The best scenes in “Jurassic Park” happen long before the Tyrannosaurus rex goes on a bloody rampage.
It’s about when a paleontologist, paleobotanist, and mathematician turned into a wide-eyed child witnessing a living, breathing dinosaur for the first time. Sequences are the essence of movie magic.
New Zealand actor Sam Neill, who died on Sunday at the age of 78, was an integral part of the breathtaking moments in one of Steven Spielberg’s best films.
Playing the no-nonsense Dr. Alan Grant, Neil hops into a jeep and takes off his hat and sunglasses to reveal a twisted, maniacal glow. The man appears to be in a state of extreme shock and in physical pain. And then we see what he saw – a majestic brachiosaurus munching on a tree.
John Hammond, played by Richard Attenborough, says, “Welcome to Jurassic Park!”
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Don’t you feel cold? As much as Spielberg’s deft shots and John Williams’ gorgeous music, Neil’s performance inspired a sense of awe in us. Even though they had to pretend on set that the cherry-picking crane on set was actually an extinct 60-ton beast.
“Jurassic Park” is remembered for its groundbreaking special effects that ushered in the unabated dinosaur craze, for giving Laura Dern her first major role, and for starring the highly memeable Jeff Goldblum.
However, Neil doesn’t receive enough credit for his memorable contribution to this classic blockbuster.
“Jurassic Park” is a strange movie if you think about it. It’s full of Goldblum and Wayne Knight jokes, complex science chatter about chromosomes (no matter how boring), creature wonders, and heart-pounding action. However, unlike “Indiana Jones” or “Star Wars,” the second half of the film also includes significant horror elements.
Neil had the daunting task of guiding us through it all, but it required muscular masculinity, comedic talent, emotional sensitivity and playfulness. He had to go from cuddling a triceratops to running away from a raptor. He needed to be a likable protagonist while playing an emotionally repressed skeptic who publicly degrades children.
It’s harder than it looks. That’s because the Jurassic World series’ wooden principal cast members have repeatedly proven that they give way to their CGI co-stars. Neil was perfect in this role.
However, although he was often called an “ordinary person”, this actor was more interesting, naive and intelligent than the garden variety action hero. That’s why his career has been more diverse than most fans realize.
Neil has appeared in approximately 150 projects over his 55-year career, including such prestigious films as The Piano and The Hunt for Red October, which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Most recently, he appeared in the television series Peaky Blinders. He still has a few films left, including Godzilla x Kong: Supernova, which will be released posthumously.
But his legacy will, of course, remain “Jurassic Park,” with its dinosaurs and dynamic protagonist.
