Who Directed Jurassic Park? Steven Spielberg (1993)

Q: Who directed Jurassic Park?

Jurassic Park (1993) was directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the 1990 novel by Michael Crichton. It combined computer-generated dinosaurs with life-size animatronics, became the highest-grossing film ever at the time, and won three Academy Awards.

The cast

Actor	Character
Sam Neill	Dr. Alan Grant, paleontologist
Laura Dern	Dr. Ellie Sattler, paleobotanist
Jeff Goldblum	Dr. Ian Malcolm, mathematician
Richard Attenborough	John Hammond, the park’s founder
Samuel L. Jackson	Ray Arnold

Groundbreaking effects

Spielberg originally planned to use stop-motion dinosaurs. After seeing test footage from Industrial Light & Magic, he switched to computer-generated imagery (CGI) for many shots, a turning point for Hollywood.
Stan Winston’s team built full-size animatronic dinosaurs; the T. rex weighed about 4 tonnes.
The whole film has only about 15 minutes of dinosaur screen time, but it feels like far more.

Spielberg’s amazing 1993

The same year, Spielberg also released Schindler’s List, which won Best Picture and Best Director. He reportedly worked on Jurassic Park’s effects by satellite link from Poland while filming Schindler’s List.

The franchise

Jurassic Park led to sequels including The Lost World (1997), Jurassic Park III (2001), the Jurassic World trilogy (2015–2022) and Jurassic World Rebirth (2025).

Science or fiction?

The film’s idea, cloning dinosaurs from DNA preserved in mosquitoes trapped in amber, isn’t possible: DNA breaks down far too quickly to survive 66 million years. And real Velociraptors were about the size of a turkey and covered in feathers.

Spielberg’s longtime composer, John Williams, scored the film too; see who composed the Star Wars music. For another blockbuster, see Titanic’s Jack and Rose.