Jurassic Park, directed by Steven Spielberg, is a milestone film that presents fear and inspiring visuals, which had never been seen on the screen before. The most impressive of these involve the ferocious dinosaurs that walk through the film with impressive ease. Originally a novel published in 1990 by Michael Crichton, the story was adapted into a movie in 1993.
The film depicts the story of a millionaire who builds a park that he aptly calls Jurassic park, filling it with dinosaurs that are brought to life through genetic engineering. Before launching the park formally he invites three experts to review the park and his two grandchildren to experience the extinct creatures brought back to life. But the walk in the park is not quite a walk in the park, as the dinosaurs wreak havoc and with each passing second the level of threat increases. The plot of the film increasingly becomes a battle between extinction and survival, with humans and dinosaurs going head to head.
Many sub-themes are evoked within the plot, among them questions concerning human relations, ethical dilemmas and the human intervention into nature, but the larger question that is addressed in the film is “what if dinosaurs walked on Earth again and after all?” This quintessential question is answered throughout the film as viewers realize that humans would never be able to control such strong forces of nature. Something to grasp from this film is what exactly would happen in a situation where greed and the feeling of “playing God” or pretending to be in control of nature would yield.
Also Read: STANLEY KA DABBA
One of the characters in the film, Dr. Ellie Sattler, expresses her conviction that in the times of disaster and tumult, “the only things that matter are the people we love”. This quote perhaps sums the human element that drives the human motivation to survive when humans are confronted with the might of the threatening dinosaurs taking over the setting. The film further depicts how humans with all their “godly” knowledge graduate from being in control to having none as the dinosaurs dominate the human terrain. Furthermore, the dinosaurs excel in breaking all the barriers and limits set by the humans, to such an extent that it is human life that seems to verge on the pit of extinction. Thus, the film’s central conflict revolves around a question of human survival in the face of imminent threat from the dinosaurs, as the interplay between humans and dinosaurs creates a clash between human order and Jurassic disorder and chaos, with the latter taking charge.
Jurassic Park has been followed by three more sequels and the fifth one is scheduled to release on June 22nd, 2018. The film and its sequels have been widely acclaimed and have been popularized in comics and toys. In 2013, the film was released in 3D on the 20th anniversary of its release, proving yet again that the original premise of the 1993 film and its popular and critical acclaim is bound to give us more films from this saga.
Advertisement
