The biggest money-making movie of all time comes to television Sunday night. Too bad.
If you haven't seen "Jurassic Park" (7:30 p.m., Ch. 5) - and I know there are a few of you out there - you'll see that all the fuss was about very little.This is not a real good movie.
Oh, the dinosaur special effects are great. And the scenes of the people being chased by those dinosaurs are indeed very frightening.
But the movie has no plot.
OK, it has sort of a plot. But it's a plot right out of one of those 1950s Japanese horror flicks - big, mean monsters chase people around island.
It's a terrible letdown if you've read Michael Crichton's book. (And makes you wonder how Crichton, who is credited as co-writer of the screenplay, could have let his work be so corrupted.)
But is this the sort of movie that ought to be playing on network television, particularly so early on a Sunday evening? This is waaaay too scary for little kids.
While NBC has cut out some of the bad language for "Jurassic Park's" broadcast debut, it has cut out none of the violence. And isn't that a rather clear statement about how that network views its responsibilities? It's OK for kids to see tremendous violence if we delete a few swear words?
I realize that making this argument is useless. Probably most of the young kids in America have already seen "Jurassic Park" in theaters or on video.
I know that my refusal to allow by 7-year-old daughter and 4-year-old twins to see it has caused some whining around the house - particularly because all of the second-grader's friends seem to have the video at home.
But here's a chance for parents to take some control over what their young kids are allowed to watch. Let's hope at least a few exercise that prerogative.