The summer of 1993 changed everything for me as a young movie fan, and it all began with a sign. Not a metaphorical sign, but a literal one, as the banner for Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park flew in the sky one day and caught my eye with its historic red and black logo. With this being one of the best sci-fi movies to have ever been shown on the big screen, all it took was one viewing to make me a believer. Even today, after 30 years of continued revisitations, the adaptation of the Michael Crichton thriller is still one of my all-time favorites for several huge reasons.
Jurassic Park Was My First Blockbuster
Besides the fact that Jurassic Park is a tremendous movie, it was also my first blockbuster. While I grew up with plenty of movies, like E.T. the Extra-terrestrial and Back to the Future, in my family’s VHS collection, those were experiences that were handed down. When it came to getting in on the ground floor, Jurassic Park was the first blockbuster I identified as an interest, and I followed through with seeing it in a theater.
One round with Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum fighting off dinosaurs, and I’d experienced the same sort of thrills some experienced when they first saw Star Wars. Only instead of being introduced to Velociraptors terrorizing humans through VHS, I got to experience that rush for the first time with the other unsuspecting patrons in the theater that day. Trust me when I tell you that there's no better way to first hear the chilling squeals of a hungry Velociraptor.
The Jurassic Fandom Was The First Franchise I Actively Followed
By time I’d gotten to my middle school years, I was already a Star Wars fan and was just about to get into the James Bond movies, the latter of which was thanks to becoming engrossed in Goldeneye 64. Those experiences were still some years off, which allowed Jurassic Park to be the first blockbuster franchise to get me energized about wondering where it could go next.
To be fair, that started out as wishful thinking. Let’s not forget, Jurassic Park was the movie that wasn’t supposed to trounce Last Action Hero as “the big ticket in ‘93. ” With a surprising windfall and no Michael Crichton-penned sequel novel just yet, my hopes for at least six movies were pretty sky high. The moment that The Lost World was announced as being set for publication and adapted into a movie, the rest became a torrent of scouring for all the news I could get and eventually covering that very series professionally.
The Movie Further Fueled My Curiosity Around Filmmaking
For its time, Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur-fueled thrill ride was the gold standard in effects wizardry. CGI and practical puppets melded together to create a finished product that still holds up as a visual marvel. Impressed by that fact myself, it was time to dig deeper into how it all happened, which only furthered my appreciation for Jurassic Park. Tie-in books detailing the making of the picture, as well as a primetime special hosted by James Earl Jones, were both on hand to start satisfying that curiosity.
That, in turn, was a gateway to everything from following trade magazines to hunting down shows like Movie Magic, which went into great depths to break down other thrilling spectacles from contemporary movies. Thanks to Stan Winston and his crew of geniuses behind the scenes, I only became even more curious about the movie industry, which definitely came in handy when landing me in the very position you see me occupying today.
Steven Spielberg Was The First Director I Recognized By Name
I previously mentioned two other movies that had become favorites before Jurassic Park came along and changed everything. Strangely enough, E.T. and Back to the Future primed me to eventually become a huge fan of Steven Spielberg’s work, both as a director and as an executive producer of movies that are still upheld as classics to this day. Because of all of this, I can safely claim that Mr. Spielberg was the first director I recognized by name.
That, plus that the filmmaker happened to be bringing Tiny Toon Adventures into the world, resulted in younger Mike actually writing Steven Spielberg a fan letter. While I was asking if he was working on a movie version of that cartoon show that took up some of my after-school afternoons, the formal reply from his office said there were no plans at the moment. Though considering the timing of that letter, and the fact that I was told he was in production on another film at the moment, I was about to start hunting down the rest of his filmography once those dinosaurs had worked their magic.
Jurassic Park Also Cemented My Michael Crichton Obsession
Admittedly, I asked my parents to buy me the novel Jurassic Park because I wanted to get into this world as soon as possible. In hindsight, very few kids reading above their level in third grade would have probably finished Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel, and I certainly did not. Who would have thought that chaos theory would have went over my head at such a young age?
At the same time, the origins of the Jurassic universe did keep me interested in Crichton’s works in the years to come. With new novels being released periodically, and adaptations of Congo and Sphere arriving not too long down the line, his name is one that still fills a shelf in my collection. Surely if the man could create Jurassic Park, he had to have some other works I was interested in, right?
I Fell Even More In Love With Dinosaurs As A Result
Perhaps the greatest reason I still hold Jurassic Park in such high regard is because it’s not only a fantastic movie, but it helped me fall in love with dinosaurs even more as a kid. Sure, every child is bound to have a “dinosaur phase,” as that universal truth is why we have one of Step Brothers’ best monologues. It wasn’t just a phase for me though, as the short-lived ABC sitcom Dinosaurs teed up the shot, and Steven Spielberg drove it home.
Even now, I find myself still fascinated with these creatures, enough to follow the rest of the Jurassic installments that came to pass, as well as other projects, like Apple TV+’s Prehistoric Planet. The truth and the fiction of dinosaurs still captivates me like it did that first day I saw Jurassic Park, and its one of the many reasons I’m thankful this movie came through at the right time in my life as a budding cinephile.
Fellow franchise fan and Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow has said that the sixth chapter in the story of life finding a way isn’t the end of the Jurassic saga. Whatever the future holds, and whenever it’s made known to the world, I await whatever follows Jurassic World Dominion’s ending with great excitement. All I ask is that Roberta the T-Rex be left alone to retire in peace, as she’s earned that distinction with flying colors.
I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit inspired to return to the world of Jurassic Park. Should you feel the urge to return to that adventure 65 million years in the making, most of the franchise’s entries can be streamed at the time of this writing. All you need is a Peacock subscription, and some time to have your mind blown all over again, so spare no expense and take the plunge!
