‹ All movies

The Rewatchables ·

Jurassic Park

year 1993decade 90sdirector Steven Spielberggenre Science fiction
host Sean Fennesseyhost David Shoemakerhost Bryan Curtis
All 14 categories

Most Rewatchable Scene · 6:08

The T. rex attack

Sean Fennessey: The water glass and T. rex reveal are nominated as an iconic, still-effective sequence.

Effects limitations are compared with Jaws as constraints that encouraged inventive staging.

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie · 54:31

The God/man/dinosaur exchange

Sean Fennessey: The exchange about God creating dinosaurs and woman inheriting the earth is nominated.

The film

Jurassic Park (1993)

Directed by Steven Spielberg · Science fiction

127 minutes

IMDb Letterboxd JustWatch Find on Rotten Tomatoes
Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

Sam Neill Alan Grant
Laura Dern Ellie Sattler
Jeff Goldblum Ian Malcolm
Richard Attenborough John Hammond
Bob Peck Robert Muldoon
Martin Ferrero Donald Gennaro
B.D. Wong Henry Wu
Samuel L. Jackson Ray Arnold
Wayne Knight Dennis Nedry
Joseph Mazzello Tim Murphy

Everything from the episode

In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.

6:08

Most Rewatchable Scene

The T. rex attack

The T. rex attack

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:06:08Read transcript
  • The water glass and T. rex reveal are nominated as an iconic, still-effective sequence. — Sean Fennessey
  • Effects limitations are compared with Jaws as constraints that encouraged inventive staging.
  • Storyboards and a combination of tangible animatronics with CGI support the sequence’s convincing construction.
  • Only fifty-five CGI shots are reported, contrasted with the much larger later blockbuster totals.
  • The attack builds through linked moments rather than one burst of action.
  • Low viewpoints make the dinosaur scary by keeping humans small, unlike the big-monster-versus-big-monster scale criticized in Pacific Rim.
  • The kitchen raptors create Hitchcock-like suspense through sound, convincing effects and an apparent Shining visual echo. — Sean Fennessey
  • The fence sequence creates suspense around a child’s familiar fear of electrocution. — Sean Fennessey
  • Clear intercutting makes the fence sequence easy to follow.
  • The first dinosaur reveal still inspires awe through its staging, reactions and welcome line.
  • The T. rex attack is unanimously selected. — Sean Fennessey
Share this discussion More Most Rewatchable Scene answers
20:01

What’s Aged the Best?

The effects, dinosaur design, blend of practical and digital work, and the film as a whole

The effects, dinosaur design, blend of practical and digital work, and the film as a whole

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:20:01Read transcript
  • Parallel practical-animation and CGI efforts reportedly led to a successful marriage of techniques.
  • Lucas reportedly cried at the footage, and Tippett’s remark about being extinct was used in the movie.
  • Stop-motion animators were reportedly retrained for digital work, preserving a connection between techniques.
  • The basic early walk-cycle demonstration is admired for inspiring confidence in what the finished film could achieve.
  • Hammond is compared with Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg as a dreamer seeing only the upside; Walt Disney is another comparison. — Sean Fennessey
  • The dangerous theme park also recalls Crichton’s earlier western-themed story, recast with dinosaurs.
  • The richest and most powerful people becoming twenty-eight-year-olds was not anticipated by the older Hammond character. — Sean Fennessey
Share this discussion More What’s Aged the Best? answers
24:51

What’s Aged the Worst?

The resurrection science and Wayne Knight’s comic Dennis Nedry (neither breaks the movie)

The resurrection science and Wayne Knight’s comic Dennis Nedry (neither breaks the movie)

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:24:51Read transcript
  • The dinosaur-revival science once seemed plausible to young viewers, but is now questioned as a literal possibility.
  • Crichton reportedly visited a scientist studying preserved insects and adapted that research into the novel, acknowledging him.
  • Nedry’s slapstick behavior feels goofy, though his appearance helped establish a recognizable hacker stereotype.
  • The lawyer is defended as legitimately concerned with safety, making his profession an easy and somewhat unfair punchline.
  • Nedry’s vague rival-company scheme is accepted as a necessary plot trigger because the movie moves so effectively. — Sean Fennessey
  • The shaving-cream can is admired as a cleverly designed physical object despite the implausible larger scheme. — Sean Fennessey
  • Roger Ebert is recalled as criticizing Nedry when the movie came out; no numerical rating is supplied. — Sean Fennessey
Share this discussion More What’s Aged the Worst? answers
43:23

The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance

Bob Peck as Muldoon

Bob Peck as Muldoon

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:43:23Read transcript
  • Knight is the initial nomination for memorable, exaggerated computer taunts despite reservations about the character. — Sean Fennessey
  • Peck is nominated for wholehearted commitment to the pulp adventurer archetype.
  • The imagined jungle-security expertise is questioned but enjoyed as an old adventure-story convention.
  • Crichton reportedly described his career as rewriting Conan Doyle.
  • Jackson is praised for doing much with a restrained seated performance, cigarette and calm delivery.
Share this discussion More The Dion Waiters Award for Best Heat Check Performance answers
46:31

Apex Mountain

T. rex: yes

T. rex: yes

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:46:31Read transcript
  • Goldblum is nominated for bringing a modern, humorous sensibility into the pulp adventure.
  • The novel’s exposition-heavy chaos theorist becomes a comic audience surrogate in the film.
  • Malcolm’s clothes, glasses and open-shirt pose help define a nerd-hunk persona. — Sean Fennessey
  • A personal memory recalls logging onto Prodigy to learn where to buy Malcolm’s glasses. — Sean Fennessey
  • Spielberg is judged below earlier peaks, while the T. rex receives an explicit peak claim and agreement. — Sean Fennessey
Share this discussion More Apex Mountain answers
1:03:50

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Richard Attenborough

Richard Attenborough

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:03:50Read transcript
  • Knight and Jackson are considered before Attenborough is firmly chosen for his exuberant, scenery-chewing performance.
Share this discussion More The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award answers
1:04:42

Is This Movie Better With…?

Danny Trejo inspires a hypothetical Machete-versus-dinosaurs version rather than a serious claim that this movie impr...

Danny Trejo inspires a hypothetical Machete-versus-dinosaurs version rather than a serious claim that this movie improves.

In the discussion (1)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:42Read transcript
  • Trejo facing dinosaurs is enthusiastically imagined as a different movie worth making. — Sean Fennessey
Share this discussion More Is This Movie Better With…? answers
1:04:59

Who Won the Movie?

Split: Jeff Goldblum / Ian Malcolm; velociraptors; the T. rex

Split: Jeff Goldblum / Ian Malcolm; velociraptors; the T. rex

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:59Read transcript
  • Goldblum is the first choice because the part makes him fun and puts him in a position to win; a dinosaur is a close alternative.
  • The next response admires the T. rex’s heroic ending but chooses the raptors for their leap into popular consciousness.
  • An intended Spielberg choice is withdrawn after considering his later legacy, ending with a T. rex choice. — Sean Fennessey
  • DreamWorks is described as a complicated later failure, contributing to the withdrawal of the planned Spielberg vote. — Sean Fennessey
Podcast choices
Speaker not identified
Jeff Goldblum / Ian Malcolm
David Shoemaker
Velociraptors
Share this discussion More Who Won the Movie? answers