Jurassic Park (PG)

Jurassic Park is the perfect celluloid equivalent of a theme park ride; its flawless pacing assures nary a dull moment, and in the audience participation dept, you can count on a few screams!

Eccentric billionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) wants to play God and zookeeper at the same time by cloning a bunch of dinosaurs from preserved DNA. Before giving his exotic island park the green-light, he needs the expert opinions of a palaeontologist, palaeobotanist and a mathematician?

Events get off to a shaky start when a greedy employer knocks out all power around the park, letting the once caged beasts roam free. This leaves the scientists fleeing for their lives, scrambling to find a way off of the island.

Director Steven Spielberg (who was shooting Shindler’s List whilst editing this) keeps everything PG, with a good deal of magical Spielberg ingredients.

No fancy 3D or unnecessary tinkering (save for a puppeteer’s hand removal) this is a perfectly preserved yarn that has hardly dated. Spielberg & Co paved the way for computer animation which large scale productions rely on so heavily today. When you witness that first brachiosaurus stomping across the screen, you’ll shed a tear, or something or other. (Jack W). Don’t forget to go before you leave! Oh yes and, stay out of the kitchen… dar dar dar dar dar dar dar dar