Episode 44 – Jumanji (1995)
It’s 1995. Combining the blockbuster era with CGI creates the opportunity for all sorts of movies–including ones with jungle creatures rampaging through city streets. Director Joe Johnston, who started his Hollywood career designing spaceships for Star Wars, utilizes computer and practical effects to bring a malevolent board game to life in Jumanji, starring Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, and a young Kirsten Dunst.
What Jumanji offers casual movie fans who have always meant to watch classic movies: the more sobering origin of the newer Jumanji movies; Robin Williams playing his patented boy-in-a-man’s-body role; a largely effective blend of horror and action; and badly aged monkey CGI.