Composer John Williams, who has achieved the singular accomplishment of reprogramming an entire lobe of the human brain, is (rightly) celebrated for being a master of motif: the musical version of having a catchphrase, only for places and things as well as people. I love Jurassic Park's score because I am a human being who enjoys feeling things, but I also appreciate it as an achievement in storytelling. But more than anything, I believe that it's the music that made Jurassic Park what it is. Alan Grant, its introduction of Laura Dern to an entire generation, that one scene where the T-Rex roars and the WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH banner falls to the ground. I could easily spend many hours talking about any number of things in Jurassic Park that are truly amazing-Sam Neill's gruff/rugged I-don't-want-to-be-a-dad performance as Dr. This is a fact that has allowed a parade of truly bad sequels to be among the highest-grossing movies in Hollywood, because you always remember your first hit of that green Jell-O, if you catch my drift. It's about as unassailable as summer blockbusters get, a movie that works just as well now as it did in 1993. Jurassic Park is 25 years old today, and aging better than any of us ever will.
