Tales of Time: Jurassic Park Rating

Today we will be rating the original 1993 Jurassic Park film. For more information on how I will rate this movie and the rest of the movies in the series check out last week's post. I will try to avoid spoilers in my reviews, and will mark when there is a spoiler.

Plot (worth 15 points)

The movie's plot is set up very well with the two opening scenes giving us a feel for what the movie will be like. The opening scene with a raptor in the cage sets this movies darker tone, while the amber caves shows the adventurous exploration/learning side of the movie. These scenes are a perfect example of a story's Promise. And this movie does a great job at progressing with the ideas introduced in the promise throughout the movie.

I would give the Plot 13 out of 15. The only issue I see with this movies plot is the possible Plot hole of how the T-Rex left his exhibit. We see that the wall on the inside of the exhibit is at least three times the height of Dr. Grant, and we've not seen any explanation as two how the T-Rex claimed that, or if it found another way out. Or how the T-Rex was able to get inside the main building.

Character (worth 15 points)

I feel like many of the characters in this movie have become absolutely Iconic, especially Jeff Goldblum's portrayal of Ian Malcom. Each of the characters in this movie are unique, and easily distinguished in both personality and look.

Each character has clear, well defined motivations, and all of the major characters directly impact the plot in some way. Now most of the characters in this movie don't have any sort of character arc, besides maybe Dr. Grant and the kids, this movie doesn't require the characters to have one.

I have seen complaints that the characters are "flat". I personally don't agree with this. Sure some characters like Ian Malcom are essentially unchanged by the events of the movie, he is not flat by any means. He still reacts to the plot and he has clear motivations. The book on the other hand is full of "flat" characters.

I give the characters of this movie a 15 out of 15. I have no issues with any of the characters. Acting (worth 10 points)

Some of the acting in this movie, such as the fear Robert Muldoon (played by Bob Peck) experiences when being hunted by Raptors, is extremely well expressed and believable. Other characters like Ian Malcom's (played by Jeff Goldblum) reactions to certain things in the plot feel lack luster. Part of that though comes from how the character is written. The cool headed mathematician might not react as much as characters like Dr. Grant.

Overall I don't have much to say about the acting of this movie. In most places the acting's is phenomenal and there's no part of the movie where the acting is terrible. I would give this movie a 10 out of 10 for acting.

Special/Practical Effects (worth 10 points)

Lets face it, these movies are know for their practical effects. You might forget parts of the story or some less important characters but you'll always remember the first time you saw that giant animatronic dinosaur next to the jeep.

While the newer movies are known for their phenomenal CGI this movie relayed far more on practical effects for a majority of the movie, especially since CGI was still in its infancy.

There will be those who prefer the newer CGI and will say that the practical effects aged poorly, but I would have to disagree. Every time I see this movie I'm amazed by all the things they could do, especially with the dinosaurs such as the T-Rex which is almost solely done with animatronics.

This movie is an easy 10 out of 10 when it comes to the effects portion of this rating.

Music (worth 5 points)

Finally we come to the last portion of this rating, the soundtrack. It would be easy to give this movie a 5 out of 5 for the music, after all it was composed by one of the greatest modern composers John Williams. However, I wanted to break the music down a little bit before giving you my personal rating.

This movie is full of wonder, excitement, and suspenseful moments. Which the music pairs with each of these perfectly. The main theme has to be one of the most famous themes in the history of cinema, and it perfectly captures the wonder and excitement of this movie, filling your gut with amazement.

The scene in the kitchen with the kids and the raptors is another great example of how John Williams masterly crafts the musical score to reflect the purpose of the scene, which is to build suspense and fear.

Overall this movie's soundtrack as I mentioned before is a 5 out of 5, due to the genius of John Williams.

Now we come to the end of the review where I give you my official rating of the movie along with some final thoughts. Overall once you tally up the points, I give this movie a score of 48 out of 50, or 4.8 stars out of 5. The movie from its plot, to characters, to effects, and music is a nearly perfect masterpiece that continues to invoke the same feelings within me no matter how many times I have watched it.

While the movie does get some details about dinosaurs wrong (such as the size of the Velociraptors. They would actually be Utah Raptors), this movie excels in every other realm.

I'm sure some of you may have different opinions than my own about the movie, and that you may think I was too lenient in my rating; but just you wait until I rate Jurassic Park 2: Lost World next. I have some harsh thoughts about that movie for sure. Until next week dear Readers.