With the release of "Jurassic Park" in 1993, Steven Spielberg created an all-time cinematic classic. The definitive dinosaur movie, "Jurassic Park" adapted Michael Crichton's novel of the same name, telling the story of a futuristic theme park gone wrong. Thanks to some flashy cloning tech and some dino DNA found in mosquitoes encased in amber, the scientists at Jurassic Park are able to bring dinosaurs back to life, letting them walk the earth alongside human beings in the confines of John Hammond's
(Richard Attenborough) island theme park. What could possibly go wrong?
You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn't know exactly what went wrong at Jurassic Park; the movie has become one of the best-known and most beloved sci-fi adventures ever made. Everyone is familiar with the misplaced joy in Hammond's voice as he proudly bids his guests, "Welcome to Jurassic Park." Everyone is equally familiar with the shocked expressions of Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) when they see their first brachiosaurus, a moment that remains visually stunning to this day. And just about everyone has a half-decent impression of Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) telling Hammond's scientists that "life, uh, finds a way." While "Jurassic Park" has secured its place in cinema's hall of fame, it wasn't the first sci-fi movie about a futuristic theme park going wrong and resulting in attractions turning on guests; before dinosaurs walked the earth, androids roamed in Westworld.
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Jurassic Park Was Westworld With Dinosaurs
1973's "Westworld" was written and directed by a name familiar to "Jurassic Park" fans: Michael Crichton, author of the novel "Jurassic Park." Before he created his better-known dinosaur theme park, Crichton first introduced the world to a theme park filled with lifelike androids. Rather than recreating prehistoric Earth, Delos, the theme park featured in "Westworld," let guests visit simulations of different eras from human history. Just like the dinosaurs of his later work, the androids that lived in Delos eventually run amok and start killing off the park's visitors. "Westworld" was well-received by critics and remains a sci-fi classic; the movie even inspired an HBO series of the same name in 2016. However, while "Westworld" broke new ground and impressed audiences, Spielberg brought its premise to new heights in "Jurassic Park."
One of the greatest strengths of "Jurassic Park" over "Westworld" is the pioneering visual effects work done by Industrial Light & Magic on the movie. Never before had CGI been used to such an impressive extent, creating convincingly realistic flesh and blood creatures on a gigantic scale. Audiences were blown away by the spectacle of Spielberg's masterpiece. Spielberg combined this epic scale and major visual effects accomplishment with an emotionally driven story, focused on the pseudo-family unit formed by Grant, Sattler and Hammond's grandchildren. The result is a story that continues to resonate with and thrill audiences over 30 years later.
Spectacle And Sympathy Were Key To Jurassic Park's Success
While "Westworld" was innovative for its time, "Jurassic Park" pushed cinematic innovation to a new level. "Westworld" was notable for being the first movie to use digital image processing, a process utilized to produce the androids' pixelated view of the world — an innovation that writer and director Michael Crichton pushed for in the film. "Jurassic Park," however, delivered one of the most stunning and significant leaps forward in visual effects history with its computer-generated dinosaurs.
Beyond the technological advances dividing "Westworld" and "Jurassic Park," though, was the cinematic mastery of Spielberg — a director with a skill for building tension and emotion — which made those digital dinosaurs hit that much harder. While still suspenseful, the cinematography of "Westworld" is undeniably dated. It is instantly recognizable as a movie from the days before "Star Wars" changed everything and ushered in an age of dynamic, fast-paced blockbusters. While "Westworld" plods from one straightforward shot to the next, more of a slow burn than a wildfire, "Jurassic Park" is a visually engaging and perfectly paced masterpiece. Spielberg makes close-ups of water trembling in a glass just as thrilling as sweeping wide shots of Brachiosaurus enclosures.
"Jurassic Park" also has the emotional edge. "Westworld" has grand designs when it begins but quickly becomes reduced to a simple horror-thriller, focusing on evil androids hunting down humans, while "Jurassic Park" focuses much more on the relationships between its human characters and its themes of corporate greed, man versus nature, and the ethics of genetic engineering. It's also notable that its dinosaurs are never shown as truly malicious, simply as animals following their instincts. "Jurassic Park" therefore does a much better job than "Westworld" of exposing human hubris as the true villain of the piece.
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