Wolff rating: EXCELLENT
Plot summary: Genetically-engineered dinosaurs terrorize visitors at a new park.
Biased, pithy comments: Makes you jerk back and forth in your seat in surprise and fear as some really amazing special effects show dinosaurs living and breathing before you. Wow. What more is there to say, except that though sometimes the anti-science bent of the screenplay interrupts a perfectly good action film, the rest is infinitely memorable and quite surprising.
Other Notes: I've watched this movie enough that I should revise the anti-science bent comment; the thesis of the film is actually more subtle than ``science is bad''---most surprising is that the scientists are the ones stating that the park is a mistake; it is "science without bounds (and for exploitation) is bad". It's sort of like saying that building nuclear bombs is bad, but basic physics research is OK. There's a line to draw there, but this film is too populist to make it clear (and, of course, from nuclear bombs comes nuclear power, and most scientists generally agree that nuclear power, when used wisely, can be a great boon to humanity. The world is made up of shades of grey, I tell you).
How many times I have seen it: x5+
Starring: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Richard Attenborough, Jeff Goldblum
Directed by: Stephen Spielberg