The Iconic Jurassic Park Line That Means More Than You Think
Everything about the original "Jurassic Park" is iconic. It's a masterpiece of cinema in terms of acting, directing, cinematography, and writing. Every aspect of the film feels like it was carefully crafted to deliver maximum impact for the audience that even today, nearly 30 years after it came out, it still comes across as one of the best films of all time.
For many, it's challenging to pick out a single moment from the film that stands out as best. There are so many influential lines of dialogue and action set pieces that you could honestly pick any of them as a favorite and not be wrong. But as you ruminate on your favorite aspect of "Jurassic Park," it's worth giving consideration to the moments that tend to fly under the radar.
For example, a lot of people probably didn't think too much about the exchange between Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) when Grant says, "I think we're out of a job," to which Malcolm responds, "Don't you mean extinct?" On the surface, it comes across as a simple joke, but there's more to the line than meets the eye.
The line mirrors a direct quote from Phil Tippett
Even if you don't directly know the name, your life has somehow been influenced by artist Phil Tippett. He was credited as "Dinosaur Supervisor" on the original "Jurassic Park," and he's worked on some of the most iconic films of all time, from the original "Star Wars" trilogy to "RoboCop." He went on to found his own company, Tippett Studios, which has gone on to produce visual effects for numerous movies and TV commercials.
He's a legend in the industry, but back when he worked on "Jurassic Park," he was apparently pretty concerned with the CGI test and how good it made everything in the film seem. During an ILM test screening showing off the photorealistic animations of the dinos, Tippett was quoted as saying, "I think I'm extinct" (via VFX Voice).
By the looks of it, the line stuck with Spielberg, and it ended up in the finished product. As for Tippett, he viewed the CGI as a "shot to the head" of the work he had built a career perfecting, but Spielberg urged him to stay to work on "Jurassic Park." It became his job to make sure the dinosaurs in the film behaved and moved like real animals as opposed to merely monsters. As they say, the rest is cinematic history.