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

[Lexmark3200]

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

[GMichael]

Everything you said is 100% correct. It's not the drama masterpiece that JP 1 was. But it cranked up the excitement facter in a way that I haven't seen done sinse Alien was followed by Aliens. Although it did bring out an emotional response from me when the T-Rex was defeted early in the movie. I so expected T-Rex to kick some major a** butt, and I was in shock to see him go down for the count.
The one point that did erk me was when this hugh finned beast snuck up on everyone in the sceen where the boy and family were reunited. How could something that was shaking my windows in all the other sceens manage to make no sound at all? The sat phone in his belly was all you could hear. (take off on the gator with the clock in his belly from Peter Pan I guess) And how did the others facing in his dirrection not see this 4 story baby coming at them. But I get over it fast as they all run for their lives.

Anyway, another grate review Lex. Always detailed, informative, organized and well written. I look back when I'm done and say to myself, "self, you read all that?! But it only took a few seconds." Very enjoyable.

[RGA]

The first film was good entertainment despite some astoundingly atrocious dialog and idiotic plot turns for the sake of peddling the action. Still recommended and entertaining purely on the visual stimulous. A Classic is a word too often used and this film isn't classic material in my view because it rests so stroingly on the special effects that in 20 years when the effects are surpassed all it will have to rely on is the story and the characters...and they are not strong points for this film...that is the BIG difference between this film and Jaws where the monster is not relied upon to carry the story but what the monster serves to convey to the people in the story.

The follow-ups to Jurassic Park to me were dreadful...though the second film had a few chuckles when the Dino went to the city for some lunch. The third one to me was an utter disaster with uninspired visuals -- the effects become ho-hum becuase they are no longer fresh and because the film still has banal dialogue i began hoping the Dino's would just eat the heros so I could get the hell out of the theater.

JP *** / *****
JP2 ** / *****
JP 3 *1/2 / *****

The way the ratings are going I hope there is no JP 4. Spielberg has too much talent to be doing this kid stuff. And the kid stuff he used to do was so much more inspired.

[Lexmark3200]

"The first film was good entertainment despite some astoundingly atrocious dialog and idiotic plot turns for the sake of peddling the action. Still recommended and entertaining purely on the visual stimulous. A Classic is a word too often used and this film isn't classic material in my view because it rests so stroingly on the special effects that in 20 years when the effects are surpassed all it will have to rely on is the story and the characters...and they are not strong points for this film...that is the BIG difference between this film and Jaws where the monster is not relied upon to carry the story but what the monster serves to convey to the people in the story."

Well, there are MANY who I know of that DO consider the original Park a Classic by now because of Spielberg and Chriton's VISION ---- when those Brontos are eating out of the trees in the first scene we get to see dinosaurs in, to me, was moviemaking MAGIC. That scene WOWED me in the theater, and still does on DVD. Sure, effects have surpassed this film since its release, but the creature effects by Winston and ILM are STILL great looking to this day in my opinion; I have always felt that the first Jurassic Park stands on its own as a piece of Spielberg magic, much like ET, Close Encounters or even Saving Private Ryan......not getting into technicals here, its just my opinion that this film was just as landmarking.

"The follow-ups to Jurassic Park to me were dreadful...though the second film had a few chuckles when the Dino went to the city for some lunch."

Agreed; this one was ridiculous; I mean, I KNEW Spielberg couldnt resist EVENTUALLY putting the dinos in a city and have them stomping around; this was ridiculous, and the "franchise" should have ended with the FIRST ONE --- but I have argued the SAME thing about The Exorcist, Jaws, yadda yadda yadda......

"The third one to me was an utter disaster with uninspired visuals -- the effects become ho-hum becuase they are no longer fresh and because the film still has banal dialogue i began hoping the Dino's would just eat the heros so I could get the hell out of the theater."

It was a pretty shallow third installment, as my review indicated, and it comes and goes and ends before you know it, thank God like I said, but the creature effects here I thought were inspired rather than uninspired and the DTS track on the DVD is worth suffering through this motion picture alone------if you have a subwoofer, trust me, buy this disc and crank it up.


"The way the ratings are going I hope there is no JP 4. Spielberg has too much talent to be doing this kid stuff. And the kid stuff he used to do was so much more inspired."

Like I indicated, inside sources I know at Home Theater and DVD ETC magazine tell me he is considering a fourth "Park" film, but no one thinks its gonna happen.

[Kam]

[QUOTE=Lexmark3200
Like I indicated, inside sources I know at Home Theater and DVD ETC magazine tell me he is considering a fourth "Park" film, but no one thinks its gonna happen.[/QUOTE]


Actually it's been greenlighted and currently in pre-production. The Dreamworks magic crew is all on the executive production side (Kennedy/ Marshal/ Spielberg), the cinematographer from the original JP is logged on (Not Janusz, another dude), but no director is attached yet. Spielberg is rumored to return to the helm as director, Joe Johnston did part III (of Jumanji and Hidalgo fame) but written by the guy who wrote Kingdom of Heaven, at least the currently greenlighted draft that's in preproduction. No one else is onboard yet, so... it can definitely still tank as is often the case. Spielberg has the Munich games movie in production now (with Eric Bana), an abraham lincoln project greenlighted next (currently with Liam Neeson playing lincoln), and then IJ4 is supposedly next in production in mid to late 2006, BUT... that's been in preproduction hell for a while, still praying they get their act together and make it.

that's the latest scoop from my sources!!
peace
k2

[Lexmark3200]

"Actually it's been greenlighted and currently in pre-production. The Dreamworks magic crew is all on the executive production side (Kennedy/ Marshal/ Spielberg), the cinematographer from the original JP is logged on (Not Janusz, another dude), but no director is attached yet. Spielberg is rumored to return to the helm as director, Joe Johnston did part III (of Jumanji and Hidalgo fame) but written by the guy who wrote Kingdom of Heaven, at least the currently greenlighted draft that's in preproduction. No one else is onboard yet, so... it can definitely still tank as is often the case. Spielberg has the Munich games movie in production now (with Eric Bana), an abraham lincoln project greenlighted next (currently with Liam Neeson playing lincoln), and then IJ4 is supposedly next in production in mid to late 2006, BUT... that's been in preproduction hell for a while, still praying they get their act together and make it"

Interesting information, k2.......I'll have to check with some of the fellas over at these magazines that I know again, but most of these guys dont get info on what has been greenlighted into preproduction; they mainly get DVD release info marketing-wise, and they just dropped me an e mail after I had this review I just wrote for you pre-viewed by them, that a Part 4 may have been in the works....

Thanks for the confirmation from a non-DVD standpoint.......

Oh and by the way, with regard to this:

"Spielberg is rumored to return to the helm as director, Joe Johnston did part III"

I was aware that Johnston did III, as I indicated in the review; but is this going to be a DREAMWORKS release or another Jurassic Park Universal/Amblin project once again?

[bjornb17]

JP *** / *****
JP2 ** / *****
JP 3 *1/2 / *****

So i guess you could say that the rating of the jurassic park movies is inversely proportional to which installment it is in the series. Following your trend, a JP 4 would have a rating of less than 1. ouch!

I havent seen the second two movies, but i really liked the first. As usual, Lexmark, your review is well written. Keep up the good work

[Lexmark3200]

"As usual, Lexmark, your review is well written. Keep up the good work"

Thank you SO much for the kind words!

[RGA]

So i guess you could say that the rating of the jurassic park movies is inversely proportional to which installment it is in the series. Following your trend, a JP 4 would have a rating of less than 1. ouch!

I havent seen the second two movies, but i really liked the first. As usual, Lexmark, your review is well written. Keep up the good work

It's rare that a sequel better the original but there are numerous examples IMO where the sequel is better than the original: Superman 2, Godfather 2, Spiderman 2, Batman Begins(basically #5), Empire Strikes Back.

Jurassic Park has it tough because the paper thin idea seems forced in sequels.

[bjornb17]

It's rare that a sequel better the original but there are numerous examples IMO where the sequel is better than the original: Superman 2, Godfather 2, Spiderman 2, Batman Begins(basically #5), Empire Strikes Back.

Jurassic Park has it tough because the paper thin idea seems forced in sequels.

I agree with you on your hre.

With Star Wars, i think Episodes 5 and 6 and both better than 4, but 5 is better than 6.
And with the prequels, Ep. 3 is the best of them all, and 2 is the worst.

I got the special edition trilogy (Eps 4-6) and watched them the other day. I really like the remastered sound and most of the new stuff in them, except the ending to Ep 6 where he replaced the old Annikan with the one from the prequel. That makes no sense. It's sort of funny to see it actually.

[Lexmark3200]

It's rare that a sequel better the original but there are numerous examples IMO where the sequel is better than the original: Superman 2, Godfather 2, Spiderman 2, Batman Begins(basically #5), Empire Strikes Back.

Jurassic Park has it tough because the paper thin idea seems forced in sequels.

I'll give you these as better sequel examples:

Superman II
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
Spider Man 2 WAS NOT better than the original
Jurassic Park: The Lost World WAS NOT better than the original, but the original DID NOT have paper thin ideas, it needs to be visualized through Michael Chriton's mind

Some AWFUL Sequels Have Been:

Grease 2
Exorcist II: The Heretic
2Fast2Furious

[steamboy 2]

This film series go's in order. the first is always going to be hard to top & it has not, but as far as jp3 it's not bad the people are as dumb as any movie people can be, but i think that's the point. you want those people to get ripped apart or just made into dino food. i just took it for what it is a summer popcorn movie. you really can't ask for these kind of movies to really impress beyond a certain point, because these movies are just trying to get your money & get there's back. that's the rule of summer movies(well, most of them) check your real common sense at the door.

[Lexmark3200]

"Anyway, another grate review Lex. Always detailed, informative, organized and well written. I look back when I'm done and say to myself, "self, you read all that?! But it only took a few seconds." Very enjoyable."

Thanks a million, man.....this means so much to me when people reply in kind after I write these.....and thanks for the recommendation on the DVD! You were right! WHAT A LOAD OF BASS this DTS track has!!!!

P.S. I thought the ringing of the phone in the belly was kinda cool, but you were right ---- where was the bass???

[RGA]

The reviews are good by the way -- just a difference of opinion on the films themselves.

I bought the return of the Living Dead film yesterday and it was better than I remembered. The featurette was totally uninteresting but for $9.00Cad you can't go wrong.

What's with the lack of an insert? I hate that.

[Lexmark3200]

The reviews are good by the way -- just a difference of opinion on the films themselves.

I bought the return of the Living Dead film yesterday and it was better than I remembered. The featurette was totally uninteresting but for $9.00Cad you can't go wrong.

What's with the lack of an insert? I hate that.

Thanks for the kind words; yeah, we do seem to differ in our opinions and tastes in films greatly; but yeah, I cannot TELL YOU how many DVDs come across my desk or home theater room WITH NO INSERTS whatsoever for chapeter listings or ANYTHING.....I dont know what thats about.....but like you said, for nine bucks, RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD is worth having on DVD!! The studios are getting cheaper and cheaper with their product unless they release some Ultra-Edition four-disc super version of a DVD....

[RGA]

I personally don't think it is worth buying a dvd JUST for the sound or visuals to impress firends to show them some pyrotechnic the sub is capable of...but that;sjust me. I was guilty of that with cd when i was young.

Surely there are some tryuly good movies that have impressive sound effects and visuals to show off but also be a good movie?? Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List (the latter would certainly be musically exceptional) as it's William's most adult score).

[Lexmark3200]

I personally don't think it is worth buying a dvd JUST for the sound or visuals to impress firends to show them some pyrotechnic the sub is capable of...but that;sjust me. I was guilty of that with cd when i was young.

Surely there are some tryuly good movies that have impressive sound effects and visuals to show off but also be a good movie?? Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List (the latter would certainly be musically exceptional) as it's William's most adult score).

Well, I gotta tell ya, there are alot of people guilty of buying bad cinema for the picture and sound quality on DVD --- me included, which I did with PEARL HARBOR. For the most part, its NOT worth buying the discs if the films arent good, but I get suckered into this sometimes. But, you must also understand, in the OBSESSIVE world of home theater, where I have been a witness to, believe me, some people will show a film to family members or friends just to blow them through the back wall because of the sound effects on the disc --- BUT, for the most part, people sit down in a home theater to ENJOY a GOOD motion picture, not a HORRIBLE one.

And sure, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN is a fabulous film as well as exhibits a world-class DTS track, hands down. One of the best on the market, in fact.

[Lexmark3200]

"Although it did bring out an emotional response from me when the T-Rex was defeted early in the movie. I so expected T-Rex to kick some major a** butt, and I was in shock to see him go down for the count."

Agreed totally; it got an emotional response from me too as I wanst expecting that other breed of 'Saur to kick the T-Rex's ass, and it was kinda sad when he was defeated and killed.....


"The one point that did erk me was when this hugh finned beast snuck up on everyone in the sceen where the boy and family were reunited. How could something that was shaking my windows in all the other sceens manage to make no sound at all? The sat phone in his belly was all you could hear. (take off on the gator with the clock in his belly from Peter Pan I guess) And how did the others facing in his dirrection not see this 4 story baby coming at them. But I get over it fast as they all run for their lives."

I know. Completely ridiculous.

"Anyway, another grate review Lex. Always detailed, informative, organized and well written. I look back when I'm done and say to myself, "self, you read all that?! But it only took a few seconds." Very enjoyable."

I wanted to thank you YET AGAIN for these kind words regarding my review(s) above; that is so thoughtful for someone to take the time and read these and comment like you do. Just wanted to tell you that your comments NEVER go unnoticed. Thanks again, good friend!

[Luis31]

[QUOTE=Lexmark3200]"Although it did bring out an emotional response from me when the T-Rex was defeted early in the movie. I so expected T-Rex to kick some major a** butt, and I was in shock to see him go down for the count."

Agreed totally; it got an emotional response from me too as I wanst expecting that other breed of 'Saur to kick the T-Rex's ass, and it was kinda sad when he was defeated and killed.....


I don't know guys,

I thought the way the writers did this "dino fight" thing to introduce the new big, bad predator in town was pretty lame. You're going to tell me the T-Rex clamps the spinosaur by the neck, pushes him and drags him around, then the spinosour managed to free himself without a scratch to somehow break the neck of the T-Rex! Are you kiddin? In reality, even if the spinosour would've killed the T-Rex, he would've been pretty badly wounded, perhaps mortally, specially if he was bitten in the neck...

[Lexmark3200]

True......