Rating: ****
Director: Steven Spielberg
Special Effects: Industrial Light & Magic
Cast: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Bob Peck,
Richard Attenborough, Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight
Based on Michael Crichton's best selling book, this is a big budget fluffy light-hearted action adventure film about an amusement park that's populated with dinosaurs. Two leading palaentologists (Sam Neill and Laura Dern), a mathematician (Jeff Goldblum), and a lawyer are invited to the island where the dinosaurs are, and they're astounded and terrified by what they see. Not surprisingly, everything doesn't work out perfectly and the dinosaurs are a little smarter and more difficult to control than anticipated. Lots of amazing and groundbreaking dinosaur effects courtesy of Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, and Stan Winston, but Spielberg spends a little too much time showing the actors "ooh" and "ahh" over them. Definitely a fun and exciting movie.