TMY's 10 Most Influential Films: No. 9
No.9
JURASSIC PARK
My dad took to me to a cinema called Rex (no pun intended) in Kuala Lumpur to watch this show. At the time when I was ten, which is just about ten-plus-a-bit-more years ago, Rex featured SDDS sound system and the largest screen in all of Malaysia. THX wasn't introduced then, so you can imagine, Rex was THE place to watch Jurassic Park, one of the most visually titanic films ever made.
Small boys, during my time, and now too I think, have a love for either (a) cars (toy ones at least), (b) robots, or (c) dinosaurs. There are a few more other things that small boys like, but dinosaurs certainly is one of the major categories. I remember reading the book on the making of Jurassic Park, and one of the chapters featured Michael Crichton, the novelist/screenwriter for the film writing on his experience in getting the show made.
He recounted the days in the mid or late eighties where he wanted to write a book on dinosaurs, only he didn't because he felt it was too much of an "in thing" at the time. He wanted to let the dinosaur craze die out a little. It was only after a few years he realized that dinosaurs aren't going to go out of fashion, and good thing. He wrote the book, and Steven Spielberg made the film (Tim Burton nearly got the job).
I remember, when I was a small boy, when I was just slightly taller than my dining table, I called myself a "dinosaur follower" rather than a "dinosaur lover", mostly because I felt that anyone can love dinosaurs, but not everyone follows the progress of its discovery, the ever increasing layers of information... I did. I bought magazines, encyclopedias and bla bla bla about dinosaurs.
Lex (Ariana Richards), Alan (Sam Neill) and Tim (Joseph Mazzello) take centerstage as sane people stuck on an insane island in Jurassic Park
Then Jurassic Park came about! I saw the trailer, and I told my daddy that I must watch that show!
And so we did.
I remember gasping in awe when the first dinosaur, the Brachiosaurus, made its appearance on the silver screen, lifting its two front legs to reach for the heights, and after chewing off a huge chunk of leaves, lands on the ground with a thunderous stomp that echoed through my head.
I remember holding my breath to the point of suffocation when the T-Rex sniffed and searched through the tour cars for those poor unsuspecting souls. I remember feeling a sense of security wash over me when Alan Grant (Sam Neil) held the children in his arms, falling asleep to the voices of the Brachiosaur herd. I remember wriggling in my seat with a great sense of uneasiness when the velociraptors entered the kitchen, playing hide and seek with Tim and Lex (Tim was my age, so I could imagine and identify with him very well at the time)..
One of the best cinematic moments in my film watching experience... Brachiosaurus wow-ing the visitors to Jurassic Park and the audience in the cinema.
Anyway, what's the point to that? Seems like I just wanted to ramble about Star Wars. Well, not really. It was Jurassic Park that made George Lucas (who owns Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound) finally feel that visual effects technology has reached the level where he feels the time is right to finally film the Star Wars prequels (think what you like, visually the Star Wars prequels really is stupendously amazing. I can write an entire blog post on Industrial Light and Magic, but will save that for another day).
I'm only saying all that to add to the credentials that Jurassic Park is a true visual masterpiece. it blends digital effects, puppetry, and expert cinematography into a believable portrait of dinosaurs living among men. Even today, after watching so many effects laden movies, Jurassic Park still ranks as one of the timeless visual effects masterpieces. It certainly is one of the milestones of digital animation, where visual effects students must look back as a turning point for film, at least technologically.
Oh the film has a great score. Many said that the score for Jurassic Park is a hidden/lost gem in the film industry, mostly due to the fact that John Williams scored for Schindler's List that same year, and that won the Academy Award, casting a shadow over his epic score for Jurassic Park.
STOMP STOMP STOMP. BBRRRRRUUUUUAAAAH. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) being stupid enough to attempt a tango with a female T-Rex who is turned on my his flesh, abeit in a less sexual manner.
All that being said, the movie actually has a very good storyline to match the dazzling visuals. Dinosaur discovery aside, the film brings out many fundamental issues of the human heart, such as greed and its ever thirsty pride. It pits the carnal hearts of human beings against the carnal instincts of the dinosaurs.
And yet in Tim and Lex, and the brachiosauruses, we also that there are those among us who value... vegetables, among other good things.
Ten years ago, I'd give this 10 out of 10, hands down. Now, all in all, it's getting a 10 out of 10 from me again, hands up in submission.
Ding.
Quotes from Jurassic Park:
"The lack of humility before nature that's being displayed here, uh... staggers me. "
"I'll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you're using here: it didn't require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don't take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could and before you even knew what you had you patented it and packaged it and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you're selling it, you want to sell it! "
"God creates dinosaurs. God kills dinosaurs. God creates man. Man creates dinosaurs. Dinosaurs... eat man?"... "Then women inherit the earth"
JURASSIC PARK
My dad took to me to a cinema called Rex (no pun intended) in Kuala Lumpur to watch this show. At the time when I was ten, which is just about ten-plus-a-bit-more years ago, Rex featured SDDS sound system and the largest screen in all of Malaysia. THX wasn't introduced then, so you can imagine, Rex was THE place to watch Jurassic Park, one of the most visually titanic films ever made.
Small boys, during my time, and now too I think, have a love for either (a) cars (toy ones at least), (b) robots, or (c) dinosaurs. There are a few more other things that small boys like, but dinosaurs certainly is one of the major categories. I remember reading the book on the making of Jurassic Park, and one of the chapters featured Michael Crichton, the novelist/screenwriter for the film writing on his experience in getting the show made.
He recounted the days in the mid or late eighties where he wanted to write a book on dinosaurs, only he didn't because he felt it was too much of an "in thing" at the time. He wanted to let the dinosaur craze die out a little. It was only after a few years he realized that dinosaurs aren't going to go out of fashion, and good thing. He wrote the book, and Steven Spielberg made the film (Tim Burton nearly got the job).
I remember, when I was a small boy, when I was just slightly taller than my dining table, I called myself a "dinosaur follower" rather than a "dinosaur lover", mostly because I felt that anyone can love dinosaurs, but not everyone follows the progress of its discovery, the ever increasing layers of information... I did. I bought magazines, encyclopedias and bla bla bla about dinosaurs.
Lex (Ariana Richards), Alan (Sam Neill) and Tim (Joseph Mazzello) take centerstage as sane people stuck on an insane island in Jurassic Park
Then Jurassic Park came about! I saw the trailer, and I told my daddy that I must watch that show!
And so we did.
I remember gasping in awe when the first dinosaur, the Brachiosaurus, made its appearance on the silver screen, lifting its two front legs to reach for the heights, and after chewing off a huge chunk of leaves, lands on the ground with a thunderous stomp that echoed through my head.
I remember holding my breath to the point of suffocation when the T-Rex sniffed and searched through the tour cars for those poor unsuspecting souls. I remember feeling a sense of security wash over me when Alan Grant (Sam Neil) held the children in his arms, falling asleep to the voices of the Brachiosaur herd. I remember wriggling in my seat with a great sense of uneasiness when the velociraptors entered the kitchen, playing hide and seek with Tim and Lex (Tim was my age, so I could imagine and identify with him very well at the time)..
One of the best cinematic moments in my film watching experience... Brachiosaurus wow-ing the visitors to Jurassic Park and the audience in the cinema.
Anyway, what's the point to that? Seems like I just wanted to ramble about Star Wars. Well, not really. It was Jurassic Park that made George Lucas (who owns Industrial Light and Magic and Skywalker Sound) finally feel that visual effects technology has reached the level where he feels the time is right to finally film the Star Wars prequels (think what you like, visually the Star Wars prequels really is stupendously amazing. I can write an entire blog post on Industrial Light and Magic, but will save that for another day).
I'm only saying all that to add to the credentials that Jurassic Park is a true visual masterpiece. it blends digital effects, puppetry, and expert cinematography into a believable portrait of dinosaurs living among men. Even today, after watching so many effects laden movies, Jurassic Park still ranks as one of the timeless visual effects masterpieces. It certainly is one of the milestones of digital animation, where visual effects students must look back as a turning point for film, at least technologically.
Oh the film has a great score. Many said that the score for Jurassic Park is a hidden/lost gem in the film industry, mostly due to the fact that John Williams scored for Schindler's List that same year, and that won the Academy Award, casting a shadow over his epic score for Jurassic Park.
STOMP STOMP STOMP. BBRRRRRUUUUUAAAAH. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) being stupid enough to attempt a tango with a female T-Rex who is turned on my his flesh, abeit in a less sexual manner.
All that being said, the movie actually has a very good storyline to match the dazzling visuals. Dinosaur discovery aside, the film brings out many fundamental issues of the human heart, such as greed and its ever thirsty pride. It pits the carnal hearts of human beings against the carnal instincts of the dinosaurs.
And yet in Tim and Lex, and the brachiosauruses, we also that there are those among us who value... vegetables, among other good things.
Ten years ago, I'd give this 10 out of 10, hands down. Now, all in all, it's getting a 10 out of 10 from me again, hands up in submission.
Ding.
Quotes from Jurassic Park:
"The lack of humility before nature that's being displayed here, uh... staggers me. "
"I'll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you're using here: it didn't require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don't take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could and before you even knew what you had you patented it and packaged it and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you're selling it, you want to sell it! "
"God creates dinosaurs. God kills dinosaurs. God creates man. Man creates dinosaurs. Dinosaurs... eat man?"... "Then women inherit the earth"
3 Comments:
I thought Jurassic Park deserves a higher position than number 9. :)
but since it doesn't, am looking forward to the higher ranked ones :)
I remember Rex cinema. I believe it used to be situated somewhere in the middle of town. Near Chow Kit, if I'm not mistaken. Last I checked, it's still around, but only showing Hindi movies, for some reason.
Never mind :> And yes, I agree with Jo. Perhaps Jurassic Park should have been in the top five, at least in my book. It influenced me in a similar manner, but it was also a huge breakthrough for a lot of people in the industry.
I pray that Lion King is somewhere in the list... :>
maybe. maybe not. but a certain japanese cartoon is certainly on the list...
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