National Film RegistryLibrary of Congress · Inducted 2018
“The concept of people somehow existing in the age of dinosaurs (or dinosaurs somehow existing in the age of people) has been explored in film and on television numerous times. No treatment, however, has ever been done with more skill, flair or popcorn-chomping excitement than this 1993 blockbuster.”
Selected for preservation as culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.
Directed by
Steven Spielberg
Studio
Amblin Entertainment · 127 min
Box office
$1.03B worldwide on a $63M budget
Honors
Academy Awards — 3 wins, 3 nominationsSaturn Award — 2 winsHugo Award — 1 winKids' Choice Award — 1 winAll 7 wins · 3 nominations on record
Academy Awards: Best Sound Editing
Academy Awards: Best Visual Effects
Academy Awards: Best Sound
Saturn Award: Best Science Fiction Film
Saturn Award: Best Director
Hugo Award: Best Dramatic Presentation
Kids' Choice Award: Favorite Movie
Scholarship
Named in the title of 12 peer-reviewed works
Examples
The Making of Jurassic Park — Medical Entomology and Zoology, 1993
Jurassic Park — Liverpool University Press eBooks, 2020
Jurassic Park (franchise) — Alphascript Publishing eBooks, 2011
Sources: Wikidata · Library of Congress · OpenAlex. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Jurassic Park arrived in the summer of 1993 as a Universal Pictures release directed by Steven Spielberg, adapting Michael Crichton's novel into a landmark of popular cinema. Its blend of practical effects and groundbreaking CGI reshaped audience expectations for what a blockbuster could achieve, and its box office dominance made it one of the defining releases of its decade. Nearly three decades on, it remains a touchstone of 1990s filmmaking and a frequent entry point for collectors building out a broader vault of American studio cinema from that era.
This cell pairs Dr. Alan Grant, the paleontologist whose skepticism and eventual wonder anchor the film's emotional arc, with Tim Murphy, the elder Murphy grandchild whose fascination with dinosaurs mirrors the audience's own. Their pairing across the film represents one of its central relationships, a mentor bond formed under extraordinary circumstances. Collectors often seek this duo because it captures the human throughline within a story built on spectacle, a quieter counterpoint to the park's larger set pieces, preserved here on 35mm as a physical fragment of that shared narrative thread.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Jurassic Park (1993).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame visible on the top edge; the strip holds three complete frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on the top edge are visible, evenly spaced and cleanly punched; bottom-edge perforations are also present and appear evenly spaced.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the perforations, appearing as a dual variable-area (stereo) format with a Dolby noise-reduction encoded waveform pattern.
Edge print
Reversed text along the bottom edge reads, when corrected: 'FILM SAFETY OF 4p EASTMAN' — indicating Eastman Safety Film stock with a key number prefix.
Base & colour
The base appears warm-neutral with a slight amber tint; the dye image shows full colour saturation with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
No visible splices, cue marks or heavy scratching are apparent; minor surface marks consistent with a handled projected print are present.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of Jurassic Park (1993).
Era check
The dual variable-area optical soundtrack, Eastman Safety Film base, and full-colour positive print format are all consistent with a 1993 theatrical release print production period.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000063412
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
