That's not to say that the like of Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Munich aren't all very good films but Jurassic Park is the perfect example of it's adventure blockbuster genre.
So let's have a look at some of the reasons why; these are some general thoughts as to write about each masterfully executed shot and moment would take a very, very long time.
The film opens with a deliberate slight of hand sight gag that demonstrates a fantastic confidence. Spielberg knows we've all come to see dinosaurs and so the film opens with swaying trees as something big heads towards us (the audience) and group of nervous and determined looking men.
After a few seconds it's revealed to be...a forklift with a boxed cargo.
There are number of these smart visual cues within the film. Another great example is the Jurassic Park gate which is deliberate homage to King Kong, the peak of all creature features. My favourite comes right towards the end of the film as the "When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth" banners flutters in front of the roaring T-Rex. (Just, look past the fact it managed to sneak up on everyone!)
Seamlessly we move from this gag into something with an air of menace as the transfer goes wrong and we get a view, albeit a smartly restricted one of the dangerous that will be faced later in the film.
From here it's on to a sequence of scence that establish the characters and start the wheels of the plot in motion. (A later spot of exposition is cunningly inserted as an explantory film forming part of a theme park ride). Crucially we get to know the characters before they are fighting for thier lives, including the supporting characters like Nedry & Muldoon.
So unlike so many of today's films we actually care what happens to people once the actions starts.
These all tap into the themes that run through the film. Corporate greed, morality in science (the core themes of Micheal Crichton's novel - who worked on the screenplay as well), the power of nature and set up Dr. Grant in particular for Spielberg's trademark missing father and father figures themes. (Can you honestly say that a lot of a modern blockbusters having any themes beyond EXPLOSIONS? I'm looking at you, Mr Bay.)
We even get sly tip-offs. Note Grant's struggle with the seat belt in the Helicopter as he tries to connect two of the 'female' ends of a belt. Eventually he finds a way by tying the straps together. Only females present but life finds a way....
Following this we get one of the key sequences twenty minutes in and it's time for our first dinosaur proper.
The sequences starts by building anticaption masterfully as we watch the reactions of the characters to what they are seeing whilst crucially not seeing it ourselves. The looks of wonder lead the audience towards the same feeling as the music builds, then we get the shot of the huge creature they are observing and it's perfectly timed.
It's a technique used to great effect again as the characters witness the Raptors for the first time. We see the swaying foliage and the looks of horror on the faces of the characters but not the Raptors.
In another canny move we are told that THE classic dinosaur, the T-Rex will appear, but we're not shown one yet. But we know it's coming. Anticpation is once again used to sway the audience as the early dinsosaur tour shows no dinosaurs.
Indeed once again Muldoon's tension is used to build the audience's as the tour passes the T-Rex paddock of the first time. Smartly this tension is allowed to pass unresolved.
(In fact the second creature we get a good look at is a sick Triceratops.)
Spielberg later demonstrates his mastery of suspense with the T-Rex attack sequence. (A sequence so good I might well write a full post just on that) It all kicks off with the by now legendary cup of water showing the impact of the steps from the approaching menace. (A trick so good Spielberg uses it twice in the same film).
Also look at the fence climb/power breaker sequence. A master class in the cross cut art of building suspense. Brilliantly finished off with a moment that shows judiciously used jump scares can be fantastically effective.
Again it's a case of showing something is coming, something is about to happen. But what? The audience feels the same panic as the characters., frozen with fear.
In general the pacing of the film as a whole is as sure footed as pacing within individual sequences. It flows and ebb,s starting with a snap then quietening down before settling into a pattern almost like waves as it builds to each set piece then allows space for the audience to breathe before building up again. Whilst always moving at a pace to keep you swept up in the adventure.
The film progressed CGI technology massively and it is very well done (note the details like the DNA code like pattern of light and the Raptor's face as it looks towards the ceiling) but crucially Spielberg was smart enough to also use a range of practical effects.
Effects which help ground the creatures in reality (there are more practical effects then you think. Pretty much everything that doesn't feature a dinosaur moving at speed or over a distance was done practically with animatronics) making it really feel like the dinosaurs do exist in the same time and space as the cast. Something so often neglected in a lot of more recent films. Everyone remembers the CGI in the film being so good because it's actually used a lot less than people assume.
Yes, it's not totally perfect (Lex's computer skills are handled clumsily, some of the spatial geography is a bit off) but it nails the crucial sense of wonder, excitement, fear, suspense, & elation that an adventure like this needs.
For want of a different way to say it, it has soul. It has a heart. It's not a cynical, technically proficient blueprint with an empty mind like say the Transformer's films. And next time someone says a director is the new Spielberg, ask yourself, could they have made Jurassic Park anywhere near as well as he did?
