In 1969 Alan Parrish finds a drum-beating board game buried at a building site and plays it with his friend Sarah. He rolls a five, the board says he must wait in the jungle until a five or eight is rolled, and he is sucked into it. Sarah runs. Twenty-six years later two kids find the game in the attic of the empty Parrish house. Jumanji is the original, before the Rock and the video game sequels, and it is darker than people remember.
What Happens When The Game Restarts
Judy and Peter roll, and out comes Alan, now a grown man played by Robin Williams with a beard and a leaf outfit. The game cannot be stopped once started, so they find the adult Sarah, now a psychic who has spent her life in therapy, and finish it. Each roll brings something: monkeys, a lion, a stampede, man-eating plants, a monsoon in the living room, a hunter named Van Pelt who has been chasing Alan since 1969, and Peter slowly turning into a monkey for cheating.
Why It Still Holds Up
The stampede through the town was early CGI and the rest was mostly practical. Kirsten Dunst was 12 and fresh from Interview with the Vampire. Williams plays the whole thing with real fear, and the scene where he learns his parents are dead is not a kids’ film scene. The ending resets everything and still earns it.
Watch Jumanji On GoMovies
104 minutes in HD. Press play above. Free, no sign-up.
