What Does Jurassic Park Mean To You?

Brought this over from the old forum, since it's a pretty good question.

For me, JP is an extension of an earlier love, and my introduction to cinema at large. As a kid, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. After an accident when I was 2, my parents and family bought me stuff with dinosaurs and I fell in love with them. Move ahead to two years, and Jurassic Park was coming out. My mom bought me the Young Rex toy after she'd been on a trip, and I was hooked.

Although they covered my eyes at the more violent parts, they took my to see JP after it came out, as my first movie I'd ever seen in theaters. I loved every second of it. I even got to see it a second time later at a drive-in double feature with The Flintstones movie.

Despite not being my favorite film, JP will always be in my top 10, and will always hold a special place in me. It really is a huge part of my childhood.

(My reply to this question on JPL):


Although I never had an interest in Jurassic Park as a little kid, when it was first released, seeing the movie now still gives me a sense of nostalgia. Even though I probably would have been scared of the film when I was little, something about it just touches my heart when I watch it now. The music is amazing, the dinosaurs are awe-inspiring, and the characters are likeable and relatable.

I never thought I'd say that a sci-fi suspense thriller about cloned dinosaurs breaking loose and eating people would give me the warm fuzzies but... well, there it is.

Something that always comes to mind when I think of JP is a vast coniferous jungle, with ferns littering the forest floor. The ground is soggy, but not swampy and the forest is intercut with long, dusty plains and fern-covered rocks/canyons dripping with water. I also thing of ruined buildings and dinosaurs that have the right look to them i.e: a molted dark green T. rex with a large nasal and eye ridges, or an orange-brown raptor that has a rectangular-shaped head. Also, the images of rusty old equipment/structures, like a bridge, or a vine covered concrete structure always come to mind. I think of on-location jungle coupled with the most brilliant animatronic work and amazingly realistic sets all on top of a "life finds a way" theme. Oh and don't forget John Williams, his music is as recognizable as any theme out there. The islands always set me into a different world, a world separate from ours, where dinosaurs rule and outside influences do nothing to change that. To me, the islands present an atmosphere of isolation.

I can not imagine my life if I had never known Jurassic Park, and the Mesozoic wildlife. Since three years I am a fan of JP, the first movie I saw was "The The World", and from that point hitch into that universe is eternal making me happy every time I thought about it and was evolving with the world of dinosaurs. Current that feeling does not change with each film in the series and is something that still appreciate.

To me the first 2 films are the fondest memories of my childhood.