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 from Universal Pictures in the summer of 1993, directed by Steven Spielberg and adapted from Michael Crichton's novel. It became a defining event of the decade, pairing groundbreaking computer animation with practical creature effects to make dinosaurs feel tangible on screen for the first time. The film was a critical and commercial phenomenon, reshaping blockbuster filmmaking and launching one of cinema's most enduring franchises, while its imagery and John Williams score entered the wider cultural memory almost immediately upon release.
This cell preserves the opening credit for the film itself, the moment where the name Jurassic Park is first presented to an audience settling into the story ahead. Such a card exists at the threshold of narrative, before character or incident, carrying only the weight of the production's identity. Collectors prize these frames because they mark the picture's very beginning on film, a physical fragment from the reel that first announced the title to theatergoers in 1993, tying the collector directly to that premiere-era print.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Jurassic Park (1993).
Gauge
35mm, confirmed by four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on both edges; spacing appears even and the punched edges look clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along the bottom edge beside the picture area, appearing as two thin white lines consistent with a stereo variable-area format; Dolby Digital pixel blocks are visible in the inter-perforation gaps on the bottom edge.
Edge print
Not visible in this capture at sufficient resolution to read manufacturer codes or key numbers.
Base & colour
Base appears neutral to very slightly warm; dye image shows strong, saturated colour with no visible fading or red shift.
Projection history
Light vertical scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to show the same title-card artwork, consistent with a title or leader sequence from the film on record.
Era check
The combination of a stereo variable-area optical track with Dolby Digital inter-perforation data blocks is consistent with a mid-1990s theatrical release print, matching the 1993 release period of the film on record.
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 000063427
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
