Word: parkes
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...motives of applied science and pure profit, he has pursued a scheme to clone dinosaurs from their preserved dna and show off the brand-new behemoths on an island preserve. He has imperiled some noted scientists, and even his two young grandchildren, by inviting them to inspect the park before it is ready. Dino disaster awaits...
Hammond might be an ogre, twisting genetic research into capitalist exploitation, creating the ultimate carnival sideshow, where the freaks eat the gawkers. That is pretty much how Michael Crichton sketched the old man in the novel Jurassic Park. But the Hammond played by Richard Attenborough in Steven Spielberg's movie version is another fellow altogether; the director calls him "a cross between Walt Disney and Ross Perot." Hammond is certainly a visionary, a fabulous showman, an enthusiast, an emperor of ice cream, a kid with a great new toy. "Top of the line!" he chirps. "Spared no expense...
...line? Jurassic Park, like every other Spielberg movie, is couture for the masses: a cunning design, elegantly tailored. Spared no expense? Just ask the picture's sponsor, Universal, which has not had a $100 million winner at the domestic box office since 1989 (with the Spielberg-produced Back to the Future Part II) and urgently needs a megahit. Hence the marketing tie-in with McDonald's, the imminent Jurassic Park ride at Universal's theme parks, and the saturation of action figures, jammies and cologne. The director did cut costs with a decent, modest cast of nonstars, and he tried...
...velociraptors, smart, relentless punks in packs -- Saurz N the Hood. They have a special appetite for kids, just like the great white shark in the movie that made Spielberg's rep. Now it has some worthy successors: primeval creatures with personality and a lot of bite. Jurassic Park is the true Jaws...
Like the films to which it pays elaborate homage -- Gertie the Dinosaur, King Kong (and its Universal theme-park spin-off, Kongfrontation), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Godzilla, Bringing Up Baby -- this one sometimes creaks when it's not playing with the beasties. For the first half-hour -- the preshow before the thrill ride -- you are advised to bide your time. Screenwriter David Koepp's subplot, in which a paleontologist (Sam Neill) is force-fed lessons in fatherhood by his paleobotanist girlfriend (Laura Dern), is laid on with a trowel. And the plot occasionally beggars belief. If you were...