Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master ListOscar · 3BAFTA · 1
Spoiler-free premise
A wealthy entrepreneur secretly creates a theme park featuring living dinosaurs drawn from prehistoric DNA.
Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free+
Paleontologists Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler visit John Hammond's island park, where cloned dinosaurs are being prepared for public display. A safety inspection brings scientists, a lawyer, and Hammond's grandchildren together before the untested system begins to fail.
Why it belongs
Under Steven Spielberg, full-scale creatures, digital effects, and awestruck human reactions make Jurassic Park's dinosaurs convincing as animals, spectacle, and sources of fear.
Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case+
Spielberg blends Stan Winston's full-scale creatures, ILM's digital animation, John Williams's awe-filled score, and unbroken human reaction shots so scientific wonder and survival terror occupy the same believable physical world.
