Review of Jurassic Park / The Lost World / Jurassic Park 3

Introduction

You`ve all heard of Jurassic Park I assume? Spielberg, dinosaurs, CGI? Made an absolute fortune at the box office? Described by some as a milestone in cinema history? The film released as a PG when it probably shouldn`t have been? The one stuffed with shots of its own merchandise? The one that spawned a not quite as good sequel?

And you`ll know of that sequel, The Lost World which wasn`t quite as good, spawned more merchandise, and also spawned another sequel.

And that sequel, Jurassic Park III, was pretty dire. After just a short while you were cheering on the dinosaurs, hoping that they would rip William H. Macy, to bits. Maybe all the humans would get munched this time, after ignoring the first rule of the country code - always close the gate behind you, particularly if the gate is being used to contain man-eating dinosaurs.

Beyond Jurassic Park is the new bonus disk that features in the new box set of the films (replacing the previous box set of the first two). This is a review of that disk only.

The features are split by film. If you want to read reviews of the films, check the entries for each film here on Reviewer.

Video

The material is almost all shot in full frame 4:3, so that`s what you get. Some of it is rather showing its age now, but some of the more recent stuff looks ok.

Audio

Almost all DD2.0 stereo, with a few bits of Dolby Pro Logic thrown in on the more recent stuff.

Features

Jurassic Park extras

"Making of" - the usual extended 5 minute PR fluff trailer.

Steven Spielberg Directs Jurassic Park - a few behind the scenes moments mixed with more footage of the film. 10 minutes of not a lot really.

Animatics: T-Rex Attack - animations and storyboards make up this look at this famous scene in the film. Another 10 minutes or so of not very much.

Hurricane in Kauai Featurette - whilst filming in Kauai, a hurricaine was forecast. Some footage of it approaching, as well as some brief interview segments. 2 minutes of tedium really.

ILM and Jurassic Park: Before and After the Visual Effects - 5 minutes of ILM showing off how great they are, and how some of the effects were realised. Could have done with a narrator really.

The Lost World extras

Making of - A 15 minute extended PR fluff trailer this time, which doesn`t really tell you much about the actual "Making of" the film.

Interviews with writer Michael Crichton - A 15 minute chat with Crichton about the original book, the "let`s not do a sequel, no wait, let`s do a sequel" discussions, and also his first meeting with Spielberg, after his book The Andromeda Strain was made in to a film in the early 1970s (good film too).

ILM and The Lost World: Before and After the Visual Effects - 20 minutes this time, and a slightly different format to the item for the previous film. The untouched footage is shown side by side with the finished version. Could have done with a narrator really.

The Compie Dance Number: Thank You Steven Spielberg from ILM - 2 minutes of dinosaurs dancing in a chorus line. Why?

Jurassic Park III extras

The Special Effects of Jurassic Park III - a 10 minute look at the puppets, the CGI and the other methods used to bring new dinosaurs to the screen.

The Industrial Light & Magic Press Reel - much like the "Before and After the Visual Effects" from the other 2 films this shows how some of the effects are built up in to what you see up on screen. Another 10 minutes that could have done with a narrator!

The Sounds of Jurassic Park III - something quite interesting. The sound designer talks about the sounds used in the film, how they captured some of the effects in the wild and in the studio, and there`s also a little bit from composer Don Davies, who talks about his "John Williams lite" score (my description, not his).

The Art of Jurassic Park III - 10 minutes looking at the sets, but with someone telling you something about them.

Jurassic Park: The Ride - 2 minutes of the Universal Studios Jurassic Park ride.

Each section also features an advert for Universal Mediterranea, a resort in Spain. Bloody adverts get everywhere!

Conclusion

Ok, once again, let`s get the cynical bit out of the way first. These new extras could have easily been released on the original DVDs as there`s hardly anything new here (i.e. produced very recently for this DVD). The original DVDs had good extras on them, with the only thing lacking being a commentary. Releasing a whole new DVD box set means that fans are faced with the problem of whether to stump up again. Just watch those £££ signs lighting up in the eyes of DVD company owners. I know I`m always droning on about this, but it annoys me!

And why would you want to buy this and end up owning Jurassic Park III? The film is not a patch on the first two.

So if you own any of the original films (perhaps the first 2 in the original box set?) then don`t bother with this set. If you still don`t own them, then check out the old set containing the first 2 films, or buy this one if it`s cheap (and only if it`s cheap). You`re not missing anything really if you don`t own this extras disk. And you`re not missing anything if you don`t own Jurassic Park III.