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The box office performance of a film these days is almost as important as the film's quality itself. As unfortunate as that may be, the facts are the facts. So while your movie may be as good as It's a Wonderful Life, Citizen Kane, or even The Shawshank Redemption (all box office disappointments in their own right), if the marketing, release date, and apparent quality don't resonate with audiences, its commercial success could suffer. As with everything in history, time produces clarity. This column will take a look back at a specific time at the movies and try and determine the factors that led to a movie's success or failure.

It was hyped to be the heavyweight battle for the ages: Jurassic Park versus Last Action Hero. June 1993 would be their ring and each film would battle until the final bell. Unfortunately, the final bell dinged only moments after the opening bell.

Both films could not be any different in terms of story, but both vied for the same action-friendly audience. Jurassic Park was a sci-fi film about cloned dinosaurs running amuck in a theme park. The film's big (human) star was the one behind the camera. Director Steven Spielberg had made a (a very, very, very good) living out of taking what were essentially B-movie concepts and turning them into critical and commercial blockbusters. However, Spielberg had hit an artistic lull over the years. Sure he was only a few years removed from the hugely successful final installment of the Indian Jones trilogy (Yes, you read that right. There was never a fourth.), but his last three films that didn't include Indy, Empire of the Sun ($22 million), Always ($43 million) and Hook ($119 million), were not very well received by audiences and critics alike. Some critics felt his best days were behind him or that he was just a kid at heart who could never grow up (a sentiment widely used to describe the quality of Hook). When he did attempt more adult films, his mastery of story telling was just not as effective as his adventure films. The sci-fi Jurassic Park, already a best selling novel, seemed like the best vehicle for him to return to his Jaws glory.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was coming off the insanely popular and landmark Terminator sequel ($204 million). His resume hardly had a blemish and his last couple of films had elevated him to the A+ stratosphere. His follow-up to T2 would be highly anticipated and when word got out that he would be teaming up with his Predator director, John McTiernan, the buzz only built. Schwarzenegger's next would be Last Action Hero, an action-comedy about a young movie fan thrust into the film of his movie hero. The idea of the era's biggest action star coming to life provided the opportunity for all his action fans to see their dreams shown vicariously on the big screen, not to mention the unlimited Hollywood in-jokes and cameos, The film's biggest selling point was that Last Action Hero would be Schwarzenegger's first action film rated PG-13 since Conan the Destroyer nine years earlier. No one had considered the edge the Conan franchise lost when the film abandoned its R rating.

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