A DVD REVIEW: JURASSIC PARK III - COLLECTOR'S EDITION (Universal)

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I was NEVER a fan of this franchise past the first original film, which I thought was one of Steven Spielberg's greatest moments, and would go as far to say as one of the best motion pictures ever made because of what it INTRODUCED us to and the way in which it was crafted; the original Jurassic Park has indeed over the years become a classic, not to mention the first theatrical release to utilize the DTS encoding system.

To me, there are some films that just have no right to be touched in terms of "sequeling" them --- The Exorcist, Jaws, and Jurassic Park instantly come to mind for me here; but, as always happens because of DOLLAR SIGNS, a sequel --- and many times multiple sequels to make a franchise --- come into a director's head, and in the case of Spielberg, he saw an opportunity to continue the Jurassic Legacy; while I didnt care too much for the second installment of the series, dubbed The Lost World, I went ahead and bought Jurassic Park III today after it was suggested by someone in another "demo discs" thread I started in the home theater forum that the DTS mix on this third installment of the series was simply house-breaking.....and he was right.

But before I get to that, I must say some things about the original Steven Spielberg dinosaur adventure. What made the first Jurassic Park so monumental was that fact that it was subject matter that was never dealt with before --- the POSSIBILITY that prehistoric DNA could be reformatted to re-create prehistoric animals in the present time; of course, based on Michael Chriton's novel, Spielberg's Jurassic Park had a great deal of scientific input loaded into it, but what makes that first film so special are moments like when Sam Neil and the other group of scientists and mathematicians, etc, pull up in those jeeps in the beginning and they look up and see the Brontos in the trees, with the Jurassic Park score in the background while the roar and bellows of the dinosaurs fill the soundstage; when we all saw this in the theater, we were all sitting there with our mouths open going "wow.....they created DINOSAURS on this island....." and you know YOU did too when watching it.....THATS what made the magic of Jurassic Park.

Once Spielberg had dinosaurs running around San Diego at the end of The Lost World, I knew this franchise had no chance and that the first film was going to immediately become a legend in cinema, which it has. But this third installment, running at (thank god) a brisk 1 hour 33 minute length, wasnt quite as bad as the second film ---- but it was bad because simply NOTHING can top the first, no matter what they try --- and I am talking in terms of character developments, plot timelines, pacing, everything. What Jurassic Park III does very successfully is up the edge-of-your-seat dinosaur chasing excitement, much of which we had to wait for in the original. This third film starts off with a bang, and keeps going and we are treated to many dinosaur chases and battles, much like the recently released Star Wars: Episode III, which lets loose the action very early on, and just doesnt let go.

In this third (and possibly not the last --- Spielberg is considering a fourth chapter) installement in this franchise, Sam Neil returns as Alan Grant, dinosaur expert, who is tricked and lured in by William H. Macy and his (we are not told) ex-wife (Tea Leoni) --- both odd choices for a Jurassic Park film because they are just both terrible actors --- a wealthy adventurous couple who cook up a story about wanting to see Isla Sorna, the first experimental island the InGen corporation was using to breed the Jurassic Park dinosaurs, and they want Grant's help in just "visiting" the island ---- but the real reason the couple is there is to rescue their son, who went down on the island in a parasailing accident early in the film with Leoni's new ******* boyfriend. Once again trapped on this island, because of a raptor attack after the plane lands, Neil and this group is faced with a smarter, stronger and faster breed of dinosaurs this time around. Actually, a few different breeds; it seems this was the island John Hammond --- the man who wanted to open Isla Nubar, a neighboring island, as "Jurassic Park" --- was secretly using to develop many different species of dinosaurs --- not just T-Rexes and raptors. And so, in Jurassic Park III we have underwater dinosaurs, flying dinosaurs, and very smart versions of raptors who sense that their eggs have been stolen by one of the guys with Macy and Leoni's group. The film moves at a brisk pace, as I said, and before you know it, you're at the end --- the way a GOOD action flick SHOULD move; the entire film is based on Neil trying to find Leoni and Macy's son on this island, which he does, and trying to survive the many dinosaur attacks, which this time come from the air and the sea, not just the land.

And again, we have brilliant CGI master Stan Winston of ILM to thank for the wild, outrageously real dinosaur creature effects for this third installment.

There is no information at this time whether or not a fourth Jurassic Park is in the works, but there have been rumors that Spielberg is interested, for whatever reason......

But the audio and video on this DVD is alone enough to warrant the purchase because both are DOWNRIGHT reference grade --- I picked this up for $9.99 at Best Buy today and it has become my current demo disc --- THAT instantly. Let me explain:

VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS:
DUAL LAYER 1:85:1 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN TRANSFER

An absolutely flawless widescreen transfer, which, at 1:85:1, filled my entire 16X9 screen with no letterboxing, from Universal, not suprising for a film that debuted in 2001; the print is flawless --- no grain, no noise.....just a smooth overall look that just....well.....LOOKS like DVD should......there are some moments in the film stock that look a bit "smoky" but I think this was intentional on director Joe Johnston's behalf (taking over the directing duties from Spielberg, but with Spielberg overseeing the entire project). Most of Jurassic Park III takes place in the jungle, like the first film, so the lush greens of the leaves and trees are rendered quite smoothly here. But it's the SOUND that MAKES this DVD.....

AUDIO SPECIFICATIONS:
ENGLISH DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1 SURROUND, ENGLISH DTS 5.1 SURROUND, ENGLISH CAPTIONS, SUBTITLES IN SPANISH

Wow. That's all I can say after running this DVD's DTS track. Well, HOLY **** was more like it. THIS is reference quality audio, folks, and where I thought the mighty thumping footsteps of the T-Rex in the first film shook my system, you GOTTA experience the bass in this film.....crank it up and hold on. Any time there is a large dinosaur on the screen, your subwoofer will get a workout, as the entire audio spectrum here is loud, aggresive and downright spine-tingling......listen as the raptors and other creatures let out their loud bellows and shrieks; this will wake your neighbors if your system is up high enough. Plenty of surround usage, as the tails of the dinosaurs whip around the back channels in a startling way; the whole soundstage on this DTS mix is alive and like I said LOUD and AGGRESSIVE, perhaps moreso than most other discs in my collection or that I have ever heard. A GREAT sound mix by Universal here. But the LFE is most memorable ---- aside from Jan De Bont's remake of The Haunting on DreamWorks' Signature Series DTS ES DVD --- I have never experienced so much low end in a film in home video. The bass does not drop down as low as it does on The Haunting DVD, but my entire room was shaking when the dinosaurs were onscreen......VERY impressive DTS mix from Universal for a so-so Jurassic Park installment.

This COLLECTOR'S EDITION was packed with extra features, and again kudos to Universal for cramming (which would normally sacrifice quality a bit) such a good video transfer AND kick ass DTS mix on ONE DISC with all these extras:

-The Making of Jurassic Park III
-Feature Commentary with Special Effects Team
-The New Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park III
-Tour of Stan Winston Studio
-A Visit to ILM: Witness 30 Different Stages in an Exclusive Rare Step-by-Step Look at the Computer Graphics Created by ILM
-Dinosaur Turntables: A Spectacular Three Dimensional Look at the 12 Dinosaurs Created for the Film
-Behind the Scenes
-Storyboards to Final Feature Comparison
-The Jurassic Park III archives
-Theatrical Trailers
-Montana: Finding New Dinosaurs: A Special Visit to Paleontologist Jack Horner's Dinosaur Dig with Never-Before-Seen Footage
-DVD ROM Features Including Jurassic Park III Dino Defender and Danger Zone! Game Demos