# Jurassic Park (1993 film)

32 Hacker News commenters recommended Jurassic Park (1993 film) and 7 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 8 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it for visual effects that still look convincing, ideas ahead of its time, and a smart, fun take on dinosaurs. Critics say the CGI has aged and the sequels are weaker.

## Why people recommend it

- Visual effects still look convincing (5 comments): "it was really something to see them being "real" on a big screen for the first time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48890279)) "I remember watching Jurassic Park when it came out and i loved the CGI" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48897549)) "I believe it's why it's held up so well in terms of visuals" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48916297))
- Ahead of its time (2 comments): "I love Jurassic Park, the movie, because it was so wildly ahead of its time in so many ways." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46753512)) "Jurassic Park really is a great example of “movie magic.”" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48863065))
- Sparked interest in computers and tech (2 comments): "The attention to detail spent here was what sparked my original interest in computers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48922063)) "it was really fun to read about the tech now" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48916092))
- Realistic human characters and flaws (2 comments): "I loved the first jurrasic park because while yes people are idiots, they are idiots for reasons people in real life are idiots too." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46002891)) "to be fair to Jurassic Park, there's literally a character who tells everyone else that the park is a terrible idea" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45955691))

## What people warn about

- Later sequels are weaker (2 comments): "I'd rather have the performance of this series than whatever Jurassic Park or Star Wars have become." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46053835)) "Jurassic Park was dug up out of the grave to crap out several more movies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47222231))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Blade Runner](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blade-runner.md): 54 recommend
- [Colossus: The Forbin Project](https://hackerapproved.com/p/colossus-the-forbin-project.md): 35 recommend
- [The Fifth Element](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fifth-element.md): 24 recommend
- [Terminator 2: Judgment Day](https://hackerapproved.com/p/terminator-2-judgment-day.md): 21 recommend
- [2001: A Space Odyssey](https://hackerapproved.com/p/2001-a-space-odyssey.md): 20 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Jurassic Park (1993 film)", https://hackerapproved.com/p/jurassic-park/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).