues to attack him, and eventually kills him. The modified canister, used to smuggle the embryos, is lost in the process.

Alan, Tim, and Lex spend the night in a tree. While hiking to safety the next morning, they discover hatched eggs, which means that the dinosaurs are actually breeding. Alan hypothesizes that the frog DNA is responsible as some species of frog are known to spontaneously change sex in a single-sex environment.

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Muldoon's death

Ray tries to hack Dennis' computer to turn the power back on but fails, so he does a full system reset, which requires the circuit breakers to be manually reset from the utility shed. When he does not return, Ellie and Robert follow and discover that the raptors have escaped; the shutdown cut off the power to the remaining electricity fences around their pit. Robert realizes that the raptors are near and tells Ellie to go to the utility shed herself, so she can turn the power back on, while Robert tries to hunt the raptor. Ellie manages to turn back on the power, but Tim loses consciousness after getting electrocuted while climbing the perimeter fence to get to the other side. Ellie runs from a raptor that was hiding in the maintenance shed after discovering Ray's severed arm and after escaping, Ellie meets Alan, and they both go back to Ian and John in the emergency bunker.

Meanwhile, the Raptors set a trap for Muldoon in a way exactly as Grant had described at the beginning of the film; One raptor is rustling in the bushes directly in front of Muldoon, and right before he can shoot the raptor, the Big One emerges from the brush right next to Muldoon. Muldoon utters the famous words "clever girl" before the Big One leaps onto him and devoured him. Lex and Tim also narrowly escape the Big One and her fellow raptors in the kitchen. After outsmarting the Raptors (Tim locking one in the freezer and Lex knocking the Big One out for several minutes), Alan, Ellie, Lex and Tim all head to the computer room to try and reboot the system. Alan and Ellie hold off the Big One trying to open the door to the computer room until the power is restored, and the electromagnetic locks begin working. Lex is finally able to restore the Park's computer systems in order to call John to request a helicopter rescue of the survivors.

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Rexy kills The Big One.

With the door secured, the raptor breaks into the room through the window after Grant shoots at it through the glass. The group climbs up into the ceiling crawlspace and arrive at the Visitor Center skeleton display, only after Lex is attacked by the Big One leaping up at her. The raptors pursue, and after a scuffle with the Big One on top of the fossil exhibits and the raptors block their escape route, help comes from an unlikely source when the Tyrannosaurus suddenly appears and kills both raptors (saving Alan, Ellie, Lex, and Tim in the process). (She --the T.Rex-- prevents anybody else in the group from being killed by the raptors.) The four then climb into John and Ian's jeep, then head for the landing strip. Alan decides not to endorse the park, a choice with which John concurs. As all fly away in the helicopter, the children fall asleep beside Alan, who contemplatively watches a flock of pelicans flying nearby, the surviving relatives of the dinosaurs they escaped.


Cast and Characters[]

JP-MainCharacters

Gennaro, Sattler, Hammond, Grant, Malcolm

Click here for a complete list of cast and crew.

List of Prehistoric Creatures in the Film[]

Physically Appeared[]

Referenced Only[]

Cut/Scrapped[]

Reception[]

Critical[]

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. As stated by Rotten Tomatoes critics, the film earned a high "B"/low "A" grade. One thing that critics disliked was the various differences between the novel and the movie. And along with the film's positive feedback, it also received many awards - including the Best Science Fiction Film, Best Direction (Steven Spielberg), Best Writing (Michael Crichton and David Koepp) and Best Special Effects - as well as several other ones. Overall, the movie was a huge success and is also one of Spielberg's most notable works.

Legacy[]

Merchandise[]

When the movie was released, it came with extensive games, toy lines, comics and collectibles.

Media[]

Click here: Jurassic Park (film)/Media for images and videos related to this article.

Images[]

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Videos[]

Mistakes[]

Main Article: Jurassic Park Film Goofs

In recent years, fans have noted many mistakes that are quite big, but because of the film's fast-moving pace, they are mostly unnoticeable unless the movie is paused or watched again. This is some of them, but for more information, see Jurassic Park Film Goofs section.

  • When the chopper comes down near the waterfall the cars are already right next to the helipad. However, once the chopper lands, they are seen backing up to collect the guests, despite already being there.
  • When the jeeps stop to look at the Brachiosaurus, they are in the sun but in the next shot, they are in the shade and behind trees.
  • Also in that scene when Grant and Sattler are looking at the herd of animals, Sattler was to the left of Grant but in the next shot, she is suddenly to the right of him.
  • In the T. rex Break-out scene, the door was left open by Gennaro, but when it is viewed from Grant and Malcom's car, the door is closed.
  • The goat's leg that lands on top of Lex and Tim's car vanishes a few seconds later.
  • When the T. rex pushes Lex and Tim's car over a stage light, a potted plant and a steel cable can be clearly seen.
  • When the Dilophosaurus that kills Nedry squirts the venom on him he grabs a bit and pulls it up to see what it is. However, if one pauses the movie, they can see that there is none where he pulls the venom, but when he grabs his top, he actually puts more on his chest.
  • When The Big One manages to get into Lex and Tim's hiding place it is possible to see someone's hand being placed on the raptor's tail.
  • When the kids are sleeping on the helicopter in Grant's arms, their heads move position between shots.
  • A few names of the dinosaurs on the embryo chamber are misspelled.

Changes from the book[]

  • The beginning sequence of the book with the Bowman family is written out (it is later used in The Lost World).
  • Dr. Marty Guitierrez does not appear.
  • Donald Gennaro's family is not mentioned.
  • Brachiosaurus replaces the slightly smaller Apatosaurus and/or Camarasaurus.
  • The Velociraptors do not escape before the power break.
  • There are eight Velociraptors in the novel. But in the film, it is instead explained that five were killed by the Big One.
  • The Park Drive tour is completely changed.
  • The sick Stegosaurus is ultimately replaced with a sick Triceratops but its name is shown when Dennis was stealing the embryos for BioSyn (though misspelled).
  • There is only one female Tyrannosaurus while the book has two including a juvenile.
  • Ed Regis does not appear, as his character was merged with Donald Gennaro.
  • Henry Wu does not have a larger role and actually survives and leaves for the boat.
  • Gerry Harding also does not have a larger role
  • Gennaro is killed, which may have been related to Ed's death in the novel.
  • The auxiliary power does not come on.
  • Half of the people that would be stranded have left aboard the Anne B.
  • The Velociraptors boarding the Anne B never happens
  • The Gallimimus scene replaces the Hadrosaurus stampede.
  • Grant and the kids do not travel on a raft.
  • The survivors do not take refuge in the park’s hotel.
  • The aviary is completely absent (it is later used in Jurassic Park III).
  • Dr. Sattler goes to turn on the power instead of Gennaro and Grant.
  • Muldoon is killed.
  • The nursery scene is written out.
  • The exploration of the raptor nest is written out.
  • Hammond survives.
  • Ian Malcolm does not die (however, this is later changed in the novel canon as it was changed when The Lost World was released).
  • The island was not bombed.
  • The survivors are not detained at Costa Rica.

Adaptations[]

A manga adaptation of Jurassic Park was created by Kazumi Sakamoto in 1993. The manga takes several liberties with the movie's storyline.

Trivia[]

  • Although called "Jurassic Park", many of the dinosaurs within the park are not from that period. This is similar with Crichton's novel of the same name. However, Brachiosaurus and Dilophosaurus are from this era. Though its name only appeared in the scene with Dennis Nedry stealing the dinosaur embryos, Metriacanthosaurus and Stegosaurus (improperly labelled "Stegasaurus") are also from the Jurassic period.
  • The name of the Tianchisaurus species nedegoapeferima is formed from the first letters of the surnames of the film's main stars: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, Ariana Richards, and Joseph Mazzello.
  • Jurassic Park grossed $914 million in the box office becoming the highest-grossing movie of all time before being surpassed by Titanic in 1997. After its re-release in 2013, it is currently the 47th highest-grossing film of all time but it would be in 66th place if it and no other movie had ever been re-released.
  • Dr. Grant's explanation of how the Raptor hunts and kills is a nod to the fate of Dr. Henry Wu in the novel (sliced across the belly, spilling out the intestines). However, Dr. Wu survives in the movie.
  • In the same year, Jurassic Park won 3 Academy Awards, director Steven Spielberg, editor Michael Khan and film composer John Williams also won Oscars for another film they worked on, Schindler's List.
  • The original theatrical, most home media (including the 4K Ultra HD release), and television releases use the 1991 Universal Pictures logo, while both the 2013-present theatrical printings and the Blu-ray 3-D release use the 2013 Universal Pictures logo, so don't expect to see the same version twice.
  • After being re-released in 2013, the film became the oldest film ever to gross $1 billion, surpassing Titanic, which was the first-ever film to reach that mark. And along with the 2012 re-release of Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, this is one of the only two films that grossed $1 billion after being re-released.

Film scenes[]

  • In a scene featuring Dennis Nedry, one of his computer monitors was playing Jaws, another film by Steven Spielberg.
  • During the scene where Ellie restores the park's fuse box, she pushes a button 'Push to Close' by following John Hammond. It confused many why she was pushing a button that 'closed' when she was trying to turn on the power. It is because it is for closing the circuit and a closed circuit means that the circuit has been completed.

External links[]

Navigation[]

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