Flick of the Day: Jurassic Park

When I was 7 years old, in the summer of 1993, I was brought to the cinema to see a new film. Unlike today, I knew absolutely nothing about what I was about to see. As one gets older, very few things surprise you on the silver screen. You become overpowered with the amount of previews and reviews and blogs and advertising spots to such an extent that you are never surprised by what you see in the cinema and very often have built up your own expectations to such an extent that the film can never live up to it. What made that film I saw in the Forum Cinema in Glasthule so exciting was that I had no expectations, I hadn't read the book or seen the trailer. That kind of experience is something that sadly I cannot relive again and am unlikely to experience again. However, what I can do is re-watch that film and experience the excitement once more of entering Jurassic Park.

On a stormy night in some remote jungle location, a team of workers and security personnel are delivering some unseen creature to its new enclosure. A terrifying accident occurs and a worker is killed. John Hammond, played by the elder statesman Richard Attenborough,  the visionary showman and founder of InGen is forced to bring in outside advisers for his new theme park. This is a park unlike any that have come before. This is a park filled with animals that have not existed on Earth for 65 million years. Hammond invites the gruff but brilliant palaeontologist Dr. Alan Grant, played by the always excellent Sam Neill, and  palaeobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler, played by Laura Dern. Along for the weekend are Jeff Goldblum's oddball mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm, an oily lawyer named Gennaro and Hammond's grandchildren Lex and Tim. The grand scale of Hammond's vision soon becomes apparent and how through the wonder of scientific hokum they have managed to recreate living, breathing dinosaurs on a tropical island off the coast of Costa Rica, Isla Nublar. Were this just a trip to the zoo, albeit a quite magical and dangerous zoo, it would not be half as entertaining as it is. The arrival of a tropical storm, as they are wont to do on tropical islands, combined with sundry errors on the part of Hammond's team of wizard like geneticists leads to the inevitable outbreak of chaos. What follows is a hugely entertaining game of survival as the visitors to park seek to escape with their lives.

Given how much cinema has become overrun with their usage, it is easy to forget how much of a novelty the CGI effects used in Jurassic Park were upon its release 20 years ago. It was only true judicious use of this ground-breaking technology combined with life-sized animatronics that Steven Spielberg was able to deliver on the vision of Crichton's best-selling science fiction adventure. Looking back now, the CGI hasn't dated horribly and still looks impressive while Stan Winston's animatronic creations help give the various dinosaurs character as they run amok. The scene involving the raptors on the loose in the kitchen is still as thrilling as it always was.

Given the visual hoopla on display, it would be easy to fall into the trap so many disaster movies fall into of casting shall we say sub-par performers in the leading roles. I am thinking here of some of the cast of bridge trolls that populate the god-awful 1974 Charlton Heston starring Earthquake (Tagline "When The Big One Finally Hits L.A."). Spielberg thankfully fills the cast with some fine actors. Sam Neill, perhaps the finest antipodean talent of a very talented generation of actors, is superb as the rock around which the cast is built. Laura Dern has since gone on to develop a fine career as character actor and Dicky Attenborough brings gravitas as he always did. There is even an arm-tingling performance from Samuel L. Jackson and a deliciously slimy turn from Wayne Knight as the duplicitous Dennis Nedry. Jeff Goldbum remains one of my favourite actors to this day and he has great fun playing the wacky Malcolm.

The summer blockbuster has changed immeasurably in many ways since Spielberg invented the genre with Jaws in 1975 and in many ways for the worse. Gone are the days when films need to be based off anything as substantial as a best-selling book. I think the nadir has to be basing a film on a theme park ride but who am I to judge? In any case, Jurassic Park still stands out today for its technical prowess and lashings of adventure. Why not watch it once more, luxuriate in the excitement of your youth? I know I will.

Flick of The Day: The Hunt For Red October

The first and by far the best of the film adaptations of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series of thrillers, today's film is a classic tale of adventure set during the cold war. The film opens with a great introduction which sets the tone and pulls the viewer in 

"In November of 1984, just before Gorbachev came to power, a Typhoon-class Soviet sub surfaced just south of the Grand Banks. 

It then sank in deep water, apparently suffering a radiation problem. Unconfirmed reports indicated some of the crew were rescued.

But according to repeated statements by both Soviet and American governments, nothing of what you are about to see...

EVER HAPPENED"

The Hunt for Red October (Special Collector's Edition)

Sean Connery steals every scene as Captain Marko Ramius, a Soviet submarine captain put in charge of a new class of nuclear submarine, The Red October, that cannot be detected by sonar. He puts to sea with orders to engage in exercises but instead steams toward the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. The Russian government tells the Americans that he has gone insane and intends to attack the US but Jack Ryan believes his intention is to defect and so begins a race against time to find The Red October.

Legend has it that Sean Connery initially turned down the role after being faxed a copy of the script as he didn't believe it made any sense. It later transpired that the first page was missing from the script. A very young Alec Baldwin is very believable as CIA agent Dr. Jack Ryan, bringing just the right mix of academia and macho action man to a role later played by Harrison Ford in the inferior Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. There is very fine supporting work from Scott Glenn as a US submariner and Sam Neill as Ramius's right hand man on board the Red October.

The film is slow moving by modern standards, particularly for a thriller however this suits the story. It is contemplative and there just isn't that much eye candy to show on board a submarine. The strength of the characterisation and the rather enjoyable ending pull it through. A big hit in its day, this film has stood the test of time and is well worth a watch.