Dinosaurs are a bit of cultural phenomenon, and have been for a century and a half, since the earliest professional paleontologists ventured out to find the fossilized remains of one of Earth's most mysterious and fascinating prior occupants. Yet, perhaps no single piece of fiction has ever played on that human love of dinosaurs quite like Jurassic Park. While Jurassic Park found its origins as a book, released in 1990 and written by the late, great Michael Crichton, it was intended on a movie from pretty much the word go (Crichton even adapted the novel into film form himself for a cool half a million bucks). It's the movie that captured the world's imagination, and it was such a smash hit that it became the highest-grossing film of all-time following its run through theaters in the summer of 1993. Not too shabby! So let's talk about Crichton's classic, Steven Spielberg's directing, John Williams' score, and the performances of Laura Dern, Sam Neill, and many others. (Like Jeff Goldblum. Duh!) Just be sure you say the magic word.

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