Jurassic Park: Ultimate Trilogy Blu-ray Review
Your DVDs of the 'Jurassic Park' trilogy just became extinct.
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, October 12, 2011
Note: The scores above are averages spread over the three films collectively. See below for detailed ratings for
each film individually.
Those of you between the ages of, say, 20 and 30 probably have little if any memory of a pre-CGI universe (literally and
figuratively) in the world of film, and therefore may perhaps be surprised at the excitement and anticipation that early
word of
Jurassic Park engendered. No one even really understood what computer generated imagery might
mean within the confines of a special effects extravaganza, but everyone seemed to understand intuitively that a new
age had begun for film. Certainly everyone involved in the production of the film understood that
Jurassic Park
was establishing an entire new
modus operandi for special effects crew, and the model builders and other
practical effects technicians who were informed during pre-production that the film was going largely digital in terms of
visual effects are on record as stating that they quickly realized that
they had become the dinosaurs of their
particular niche in show business. (It's no big secret that Spielberg and co-screenwriter David Koepp actually worked in
some real life dialogue about these craftsmen becoming "extinct" into the early dialogue of the film, when the various
characters are touring the museum that the Richard Attenborough character has developed). The fact is the long
journey of cinema is littered with technical innovations that didn't just end up in the dustbin of history, but which never
truly elevated any given film which may have utilized these innovation to anything above run of the mill status. And
that is where
Jurassic Park may have
really made an impact, for the film was hugely exciting, filled with
rip-roaring adventure, fantastic set pieces and some unusually well developed characters (of the human variety) that
worked in tandem with the then state of the art special effects to create a one of a kind entertainment spectacular.
Jurassic Park
Film: 4.5 stars
Video: 4.0 stars
Audio: 5 stars
Supplements: 4.5 stars
Jurassic Park is
not about dinosaurs, at least according to Steven Spielberg. That may come as
something of a surprise to most readers, but Spielberg avers the film is
really about paleontologist Dr. Alan
Grant (Sam Neill), his inability to commit to his girlfriend, fellow paleontologist Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and Grant's
sudden "immersion therapy" in parenting when he's forced to shepherd two children, Tim (Joseph Mazzello) and Lex
(Ariana Richards) through a series of prehistoric obstacles when the "amusement park" created by the kids'
grandfather, billionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) has a major malfunction and its inhabitants, dinosaurs
reconstituted from DNA found in amber, run amok. And that's really what makes
Jurassic Park the rip-roaring
adventure it is: the
human element, as opposed to the various long-toothed and improbably short-armed
beasts which torment the poor people scattering like, well, birds before prey. (One of Grant's major theses in the film is
that dinosaurs eventually evolved into birds). Spielberg is at his best throughout this film, eschewing the overly
sentimental approach which sometimes mars even his strongest efforts, and instead delivering one incredibly visceral
set piece after another.
While the film's special effects got most of the notice when
Jurassic Park was initially released, seen now from a
few decades' vantage point, it's actually the interplay between the human characters that delivers the bulk of the film's
suspense and undeniably riveting energy. Wandering, almost stumbling
Columbo-like, in between Grant and
Sattler is chaos theory proponent Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), whose attentions to Ellie aren't appreciated or very
well tolerated by Grant. But when a tropical storm hits the island where Jurassic Park has been set up, all hell literally
breaks loose, the characters are thrown asunder, most of them left to fend for themselves, and that's when Spielberg
unleashes one fanstastic sequence after another. Yes, the film occasionally cashes in on cheap thrills (dinosaur heads
suddenly erupting from unexpected places and the like), but what is so remarkable about Spielberg's approach here is
how almost proto-Hitchcockian he is in crafting real, honest to goodness
suspense segments where the
audience knows what the danger is, but about which the on screen personnel people may not be completely aware—
yet.
There are occasional missteps in
Jurassic Park, and they mostly have to do with the two children, who are
alternately sympathetic and then hideously annoying. Richards' Lex is especially egregious in this regard, a girl who on
the one hand is a quivering idiot incapable of turning off a dangerous flashlight, the next moment a quivering idiot
incapable of stopping screaming, and then, completely improbably, the heroine saving the day when her knowledge of
UNIX (now,
that's comedy!) gets the park's computer system up and running after a power outage. By the time
the film crashes into one last dinosaur versus humans battle, there is probably more than one audience member
secretly hoping that a big dinosaur jaw will encircle Lex and finally put an end to her incessant caterwauling.
These are small concerns, though, in an otherwise completely engrossing film experience. Speilberg, original author
Michael Crichton and co-scenarist David Koepp do a fantastic job which doesn't concentrate on the scientific aspect to
the point of turning off the public at large, but which still invests the film with a very real "well, this
could indeed
happen" sort of feeling. The performances are uniformly top notch, and there are a handful of standout sequences in
Jurassic Park which belong in any All Time Greatest Hits moments in any assessment of the adventure genre.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park II
Film: 3.5 stars
Video: 4.0 stars
Audio: 5.0 stars
Supplements: 3.5 stars
It's of course no mere coincidence that the first
Jurassic Park sequel is named after one of Arthur Conan Doyle's
best remembered works of science fiction, and one which itself became a groundbreaking special effects film
extravaganza in 1925, utilizing pioneering stop-motion techniques by the iconic Willis O'Brien. O'Brien of course would
go on to even greater glory a few years later when he performed similar duty on
King Kong. As Steven
Spielberg mentions in one of the many supplementary documentaries included on this new Blu-ray set, the explosion of
CGI capabilities between the release of the first
Jurassic Park and
The Lost World: Jurassic Park II was
truly mind boggling. Spielberg states that though some might not believe him, the first film only had about 62 or 63
digital effects (many of
Jurassic Park's most well remembered sequences featured practical effects designed by
Stan Winston), while
The Lost World: Jurassic Park II upped that total into the several hundreds. What's so
remarkable about the second film, though, is how brilliantly the effects team—both digital animators and practical
effects puppet-masters—managed to blend their work into a seamless whole, one which might include a CGI dinosaur in
a master shot, and then cut effortlessly to a maquette in a close-up. But while technology is certainly part and parcel of
the
Jurassic Park franchise, once again Spielberg and his team manage—albeit a bit less successfully than in the
first film—to create some actual human drama in the midst of all the dinosaur mayhem.
Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm character comes front and center in
The Lost World: Jurassic Park II, when Dr.
Hammond (Richard Attenborough) reveals that though Jurassic Park itself was shut down after the disasters that befell
the first film, there is
another island, a breeding ground of sorts, where dinosaurs have been allowed to roam
freely. Once again Spielberg, a la Hitchcock, has already let the audience in on that secret—albeit a bit discursively—in
a brilliantly structured prologue where a vacationing family encounters a little surprise in the bushes. Hammond of
course wants Malcolm and a new team of scientists to travel to the island to understand how the dinosaurs have
managed to flourish despite having been bred with a lysine deficiency which should have killed them after a week. And
so we're off on another fantastic journey to prehistoric times, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist (and/or world
famous chaos theorist) to know that things are not going to end well.
Malcolm has his own love interest in this film, paleontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore). Also along for the
destructive ride is a documentary filmmaker named Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn). One of the interesting subtexts of
the
Jurassic Park franchise is how funding plays into scientific research, and Dr. Hammond's company InGen is in
desperate straits as
The Lost World: Jurassic Park II begins, due to the calamitous events of the first film. That
has led to Hammond actually losing control of his company, which is now being run by his greedy and nefarious
nephew, Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard). It's interesting to note that the first
Jurassic Park didn't have a
traditional villain (yes, the scheming Wayne Knight character had "issues," and Martin Ferrero's attorney is equally hiss-
worthy).
The Lost World: Jurassic Park II is much more conventional in this regard, positing Ludlow as the
scheming corporate bean counter who is out to reap profits no matter what the consequences might be.
Overall,
The Lost World: Jurassic Park II is an exciting enough sequel, with several top notch sequences (the
scene with Goldblum and Moore dangling over the cliff on a winch rope is fantastic), but the whole film has a slightly
stale, "been there, seen that" feel. The final half hour or so is just flat out silly, albeit undeniably exciting, when a T-Rex
demolishes downtown San Diego in good old fashioned Japanese behemoth rampage style. Goldblum's stuttering,
halting antics may be a bit too much for some in this film, and he makes for a rather unlikely hero, but Moore brings
some nice energy to her role. At least we don't have screaming children this time—unless one counts the kidnapped T-
Rex baby.
Jurassic Park III
Film: 3.0 stars
Video: 4.0 stars
Audio: 5.0 stars
Supplements: 3.5 stars
The law of diminishing returns almost always catches up with franchises which try to outstay their welcome and/or
capitalize on their particular cash cow (or in this particular instance cash T-Rex), and that's certainly the case with
Jurassic Park III. Spielberg handed over directing reins on this outing to Joe Johnston, who had actually wanted
to helm
The Lost World: Jurassic Park II, but the problems with
Jurassic Park III can't be traced entirely
to this change. Probably more to blame is an episodic and cliché-ridden screenplay co-written by Peter Buchman,
Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, one which simply goes to the same old, same old well one too many times to ever
create any substance or real suspense. In fact it's rather instructive to view this film's approach to humans in peril with
that essayed by Spielberg in the first two films. Spielberg plays his cards rather close to his vest on several occasions,
letting suspense build slowly and surely and sometimes not even showing the horror, instead leaving it to the viewer's
imagination, which is almost always more horrific than an actual onscreen display of violence could be. Here, though,
it's all there, plastered on the screen, and after a while, the viewer simply ceases to care very much, one way or the
other.
Jurassic Park III brings back Dr. Grant (Sam Neill), who is duped into visiting Isla Soma, the "free range"
dinosaur breeding ground that was introduced in
The Lost World: Jurassic Park II. Grant is approached by two
people he thinks are wealthy investors and who can fund his current (mainland) dig, Paul (William H. Macy) and Amanda
Kirby (Tea Leoni), who in fact turn out to be divorced small time businesspeople who are actually distraught over the
disappearance of their son Ben and Amanda's soon to be second husband. The two missing people are of course
thought to be wandering around Isla Soma.
Jurassic Park III also introduces a whole slew of frankly
unnecessary secondary characters who are out to make their own fortunes with patently insane plots dealing with various
dinosaurs, subplots that adds nothing other than opportunities to see various bad guys get chomped, sliced and diced
by various dinosaurs.
As I've mentioned in the reviews of the first two
Jurassic Park films, despite these films' technological wizardry (and the advancement
in CGI means that this is arguably the most impressive film of the three from a purely technical standpoint), it
was the human element which ultimately elevated the films above mere special effects spectacle. The human element
became at least slightly less interesting in
The Lost World: Jurassic Park II and here in
Jurassic Park III
it's virtually non-existent, despite the tried and true trope of a child being (repeatedly,
ad nauseum) in peril. Neill still makes for a
compelling hero, but the rest of this cast seems like little more than
dinosaur fodder, and the fact is many of them turn out to be just that. This is by the numbers filmmaking, and while it's
inarguably well crafted, it's like watching a shiny, computer generated facsimile of something which once seemed
incredibly
real.
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