'Jurassic World' Featurette Sells Nostalgia, Fandom And Steven Spielberg
Let's face it, the dinosaurs may not be the biggest factor in convincing people to head to the theater for Jurassic World. The biggest factor in selling the June 12 sequel is our memories of the first time. That is, the first time we sat down, whether it be at home or in a theater, to watch Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park.
That nostalgic memory is the focus of a new Jurassic World featurette. Stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Nick Robinson and Ty Simpkins talk about their first experiences with the film, as does director Colin Trevorrow. Spielberg himself even pops in to chat about it. There's some new footage too, but it's mostly stuff from the latest trailer.
Below, see the new Jurassic World featurette and read my memories of seeing Jurassic Park.
Here's the featurette, via Yahoo.
Jurassic World Featurette
With Pratt, Howard, Robinson, Simpkins and Trevorrow all sharing their memories of Jurassic Park, I figure I might as well do mine too.
I saw Jurassic Park on opening day, June 11, 1993. I was 13-years-old, nearing my final few weeks of 7th grade, and was dying to see the film. I was a Spielberg fan, but more than that I just anticipated this grand adventure and wanted to take the ride. After school (which was, probably 3 p.m. or so) I went to my friend Seth's house. There, we talked about the movie, and his Dad said he'd be willing to take us to see it. The best and closest theater to us, at that time, was the then Loews Galleria Metroplex in Middletown NY. I knew it was going to be busy being opening night so me, a 13-year-old kid, called the theater. I asked how ticket sales were going for the prime time, 7 p.m. shows. The manager told me there were still seats but he expected sell outs in the next hour or two. So Seth, his Dad and I hopped in the car and drove the 30 miles to Middletown. We got our tickets and waited around for a few hours until the movie started. (We could have seen an earlier screening but then our seats wouldn't have been as good, so I decided we would wait until later when we could go into the theater earlier.)
My memories of watching the movie itself aren't as vivid as those pre-screening details. I remember loving it, obviously. I remember gasping when the raptors jumped onto the countertop in the kitchen going after Lex and Tim. And I remember the talk in the car after with my friend and his Dad, about just how amazingly real the effects were. "I thought the dinosaurs were real," I distinctly remember Seth's dad saying.
And so here we are, over two decades and dozens of rewatches later, and the promise of that first film – a big, successful, dinosaur theme park, is being realized. I'm very much looking forward to Jurassic World. What about you?