Jurassic Park in Concert

I absolutely love the Utah Symphony's Films in Concert series and, as many of you know, I also love seeing outdoor performances.  So, as you can imagine, last night's concert featuring a screening of Jurassic Park with John Williams' iconic score played by the Utah Symphony at the Usana Amphitheatre was just about the best way to spend a late summer evening.  Out of the entire franchise I've always thought that the original film by Steven Spielberg is the best and seeing it again on the big screen confirmed my opinion.  John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) brings dinosaurs to life once again by using dinosaur DNA from the blood of prehistoric mosquitoes trapped in amber and builds a theme park in which to display them.  When one of his employees is killed, his investors bring Dr. Grant (Sam Neill), a paleontologist, Dr. Sattler (Laura Dern), a paleobiologist, and Dr. Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), a chaos theorist, to the park to assess the safety measures.  He also invites his grandchildren Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joseph Mazzello) to visit.  Of course the dinosaurs escape their enclosures and wreak havoc on the guests of the park.  For me this movie has always been about the dinosaurs (I think the characters are a bit underdeveloped) and they are amazing!  The special effects have definitely held up over time.  My very favorite scene is when Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm see the dinosaurs for the first time because there is such a sense of wonder on their faces and I think the orchestral theme played here does a lot to convey that awe and wonder.  Hearing it live gave me goosebumps!  I also liked the music during the scenes where the dinosaurs attack because it adds to the sense of urgency.  I loved this concert so much and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the Films in Concert series this season, especially Star Wars: A New Hope and Casablanca.