'JURASSIC' A GREAT THRILL RIDE BUT LACKS APPETITE OF BOOK

Jurassic Park 3 1/2 Actors: Laura Dern, Sam Neil, Jeff Goldblum. Locations: Loews Lafayette Square, Cherry Tree, College Park; GC Greenwood Park 5 (in the mall), Clearwater Crossing; CTS Clermont-Deluxe, ABC Noblesville, Tibbs, Southview and Twin drive-ins. Rating: PG-13 Children's Express Ratings: 4 excellent, 3 good, 2 fair, 1 poor.

Jurassic Park, the $65 million Steven Spielberg production, keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, even with Speilberg's predictability.

The dinosaur animation was the big plus for the movie. It was so lifelike that you will forget that dinosaurs are extinct.

At the beginning of the movie, you get roaring action as a dinosaur breaks out of its cage. This, at first, is hard to understand since you are thrust right into the action, but it gets you ready for what is to come. We found the introduction well done, leaving the audience stunned before the mood settles and the thrills come back.

For parents who are taking younger kids, don't expect Barney the Dinosaur. Jurassic Park is realistic and rated PG-13, but for young kids, it might be a scary experience.

The booming soundtrack and the reality shock of the movie make it a great experience for kids about 10 and older. During the movie, many kids in the theater were jeering and clapping when something exiting happened.

For those who have read the book, the movie, in some ways, was a disappointing experience. Many of the best scenes from the book were not used, and the ending and beginning of the movie contrast sharply with that of the book.

Many of the battles between dinosaurs and humans were either not shown for the sake of ratings or were toned down. This did not hinder nor help the movie.

The book gave many apocalyptic predictions suggesting what may happen if man fools around with evolution and natural selection. Although Ian Malcolm, the joke-cracking mathematician with the Chaos theory, did give some warnings during the movie, they were not nearly as serious as those out of the book.

The adventures are well-directed, but the characters have luck that just couldn't happen except in the movies. One instance is when Tim, the grandchild of the park's creator, is climbing the 10,000-volt fence and gets shocked. Somehow, Dr. Grant, a visiting paleontologist, is able to bring him back to life with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

The ending is one of the few drawbacks, giving little or no explanation to what happens to the people, the island and the dinosaurs.

Jurassic Park is a great movie, which with new technology has brought dinosaurs to life on the movie screen. Go see Jurassic Park and be ready for a prehistoric thrill ride.