Wikipedia:Today's featured article/June 9, 2008

Jurassic Park is a 1993 science fiction film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the novel of the same name by Michael Crichton. The film centers on the fictional island of Isla Nublar, where scientists have created an amusement park of cloned dinosaurs. John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) invites a group of scientists, played by Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern, to visit the park. Sabotage sets the dinosaurs on the loose, and technicians and visitors attempt to escape the island. Spielberg acquired the rights to the novel before its publication in 1990, and Crichton was hired to adapt his novel. David Koepp wrote the final draft, which left out much of the novel's exposition and violence, and also made numerous changes to the characters. Spielberg hired Stan Winston Studios to create animatronics to portray the dinosaurs, shots of which were mixed with newly developed computer-generated imagery by Industrial Light and Magic. Jurassic Park is regarded as a landmark in the usage of CGI effects and received positive reviews from critics, who praised the effects (though reaction to other elements of the picture, such as character development, was mixed). Jurassic Park spawned a franchise of films and other media, and was followed by The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997 and by Jurassic Park III in 2001, with Jurassic Park IV currently in development. (more...)