Ever since the first dinosaur skeleton was dug up, people speculated on how dinosaurs looked, and how they lived. "Dr. John Hammond" (Richard Attenborough) was one of those who speculated those things, and came up with a way to study them -- by bringing them back to life through cloning.

"Dr. Hammond" bought an island 120 miles off of Costa Rica for his cloned dinosaurs to live in a barricaded community, but his investors are not convinced that he has done everything he could do with this park. So, he brings in paleobotanists "Dr. Alan Grant" (Sam Neil) and "Dr. Ellie Sattler" (Lauren Dern), as well as the highly annoying mathematician "Dr. Ian Malcom" (Jeff Goldblum), who specializes in chaos theory. Their job is to endorse the park so that the insurance company and investors will back off. He also brings in two people of his park's target audience -- his grandchildren, "Tim" (Joseph Mazzello) and "Lex" (Ariana Richards).

But what they all don't know is that all hell is about to break loose thanks to the disgruntled creator of the park's computer system, who has been bribed by a competitor of "Dr. Hammond" to steal useable dinosaur embryos for their use.

The first thing you will notice in this film is the amazing special effects that are perfectly blended into scenes. The dinosaurs are designed perfectly and are quite realistic. There are even things in this film that are CGI that you think are real, unless you saw any behind-the-scenes footage. Even the animatronic dinosaurs are nicely created and do not look like they are covered in a rubber skin. The sound effects of the dinosaur vocalizations are just as good, and help make the creatures seem real.

The movie score, written by the legendary conductor John Williams, really helps enhance the suspense in the film. The music he composed is very dramatic and works wonderfully with what is on the screen.

With the exception of three performers, the cast is quite strong. They are able to work with a script that has some flaws and make it work. In my opinion, only Martin Ferrero, Wayne Knight and Goldblum, who I personally think is not one of the worst actors Hollywood has to offer, are weak in their roles.

The script has some poor dialogue, but those lines do pass quickly.

There are some continuity errors, one of which is when the velociraptor baby is hatching (watch the mechanical clamp which is holding the egg as the baby is pushing its way out). However, when the action gets hot, you won't catch them.

Steven Spielberg has put together a good cast, amazing special effects and a fairly strong script with good editing to put together a good movie. It would be a good rental for a Friday night.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older