Theater Review: Jurassic Park 3D

There isn't a whole lot that I can say about this movie that you already do not know. If you haven't seen it yet, you either don't enjoy these types of movies, or you may be living under a rock.

Either way, a couple year's back my local theater played Jurassic Park as part of its Throwback Thursdays (that I am not sure if they still do). And, I kicked myself for not going to see it.

Luckily, the film was re-released for its 20th anniversary and given the 3D treatment. Now, I don't think it needed to be in 3D, but everyone else is obviously doing it now - so I guess it had to as well.

Jurassic Park was originally released in 1993 when I was 12 years old. But, I did not get to check it out in the theater. My first taste of T-Rex and company came on VHS, and I really fell in love.

So, having the chance to see a loved film in the theater - after missing it a year or two earlier - I had to go and see it. And, it was just as great as I thought it would be.

Steven Spielberg truly brought dinosaurs to life in this tale - and though at the time I was really unfamiliar with almost all of the cast - I knew that all of them put in magnificent performances. In fact, the lone actor I may have recognized at the time was Wayne Knight - from his time on Seinfeld, which was actually just getting started on television.

Again, this is me trying to remember my 12-year-old self, so some of this may not be entirely accurate. That being said - I really enjoyed Jeff Goldblum as Ian Malcolm. And, as Family Guy said, Samuel L. Jackson is in almost every movie. And although his role is small, he is another stand out here.

But, the true stars of the film are of course the dinosaurs. We had never really seen something as truly realistic - at least not in the form of dinosaurs - as we do here. Not only that, but as a dinosaur lover, I was introduced to even more dinosaurs. Especially the velociraptor, which became such a big star and so well liked - the NBA expansion team from Toronto was named the Raptors.

Still, the big star was T-Rex. It's the one we all loved as a kid (truly I was a triceratops fan) and he didn't disappoint here. He was truly the King of the Jungle.

Of course, Jurassic Park spawned sequels - one of which was already written by the original writer Michael Crichton, The Lost World while another was penned just for a film feature. But, the original is definitely the crown jewel.

But, going back and checking them all out again recently definitely has me excited for more dinosaur adventures - and the success of the re-release has those involved excited as well, which has made Jurassic Park IV move along much quicker than it has in the past.

And, I look forward to it.

But, for the original - it was definitely great to go back to my 12th year of life and enjoy my favorite dinosaurs on the big screen - for the first time.

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