Back to a Better Future: The Crucibles of Sci-Fi Cinema V Jurassic Park
Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.
In this episode, we dive into Jurassic Park as part of the fifth installment of our special summer series, Back to a Better Future: The Crucibles of Sci-Fi Cinema. John Hammond had the wealth, the vision, and the technology to bring dinosaurs back to life — and he used all of it without stopping to ask whether he should. What he intended to fill with wonder, he filled with terror. His story is one of the most vivid leadership cautionary tales in cinema: the crucibles we unleash when ambition outpaces wisdom, and when the desire to do something remarkable blinds us to the responsibility that comes with it.
Want to explore our three prior summer series about the lessons we can learn about overcoming crucibles from film?
Check out these playlists featuring every episode of each one:
LIGHTS, CAMERA, CRUCIBLES (2022): • Beyond the Crucible: Lights, Camera, Cruci…
CLASSIC FILMS, CLASSIC CRUCIBLE LESSONS (2024): • Classic Films, Classic Crucible Lessons: A…
BIG SCREEN, BIG CRUCIBLES (2025): • Back To A Better Future 2026
Have a question or comment? Drop us a line at info@beyondthecrucible.com
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Transcript
Warwick Fairfax:
Welcome to Beyond the Crucible. I'm Warwick Fairfax, the founder of Beyond the Crucible. He says it didn't require any scientific discipline. Your scientists were preoccupied with whether they could and did not stop to think whether they should. Basically saying just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Wise words.
Gary Schneeberger:
Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. That's the chief lesson of Jurassic Park, but it's not one the man who brought dinosaurs back to life and turned them into theme park attractions learns until it's too late. This week in the fifth episode of our special summer series, Back to A Better Future: The Crucibles of Sci-Fi Cinema, we discussed the crucibles unleashed when John Hammond uses his vast wealth to create what he thinks will fill the world with wonder but winds up filling the attraction he builds with death and terror. How can understanding where Hammond went wrong help you avoid your own crucibles or overcome them when they hit? Stay tuned.
Welcome, friends, to Beyond the Crucible. You have joined us in the midst of our summer series, which we're calling Back to A Better Future: The Crucibles of Sci-Fi Cinema. We're doing this because we've had so much fun, Warwick and I have, over the last three years when we focused our summer series on the crucible lessons that we can learn from motion pictures. We're doing it again this summer. And with this, we've already done four episodes, just makes this episode five. But after doing movies that spotlighted heroes, sports heroes and superheroes and military heroes, and then doing movies that the American Film Institute ranked very high on their list of the best films of all time, and then last year doing films that really had a lot of crucibles in them, this time we're focusing on a genre that is one of Warwick's favorite types of films, and that's science fiction.
Hence, the title, as I said, Back to A Better Future: The Crucibles of Sci-Fi Cinema. So, Warwick, before we dive into the movie that we're going to talk about this week, why movies? Again, this is the fourth time we've gone into the cinema for our summer series. There was a time before these last three years that we did it as well. What are you hoping our listeners and viewers get out of our discussions about the movies that we're covering?
Warwick Fairfax:
So Gary, we both love movies, and it's interesting looking at movies from the Beyond the Crucible perspective, it's very different, because typically, when you watch a movie sitting there with popcorn, you're enjoying it. But here, you're watching a movie very differently. You're actually seeing what are the crucibles the protagonist is facing and how do they deal with them. Sometimes well, other times, in The Godfather or Citizen Kane, not so well. And typically, in movies, you have the protagonists that faces significant obstacles and challenges that they seek to overcome. We've covered superheroes, sports heroes, historical heroes, American Film Institute's top 100 movies. And last year, we focused on movies that had characters with significant crucible. Movies are really a rich territory in which to explore how people face really huge challenges and how they deal with them.
Gary Schneeberger:
And you're right, watching movies just to kick back and watch a movie for the weekend, different than watching them here. But I'll tell you, it's even different. I was a film critic. I worked in Hollywood, and I had to take notes on films to give feedback to the filmmaker, and I take more notes for these episodes than I did for those pursuits. So it is a much different experience and rewarding in a much different way, and we'll talk about that as we get going. But before we get going, let me ask you this question too. You're particularly excited this year because we are exploring science fiction films. Why do you love science fiction films in particular so much? What about them is particularly resonant for discussing crucibles and how we move beyond them?
Warwick Fairfax:
I've loved science fiction since I was very small, both in books, movies, TV shows. I remember one of the earliest things I saw that had a huge impact on me was 2001, The Space Odyssey that came out in 1968. You saw future technologies, such as space shuttles with pads, screens on the seat in front of them, which obviously, didn't exist in planes in 1968. You had talking computers that were almost, I guess, were sentient, and that was a major theme of that movie with AI to the next level. You had video conferencing, other technology that wasn't around at the time. I've also been a fan of the original Star Trek series that aired between 1966 and 1969. And I read some of the great science fiction novels by Arthur C. Clark and Isaac Asimov.
What I love about science fiction and still do is not only does it explore future technology, but it also explores deep societal issues, such as what is the future of the human race? How will humans interact with other forms of life and technology? What's the future role of AI? These are issues that are very relevant. And in science fiction, we see very significant crucibles portrayed. Can the human race survive? Will the expansion of humans across the galaxy be beneficial or not? Will technology get to a point where it will actually control humans? These are issues that we face now and it's just a very rich genre of exploring crucibles and how does mankind overcome those crucibles?
Gary Schneeberger:
And perfect setup for what we're doing, what we're talking about this week, episode five of the series. We are looking at the 1993 film that sparked a new generation, a new milestone in special effects from Hollywood, and that is the original Jurassic Park. It was the top grossing film of that year. This is the third time in a row we're discussing the top box office moneymaker of the year that the film was released. So there's something about what you're saying about, they're also very popular movies, Warwick, if they're for three years in a row or not three years in a row, but three times in a row we found what was the number one moneymaker of the year. Here's a summary of what the film is about. This is one of the highlights of every week of the series for me because it's such tight writing. This summary is called the log line, known in the film industry as the shortest, most direct summary of what a film's about, and here it is for Jurassic Park.
When a group of scientists is invited to an island theme park filled with cloned dinosaurs, they must fight to survive when the prehistoric creatures break free and wreak havoc. And it's not just havoc they wreak. This was fascinating to me. As the movie's rating card is shown on screen at the very start of the movie, before the credits even roll, before the first sounds of the musical score happened, as the movie's rating card is shown, Jurassic Park it is said, is rated PG-13 for intense science fiction terror, which is a pretty ... that's why these things are ... People who can write really well write these kind of things because that is true. There is intense science fiction terror in here and we're going to talk about all of it.
The first beats of the film actually were do set the stage for that terror. A sliver of it is shown, but a lot of it is not. Unpack that first scene and what it depicts, what it almost depicts and the effect it has on those in the audience who are in the scene who see it happen. It's pretty clear from the outset, isn't it, that major crucibles are going to happen in this movie?
Warwick Fairfax:
So well said. I think of Alfred Hitchcock and his movies and a lot of the fear and suspense was in what you didn't see. That will be true at the beginning of this movie. Steven Spielberg, who was the director here and helped engineer this whole movie, certainly got this right. In the opening scene, we see this large metal container and it's being pushed up against a seemingly secure concrete cage. It's got concrete around the sides with some heavy steel metal mesh on the top. You can see there's sort of a jungle plants in the actual cage, really can't see what's going on. And so, you see a man who seems to be in charge. His name is Robert Muldoon. He's the game warden of Jurassic Park, and he gives the order to open up the container and let whatever is in this metal container back into this concrete cage.
We don't really see much. We don't see the creatures, but we hear a lot of shrieking and we see jungle undergrowth at the top of the cage and that kind of moves a bit with the animals scurrying around there. Now, one of the creatures manages to push this metal container away from the concrete cage, so there's a gap, and it grabs one of the workers and pulls that worker in and kills it. Now, this is meant to be secure. These are heavy containers, but somehow these creatures are smart enough to figure out a way, figure out a way to create room between that metal container and the cage and get one of the workers. At this early stage of the movie, we don't quite know what's going on, but things are certainly not going to plan. Whatever these creatures are, they are not easy to control or contain. So, we definitely have a bit of forewarning of what is going to happen. Things don't start well in this movie.
Gary Schneeberger:
No. And the plot proper of Jurassic Park gets set into motion in the very next scene. What do we learn has happened and what is the park doing to keep its opening on schedule? Because that's the big thing being chased here, is keeping the park opening on schedule. And what you just described from the first scene has put that in jeopardy. How so?
Warwick Fairfax:
So, we see a lawyer and this lawyer is saying that the investors are getting nervous. In fact, it's the investors and the insurance companies. You need both for a theme park, certainly, a theme park such as this as we'll find out. This lawyer is saying that, as I mentioned, investors are getting nervous and that if two experts sign off, the insurance company and the investors will be okay, but they're not willing to proceed without these outside experts saying that things are okay because they've just heard about somebody getting killed in this opening scene. It could be a lawsuit from the guy's family. They're just a bit worried about this whole enterprise. And so, the lawyer mentions Alan Grant, who's a noted paleontologist as one of the experts that maybe they could get his input in. So at this point, we're at the stage where things are not going to proceed until two outside experts sign off, which then will give, hopefully the insurance company's investors enough comfort to sign off and keep going ahead with whatever this theme park is.
Gary Schneeberger:
Right. And in the next scene, we get our first really good full sunshine out in the wild look at the CEO, the founder, the creator of Jurassic Park, and that's John Hammond. John Hammond seems pretty good-natured for someone facing what he's facing as he meets with two of the experts that he wants to convince to come look at the park. This is a man who's had a hard time seeing his crucible as an obstacle, and that's not always good, is it?
Warwick Fairfax:
It's so true. We'll find out with John Hammond that ... I'm not sure that he even sees or knows what a crucible is. It's just like every crucible's a speed bump. Not even a speed bump, it's just like, "I think I felt something there, but we're pushing ahead." He's a fascinating guy. So here, we have this guy Hammond and he's landing his helicopter in the middle of an archeological dig in Montana. And in the movie you've got dust getting kicked up and going everywhere, and this is over this fragile dig site where there are dinosaur bones, which is not exactly what you want to have happen. It just could contaminate the whole site. Here, we see Alan Grant, one of the experts, paleontologist, and his fellow paleontologist, Ellie Sattler. They're looking for dinosaur bones, and ironically, they've actually found a velociraptor, which might feature in the movie at some point.
Gary Schneeberger:
Yes. Maybe, maybe.
Warwick Fairfax:
Yeah. These velociraptors, raptors, it's interesting that Grant tells this kid who happens to roll by that these are fearsome creatures. They're highly intelligent. They can run fast. They hunt in packs. These creatures, I'm sure he's probably thinking is, good job we don't have raptors anymore because those are scary creatures. So then, we have Hammond, Grant, and Sattler, they go talk in Grant's trailer. Hammond has actually been supporting Grant to the tune of a $50,000 a year donation. And Hammond says that he's leased an island off of Costa Rica, which will have attractions that will drive people out of their minds. But the investors want outside opinions from the top minds in their field, and from Hammond's perspective, those top minds are Grant and Sattler.
So Hammond wants them to sign off on the park, but Hammond won't tell them what kind of park it is, but he wants them to visit. Says, "Go visit this park. I'm not going to tell you what's in there or why you're coming along, but just come with me." Well, not surprisingly, Grant initially hesitates. He's in the middle of this important archeological dig in Montana. It's a long way from Costa Rica where this island is off of. But after Hammond says he'll fully fund their dig, not just partly, fully fund for initial three years, Grant says, "Okay." Kind of an offer you can't refuse, right?
Gary Schneeberger:
Right.
Warwick Fairfax:
For people in archeology, it's not every day that somebody says they'll fund your dig for three years. It's interesting to reflect on Hammond at this point. So when faced with the setback of some creatures, we don't know quite what they are yet, killing one of his workers, Hammond almost treats this as a minor bump in the road. The investors and insurance companies want the opinion of outside experts before they'll go ahead. And Hammond's like, "Okay, let's get these experts in. Let's have them sign off and then we'll keep moving. No problem here. Just a minor setback. We've lost a worker. That's unfortunate, but okay."
There's no deep reflection about whether they're on the right course or whether they should change direction. So we'll see, unfortunately again in this movie, this sort of non-reflective, self-confident, almost arrogant approach from John Hammond, which will unfortunately have dire consequences. One of these characters we can learn a lot from, not just from what they do right, but in this case with Hammond, a lot of what they don't do right.
Gary Schneeberger:
Right. One of the things that struck me about this movie back when I saw it in '93 and when I saw it a couple of days ago for our discussion, is Hammond has a favorite phrase he says all the time. "Spare no expense," he says it all ... In fact, how many times do you think he says it? There's actually a clip on YouTube which has every single time he says it. How many times do you think he says it?
Warwick Fairfax:
I don't know. Twenty? I don't know.
Gary Schneeberger:
Only five, but it feels like more.
Warwick Fairfax:
Probably feels like 20.
Gary Schneeberger:
It does. It comes in very significant parts of the movie, and he says it in good scenarios and not so good scenarios, so that's who John Hammond is. And you're right, Warwick, to say that it's going to have dire consequences. We see what can lead to some of those dire consequences in the next scene involving one of the computer programmers at the park, Dennis Nedry. Nedry has nefarious plans to get rich off of the technology of Jurassic Park, right?
Warwick Fairfax:
So Nedry, as we'll see, is not a good guy. He's off island in the mainland of Costa Rica and he's meeting with the man who works for Hammond's corporate rival. What this other man wants are viable embryos. We don't quite yet know viable embryos of what, but whatever they are, they're clearly valuable, because this other guy says to Nedry that he'll give him $1.5 million if he can get his hands on embryos from all 15 species, so kind of very much James Bond-like. He gives Nedry this fake shaving cream canister, which when you unscrew it, you have slots for little test tubes of all of the embryos. And this will keep the embryos cool for 36 hours. The plan is, Nedry is to be at the east dock at the aisle the next night at 7:00 to meet a boat to pick up the embryos.
The other folks, the other corporation will have somebody meet them a boat and take those embryos away. Nedry says there's an 18-minute window and security will be down and then this other company is going to be able to catch up on 10 years of research, so what Nedry has is very valuable to this other corporation.
Gary Schneeberger:
Right. After this scene, Hammond then flies his three experts, Grant and Sattler, and chaos theory scientist Ian Malcolm to the island, Isla Nublar, where his venture is set up. When they land just to beat more than 20 minutes into the film, which is an enormous departure on Spielberg's part for how this is normally handled in movies when there's a, especially science fiction movie star that's going to show up. You don't see the apes and Planet of the Apes until an hour into the film. This is only 20 minutes into the film. Spielberg then reveals to the scientists and the audience their first live dinosaurs. Talk about that scene because it's really even 30-some years later, 33 years later, it's still a really impressive scene.
Warwick Fairfax:
It surely is. As you mentioned, Hammond takes these folks on a helicopter to this island. They get off the helipad and they're in a Jeep, and they begin to take a tour. Here they are in these open Jeeps and they're going through this sort of grassy area in the island. The Jeep stops and Grant stands up in the Jeep. He stares. He is just amazed. Sattler's talking to somebody else and Grant and Sattler are pretty close. They look like they're dating. Anyway, so Grant grabs Sattler's head and slowly turns her head around.
Gary Schneeberger:
Turns her, yeah.
Warwick Fairfax:
And what we see is this huge dinosaur. It's like a plant-eating dinosaur. We'll find out it's a brachiosaurus, and they all get out of the Jeep. The scene is amplified by the soaring music of John Williams, the composer of the film score. He did the music for Superman and Raiders of the Lost Dark and some of the most brilliant film scores ever made. Now, imagine Gary and I saw this movie at the cinema in '93 and the technology, the CGI graphics to make this happen was just unparalleled. You don't know what's going to happen, and you suddenly hear this music and this massive dinosaur and you're like, "Oh, my gosh, what is happening? How do they do this? How can they make it so lifelikey?" And this is a lot of years ago. Now, we're accustomed to computer generated graphics. But back then, you'd never seen anything like this. So not only was Grant and Sattler amazed, so was Schneeberger and Fairfax amazed so to speak.
Gary Schneeberger:
Yeah. Absolutely. Absolutely.
Warwick Fairfax:
Sitting in our seats in the respective cinemas. Grant and Sattler are amazed at what they're seeing in real life that they've theorized about. As I said, these dinosaurs are brachiosaurus. Grant says this dinosaur is warm-blooded. I remember reading in the papers, I think years ago, there was controversy as to whether the dinosaurs are cold-blooded, which reptiles are or are warm-blooded. And there were some theorists that said, "We actually think that they're warm-blooded because some folks speculate that dinosaurs really come from birds that are warm-blooded." So Grant and Sattler have done all this theorizing about what dinosaurs are. Well now, they're seeing the real thing that's confirming some of their theories. We see this big herbivore dinosaur eating leaves from the trees. But what's interesting is the reaction of others is quite different. You've got Grant and Sattler sort of their lifelong, not even a dream, but just because they never thought they'd ever see a dinosaur, but they're seeing what they've spent their life working on in flesh.
But you've got other reactions. You've got Ian Malcolm, who, as you mentioned, is a chaos theorist. He's not impressed at all. He says, "You did it. You crazy son of a B. You did it." So what Malcolm means by that, he is very concerned. He's a chaos theorist, and we'll find out that if something can go wrong, maybe it will. The lawyer's reaction is different also. His reaction is, "We're going to make a fortune with this place."
Gary Schneeberger:
Right.
Warwick Fairfax:
Two folks, Grant and Sattler, amazed at the science. Malcolm is thinking of the chaos, consequences and the calamity that could happen. And the lawyer is just thinking, "We're going to be rich," so three very different reactions.
Gary Schneeberger:
Yeah, for sure. Hammond then tells the story to the scientists of how the park came to be partly in conversation with them and partly in a tour of the lab where the dinosaur embryos are kept and hatched. What happens in this scene, Warwick, that leaves the scientists amazed? What do they see in the lab that blows their minds?
Warwick Fairfax:
In this scene, here they are, they're at base camp and there's a lab there. The scene starts off with almost a Disneyworld-like movie theater. It's a bit like kind of Epcot, if you will, in which you start off in the movie theater, and then your seats turn into some vehicle and it goes down a track. It's very much like that. They're in this Disneyworld-like movie theater and there's a movie playing that's really talking about the process of making dinosaurs, but it's catering to a kid level in terms of the audience. Apparently, what the Jurassic Park scientists have done is that they've found pieces of amber with mosquitoes in them. So apparently, what happened is a hundred million years before mosquitoes bit the dinosaur and they got stuck in the sap of a tree. And over time that sap becomes amber, so what the scientists have done is they've extracted dinosaur DNA from the blood that's in the mosquito that's in amber. Pretty amazing stuff.
Gary Schneeberger:
I am glad that you said they do it in a bit of a kid way as they explain it, because what you've just described in the amber, there it is. There is my little kid me, my Jurassic Park bit of whimsy that I have in my office.
Warwick Fairfax:
But folks, rest assured, Gary is not going to try to get the dinosaur DNA out of that mosquito and reconstitute dinosaurs. Gary's going to pledge that he will not make the mistake that Hammond made, so rest assured.
Gary Schneeberger:
Absolutely. I learned my lessons from others.
Warwick Fairfax:
Exactly. So then, they go on to say that gene sequencing and supercomputers fill in the gaps in the DNA sequence, because they need the DNA sequence to create these dinosaurs. But one of the things they do to fill in the gaps is used the DNA of a frog, which we'll find out is maybe not the greatest idea in the world, but seemed like a good idea at the time. Now, we see this group, they've sort of gotten off the ride, if you will, and they're in the lab with a bunch of scientists. One of the folks they talk to is Jurassic Park's chief geneticist, Henry Wu. We see that there's some eggs, and one of those eggs begins to hatch, and there's a little dinosaur about to emerge and Hammond thinks it's very cute and tries to help it by delicately peeling back parts of the shell.
And so, Henry Wu, this chief geneticist, says that there is no uncontrolled breeding in Jurassic Park, because they've engineered them through their chromosomes and what have you to make sure that all the dinosaurs are female, and therefore, can't pre problem solved. Well, Malcolm, ever the pessimist and frankly realist-
Gary Schneeberger:
And the chaos theorist, right?
Warwick Fairfax:
Absolutely.
Gary Schneeberger:
He's always expecting chaos.
Warwick Fairfax:
Yes, and he turned out to be true. Malcolm is concerned and wonders how they could all be female. And so, Wu, the geneticist, explains the process and there are ways of making sure that happens. Well, Malcolm says, "This is not possible as the history of evolution is that life will not be contained." He says, "Life expands new territories and life finds a way." Telling words, life finds a way. So then, Grant asks, "What kind of species is this baby dinosaur that's just emerged from the egg?" Well, geneticist Wu, he knows you got a bunch of scientists and paleontologists. Well, he says a bit nervously that is a velociraptor. So remember, in that early scene of the movie where you're in Montana and Grant is talking about the velociraptor and the hundred and packs and he actually has a Velociraptor claw, but it's like a souvenir.
Gary Schneeberger:
Scares a little kid. Scares a little kid with it.
Warwick Fairfax:
Absolutely. And so, here they seem to be rebreeding velociraptors one of the scariest creatures in the dinosaur world. So, what could go wrong? So, we'll see.
Gary Schneeberger:
Indeed, we will. When the group stops for lunch, things really begin to change. I think this is where the tipping point of the film begins. There's a key exchange where their concerns about what Jurassic Park is doing begin to override their amazement on that has been done, what they've seen has been done. The scientists stop being, for lack of a better phrase, little kids who are like, "Oh, my gosh, they're dinosaurs," and start being scientists who are pondering, "What's happening here?" Let's take a look and a listen to a clip that really spotlights this for us.
VIDEO CLIP:
More adventurous guests, of course, can opt for our jungle river cruise or for a close-up look at our majestic ... None of these attractions are ready yet, of course, but the park will open with the basic tour you're about to take, and then other rides will come online six or 12 months after that. Absolutely spectacular designs. Spared no expense.
Yeah, and we can charge anything we want, $2,000 a day, $10,000 a day, and people will pay it. And then, there's the merchandise and I can personally advise-
Donald, Donald. This park was not built to cater only for the super rich. Everyone in the world has the right to enjoy these animals.
Sure. They will. Well, we'll have a coupon day or something.
Gee, the lack of humility before nature that's being displayed here staggers me.
Well, thank you, Dr. Malcolm, but I think things are a little bit different than you and I had feared.
Yeah, I know. They're a lot worse.
Now, wait a second, now. We haven't even seen the park yet-
No, Donald, Donald, let him talk. There's no reason, now I want to hear every viewpoint. I really do.
Don't you see the danger, John, inherent in what you're doing here? Genetic power is the most awesome force the planet's ever seen, but you wield it like a kid that's found his dad's gun.
It's hardly appropriate to start hurling generalizations before-
If I may. I'll tell you the problem with the scientific power that you're using here. It didn't require any discipline to attain it. You read what others had done and you took the next step. You didn't earn the knowledge for yourselves, so you don't take any responsibility for it. You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it and packaged it and slapped it on a plastic lunch box and now you're selling it. You want to sell it. Well-
I don't think you're giving us our due credit. Our scientists have done things which nobody's ever done before.
Yeah. Yeah. But your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't start to think if they should.
Condors. Condors are on the verge of extinction. If I was to-
Oh, no.
No, no. If I was to create a flock of condors on this island, you wouldn't have anything to say.
No, hold on. This isn't some species that was obliterated by deforestation or the building of a dam. Dinosaurs had their shot and nature selected them for extinction.
I simply don't understand this Luddite attitude, especially from a scientist. I mean, how can we stand in the light of discovery and not act?
Oh, what's so great about discovery? It's a violent, penetrative act that scars what it explores. What you call discovery, I call the rape of the natural world.
Well, the question is, how can you know anything about an extinct ecosystem? And therefore, how could you ever assume that you can control it? You have plants in this building that are poisonous. You pick them because they look good, but these are aggressive living things that have no idea what century they're in and they'll defend themselves. Violently, if necessary.
Dr. Grant, if there's one person here who could appreciate what I'm trying to do.
The world has just changed so radically and we're all running to catch up. I don't want to jump to any conclusions, but look, dinosaurs and man, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea what to expect?
I don't believe it. I don't believe it. You're meant to come down here and defend me against these characters and the only one I've got on my side is the blood-sucking lawyer.
Thank you.
Gary Schneeberger:
Warwick, the scientists are seeing how ripe this endeavor is for unprecedented crucibles, aren't they?
Warwick Fairfax:
They really are. We have these scientists, Hammond, they're sitting around a dinner table in the base camp, and they're having this fascinating conversation. They're having a very, very nice dinner. It's interesting to see different people's reactions to really what has come about, what they've seen in the tour of the lab. And so, we've got the lawyer saying that they can charge anything they want to. It could be $10,000 a day, $12,000 a day. And then, of course, there's the merchandising on top of all of that. It's not just ticket prices.
Gary Schneeberger:
Lunch boxes, right?
Warwick Fairfax:
Absolutely. And Hammond says, "Well, this park is not just for the super rich." He says he wants everybody in the world to enjoy it. The lawyer says somewhat smilingly and condescendingly, "Well, we'll have a coupon day. Throw crumbs to the old people." What is telling is Hammond just laughs. So here, he said, "Well, I don't want this to be for the wealthy." And then when the lawyer says, "Well, it'll be coupon day." Hammond goes, "Oh, yeah, okay," and laughs. So how much does Hammond care about taking care of regular people and not the super rich one can wander? Now, meanwhile, Malcolm says the lack of humility before nature that is displayed here in this whole complex is staggering. While the lawyer says things look okay, Malcolm says things are a lot worse than he feared. He says genetic power is the most awesome force, but you guys wield it like a kid who's found his dad's gun, a very graphic and unfortunately apt image.
He says it didn't require any scientific discipline. Your scientists were preoccupied with whether they could and did not stop to think whether they should. Basically saying, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. Wise words. Malcolm says the dinosaurs had their chance and nature said they did not make it. And meanwhile, Sattler, one of the paleontologists, says that, "You can't know everything about an extinct ecosystem. And how can you assume that you can control it? These are aggressive living things that will protect themselves violently, if necessary." Grant says he doesn't want to jump to conclusions, but dinosaur and man, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution have just been thrown together. How can we have the slightest idea of what to expect? So Grant also has reservations.
Now, Hammond, ever the optimist, to say the least, was taken aback by all this. He says the scientists are meant to defend him. And all three of them, Sattler, Grant and Malcolm, if not, and he says the only one that supports him is the blood-sucking lawyer. Those are his words. The scientists, Malcolm, Sattler and Grant, they're all concerned about what could go wrong, about the unanticipated crucibles that could happen. Hammond and the lawyer, they just focus on money, fame and the unprecedented impact that they will have. That's what they're thinking. It's two incredibly different reactions between the scientists and Hammond and the lawyer.
Gary Schneeberger:
Yeah, and they're going to be on a collision course, folks. Stay tuned. Hammond's grandchildren then show up. Tim is a dinosaur lover and a bit of a fanboy of Grant's and Lex is a computer whiz. Both skills will prove important later on. Then the kids and the scientists begin the automated version of the tour of the park. But Grant gets frustrated very early on when no dinosaurs are featured in the first several minutes. Everybody gets out of the car and walks around and soon they find an ill triceratops. Warwick, this is the first sign in the film that in bringing dinosaurs back to life, the parks team seems not to have given enough thought to keeping the animals safe, right?
Warwick Fairfax:
Indeed. Yeah, as you mentioned, we've got the group and they're now in a couple of Jeeps. These are automated Jeeps on a track, and they're having a tour of the park. So initially, as they approach the tyrannosaurus rex, the T-Rex paddock, they don't see anything. And so, Malcolm continues reflecting on his chaos theory, doom and gloom motif. Malcolm says, "God creates dinosaurs. God destroys dinosaurs. God creates man. Man destroys God. Man creates dinosaurs." I guess Malcolm probably is not that religious, I guess. It's very much a doom and a gloom philosophy. And so, we see a goat that's being put near the fence to tempt the dinosaurs, because the people want to see some action, like a T-Rex come out from the undergrowth. But nothing happens.
So Grant says that a T-Rex does not want to be fed. It wants to hunt. Again, they're challenging the very nature of these animals. Grant says you cannot suppress 65 million years of gut instincts. And so then, we shift to this sick dinosaur, the triceratops, it's on its side, and Sattler sees that there's some West Indian lilacs nearby and that they're toxic. The implication is that the scientists and others at Jurassic Park, they haven't figured everything out. Basically, you've brought these tricerotops back to life. You put a bunch of plants and undergrowth there, but you haven't quite figured out that West Indian lilacs are poisonous, and that's why this triceratops is not doing well. They're doing things pretty fast, but clearly, there are some things that they not really thought through.
Gary Schneeberger:
We've all heard the phrase rush to judgment. What they're doing here is a rush to profit. It seems like that's the nature of ... As Hammond is sparing no expense, he is counting the money that's going to cover the expenses coming in once the park opened.
Warwick Fairfax:
And not only is it a rush to judgment, as we'll see, it's a rush to crucibles.
Gary Schneeberger:
Oh, very, you should be the president of a business called Beyond the Crucible. Very, very good. Next, nature, which has been manipulated quite a bit so far by Jurassic Park, shows up in the form of a severe rainstorm. The tour is stopped that the scientists are on. But as the scientists head back, Nedry, the computer programmer, who's going to sell the embryos to the competitor, sees the opportunity to steal those embryos and give them to the rival corporation. To get to the highly-protected embryo storage room, he shuts down all the park's security protocols. What happens next where it kicks off in earnest for all the characters we've met so far that science fiction terror the movie's rating promised. What happens first?
Warwick Fairfax:
So Nedry's been looking for an excuse to shut the security systems off, so that he can get the 15 dinosaur embryos off the island. So he has to, as we've mentioned, go to the east dock of the island, meet the competitor's boat, and then eventually get paid. He tells Hammond and some of the others in the control room area that they've been having trouble with the phones. Everything's tied to computers. Everything's very automated. And he says, "We're just going to shut off the minor system for about 18 to 20 minutes." Then he says, "Hey, I'm just going to get something at the snack bar. Does anybody want anything?" Like you say, he's all very nervously and he's not a calm, cool, collected spot. So Nedry shuts the systems down and gets the embryos out, because he has to shut the systems down to get the embryos out, and then runs off.
Now, what's interesting is, in an earlier scene, Nedry tells Hammond that he feels unappreciated. That's sadly for at least turncoats and people that betray companies in their country that somehow that's common tale. They feel unappreciated for whatever reason. So Hammond says that he's sorry about Nedry's financial problems. We don't know quite what that is. It's a gambling. Somehow Nedry's got himself into financial trouble. Hammond says he does not blame people for their mistakes, but he does ask that they pay for them. Now, these words will really come back to haunt Hammond, or at least they should. It sounds all very judgmental. "Hey, I understand if you make mistakes, but there are consequences if you make mistakes, you're going to pay for them. I'm not so much judging you. I'm just saying that's what happens. It's just all very matter of fact. You make a mistake. I get it, but you're going to pay for it." Those words could or should come back to haunt Hammond.
Meanwhile, back with the group near the T-Rex paddock, we see this huge T-Rex devouring the goat. At this point, the fences are failing all over the park because of the systems that Nedry has shut down. These fences are meant to be electrified. Well, they're not anymore. So, the T-Rex tears through the fence and Malcolm says that he hates being right all the time. Malcolm, I wouldn't say he's the most humble guy in the world, but he is self-confident, but he also does tend to be right pretty much always throughout this movie. Now, we see the T-Rex is right outside their Jeeps. Grant is in one Jeep and then the kids are in another. There are some other people there, Sattler and the lawyer and Malcolm.
Grant tells everybody not to move because the T-Rex detects movement. I don't know the eyesight is great with the T-Rex, but it does detect movement. So the T-Rex begins to turn over the vehicle with the kids in it. Now, Grant gets out with a flare to try to distract the T-Rex and throws the flare in the jungle. He's just trying to help the kids. Meanwhile, a lawyer has fled the scene and he's in an outside toilet because that's just the nearest structure that he can find.
Gary Schneeberger:
Fled the kids, right? Left the kids behind, fled the kids, yeah.
Warwick Fairfax:
Yes. He doesn't turn out very well in this movie. And so, the T-Rex ends up finding the lawyer and eating him. Then, we see Grant and the kids, they escape through their fence and they find themselves on the edge of this huge concrete cliff. They cling to a cable and lower themselves down. They're just trying to find a way to get away from these T-Rex. Meanwhile, Sattler and Malcolm, they escape in another Jeep and go back to base camp. And so, as they try to flee, this T-Rex is chasing after them. They're trying to accelerate and it's getting very close. We see a side mirror with these immortal words that everybody has seen many times.
In the side mirror, there are words that say this. "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear." And what do you see in this mirror? T-Rex charging at this Jeep. Very humorous words that Spielberg and the other folks behind this movie engineer. It's a classic. How can you avoid that line? "Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear," it's just classic. Yeah, it's an incredible scene, and eventually, Sattler and Malcolm do find a way to escape this T-Rex.
Gary Schneeberger:
And things go south next for Nedry, as he tries to meet his contact. Let's just say he pays for his mistake. And it's not just the rain washing him off the roads, is it?
Warwick Fairfax:
No, indeed. So here's Nedry. He's nervously trying to make his way through the pouring rain. The roads are very muddy. Somehow he managed to crash into the sign that says which way the east dock is, and he has no idea now because the sign is just hanging down. He's racing to the east dock, as we've mentioned, to give the embryos to this competitive company, but Nedry crashes. His car seems to be near this waterfall. The Jeep is stuck. He gets out this [inaudible 00:46:52] winch, which is attached to the Jeep, tries to put it around a tree to then try to winch his way out from where it's stuck. Well, this dinosaur comes along. It's not that big and it sees him. Initially, Nedry's tried to give it a stick or it's like as if somehow that would help. But the dinosaur starts getting all agitated and flaring up at him. So Nedry flees back to his car, but the dinosaur follows and kills him.
Gary Schneeberger:
And Warwick, the scene that's really instructive for our purposes follows. Grant, Tim and Lex in a tree watching a brachiosaurus, what Lex has referred to as a veggiesaurus as opposed to a metosaurus, those who do not just eat plants. They're watching a brachiosaurus feed on the tree's leaves. It's a return to wonder in this movie, however shortlived. We'd all be wise in the midst of our own crucibles to look for the good among the bad, wouldn't we, as we're going through it?
Warwick Fairfax:
Yeah, such a good point. Here, we have Grant and the kids, they've got out of the vehicle. Tim is trapped at one point and they're trying to find their way down the cable, which they do to the bottom of this concrete cliff. They wander through the jungle and the undergrowth and they find this big tree, where they climb up to try to spend the night and just find a safe spot away from all the dinosaurs. What's interesting is before, it was clear that Grant feels uncomfortable with kids. After all, he made sure that he wasn't in the Jeep with the kids. I think he actually got out to get into the other one. He just does not want to be around kids. But now, we see that Grant and Lex and Tim are in this tree and the kids are hugging him and he's hugging them just to keep them safe. And then, this very large herbivore comes up and it's so big, even though they're very high up in the tree, it's looking to get some leaves from the top branches.
And as he mentioned, this is a herbivore, a plant-eating a dinosaur, a brachiosaurus. It's making some kind of noise. Its way of speaking, if you will. Grant tries to echo this noise back and the kids are huddling with Grant. Tim is trying to make some, what some would say is like a dad joke version of a dinosaur joke. It's a sweet scene that here you have Grant, the guy that does not like kids, he rescues the kids, he saves them, he's comforting them. As I think you're sort of indicating, amidst this crucible, we need to care for and have compassion for those around us, especially on our team. Sometimes we're going through a pretty challenging crucible, it's okay to stick your head up, smell the roses and just enjoy the scene in front of you. They always try to pat this massive dinosaur, which then I think sneezes on one of them or something, but it's sort of a cute scene.
Gary Schneeberger:
Yeah. The scene then shifts back to Hammond and Sattler sitting in the dining area of the park. One of the great things Spielberg does in this movie is he divides the scientists and the kids up, so that there's like three different pairs of people who are going and doing stuff. The next one is Hammond and Sattler in the dining area of the park, and they have this conversation. What do they talk about work that's so interesting?
Warwick Fairfax:
This is a very interesting scene. So here, we have Hammond and it's with Sattler in this dining area of the base camp. It's in this huge atrium and he's eating ice cream. Basically, systems are down, there's no fridges. It's going to go to waste, and so they're just sitting there and Hammond is reflecting on the first exhibit that he had when he came down from Scotland and it was a flea circus. In this flea circus, they had a bunch of different attractions, a trapeze, seesaws, merry-go-rounds. People thought that they could cause sea fleas on these different attractions, but it was an illusion. And so Hammond says, "But with this place, Jurassic Park," he wanted to show people that something that was not an illusion, something that was real, something they could see and touch. And Hammond says they were overly reliant on automation.
I think what he's talking about is the systems that were shut down once Nedry put things on pause or they can't even phone outside because everything's tied to these computer systems. And so Hammond says, "Creation is an act of sheer will. Next time, it will be flawless." And clearly, he's not learning the lessons. He thinks the lesson is, "Okay, we won't have so much automation. We can just control creation by an act of will." That's his lesson, which is the wrong lesson. Sattler says it is still a flea circus. It's an illusion. Sattler's basically saying this whole Jurassic Park, it's a flea circus. It's an illusion. She says it calmly, but those are tough biting words. And Hammond keeps talking about having control again. And Sattler again says, "That's an illusion that we have control." She says that she did not have enough respect for this place and it is out now, meaning the dinosaurs.
She says that the only thing that matters now, caring for the people that we love, basically saving them, rescuing them, Grant, Lex and Tim. There are people out there and they're dying. Hammond still struggles to admit the mistakes he has made. He seems to believe that he can fix the problems and control things. Gee, the only mistake I made was too much automation. We can fix that. Sattler realizes that control is an illusion. Hammond has not learned the lessons of his crucible or Sattler clearly has.
Gary Schneeberger:
Couple of years ago when we did the AFI movies. There were two films that had characters that really didn't learn from their crucibles. The Godfather, Michael Corleone didn't, and Citizen Kane, Charles Foster Kane didn't. Hammond's in the same zip code with those folks for most of this movie. He's not learning the lessons of his ... He's much more avuncular. He's much more happy-go-lucky, but he really isn't learning as you pointed out. He's not learning while Sattler has.
Warwick Fairfax:
Hammond is certainly not as evil as Charles Foster Kane or Michael Corleone, but Sattler is arrogant and does believe that he can control everything. He's not learning any real lessons from his crucibles just to say, "Oh, it's an automation problem." That really isn't the issue. He's not, so far in this movie, learned any lessons. His decisions have had massive consequences. He's not tried to hurt anybody. In some sense, he feels like this whole Jurassic Park can be a wonderful attraction, help people understand science. So it's not like he's intrinsically evil and that all his motives are bad. He's a bit more of a relatable character in that it's easy to feel like you tried to do the right thing in life, but yet, end up not doing the right thing. You don't want to hurt anybody, but you end up hurting people, and you don't learn the lessons of your crucible, and that is certainly Hammond.
Gary Schneeberger:
Yeah. Now, we'll switch back. Now, we go back to Grant and the two kids, and they find several hatched eggs on the ground in the wild. What's the importance of this scene, Warwick? Because it's a pretty important one.
Warwick Fairfax:
It surely is. So here, Grant finds the eggshells, a number of eggshells on the ground. Well, what this says is that dinosaurs are breeding. Remember what these scientists told them, that the dinosaurs are all meant to be female. But Grant says, "Well, part of the DNA sequence was from frogs, and frogs are amphibian and that some frogs can change from one sex to another in a single sex environment. So adding that frog DNA ends up being a major mistake. Grant says that Malcolm was right. You can't control everything, life finds a way. Probably seemed like a good idea in theory. We've got some DNA sequences missing. Gee, let's use a frog. Maybe it's something in common in some sense with dinosaurs and something that maybe will work without thinking through everything in that decision.
Gary Schneeberger:
There's a scene that comes shortly after this one when Sattler goes out in the park with the park's game warden to try to reboot all the systems. Hammond says something here that shows he's not yet still, he's not yet accepting the seriousness of the crucible he and others are in.
Warwick Fairfax:
Hammond says that they're going to have to fully shut down the whole system in order to reboot it and wipe away, basically, the malware, the code that Nedry inserted in the system. And then, the systems will come back, including the phones, which they need to call for help. The y shut down the system, but there's a problem. To turn that system back on, they've got to go out to this concrete bunker, if you will, concrete shed where you'll have to turn the breakers back on. That's outside this main base area, they'll have to go out into the undergrowth to get there. So Sattler and the game warden are about to go outside to turn the breakers back on in this concrete bunker. But before they do, Hammond says, "This is all a bit like Disneyland when it opened. Nothing worked." So Malcolm says, "When the pirates of the Caribbean don't work, the guests don't get eaten."
Great phrase. Hammond still seems to think that this is all an easy fix to get Jurassic Park back up and running. We switch back to Sattler and the game warden. They're going through brush to get to this concrete building, where the breaker switches are. And the game warden, he's hunted in Africa. He's very aware of his environment and he senses there's something out there. So he tells Sattler, run to the building and go inside to re-engage the breakers while he stays outside to just see what's going on. Sattler goes down to the bowels of this concrete bunker. She has to charge up the breakers with some switch, and then she turns the breakers on. And then, once they're on, she has to re-engage all the individual circuits that are in there for each fence.
Now, meanwhile, the game warden, he sees a raptor in the brush and is about to shoot it. Instead of calmly looking at him, it's in the brush a little ways away and he's getting ready to shoot this raptor, but he pauses. It's if to say, "This doesn't feel right. This seems a bit too easy," because these are highly intelligent creatures. And just then, a raptor appears right beside him. He says, "Clever girl." Those are his last words because he does not have time to turn his gun and get the raptor. So a little bit too late he says, "Okay, now I figured out what's happening."
Gary Schneeberger:
Yeah. One of the most exciting, scary, dare I say, sci-fi terror scenes happens next when three velociraptors attack, first, Sattler and then the kids. Walk us through that scene, those scenes, Warwick.
Warwick Fairfax:
Grant manages to get the kids back to the base camp. Once Grant is inside, he leaves to find the others where Sattler and Hamilton, where's everybody? Tim and Lex, they sit down at the dining area and they start to eat cakes. I guess they brought everything out from the fridges and there are cakes there. We see in here a raptor that is nearby. Tim and Lex, they run to the commercial kitchen, they close the door behind them, they hide behind some equipment that's there, and we see some raptors hunting them. Now, one even figures out how to turn the handle on the door to open it. Earlier on, I think they speculated as could they really figure that out? Grant and Sattler trying to ponder that question.
Well, clearly these raptors are highly-intelligent hunters. The raptors get into this kitchen and they're hunting them. So eventually, the kids escape and they find Grant and Sattler and they run to the control room. But they can't lock the door to the control room until the locks are rebooted. And so, while the power's back on, the computers have to be rebooted. While Grant and Sattler are trying to keep the metal door closed with this raptor trying to get its way in, Lex, who we've learned earlier knows computer programming and she says it's a UNIX system. Now, not every kid knows what a UNIX system is, but she does
Gary Schneeberger:
I don't know what a UNIX system is.
Warwick Fairfax:
All I can say is I've heard the word, a UNIX coding, but that's about it. That would be all I would know. There's Lex at the computer terminal frantically trying to get the system online and reactivate every part of the program, including the door locks. So eventually, she does and the control room door lock. So now, they race out of the control room being chased by raptors and they find themselves in the atrium area of the space camp. There's two raptors have them trapped. You've got Grant trying to protect the others. At this point, things look very dire, about as dire as it has all movie for Grant and the kids and Sattler, everybody. But fortunately, the T-Rex comes to save the day about the only time in this movie when the T-Rex is the hero, but briefly.
The T-Rex comes in and starts eating one of the raptors, while the other raptor wants to try and defend its fellow raptor and jumps on the T-Rex and tries to get it. They all flee outside to a gas Jeep while all this is happening. And as Grant is getting in the car and they're about to drive away, Grant in this sort of deadpan pithy way says to Hammond, "After careful consideration, I've decided not to endorse your park." All very calmly. And Hammond, in a rare moment of self-reflection and humility says, "So have I." Hammond, for the first time in the movie, realizes there's a problem with the inherent concept of Jurassic Park. First time that's happened, all movie.
And then, in a comical bit that again, Steven Spielberg does such a good job of, as the T-Rex and the raptor attacking each other in this atrium of the base camp, we see this sign falling down. On that sign, it says, "When dinosaurs ruled the Earth," a fitting way to end that part of the movie.
Gary Schneeberger:
Yeah. Speaking of ends, how does the movie wrap? The final scene in the film, how does that play out?
Warwick Fairfax:
We now see them drive down in the Jeep to the helicopter pad. They get in the helicopter because they've been able to phone the mainland in Costa Rica to get help. We see Hammond in the helicopter looking at his cane. On the head of that cane is an amber head with a mosquito in it. And so, Hammond is reflecting about Jurassic Park, about getting dinosaur DNA from mosquitoes and Amber. He's just thinking about this whole thing, probably thinking, "Why did I do it? What was this all for? Where did it go wrong?" Who knows what he's thinking, but he's reflecting as he's looking at that amber head of his cane.
Meanwhile, you've got Tim and Lex, and they're in Grant's arms. Grant's like their hero, their savior. The man who does not like kids is suddenly warming up and kind of likes having the kids around him. And meanwhile, Sattler, who as we've mentioned, it does seem to indicate that she's in a relationship with Grant, she smiles at him, like, "Who is this guy? I thought this guy didn't like kids." Maybe she's thinking, "Well, maybe this bodes well for the future." Who knows what she's thinking? It's a neat scene. As the helicopter flies off into the sunset, we see birds on the side, including Pelicans. It's really a somber end to the movie with a lot of reflection of what's happened.
Gary Schneeberger:
Right. Warwick, you and I are not ... I'm going to date myself here, we're not Siskel and Ebert. We're not film critics. We talk about these movies not to review them. We talk about them to spotlight the crucibles the characters go through and the lessons that all of us can learn about their crucibles. How does Jurassic Park offer insight to help us move beyond our own crucibles?
Warwick Fairfax:
Yeah. We can learn a lot from the characters in this movie, Jurassic Park. We've got some characters who are not fully aware of the gravity of their crucible, like Hammond, who until the very end believes nothing to see here. I'm not even sure he admits it's a speed bump. Maybe it's just a pebble on the road. Really, not much more than that. Everything's solvable. We've just got to figure it out. Meanwhile, the lawyer, he just sees dollar signs. Yes, he was a bit concerned when the investors, the insurance companies were concerned, but now that he has experts who he hopes will sign off on it, he's good. He's calm so long as the investors' insurance companies are okay and the money rolls in. That's really his way of looking at life.
On the other hand, you've got characters that see the gravity, the crucible, especially Malcolm, who, from the very beginning, just as horrified by what he sees from just moment one landing in Jurassic Park and seeing dinosaurs. Grant and Sattler initially overall, by what they see, but pretty soon they begin to have doubts and reservations about what will happen. What Malcolm has said is telling about chaos theory and you can't control things. Grant and Sattler, they're paleontologists, they know you can't control life evolution, you can't control what happened to the species. This movie shows us that sometimes we will gloss over the crucible that we have faced and believe it's not a big deal and nothing to see here, we can absolutely solve it.
This is really the reverse of that common saying. In this case is actually making a molehill out of a mountain. We should never underestimate not just how painful our crucibles are, but how difficult it is to move beyond them. You've got to reflect on your crucibles. You can't just say, "Okay, that was a crucible. Moving on. I'm getting back on a horse. We're moving ahead full steam ahead. Nothing's holding me back." That is also just as bad as hiding under the covers and not doing anything. You've got to really understand and analyze and reflect on what went wrong with the crucible. It's not always just, "Oh, if I did something a bit different, I can still carry on with life just the same way." Typically, with crucibles, it might mean I need to change the direction of my life, not just retool and recalibrate and slightly tweak.
Rarely do you have a crucible, and we've had so many guests in our podcast and we've learned lots from history. Rarely have I ever heard a guest saying, "Well, my big lesson with this crucible is I just need to tweak my life by 5% and keep going." I can never remember one guest ever saying that. Life's not just about a quick tweak to the crucible and everything will be rosy. Well, that seems to be Hammond's philosophy of life. This movie shows you that blind optimism and hubris can be very dangerous, and that's exactly what Hammond has. This kind of arrogance can help make crucibles worse and indeed create many new crucibles. And that's the sad testimony of John Hammond.
Hammond is not an evil person, like Michael Corleone or Charles Foster Kane. He's not a bad human being, but his arrogance and cutting corners lead to horrendous crucible. This is a character that's easy to relate to in one sense, it's easy to say nothing to see here. Keep going forward, we just need to retool a bit. No problem. Everything's solvable. That is the kind of character that could be many of us.
Gary Schneeberger:
Folks, you've just seen the lights come up. The feature has ended. As you gather up your popcorn boxes and your toys that came with the film, sometimes they hand it out. Maybe they handed out things like this, like the amber stone where you're watching the movie. That will put a wrap on this episode of our summer series, Back to A Better Future: The Crucibles of Sci-Fi Cinema. We will be back next week with Scott, give it to me. Give it to me. Give me to me. What? Give me the drum roll. All right, there it is. Next time, we will talk about what Warwick and I first learned was just called Star Wars. Now, it is called Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. That will be the next episode of our series. So until we are together for that episode, we'll save you an aisle seat and we'll see you then.
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