Sam Neill, Jurassic Park and The Piano actor, dies at 78
watching THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER in honor of the great sam neill and i am, on this viewing, really appreciating scott glenn's small but impactful performance
Max Kennerly270Have I got this straight, Jonesy: a $40 million computer tells you you're chasing an earthquake, but you don't believe it, and you come up with this on your own? ... Relax, you sold me.
God130“I would have liked to have seen Montana.”
Dan Berman76He would have liked to have seen Montana
Quigley Accountability Project58Scott Glenn is great in just about everything
Jèf Uphoff55I served on a nuclear fast-attack submarine in the Cold War 80s—the lead boat in USS Dallas’ class—and, honestly, Scott Glenn did a bang-up job of playing skipper of one of those boats. Full credit, no notes.
Matt Colville?32I remember being surprised he was in what seemed like a small part, but holy crap that whole cast is stacked. There really are no small parts.
My privilege to share some lovely stories from the science community about what Sam Neill's timeless performance as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park meant to them—and why it will continue to inspire kids to chase their own discoveries for years to come.
Miles Klee 🦉132Another great tribute from @mak0rz.bsky.social, who has worked as an ecologist and and in a biology lab:
John Tweedie27My favourite scenes in Jurassic Park are when they first see the dinosaurs. I loved that sense of wonder that they captured and you could imagine what it must be like for palaeontologists to see the plants and animals they study as fossils alive right in front of them.
Rena Roseheart13I was about 7 when Jurassic Park came out. Huge dinosaur nerd. Knew every single one in the movie by name before I saw the movie. It was like watching a superhero movie and being like HEY ITS (insert cameo hero here) but with dinosaurs. Anyways. His performance was incredible. T.T
anti-leaf blower account11oh fuck no miles not sam
Gallifrey Stands6W/the neverending torrent of amazing special effects we can do digitally now, basically no one after GenX will get to experience the true amazement & wonder that we all had when we saw Jurassic Park for the first time. This scientist is raising a glass🍷 for Sam Neill (& to Spielberg) for the memory.
One Who Walks Among the Dead4This movie initially traumatized me as a child (when you're a kid, and you haven't seen worse, the scene in the generator room with Sam Jackson's arm was terrifying). But, even then, the scope, the cinematography, the acting - there was something about how completely effusive this movie was.
Mikell Taylor133I see a lot of discussion of him representing positive masculinity and want to point out how much that mattered for future STEM women. Agent Mulder and Dr. Grant both formed my mental model for the respect and support I should expect from male colleagues.
Alex66I love this. This goes to show that we can actually inspire people with good media and movies.
Natalia Jagielska (娜塔莉)57"You've a message from Dr. Grant" became a verbal tick in my family, because I played Jurassic Park Operation Genesis so frequently.
🐔 Brian Bucklew 🐔 ₑͤ＞∿＜ₑͤ ∞🌮42speculative fiction matters a lot
William Colgan36Dr. Alan Grant was the first depiction of a field scientist that I ever saw. The character opened my eyes to a career studying the natural world. 🥺
Dumb Megan34Jurassic Park is my favorite movie of all time and now it’s my kid’s too. His love of this movie is translating into a love science and animals and plants. We’re still working on liking bugs but I am trying!
Uncle Scotter8I very much gained my passion for paleontology from these movies/books. He was my favorite character aside from Laura Dern (Gay Icon). I was really sad to hear about his passing.
R. A. Meenan (Sammie)(She/They)6I am not okay... Jurassic Park was a huge part of my life. I watched it as a kid with my dad in theaters. I wrote my Master's thesis on it. Michael Crichton was an author inspiration of mine. It's great to see that Sam Neill was such a good person though, and what the movies have done for science.
Rachel Kambury6I watched Jurassic Park on repeat after my mom died and I credit that movie, and dinosaurs, and Sam Neill most of all, for preserving my sense of wonder through ages 5-7
Marcello Graziano 🇺🇦2"I have one last trick... There's no more. That's the end of magic...”
re-upping this thread on the wonder of jurassic park because the great sam neill has left us an incomparable actor who truly understood the magic of cinema thanks, sam, for sharing that magic with all of us
Jay’s Art Corner17He is looking at an empty green field. There isn’t even a head on a stick to tell him the eye line for this dinosaur. Just a couple of men and women having to imagine something no living thing on this earth has seen for one hundred and fifty million years. “It’s. It’s a dinosaur.” We believe.
FormerGregSamsa11I know it's mentioned in the thread, but the fact that Ellie echos his glasses thing just makes it more clear how astounding that bit of business was, and how it sold the whole shot. That movie is astounding because Neill sold it to us.
Kyle D. Long5That really is one of the best scenes in cinema. It's also one of the few that's un-parodiable. It's so pure and honest and already full of gentle humor, there's nothing to mock.
Medium Dave3Aw man...he was indeed a good one!
Matthew Triponey3This scene's incredible, too, because in any other actor's hands what he's doing in that shot would've been way too much. But he just sells it, somehow.
zneeley25.bsky.social3not sure if it was Neill or Spielberg but "I am so stunned my body doesn't remember how to remove glasses" is such a great note, that and the way he turns her head like a faucet nob, just no physical function beyond the absolute basics
One of the greatest tricks Jurassic Park pulls, and what really sells the groundbreaking effects work, is that before you ever see a dinosaur, you see Alan Grant see a dinosaur. You believe you’re seeing dinosaurs because you just watched Sam Neill see a living, breathing dinosaur. God, what a loss.
jasonkchapman.bsky.social8That's that "Spielberg Reaction Shot" in action and Sam Neill did it brilliantly. Close Encounters has more examples of the technique. It's great character-focused filmmaking.
ericjanssen.bsky.social5And you feel his “…You have a T-Rex?? 🥹”, even though you already know enough of the basic story not to ask. 🦖
Cranky Northerner 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦4That shot of his reaction is outstanding and utterly convincing
Max Burbank3Not a giant fan of this likeable film, BUT... that moment... it's one of those little bits of pure acting that you could use to teach film acting classes (and I'm sure some people have). It's like "Sam, you have 3 seconds to do more heavy lifting than the entire sfx team. Go!"
jazzrat2000 AKA Bonsai anonymous1Someone has already posted the scene with him taking off his glasses and just about dropping them.😘
The actor, who died at age 78 on Monday, embodied a passionate approach to research and positive masculinity in his role as paleontologist Alan Grant in the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park. www.wired.com/story/sam-ne...
Ernesto3#FlashbackMonday #InMemorian One of the most memorable scenes in the history of cinema. #RIP #SamNeill #JurassicPark #RestInPeaceDrAlanGrant
He was an outstanding actor &, it appears, an outstanding human being. I first noticed him in the film, Sirens, with Hugh Grant, Tera Fitzgerald & others. The film was excellent. He was great—in fact the entire cast of was excellent. Sad to learn he is gone.
Lori Crouch1I’d argue that he was also an inspiration in the movie The Dish. :)
if you’re busy today mourning Sam Neill, star of JURASSIC PARK, I have great news for you, Sam Neill was in at least 15 movies that are better than JURASSIC PARK
Jenny Lee4My Brilliant Career. I’m still mad she didn’t marry him.
keelin4Event Horizon is a feel good story.
7833michelle.bsky.social3The Hunt for Red October
Karen K. Ho3This melodica video still makes me laugh: youtu.be/-w-58hQ9dLk?...
Jules1Dead Calm and The Piano, yes!
Joe Emison1This is into the mouth of madness erasure
worth mentioning that the BBC miniseries that Sam Neill was promoting - the 2015 adaptation of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None - is great. one of my favorite Neill performances, too. streaming free on Acorn TV.
Are You Being Detained20Co-sign. Plus the cast is non-stop great British actors - Miranda Richardson, Charles Dance, Toby Stephens - to name just three.
Tauriq Moosa3I completely forgot he played General Macarthur; a fantastic mini-series, played to perfection by the whole cast. And of course, it's Christie's darkest story - which says a lot from the person who wrote Hallowe'en Party and Crooked House.
Shane Anderson 🏳️🌈2So so good, the only adaptation to do that book justice.
