TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Huge Group to acquire what was Virgin Mobile in South Africa

      6 July 2022

      TechCentral needs your help – 2022 reader survey now live

      6 July 2022

      Call for ‘energy emergency’ to end load shedding

      6 July 2022

      What South Africa can learn from India’s IT boom

      6 July 2022

      Where to next for Dimension Data

      5 July 2022
    • World

      China accuses US of ‘technological terrorism’

      6 July 2022

      Scientists at Cern observe three ‘exotic’ new particles

      6 July 2022

      Bitcoin’s first African adopter plans own digital currency

      6 July 2022

      Bitcoin hints at a bottom – but it may be different this time

      5 July 2022

      China, US war of words erupts over lunar missions

      5 July 2022
    • In-depth

      The bonfire of the NFTs

      5 July 2022

      The NFT party is over

      30 June 2022

      The great crypto crash: the fallout, and what happens next

      22 June 2022

      Goodbye, Internet Explorer – you really won’t be missed

      19 June 2022

      Oracle’s database dominance threatened by rise of cloud-first rivals

      13 June 2022
    • Podcasts

      Demystifying the complexity of AI – fact vs fiction

      6 July 2022

      How your organisation can triage its information security risk

      22 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E06 – ‘Apple Silicon’

      15 June 2022

      The youth might just save us

      15 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E05 – ‘Nvidia: The Green Goblin’

      8 June 2022
    • Opinion

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»Editor's pick»Jurassic Park still holds up 20 years later

    Jurassic Park still holds up 20 years later

    Editor's pick By Editor12 May 2013
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Jurassic Park's pioneering use of CGI to bring dinosaurs to life makes it a milestone movie
    Jurassic Park’s pioneering use of CGI to bring dinosaurs to life makes it a milestone movie

    You’d think that 20 years of progress in computer-generated imagery (CGI) would make Jurassic Park look like, well, a dinosaur. But Steven Spielberg’s summer blockbuster, re-released this weekend with a 3D makeover, is just as captivating and thrilling now as it was in 1993. It remains a great example of the director’s ability to use new-fangled technology to tell old-fashioned stories in ever more compelling ways.

    Based on Michael Crichton’s bestselling techno-thriller of the same name, Jurassic Park made use of computer animation to bring the most convincing dinosaurs yet seen on screen to life. For better and for worse, Jurassic Park (along with Terminator 2) ushered in a new era of digital special effects.

    The pioneering digital effects still look good, perhaps better than many CGI-heavy films that get released today. The beasties are still the star attractions of the theme park John Hammond (played by Richard Attenborough) creates off the coast of Costa Rica as a home for his genetically cloned dinosaurs. They’re triumphs of art direction as much as of technology.

    Put on your 3D goggles and return to Jurassic Park
    Put on your 3D goggles and return to Jurassic Park

    Spielberg sought to make his dinosaurs look and act like animals rather than monsters, and then used the latest technology at hand to bring his vision to life. Though there are a few moments where the seams show, these creatures evoke as much terror and wonder as they did when we first saw them.

    The studio has (as John Hammond might say) spared no expense in the painstaking 3D conversion. Though the subtle 3D effects add little to Spielberg’s masterful use of depth and space in his compositions, at least the effects do not jar as they do in other 3D retrofits such as Star Wars Episode 1 and Titanic.

    The new version of Jurassic Park arguably benefits more from its remastered sound effects than from the visual makeover. The roars, shrieks and growls of the dinosaurs have never been more terrifying, and John Williams’ score still sends tingles down the spine.

    The film itself is a vintage Spielberg adventure film. It makes good use of the pseudoscience of the Crichton book to build a suspenseful ride. Some of the technospeak sounds quaint now (“It’s an interactive CD-ROM!” one of Hammond’s grandchildren squeals at one point), but the theme of cloning and genetic tinkering feels as relevant as ever.

    Jurassic Park 3D trailer:

    Jurassic Park is not without its flaws. It is perhaps a better example of the work of Spielberg the technician than of Spielberg the storyteller. The ending is a little weak, and the film focuses too much on Sam Neill’s straitlaced palaeontologist rather than on the charismatic, sardonic chaos theorist played by Jeff Goldblum.

    But even if it’s not as emotionally rich as Jaws, ET or Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park still takes some time to let us know its characters, understand their motivations, and feel their fears. They’re not just dinosaur snacks. Jurassic Park makes us care enough about them to be invested in their fates. That sets it apart from all too many of the CGI-heavy films that have followed the trail it blazed.  — (c) 2013 NewsCentral Media

    Jurassic Park Jurassic Park 3D Lance Harris Steven Spielberg
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleTalk of SOE shake-up welcomed
    Next Article Windows 8 is not Microsoft’s New Coke moment

    Related Posts

    TechCentral’s top 10 movies of 2019

    31 December 2019

    TechCentral’s top 10 games of 2019

    23 December 2019

    The best movies of 2018

    31 December 2018
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Hot Ink certifies and diversifies to maintain competitive printing edge

    5 July 2022

    Increased flexibility with Dell Precision Mobile Workstations

    5 July 2022

    The 5 secrets of customer experience in the cloud era

    5 July 2022
    Opinion

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

    21 June 2022

    Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

    13 June 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.