The original Jurassic Park still stands up as one of the great achievements in moviemaking. The combination of director Steven Spielberg’s groundbreaking special effects and author Michael Crichton’s cautionary tale about messing around with nature proved to be box office gold.  And now, exactly 22 years later, there’s a new film being added to the legendary franchise. So, in honor of Jurassic World, the ET! team — and a few other dino lovers on staff — want to share our fondest Jurassic memories with you.  Read our thoughts and then share yours with us on Twitter at @USATODAYLife because we know you have great memories, too. Come on, being introduced to raptors was a high point in American history, no?  ” ‘Close the door!” I admonished Lex Murphy, my little 11-year-old voice a raspy, frightened whisper in that crowded, but utterly silent (except for me) Dallas movie theater in Summer 1993. But Lex was literally paralyzed with fear as the Tyrannosaurus Rex her grandfather had JUST promised would remain behind an electric fence came crashing through said fence, intent on crushing the SUV she and her little brother Tim were presently cowering in. My nerdy outburst in such a public place should have been embarrassing, but because Jurassic Park was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before, no one even looked my way after that it-was-silent-in-my-head bit of direction. Mouths were agape, minds blown, sweaty palms clasped in dread as every moviegoer around me was, no doubt, wondering the same thing: How the hell did Spielberg do this?! Even as a self-absorbed, Hollywood-obsessed tween — “Mom, the girl who played Lex (Ariana Richards) basically has the same name as me! For real!” — I was cognizant enough to realize that this was big. Like change-the-conversation big and in the two decades since that outbursty summer, Jurassic Park still looms large for me. Whenever it’s on cable, whatever I’m doing comes to a screeching halt, as I sit down, ready, once again, to help Lex and Tim MAKE IT OUT ALIVE with my sage advice about Jeep safety. But, now I just do it telepathically, obviously, because talking to yourself is really embarrassing.”  A T-Rex is really scary, even on VHS. That’s what I learned when I first saw Jurassic Park. I must have been 8 or 9 or 10, but whatever age I was, I was not prepared for what I was seeing. I never would have been allowed to watch it at home (as a kid I scared so easily I couldn’t even handle Are You Afraid of the Dark?), so it was one fateful sleepover at my best friend’s house that sealed the deal. I was trying to be cool (and I wasn’t) so I went along with the movie choice I was not totally OK with. I don’t remember much (I probably only saw about half the movie through the sleeping bag I threw over my head), but I do remember the scene where the young girl, Lex, saved the day with her awesome computer skills and joined the list of nerdy female heroes of my youth (see also: Hermione, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, etc).  Fun fact: I actually saw the sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park first — please forgive my cardinal movie-goer sin. The scene with the little girl being eaten by dinos even smaller than her terrified me until I was, well, far too old to be scared of it. Seriously, I came to terms with it maybe two or three years ago. Many moons later, I saw the original and felt a lot better about the whole situation.  I’m ashamed to say I never saw Jurassic Park as a kid — I was too squeamish and scared to handle any dinosaur movie above The Land Before Time. Instead, I caught Jurassic Park on a cable rerun one lazy summer after my freshman year of high school. “Why not?” I thought. “A monster movie with bad effects sounds like the perfect way to fill my afternoon.” I was sorely wrong on the first two counts — to this day, I’m still in awe of how amazing those dinosaurs looked, how realistic, how alive. That hot breath on the kitchen window as the velociraptors chase the two kids still sends chills down my spine. And it was much more than just a monster movie. It was the movie that introduced me to the Adonis that was Jeff Goldblum. He had a weird laugh, too-dark glasses and a shirt that seemed to be permanently missing its top two buttons, but I was somehow enraptured. Life, as Dr. Ian Malcolm says, finds a way.  What drew me to see Jurassic Park in the first place was the promise of seeing fantastic dinosaurs. Obviously. But what made my New York City viewing of the now-classic, was the awesome, unapologetic dino-maulings. Those T-Rex teeth were not wasted. My personal favorite was evil lawyer Donald Gennaro’s cowering toilet death. Yes, I applauded. VIDEO Such a thrill to meet actor Martin Ferrero years later and have him say, “When people recognize me on the street, they pause and then say, ‘You were the guy who got eaten on the toilet in Jurassic Park.’ ” I am clearly not alone.  Weirdly, I had the soundtrack album before I ever saw the movie. While I get to see movies early nowadays with my job, I didn’t get to Jurassic Park on opening weekend in 1993 because it came out right when I was in the middle of graduating from high school — family stuff, all-night grad parties, getting ready for college, you know how it is. But I have and always will be a HUGE John Williams nerd, so I had to get the score ASAP as soon it was released. I wore that CD out — hey kids, ask your parents what a CD is! — before I finally got to the cinema, but nothing beats hearing that sweeping anthem playing as you see that Brontosaurus for the first time on a big screen. Chills, man. Still.
Do you remember where you were when you realized raptors could open doors? Oh yeah, you were at the movies. Duh.