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, adapted from Michael Crichton's novel. It redefined what audiences expected from blockbuster filmmaking, pairing pioneering computer-generated imagery with practical effects to bring dinosaurs to the screen with a realism that had not been achieved before. The film became a cultural touchstone, spawning a franchise that continues decades later, and its box office success reshaped how studios approached event cinema. For collectors of vintage celluloid, this era represents a hinge point between analog craft and digital innovation in Hollywood.
This particular cell preserves the title card itself, the frame where the film's name first appears onscreen, setting tone before a single character or creature is shown. Title cards are prized by collectors because they mark the threshold moment of a picture, the handshake between studio and audience before the story begins. For a film as widely recognized as this one, a title card cell holds particular value as an artifact of introduction, a piece of the original theatrical presentation that carried the name into darkened rooms everywhere that summer.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Jurassic Park (1993).
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no torn or deformed holes visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the picture area, appearing as two white lines against the dark base.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture.
Base & colour
Base appears neutral to very slightly warm; dye image shows strong black and saturated red and yellow tones with no visible fading.
Projection history
Two faint parallel longitudinal lines are visible across the lower portion of the strip, consistent with light surface contact during projection or handling.
Picture
Positive image; all three frames carry the same title-card composition, consistent with a title or leader sequence from the film on record.
Era check
A variable-area optical soundtrack on 35mm positive stock is consistent with a theatrical release print from 1993, when optical mono or Dolby SR analogue tracks were standard delivery formats.
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 000063425
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
