In his review of 1993’s Jurassic Park, film critic Roger Ebert wrote that overall the movie could have been better, but “because [it] delivers on the bottom line, I’m giving it three stars. You want great dinosaurs, you got great dinosaurs.”
Ebert, who passed away Thursday at age 70, wrote upwards of 7,500 movie reviews during his 46-year career, and very few had anything kind to say about 3D; this is the man who wrote a 2010 article for Newsweek titled “Why I Hate 3D (And You Should Too)”. But I imagine Ebert would (albeit begrudgingly) admit that this week’s 3D re-issue of Jurassic Park makes things even a little more fun on Isla Nublar.
Surprisingly, the movie holds up fairly well, despite the two decades that have passed. Yes, Laura Dern is traipsing around in mom jeans that would make even Carol Walsh blanch, and the “high-tech” computer keeping the entire island online is none other than the ol’ Macintosh Quadra 700 (and its 25 MHz processor), but it’s still the same fun story and whiz-bang effects.
The biggest beneficiary of the 3D is director Steven Spielberg himself, whose direction (along with Dean Cundey’s cinematography) is highlighted that much more– the added dimension giving more depth and scope to a movie where size truly does matter.
First-timers should look at Jurassic Park almost as required viewing, and old fans will be more than happy to take the trip one more time.
It still has great dinosaurs.
4/5 stars