Reviews

Look. I know it's no "Jurassic Park", but this film is pretty good on its own. If there's one negative thing to say about it, it's the film's MPAA rating. It's rated PG, but it could easily be rated PG-13 nowadays due to the amount of violence and gore depicted. Since PG-13 wasn't around in 1977, I believe it should have earned the R rating at the time.

The part that puzzles me the most is that robber who kills a few people at a liquor store and later runs from the main character before he meets an untimely demise by the prehistoric animal. It just seemed out of place for this otherwise good Sci-Fi movie.

Steve Hanson has a scene that bothers me a bit. It's when he yells at Mitch and Arnie about not renting any boats after they come to the aid of a couple who was earlier attacked by the creature. For one thing, it wasn't their fault to begin with. They had rented the boat to the couple before Steve's first interaction with them. And, for another, Steve wouldn't give them a chance to explain their dilemma. He even threatened to have them arrested if he caught either of them within 10 feet of the dock a third time.

I love the hilarious scene when Arnie and Mitch argue and get into a fight before Steve shows up.

Of course, the ending is depressing because the animal is killed off.

But, for the most part, this is quite a good movie and doesn't deserve the negative criticism it has received.

...but, not without its flaws. Most of the flaws are from my own opinion and my perspective.

The Raptors, for instance. They are unfairly villainized for being the "bad girls" (all the dinosaurs are female...otherwise, I would have said "bad guys") in this film. This is, by far, my biggest flaw in "Jurassic Park".

See, the thing is (besides the fact that I love the Raptors WAY TOO MUCH) that the Raptors were PROVOKED into being aggressive. Right from where the movie starts off, we see a crate being hauled around with a Raptor inside. The transferring and motion must have been traumatizing for the animal inside that little crate and, was likely scared and confused. So, when Jophrey attempted to open the gate, the Raptor was trying to get free and grabbed the first thing in her way. She panicked when the men were trying to stop her.

The movie depicts a scene where the Raptors supposedly devour a black, sickly-looking bull when it's lowered down into their pen. NO ONE in their right mind would eat something that looks like that. Notice why there's no blood on the harness when it's brought back up? That's because the Raptors NEVER ate it at all. What they did was cut the animal loose from the harness and put on a show for the visitors, though where they hid the bull remains a mystery.

The reason why Mr. Arnold was killed by a Raptor is not known, but it's possible that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and she probably killed him in self-defense. Same with Robert Muldoon, though I believe he was targeted after the incident in the beginning I mentioned above. He was the reason they became trapped in that holding pen to begin with, so they probably plotted revenge on him for his mistreatment of them.

The Raptors had NO intention of killing Lex or Tim. They were stalking them in the kitchen because they wanted to play with them. In fact, if they had stayed in the dining room when the shadow of one of the Raptors showed up, it's more than likely that it would have been curious and eaten the food on the table. When they hid in the kitchen, the Raptor was confused and didn't understand why they were hiding. So, she and a second Raptor decided to play this "new" game (new, to the Raptors).

When one Raptor rammed its head against the cabinet and the other one got locked in the freezer, she was dazed, confused, and probably angry. So, she followed them to the control room, hence the scene with Alan and Ellie trying to keep her out. But, it was when Alan kicked her in the face that really ticked her off, so now he was another target. In the chaos (yes, I'm doing an Ian Malcolm reference there) that ensued, the Raptor was determined to get back at Alan and ordered the other Raptor that showed up to carry it out first.

Unfortunately, that's when the Tyrannosaurus Rex showed up and finished both of them off. Despite what you see in the film, the Raptors had NO intention of killing Alan, Ellie, and the children. If the T-Rex hadn't have showed up and killed the Raptors, they probably would have pounced on them and attempted to "talk" to them in their own language. How well that would have worked is debatable, but the Raptors would have tried to communicate with them. And, the one that was kicked in the face probably would have whiplashed Alan with her tail, but would otherwise avoid an attack.

Then, there's the very end of the film. All FIVE (so far) movies in this franchise have disappointing endings. And, for the original film, a better ending would have been if a stowaway Raptor was on board the helicopter that no one notices until they're away from the island with Ellie and Alan looking at the flock of pelicans flying over the ocean.

Of course, there are other flaws as well, but the top three that stand out for me are:

1 - The cliff that magically appears out of nowhere during the T-Rex attack sequence. Seriously, the dinosaur comes out of her paddock on solid, stable ground to launch her attack and then, minutes later, Alan and Ellie have to use one of the downed wires to scale this massive cliff?

2 - Tim and Alan in the tree. Tim: "I threw up." Alan: "Oh. Well, that's okay. Just give me your hand. Tim, I won't tell anyone you threw up. Just give me your hand." The reason this one bothers me is because I'm a very sensitive person and my stomach doesn't sit well with that. While I don't actually throw up with it, it does bother me.

3 - Ellie and John Hammond in the dining room. This scene is way too dramatic for me. I mentioned I'm a very sensitive person and I don't take well to dramatic scenes in movies. The second and third scenes mentioned here are ones I have to mute for my own personal reasons.

Despite all of these flaws, however, "Jurassic Park" remains my all-time favorite movie. I just wish it would have had a better ending.