Two decades ago, Steven Spielberg delivered a pitch-perfect tour de force of movie magic known as
Jurassic Park. Becoming the highest-grossing film of all-time during its original theatrical run and earning rave reviews for its groundbreaking visual effects and sequences of suspense and terror, audiences were treated to one of the grandest spectacles in all of Hollywood. Over the past 20 years,
Jurassic Park continues to astound and it has built a legacy as one of the finest summer blockbusters created. It's easy to dismiss the film and all its special effects (which still hold up today, by the way) as nothing more than just a big, fun dumb summer movie. But this is Steven Spielberg we're talking about. A smart filmmaker, Spielberg may have been trying to do something more with this dinosaur tale. Rewatching
Jurassic Park as an older film buff, I've noticed some parallels between Spielberg's movie and the film industry. I might be overthinking this, but
Jurassic Park provides some interesting commentary on the future of summer blockbusters and serves as a cautionary tale for Spielberg's fellow directors, with different elements of the film representing a part of Hollywood. Let's begin my crazy fan theory...
6. The Dinosaurs Represent Special Effects
This one is very obvious, but the dinosaurs represent the future of special effects in Hollywood. Once dealing with a mechanical shark that wouldn't work, Spielberg now had the technology to combine practical models and CGI to bring a variety of dinosaur species to life without any real issues. In 1993, CGI was relatively new and was not seen as a logical method for crafting visual effects. Spielberg was showing other filmmakers that computers can in fact be used to create great things. Of course, the dinosaurs break free and wreck havoc on the island, merrily eating people along the way. This symbolizes the eventual takeover of special effects in summer blockbusters (films like
Transformers and the
Pirates of the Caribbean sequels come to mind) as directors sacrifice character development and compelling narratives for an endless parade of shiny visuals. Here, Spielberg is saying that yes, the technology is out there and it's great, but you need to remember to keep the human element in your movies or else they'll suffer.