Transitioning from a period of monochromatic to color television and then taking leaps with technology, the latter half of the ‘90s saw the rise of several acclaimed franchises. Additionally, the constant push to compete and the near-limitless creative options brought over by new cameras and gears helped filmmakers usher in an era of pioneering.
Among the top visionaries of this period, Steven Spielberg stands as a hallowed persona for his immense contribution to the arts as well as to modern cinema.
Spanning across genres, the director’s works knew no bounds as he published one masterpiece after another, including the likes of Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Jaws, and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Moreover, each of his projects took a step forward in expanding the boundaries of cinematic possibilities, making several franchises of today stand by adapting to those techniques.
Yet, even for Spielberg, things did not come easy and at one point in time, he nearly lost out to James Cameron in a crucial race that also involved Arnold Schwarzenegger as the leading man.
James Cameron came close to sealing the rights for a now-acclaimed Steven Spielberg project
In 1993, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and Sam Neill stepped foot into the fictional land of Jurassic Park, which, thanks to the creative genius of Steven Spielberg, brought ground-breaking changes in modern cinema. However, in the run-up to directing the movie, a bidding war emerged within major Hollywood media houses to acquire the rights to the original novel by Michael Crichton on which the script had to be based.
All The Right Movies captured the height of tension in a detailed thread on X (formerly Twitter), revealing how James Cameron tried to bid for the same, keeping his Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger as his first bet to play Dr. Grant. Yet, he lost to Universal Pictures who then wanted Steven Spielberg to helm the directorial reigns, only to find him preoccupied with the early stages of Schnidler’s List.
Unwilling to let go of that opportunity, the studio offered to finance the director’s project in return for him doing Jurassic Park first, to which he agreed. Managing a hectic schedule, he successfully balanced two of his biggest projects and summed up his experience as “the hardest time of my filmmaking life”. In turn, those very two movies went on to redefine cinema as people knew it and still stand as examples of true dedication to the craft.
Jurassic Park left a lasting impact on modern cinema
The dinosaur-filed movie introduced groundbreaking CGI and, when paired with life-sized animatronics, made the entire film a visual extravaganza. Rather, the Steven Spielberg version of Jurassic Park movies featured such incredible realism that even the 21st-century iterations appear pale when compared to them, as per several top critics.
Additionally, the Oscar-winning visual effects served as an inspiration for filmmakers like Peter Jackson and George Lucas to begin work on the next projects for their franchises of Lord of the Rings and Star Wars prequel series, respectively. Moreover, the filmmaking techniques also helped Stanley Kubrick invest and realize his pet project, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, changing the cinematic landscape forever.
In a remarkable set of events, Spielberg’s vision also helped James Cameron materialize his motion capture work for Avatar, after witnessing the realism of Gollum in Lord of the Rings. In all, the high-pressure environment that almost snatched away the golden opportunity from the director ended up giving him such acclaim that several of today’s visionaries find peace in his praises.
