I was ten when Jurassic Park came out. That fact alone makes me feel incredibly old.
More importantly, this was the first movie that was on the questionable side that my brother and I were allowed to see. My dad screened the VHS prior to us watching it, then said "yeah, that seems alright". I don't know how exactly that happened, but ten year old me thought that it was the greatest thing that ever.
Everything about the movie captured my imagination. People forget the while Jurassic Park was primarily a sort of horror movie, it also had that first half an hour which was as close as many of us would ever come to complete wonderment. Dinosaurs! On screen! Not animated! Honestly, if that first half hour was the movie, and then everyone went home, ten year old me would've been satisfied.
...but then everything went to shit at the most inopportune time. And that's where moment number #80 really comes into play.
Enter T-Rex, Exit Genaro
So, the systems and the fences and the restraints all take a siesta due to some Hollywood Hacking. Cool.
Murphy's Law of Hollywood Disasters dictates that this disaster has to happen in the worst possible place - right in front of the Tyrannosaur paddock.
Then the noise starts.
Sure, it might be fairly unrealistic, all things considered, but those couple of glasses of water are two of the most effective props in movie history. They perfectly convey the approaching sense of doom, while giving the resident lizard food a chance to utter one of the stupidest lines in movie history.
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| "Maybe it's the power trying to come back on" -- Gennaro, lawyer and noted moron. |
After watching this scene, I felt the overwhelming need to watch this movie again... brb.
Honestly, it not even my favorite scene in the movie, nor the most tension filled. That one happens a little later (both in the movie and on the countdown).
This is an unforgettable scene. Hilarious then, and now.
ReplyDeleteI also think this book was dead-ass boring. Crichton wrote action in the dullest, driest way possible. This movie would have you think he was a genius, because it's stripped to the essentials and shot with such glorious tension.
I find your comment that people forget about the first 30 minutes to be very strange. When I consider this movie, I almost don't think about the horror at all. It's the shock of that first half hour that sticks with me. I'd argue that most of us who saw it in the theater would agree.
Oh, and the scene where Sam Jackson's hand falls on Laura Dern, and she thinks he's comforting her until the rest of the arm pops into view. Oh, and "clever girl."