In Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Bryce Dallas Howard's Claire makes a memorable speech that begins with her saying, "You never forget the first time you saw a dinosaur" -- and surely many Jurassic Park fans will agree. Twenty-five years ago today the epic film brought to life creatures that have been extinct for eons, and the majority of cinefiles will never forget their first time watching it unfold. Of course, the experience was definitely different for the people who actually made the blockbuster, but as I discovered talking to Jeff Goldblum this past weekend, the feelings of awe and joy are certainly equitable:
Well, my gosh, the first time is when we shot in Kauai, those first two weeks of Jurassic Park, and one of the scenes that we did the first couple of days, I do believe, was when we got driven to this, you know, pasture, whatever it was, big grassy part of the heart of the terrain, and found that sick Triceratops. To the human eye, to my human eye, it looked like it was a real dinosaur laying there, because the puppeteers, the animatronic people, seven or eight of them - one working the blinking and the breathing... But it was real live sized - a live dinosaur! I almost had a, I don't know what I did, I had a fit of some kind of ecstasy.
I had the pleasure of hopping on the phone with Jeff Goldblum a few days ago as part of the press day for J.A. Bayona's Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, but, naturally, I took the opportunity to also talk him about his personal history with this legendary franchise. Using Claire's quote as a lead-in, I asked him how he remembers the first time he saw a dinosaur, and he responded by painting me a picture of what it was like to see Jurassic Park's sick Triceratops for the first time.
There are many incredible dinosaur sequences in Jurassic Park, from the roaming Brontosauruses, to the first Tyrannosaurus Rex attack, to the Velociraptor hunt in the kitchen, but the scene with the sick Triceratops is certainly top tier. If you had no idea that they had gone extinct, you might think that they brought in a live one to use on set, as the puppetry is simply masterful. What Stan Winston's studio was able to accomplish is movie magic in its purest form.
To save you the hassle of finding the Jurassic Park clip yourself so that you can re-experience the moment, you can watch it in the embed below!
This being the 25th anniversary of Jurassic Park, I hope a lot of you can find some time today to relive the amazingness that is unquestionably one of Steven Spielberg's greatest works. It will also help you get ready for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which arrives in theaters next Friday, June 22nd. Stay tuned for more of our coverage here on CinemaBlend, including more from my interview with Jeff Goldblum!
