Jurassic Park: We Came For Dinosaurs and Stayed For Jeff Goldblum

What happens when wonder meets hubris and the gates actually open? We return to Jurassic Park to unpack why those dinosaurs still feel alive—on screen and in our imaginations—and how a bold mix of practical effects and early CGI changed the blockbuster forever.

We start with the clean premise: a billionaire’s dream of a dinosaur theme park collides with chaos when systems fail. From there, we trace the film’s careful craft. Spielberg’s staging turns rain, glass, and headlights into tools for tension; the T‑Rex attack remains a lesson in how to build fear and awe without losing clarity. John Williams’ score carries us from revelation to dread, reshaping a single theme to fit wonder, stillness, and survival. Along the way, we spotlight the cast: Sam Neill’s grounded Grant, Laura Dern’s capable and empathetic Ellie Sattler, Jeff Goldblum’s electric Ian Malcolm, and Richard Attenborough’s charming yet blinkered John Hammond. Their chemistry gives the spectacle a moral center, asking what responsibility comes with invention.

We dig into the tech lineage too. The film’s pipeline—animatronics for tactility, ILM’s CGI for scale, and motion input rigs that bridged stop‑motion and digital—set a standard that modern VFX still follow. Sound design deserves its flowers: raptor clicks, sub‑shaking footsteps, and creature voices built from birds and snakes make the island feel physical. We also wade into the science: amber, frog DNA, and the bird‑raptor connection, where cinematic license meets plausible ideas. Nostalgia surfaces—theme park nods, merchandise sight gags—but the core takeaway holds in 2026: story first, tools second, harmony always.

By the end, we share ratings, favorite scenes (hello, kitchen showdown), and why the finale lands harder with T‑Rex crashing the party. Whether you’re revisiting a classic or seeing it with fresh eyes, this conversation will sharpen how you watch its craft and hear its heartbeat. If you enjoyed the breakdown, follow the show, leave a five-star review, and send us your movie pick for a future episode—we’d love to feature your suggestion next.

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Transcript

Setting The Stage: Jurassic Park

Joe 0:00

They actually said uh when they saw that I think we're out of a job. You know, or I think he said, I think we're extinct.

Dylan 0:30

This week we're talking about one of the most influential movies ever made. And while Joe has lived with Jurassic Park since 1993, I am seeing living, breathing dinosaurs on the screen for the very first time. Science, spectacle, and absolute terror awaits.

Plot Setup And Theme Of Chaos

Joe 0:48

This week's movie, Jurassic Park, is rated PG thirteen for intense action, peril, and dinosaur violence. Dinosaur on dinosaur violence. Released in nineteen ninety-three, directed by Steven Spielberg and produced at the height of his power, based on Michael Crichton's techno thriller novel, revolutionary blend of CGI and practical effects, redefining the modern blockbuster.

Dylan 1:22

So a billionaire tries to open a dinosaur theme park and chaos ensues when the systems fail. In a world where chaos ensues when systems fail, when systems fail, chaos reigns. Or try to.

Joe 2:07

Yeah. And it doesn't it's kind of funny because I guess in the book it went a lot longer. Yeah. And there's a lot more to it. But like in the movie, it's just kind of like a eh.

Dylan 2:20

Right. It's kind of it's kind of a a B plot, yeah, if you will.

Joe 2:24

Yeah.

Dylan 2:25

Like it just it really it's funny because it's what sets up the whole thing.

Joe 2:29

Yeah, yeah. And it really just serves for that. Right.

Dylan 2:34

Like, how do we get the systems to fail?

Joe 2:36

Yeah, yeah. I guess there is like all this angst and he didn't get paid and all this other people. Yeah.

Dylan 2:42

And so you kind of Oh, I guess you can kind of I'm sorry, I didn't mean to go for it. I guess you can kind of see that in the movie too. Yeah. When he's talking about like the debt and stuff.

Joe 2:53

Yeah, and they're kind of having like these little fight. Right. That little back and forth there. Yeah. And then I wasn't sure if like, is that really his dad? Because he was like, Oh, is that supposed to be his dad? I don't know.

Effects That Still Hold Up

SPEAKER_01 3:09

It's just like, okay. Thanks, Mom.

Dylan 3:11

Yeah, exactly. Um man, and you were taught you kind of made the comment that we weren't watching it in 4K or whatever. Right. I think it didn't need it. Yeah. Like I think it almost served it better without. Yeah. Truly. Yeah. Um because it really didn't feel like it was dated.

Joe 3:35

Like it was felt like the quality was still there. Right. After from 93.

Dylan 3:42

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and it definitely helps that they they they did what they could to use like CGI and stuff. Or like to to have the CGI be what would if you would say supplemental to the animatronics versus just, oh hey, we're just taking over with the CGI and not going to have any sort of practical effects. Right.

Joe 4:07

Mm-hmm.

Dylan 4:08

And the the dinosaurs. Yeah. Um, I was happy that they got to the dinosaurs as quickly as they did. Yeah. Because I was kind of afraid that it was going to take the Jaws route. Right. And just be like, oh, we're, you know, just building the suspense throughout the whole thing until you get 30 minutes of dinosaur action back in there. Right. Yeah, exactly. But 30 minutes of dinosaur action. Right. Two and a half hour movie.

Joe 4:32

I don't know how long it was, but like Annie with the red dress. Right. Kept waiting for it.

Dylan 4:42

But yeah, like they showed it pretty much right away, which was phenomenal.

The T‑Rex Tease And Foreshadowing

Joe 4:50

Yeah. And you know, it kind of teased it in a way, because I mean I mean it did show it right away, but like you didn't get to see the T-Rex till later. Oh, right now. But it was it it was good. It it's it still used a little bit of that Jaws kind of idea, but in a different way. Yeah. You know.

Dylan 5:09

Um, I did like with the T-Rex tease too, uh huh, is that they tried to lure it out with the goat. Yeah. And the guy was like, She doesn't want to be fed, you know, she wants to hunt. Yeah. You're like, ooh, foreshadowing. Right. Yeah. I always think it's funny in a movie when they say the name of the movie in it.

Joe 5:33

Right.

Dylan 5:33

Because then you're like, oh, there it is, there's the line. Yeah. But yeah, definitely like just with the overall um like T-Rex like situation though, they definitely did a good job like balancing kind of the fear and just like the awe of the big old, big old dinosaur.

Joe 5:53

Yeah, the the way they used the landscape and everything to its advantage and having it big, you know.

Spectacle, Scale, And Staging

Dylan 6:03

Yeah, they were definitely able to use the um the the jungly plants to to be able to cover up and um when it was on the goat scene, yeah, like when they first stuck the goat out there, I was totally expecting like just to see like a pair of T-Rex jaws come in from the from the left side. Oh yeah. And all you could see is like, you know, the first couple feet of the jaws, like bite the goat and retract.

Joe 6:30

Retract.

Dylan 6:31

Because on the left side of the goat, like the jungle is just super thick there, and you cannot see through the vegetation. Yeah. So I was like, oh, they're hiding, you know, they're hiding the animatronic bear. Yeah. Nope. Nope.

Joe 6:44

Nope.

Dylan 6:46

Yeah. So yeah, um, but I definitely went into this with no expectations, like other than having been through Jurassic Park at Universal Orlando. Uh-huh. Um, you know, and every time something would come up on the screen, you know, I was like, oh, I've I've been there. Right. You know. Yeah.

Joe 7:07

The bathrooms over there, the elevators over here.

Dylan 7:10

The burgers that way. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Joe 7:12

Velocicoasters that way. Right.

Dylan 7:16

But yeah, um definitely had high expectations for it. And I definitely felt like they were met.

Theme Park Nostalgia And Merch

Joe 7:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is definitely it's a classic. I mean, it's it's hard to say because it came out in 93, and I'm, you know, I graduated in 97. Right. So it's yeah, the whole oldies thing on, you know, brand new songs. Right. But yeah, it is a classic. And and again, it was at the at the beginning of of all the technology is coming out in and all that. And so it just yeah, it it pretty holds up pretty well. And right. Um yeah, I can't even remember the first time seeing it in the theater. Yeah. Yeah. It just those days were all over the place. It was in junior high. Yeah. Or going into high school. But it uh yeah, it definitely was, you know, an iconic movie, and it definitely was culture, uh like just pop culture for the time.

Dylan 8:26

Oh yeah.

Joe 8:27

I have um, let me see, I have a little Jurassic Park thing from when I was a kid. It's a sort of like bathroom set like you get uh for like Christmas, you know, like you go to Walmart and they have these little like bathroom sets with little things and stuff has like a toothbrush and like all that. I have one of those from from when I was a kid. Oh really? Yeah. But uh yeah, I mean we you know, it was like that. It was like sort of in an ironic way, but um the there is a scene where there's like you know, they're scanning the merch.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Right, and I even said I even said, Oh, there's the merch. Yeah, or what did I say? Something along those lines.

Joe 9:07

Yeah, yeah. Gratuitous merch shot. Right. Yeah, yeah. And you can still buy it all at Universal Studios, right?

Dylan 9:23

For the low low price of fifty dollars for a t-shirt, yeah, it's gonna wear out in two washes, but hey. Yeah.

Joe 9:31

Yeah, 80 bucks for uh parka. Yeah, right. Yeah. But with your uh past discount, right?

Dylan 9:40

Save two percent.

Cultural Impact And First View Memories

Joe 9:42

Yeah, exactly.

Dylan 9:43

I definitely think we can agree that it would hold up today though.

Joe 9:47

But it definitely does hold up today compared to other things, and I you know, you just put them side by side and you're like, okay, this passes the test. Right. And at you know, back then when it came out, it blew people's minds. Like it just you know, it just blew people's minds to see that on the screen. It's kind of like going back to the first Superman when people thought they could see a man fly. Yeah, right. It's just like these innovations of technology and uh industrial light and magic and stuff, yeah, for sure. So Sam Neil is Dr. Alan Grant originally was uh that role was offered to Harrison Ford.

Dylan 10:30

Oh, really?

Casting Deep Dive And Inspirations

Joe 10:31

Yeah, so like the aesthetic of it still has that in Indiana Jonesville, right? Yeah. And the character um of Alan Grant was modeled after uh a paleontologist from Montana named Jack Horner. He was one of the the main um uh consultants uh on the movie. Yeah. And so they kind of modeled his character after after him. Interesting. Yeah, so it would have been a good mix of like Indiana Jones music. Right, you know. So yeah, Laura Dern played Dr. Allie Sattler. I thought she was a great character. Yeah. She just I don't know, she's just good.

Dylan 11:23

I noticed there was a scene where she like she was walking fine up until that point, and then there was a cut, and then she was like kind of limping.

Joe 11:37

Yeah.

Dylan 11:38

So I was like, I was I was wondering if they had like another part of that shot that got cut of her like hurting her leg or something. Yeah. You know what I'm talking about? Because like it it's around the time when she goes um and flips the breakers. Yeah. And um, like she just starts limping.

Joe 12:02

Uh-huh. Yeah. Yeah, I didn't s catch anything in that scene. I mean, she was it the Velociraptors were in there that were getting after her, and like she was going back and forth, and like um she finds the arm and it's like those dinosaurs are kind of messy eaters, you know. Right throwing body parts around. It's like, hey. Definitely not a member of the Clean Plate Club. Yeah. Have some honor, eat it all. They're starving children.

Dylan 12:38

Yeah. And then you have uh Jeff Goldblum, Dr. Ian Melkin. Yes. It's so funny because I I had to point out to you, I was like, oh, here's the obligatory shirtless or front shirt open scene for required in every one of Jeff Goldblum's contracts.

Joe 13:00

Right. I was like, there it is. Uh you you see, I I need to have my shirt off.

Dylan 13:12

Chest hair is coming in nicely. Yes, exactly.

Joe 13:16

He's so great though. Because the thing about it was Jeff Goldblum was at a good point in his in his career, you know. Yeah. Like he had done really good movies, The Fly and Um Earth Girls Are Easy and all that. Um and uh for those cult uh fans of Buckaroo Bonsai, that was a really good movie. You gotta see it. One day we'll we'll cover it. But um, yeah, I mean, and and so he just plays this rock star, essentially is what they say. It's like it's like I bring the scientist, but you bring the rock star.

Dylan 13:56

Yeah, I mean, for the character though, the quirky, you know, calculating one, like he filled it perfectly though. Yeah, yeah, it definitely did a great job.

Joe 14:08

Yeah, when you need when you need those kind of mannerisms and you know, right, yeah, and the whole time he's he's flirting with Allie and Dr. Allie rubbing her hands. Oh, right. And suddenly I'm alone. Talking to myself, yeah. Chaos theory. Exactly. Yeah. At its finest.

Goldblum’s Chaos And Charisma

Dylan 14:36

And then you have uh uh John Hammond um played by Richard Attenborough. Uh he he was great for that character too. Yeah, yeah.

Joe 14:50

He it I guess he had come out of retirement for this. Really? And Stoberg was like, you're the you're the guy. You like you're all I can think of, yeah kind of thing. And he was he was just overwhelmed with the amount of dialogue, but he got through it. You know, yeah.

Dylan 15:07

Yeah, he definitely it was definitely another seemed to be one of those that was uh written for him, you know.

Joe 15:15

Yeah, yeah. So then the kids played by Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello.

Dylan 15:23

What else did the did Joseph play in? You said it during the movie.

Joe 15:27

Yeah, so he so I guess he had retired from acting, but then came back for the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, and so he played John Deacon in the movie Bohemian Rhapsody.

Dylan 15:39

The the bass player? Yeah, yeah.

Joe 15:41

Yeah. And if yeah, I mean, and it's crazy because he he doesn't look anything like he did as a kid. Yeah, you know, it's like, are you sure he didn't swap bodies or something? Like stolen identity, yeah.

Dylan 15:55

He had the glow up, yeah.

Joe 15:56

He did, he did, and he looks exactly like John Deacon. Like they did a really good job on casting him in that movie, right?

Dylan 16:04

Dennis Needry, uh played by Wade Knight. Man, I thought it was kind of funny because at the beginning of the movie with the whole Barbersaw can. Yeah. And I'm sitting there watching it, and I'm like, I know that this is is kind of like an iconic prop. Yeah. And I'm like, how is this gonna play into the the rest of the movie? The Barbersaw can. Yeah. Yes.

Joe 16:33

Yeah, it it's very subtle how things kind of unfold and they start to unravel, yeah. Especially when things go awright with him. Right.

Hammond’s Vision And Ethical Blind Spots

Dylan 16:42

You know. Well, when you plan your heist during a hurricane, yeah.

Joe 16:47

Right, yeah, never plan your heist during a hurricane.

Dylan 16:51

There's one thing you can take away from this podcast. Yeah, exactly.

Joe 16:55

And from this movie. And the moral of the story is Did you notice uh the thing I mentioned to you while we were watching it?

Dylan 17:05

Yeah, when you uh so when he first came up on screen, you were like, watch his clothes. Yeah. And no. No. No, I did not.

Joe 17:16

So we covered Goonies. Yeah. In the first uh when he's sitting with with the red shirt guy, uh-huh, he's wearing um a shirt uh like chunk. Oh yeah. And then in the next scene where they're in the um uh you know, computer lab or whatever, yeah, he's wearing a members-only jacket. And then um in the other the other scene, he's wearing a yellow parkour like at the end of Goonies. Oh yeah. So like there's this weird, I don't know how it's woven in, but it's a weird tie-in to Goonies that he's dressed like Oh, that's so funny. Yeah, he's dressed like the different characters.

Dylan 18:01

I'm not gonna lie, I totally would not have picked up on that if you wouldn't have been like explained it.

Joe 18:08

Right. Yeah, it's like a long-running thing, but that's so funny. You watch it and you're like, oh yeah, that's totally that's totally chunks sure.

Dylan 18:17

Like, yeah, I mean, you say that, I can totally see it.

Joe 18:20

Yeah, and then like I think um Ryan Reynolds does it in Deadpool or something. Yeah, yeah.

DNA Logic, Frog Genes, And Science

Dylan 18:28

When when John Hammond was talking about his dream for the park.

Joe 18:36

Yeah.

Dylan 18:37

Man, you could just feel that though. Like you like you bought it.

Joe 18:42

Yeah, you bought it by in the vision, right?

Dylan 18:45

Yeah, yeah, right, even though it's a terrible idea, yeah, yeah. A terrible idea, yeah.

Joe 18:53

Yeah, I mean it sounds great, and then all of a sudden it looks great, but then you're like, this is you created a T-Rex and Velociraptors, yeah, yeah. You couldn't stick with the omnivores. And I mean, eventually through their uh I mean through their science that probably frog DNA. Yeah, frog DNA. Um, that probably would have turned into, you know, even if they started with omnivores, they probably would have turned into carnivores or you know um or herbivores, I guess you would say. Right. Yeah.

Dylan 19:32

So I thought it was funny how they tried to like justify it with like the mosquito sucking of the the dinosaur blood, yeah, yeah. And then mixing it with the frog DNA. You're like, so how did you get all of these very distinct flavor of dinosaurs?

Joe 19:48

Yeah, yeah, right, right, yeah. Because of the multiple, you know, uh codes of DNA that are in the mosquito, yeah. Right. And then the funny thing is like the biggest hypothesis um going into the movie is that they're they're kind of more relative to birds right so then if you're adding frog DNA that kind of yeah um they did give a nod to that too like at the beginning of the movie when it was the raptor bones yeah and they're like he's like talking about it being similar to a bird and they'll like laugh at him right he's like well look like here is three different you know pieces to back up my argument yeah and they're like and the kid still mocks him right and then he just like rips into him and the kid's like ah yeah that definitely did a great job showing uh that um that Dr.

Dylan 20:58

Alan Grant was you could say he's not a fan of kids.

John Williams’ Score And Musical Majesty

Joe 21:03

Yeah yeah yeah yeah that really established the right that he's like oh yeah you you know you want to go let's fight yeah yeah and those scenes I feel like were were really good at establishing where they were in their knowledge and you know yeah like they were they're more high science than rock star science right yep they didn't just have to tell it they showed it so in this score this is another John Williams yeah and he keeps popping up a lot he does it's amazing it's it's like we're doing a podcast on John Williams let's do home alone john wams you know right and it's crazy because he does you know again like home alone where they were like oh I don't know if we'll ever get him at you know right on this he's like I like doing this stuff yeah exactly it's like I just like to work right um and uh was it Ralph Macchio who said I'd rather be typecast than not cast at all yeah so it's like yeah yeah you know at least you know give me a shot yeah but uh this particular soundtrack to me there are there so the planets the Holtz yeah um it just goes back to that there are so many like I was laughing when I was looking at my notes because I was thinking like John Williams is kind of like a Kanye like Kanye early early Kanye West what he would I'm sure he'd love the comparison. Yeah yeah yeah this is this is how though like at at his at his high point he was selling beats to art other artists yeah and so he would create like all these beats and things and so he would give them to other artists and then he became you know famous on his own and I feel like John Williams has a lot of throwbacks in his in his writing and in um in his scores uh that he has a lot of throwbacks and um I remember sitting nights of like oh right hey this sounds a lot like Jurassic Park yeah or this sounds like a lot you know um well and I was reading a thing I uh the other day about how Holtz's Planets uh went on to inspire like so many different movies yeah and I guess like when Holtz was writing that yeah he was depressed oh and so he would just like go on a long walk yeah and like think through his music to write it.

Dylan 23:50

Yeah man it's like you if you could see what you know what you inspired by that.

Joe 23:57

Yeah and again it's like with with John Williams um I was talking about the landscape of how they used you know I think it was Maui where they filmed yeah and how musically he just has a way of opening up the screen it's like you could marry almost any shot with his music and it just makes it grand.

Dylan 24:22

Yeah you know just draws you in.

Joe 24:24

Yeah it's just this epic it's like if you want epic John Williams yeah but yeah and the cool thing is like you get you do get to hear his music repeated at the parks. Yeah right it's like whether you're in the the queue or you know the pre-show or you're out walking around it's just it's just there and it makes it feel right yep that way speaking of like repeating I love how in the movie I kept picking up on kind of the just the main theme being played essentially in different ways.

How Spielberg Built The Dinosaur Illusion

Dylan 25:05

Yeah. I thought that was really cool because like you know starting it off you have the big reveal of the dinosaurs and the big swell of the music and then yeah you know later on when it's kind of a uh you know a low point and it's just really quiet like in the in the background yeah played you know just softly and it's just like bada yeah it's just kind of very yeah right it's definitely one of those ones that even if you haven't seen the movie you are you know you've heard that theme song so many times. Right yeah and like it it doesn't get old it's just so majestic.

Joe 25:41

Yeah it is that that's the perfect word for I think a lot of his writing is majestic.

Dylan 25:47

Yeah when they go and see the dinosaurs for the first time too like you just feel the anticipation in the way he wrote the music for that part. Yeah yeah because like you just you feel like you're being kind of pulled forward like you're holding your breath just waiting for it.

From Animatronics To CGI Breakthrough

The T‑Rex Attack: Accidents And Genius

Joe 26:09

Yeah I know it sounds silly but I was thinking of the way they were looking and and all that in the first time I went to Universal Orlando. Yeah you know and like seeing the way things were were uh you know put together and designed and and all that stuff it's like I can imagine like it being times a thousand with real dinosaurs and like and having studied that and you know it's like I don't know studying jets and then going to you know an Air Force base and seeing them right you know face to face it's like oh you know yeah or even uh at the Rose Parade they have a stealth flyby and and that's so like whoa yeah yeah it's but yeah with uh dinosaurs and and and just you know the actors just do a great job I like when um Laura Dern there's a couple times where she's so emotional in it that she tears up yeah you know right she's just like oh yeah and it's not the spray on missed water right quick make it look like I'm crying yeah welcome to Cretaceous Land Vacations where the beaches are pristine the views are prehistoric and the wildlife experience is unlike anything on earth at Cretaceous Land Vacations you'll enjoy luxury resorts state of the art security and guided tours through our exclusive wildlife preserves home to creatures you've only seen in museums or nightmares relax knowing our attractions are completely safe our systems are fully automated and our scientists are absolutely certain nothing could possibly go wrong from breathtaking jungle vistas to intimate encounters with nature's most ambitious experiments this is the vacation everyone will be talking about Cretaceous land vacations we spare no expense book now ferries run every hour helicopters subject to availability refunds not guaranteed so how it started was uh Michael Crichton had an idea about engineering dinosaurs and he thought the same idea that came out in the movie is like I wonder if they took this DNA because that was like actually a popular thing that was coming up at the time that he was writing is just DNA and all that and so he was like I wonder if they took dinosaur DNA and you know kind of made it so that they could replicate if that would actually work and he said he talked with some MIT friends and they're like huh that that makes sense that might actually work you know and then Steven Spielberg was working with him on on something else and he said what are you writing like what are you what are you coming up with these days and and he gave him the whole spiel and he was like oh and so he immediately he was like you know he's like I have this idea about engineering dinosaurs and and and all that and so he was like so he got the rights like he got he jumped on the rights to the book before it was even did done like before it was even finished and so he he was he was on top of that and there was the bidding war of course when it came out and oh yeah I'm sure but because he had already talked to him he was like you know they pretty much want it with Universal and yeah Spielberg went and read through the book and just storyboarded the book yeah and just thought of these are the scenes I want in the movie and just storyboarded things out um he mainly wanted to so this was like I want to say like it was in the 80s I'll just put it there but he had seen the King Kong um the King Kong uh ride at Universal and he was like I can do dinosaurs with this and and he saw the way that uh uh King Kong was built so initially when you went to Universal there was this huge like I don't know how many story box and it had a uh like a hand sticking out like a a you know King Hong Kong hand sticking out and and it was supposedly like him in the box and the like coming soon kind of thing. And so then as it was built um you know you got to see different parts or whatever but when he saw it it was like this you know odd obviously this animatronic covered in skin and you know able to to move and it it looked super realistic and it didn't have like an animatronic quality or like a you know it had more of a realistic sort of like the way Disney has pioneered stuff you know just it had that quality as he was like I could do a whole movie like this and so originally he wanted to do these huge tall dinosaurs yeah out of that and he said that you know that was just gonna be so costly I was gonna say there's your budget right there yeah yeah yeah yeah all no name actors right you know like we're not even gonna let you work on it because it's gonna be too expensive right sorry Spielberg but uh and so initially that was the that was the idea but you know costing so much he had to look down other avenues. Right um so then the next kind of logical step was to look at the old um you know there was a there was a kind of pioneer of stop motion named Ray Harryhausen and he had done a lot of early movies with claymation type looking things and he um kind of pioneered having motion blur within that and so like it it cre it made it so that it looked super realistic. Yeah um you know people fighting these skeletons that are animatronic or like um stop motion right so they did a lot of they did a lot of different experiments with stop motion and um they were gonna kind of head down that direction and as time had gone it had gotten better and better but he still wasn't convinced because there was still a tiny bit of jerkiness yeah within that and it was like you know you you watch like a Tim Burton or uh you know one of those kind of night before before Christmas there's still that but you kind of almost watch it that way to have that quality. Right. And he wanted it to be realistic as possible.

Dylan 33:25

Yeah.

Practical Effects Texture And Sound Design

Joe 33:25

So um they were trying to figure out okay what other routes could we take what could we do at the time Terminator 2 had come out and they're like oh like what did they how did they do that? Like what is this you know what are they doing with you know the technology that they're doing this so he went back and watched The Abyss which was um also directed by the same director um James Cameron who also did Titanic and so um it was kind of like this like I don't know the best way I can explain it is like with music um there was like a Beach Boys album and then the Beatles heard that Beach Boys album and then they went and did it an album and then the Beach Boys heard the Beatles album and then they wanted top that so it was kind of like this with him and James Cameron like what ended up happening was is James Cameron had actually seen young Sherlock Holmes which we had talked about in a previous episode was one of the first CGI uh characters that came out yeah he uh this uh medieval knight comes out of stained glass and then fights this this guy well um James Cameron had seen that which Steven Spielberg had produced was inspired by that and did some stuff in the abyss where they had like this creature come out that was like liquid you know so then once once they had kind of perfected that Terminator 2 had you know liquid um what was it called uh like the T1000 where it was like a a mix of a robot but it could be liquid as well and then it could transform into different characters. So Spielberg saw that and they're like how did you do that? So then James Cameron's like well we watched young Sherlock Holmes and then we kind of did this and then that he's like oh I didn't even realize so he went to ILM and talked to them and then he's like you know I've seen what you guys have been doing yeah didn't realize that we had already done this what could you do with dinosaurs? Can you give me a proof of like what you can do and they said yeah well you know we'll we'll fig put something together so they took basic uh CGI and made these dinosaurs out of bones like just kind of bone structure yeah uh kind of like you you would see in the the middle of uh the visiting center you know or at our mute local museum yeah you know uh so they just did that created that had um kind of background footage like beef b roll footage of a field and had them running through and that was like their proof of kind of like this could work. Yeah. And so he saw that and he was like oh that yeah let's let's go that direction that's that's it. Yeah yeah so the animatronic people were like you know are the you know stop motion people are like oh no like so they actually said uh when they saw that I think we're out of a job you know or I think he said I think we're extinct you know and so they put it in the film where they're walking up the stairs and and uh Malcolm says I think we're out of a job and Grant says don't you mean extinct but uh so what they ended up doing was with all the CGI and as they processed and they moved along is they actually used part stop motion and CGI together they created a robot that basically instead of doing so in computer animation you have to do you know it's just like any other animation you have to do frame frame frame. Right. So they were able to create a structure of a dinosaur to where when they moved it physically it would record in the computer. So it was like I mean it's almost like playing toys where you have like a toy dinosaur and you're moving all its limbs and it's recording it. Right. So you don't have to actually like type in everything or use a mouse. And so they were able to like pioneer this other technology with the the stop motion and CGI. So yeah it's a pretty pretty crazy like how it started from a huge crazy budget to to like okay this is going to be reasonable yeah but it's still gonna be you know in the scene where the T-Rex attacks the car with the kids in it and the roof the glass or well whatever comes in and the T-Rex like breaks into the car.

Dylan 38:20

Yeah I was reading something that said that that was actually an accident and the T-Rex malfunctioned and was never supposed to go that far and genuinely broke through. And so then the kids were genuinely terrified because the the giant animatronic was coming down on them essentially. Yeah and so they're like you can see the shot where they've got their hands and feet holding up the the plexiglass or whatever it is. Yeah that's that's actually them like oh no like holding it up off of them.

Favorite Scenes: Kitchen And Finale

Joe 38:59

I I love how they kept that and how like the kids you know like maybe not necessarily played along but like kept going right you know like because yeah you know if you're in a dangerous situation like you you would probably want to stop but they kept going and they were able to keep that yeah um yeah and that was the thing about what they've ultimately did because they used animatronics they still had the same you know used that same idea um with the first dinosaur that they see that's laying down and you know uh um and they're triceratops yeah the triceratops and it's just breathing and it's it's that King Kong you know um and then because I mean even that age of animatronic it still outperforms like modern CGI. Yeah yeah and it's so real like um I just remember seeing like the textures and things like that that you could see like they painted so well and the pupils

Dylan 40:00

Dilating. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Joe 40:02

Yeah. It's just, it's just so great for the time. And that's kind of the same thing with T2 that James Cameron kind of did as well. Is like um they both used instead of relying on one thing and putting all your eggs in one basket, yeah. You have an incredible story, great actors, and then you have all your technology spread out so that it's in certain places uh when you're close up to a velociraptor or you're you know close to uh what was it, Bronosaurus? Um you know, when they're close up to it and petting it and things like that, it just like it looks like it's smiling. It's so yeah, yeah. Yeah. It's you know, they they use such a mix and it feels real and it, you know, so the the CGI shots don't feel as like just out of place, out of place, yeah, super noticeable.

Dylan 40:59

Uh-huh. Um so something else with the T-Rex scene too, um, when it first gets out of its um paddock is that it's raining in that scene. Yeah. Were you gonna talk about that?

Joe 41:12

Go for it.

Dylan 41:13

So um so it was raining in that scene. Uh-huh. So the reason that it was raining is because the skin that they used to cover the animatronic would dry out and crack. Yeah. And so they had to keep it wet the whole uh the pretty much the whole time. Uh-huh. And so that was their decision to do that was have it rain. Because it wasn't supposed to be raining. Yeah. I believe they um were supposed to film that like in a daytime scene.

Joe 41:44

Okay.

Dylan 41:45

And to to like show the the detail of the animatronic more and had to switch it to the night scene with rain.

Joe 41:53

Yeah.

Dylan 41:54

In order to keep it damp.

Ratings, Legacy, And Industry Impact

Joe 41:56

Yeah. And it was like thousands of pounds. And because of the rain, it would be even heavier. Yeah, it made it even heavier. So there was points where it would like jerk after a while because it would get too wet and it couldn't move as well. Um, and so like they used, I think, a couple of shots to where where it like made it feel like part of the scene. Yeah. Because it just they they had this mix of like trying to dry it out, but then trying to keep it wet and like trying to balance all that. So because underneath all that skin is is all the you know gears and right, you know. So yeah, so it yeah, it was like a difficult, difficult uh thing to to film as well. Do you have a favorite scene that you could pick out?

Dylan 42:48

Okay.

Joe 42:48

I do and that's the show, folks. Bye. Hello, my baby. Um I honestly think like Malcolm stills steals his scenes. Like Yeah, yeah. Because he's such a he is such a rock star, you know, like not that I want to be like him or whatever, but for his character and for just it being Jeff Goldblum. Right. Um, you know, I guess apparently Jeff Goldblum has like this this reputation for dating people on the on the set study. So there's a little bit of reality there. That's kind of funny. Yeah. Because like him and Laura Durham dated after this. Really? Yeah. Yeah. So it's just uh his lines and the way he carries himself, and he's just like just super cool the whole time. Yeah.

Dylan 43:48

Well, and um his whole life finds a way monologue.

Joe 43:53

Yeah.

Dylan 43:53

Like nobody else could have delivered that like he did. Yeah.

Joe 43:58

Yeah. Yeah. His lines are great. I think that the iconic one that's shown a lot um is the the kitchen scene. Yeah. It's you know, there's so much tension and there's so much like trying to get away. Right. Um there was a recent uh because the I guess there's re been more recent science that they are more birdlike.

Dylan 44:24

Yeah.

Joe 44:25

That somebody went and redid that scene on YouTube and like put feathers on them and stuff so they're more birdlike in that scene.

Dylan 44:32

Well, and also they scaled up the size of the raptors for the movie to make them more scary. Right. Yeah, like could you imagine you know that scene with actual you know life-size smaller raptors? Right. Yeah. Like, just doesn't pack the same punch. Yeah, yeah.

Next Week’s Tease And Closing

Joe 44:54

There's like one they were like 1.5 foot or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. And I I guess at the I think it was around the time that the movie came out that they discovered that they were bigger raptors that were that size. Oh. So they like got it right at the same time that they discovered. Oh, so funny. Yeah. So yeah. I think they called it like the Utah Raptor Spielberg or something like that. Oh, really? Yeah. They found it in Utah. Which is crazy living up here because we have the the digging and and things like that still in Montana. It's like yeah, the hotbed of dinos.

Dylan 45:34

I think one of the one of my favorite scenes was probably probably the the T-Rex escape.

Joe 45:40

Yeah.

Dylan 45:41

Uh just classic.

Joe 45:43

Yeah. Yeah. The the night uh the night scene where they have the lights on for no reason. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, you gotta you gotta give it to to Big T when uh apparently she shows up at the end and and saves the day. Um that scene was added or changed because I guess originally um the last Velociraptor got caught in the mouth of the the T-Rex skeleton, yeah, and then like fell down and then the jaws crunched on it. Yeah. And so they didn't like they didn't like the way that ended. Right. So they went back and refilmed it with the T-Rex saving the day.

Dylan 46:26

Yeah, because doing it that way would I feel like would make it feel anticlimatic at the end. Yeah, it's just like, oh, okay. Yeah, right.

Joe 46:36

That we could have done that the whole time.

Dylan 46:40

Um Nidri's escape attempt was like it was just it was cooked from the start. Yeah, it was.

Joe 46:49

It it just so was. I mean, he he starts to land every everything and then it's like no, it this is not gonna happen. Right. Or he gets so frustrated, he just spins the sign the other direction.

Dylan 47:03

Yeah, that was funny.

Joe 47:05

But yeah, I like that scene. Um, I guess they used like oh what was it? Like a bird and a snake for the the sounds of the dinosaur in that because you can hear the rattle of a snake with the you know, so just things like that sound design goes back to kind of the cool way they sound and everything, and right, and especially in that where like they they drop these hints of like oh that this dinosaur spits acid, and then you see it, and it's like and at first when it hits him, he's just like, What what what's this? you know, and then it hits his face, and then it's like ah in the eyes, yeah, right in the eyes, and it's just you're done. And then he gets in and it's right right there, yeah.

Dylan 47:50

Yeah, he definitely got his in the end, yeah, yeah.

Joe 47:53

It was kind of a sweet, you know.

Dylan 47:55

Right. And then the um Barbasaw can rolling down and getting buried in the mud.

Joe 48:03

Yeah, I'm gonna have to find a replica of that. I know a lot of people who have them.

Dylan 48:07

Yeah, yeah.

Joe 48:09

Where it functions too. Just in case.

Dylan 48:14

Right. But yeah, the can getting buried in the mud. Hmm, I wonder what that's gonna do. Yeah. Sequel. Right. So Joe. Out of ten Mosquitoes in Amber, yeah, what would you rate this film?

Joe 48:32

Oh man. I hate this part. I'm like 7.5 or 8 because it's such a blockbuster. And you know, even though we're seeing at home now that you know I have a bigger screen and you know, the we got the sound going and everything. Right. It just like it just oh it's one of those like um uh kind of you when you have all those elements, you really feel like especially the the the pounding of the feet when you have the sub going. Oh yeah, you know, you just feel that, you know.

Dylan 49:09

Yeah, um I was I was thinking I'd I'd give it an eight or a nine. Yeah, yeah. Nice. Do you still feel like it holds up? Yeah, I definitely do.

Joe 49:24

2026. I mean it it holds up better than some things that are coming out. Oh yeah, seriously. It's just I think because you have all the elements of of story and and that's the start, right? You know, is the story. And um coming from a bestseller, a great writer who's written all kinds of other books, uh, and then even has a whole series on all these, it's just I mean Spielberg just yeah, yeah.

Dylan 49:56

Would you say that it it uh helped shape the movie industry following?

Joe 50:01

Oh yeah, definitely. All the things they pioneered while doing that, plus James Cameron having done the stuff that he did, and yeah, just kind of it's just like uh tossing the football down the field and they're kind of making you know, making history. Right. So for next week's movie I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse. And we're gonna cover The Godfather. Hopefully it won't be a two-parter, but it's a pretty long movie.

Dylan 50:33

It is a long movie. Ooh, I didn't think about doing two parts. Well, thank you for listening to Have You Seen the Movie Podcast. Make sure to follow the show on your favorite podcast app, and if you're enjoying it, leave us a five-star rating. It really helps the show grow.

Joe 50:48

And we want to hear from you. Text us your name and a movie suggestion using the link in the description. You can follow all our socials in the description as well. Everything you need is right there.

Dylan 51:00

We'll be back next week with another movie premiere. Joe, after careful consideration, I've decided not to endorse the park. So have I