Next Friday, April 5, Jurassic Park is being re-released in 3D at theaters across the country. Between this and Jurassic Park 4 on the horizon, there's been quite a bit of discussion about the merits of the original movie and whether there should be feathers on the theropods in JP4. Some of my favorite commentary has come from David Orr over at Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs. In a recent post he articulates why many of us dinophiles love that movie:
Jurassic Park, it has been widely pointed out, is revolutionary not just for its special effects but from the way the dinosaurs were depicted as real animals. Huge, yes, perhaps monstrous in form, but with the body language and presence of living creatures. When I think of Jurassic Park, my first thought isn't necessarily of raptors in the kitchen. It's of the cocked head and curiously dainty step of the Tyrannosaur as it climbs over the rim of its enclosure. It's of a panicked flock of Gallimimus arcing over a grassy field toward the camera. It's of the closing moment of the The Lost World, where we glimpse a primeval world without humans, where the carnivores don't always roar and the herbivores can go about their business.
Meanwhile, Vulture has this post ranking all the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, with the velociraptors coming out on top. I think we can do better, Sloggers. Please vote in this binding poll:
