* Please note: This review originally appeared on dooyoo.co.uk under my dooyoo alias dlb74 *

I thought that after previously reviewing the original DVD releases of both JURASSIC PARK and JURASSIC PARK: THE LOST WORLD, it was time for me to write a review for JURASSIC PARK III…

So without further ado, let's get it underway!

When Steven Spielberg relinquished the director's chair for this third instalment of the Jurassic Park franchise, Joe Johnston stepped into his chair and shoes. Having directed such popular movies as Honey I Shrunk The Kids, The Rocketeer and Jumanji, Johnston was clearly adept at directing quality fantasy movies - and does a fine job with this film - even though Spielberg is an extremely hard act to follow. Perhaps the studio though so to as at time of typing this review, Johnston has been named as being attached to a certain production announced as incoming for 2008... Wait for it… You're going to love this…

JURASSIC PARK IV!!!

It's true… There's not much in the way of information on it yet but I heard an early rumoured plot idea which would involve mixing dog DNA with dino DNA so that they can make dinosaurs that obey humans - and are used as a kind of weapon - sending them into areas such as war zones to wipe out the enemy. If you think I'm making this up, I can assure you that I am not. I only hope with Michael Crichton apparently back on board as a writer for the fourth instalment, we can only hope they can figure out a better story before 2008...

-------------------------

THE PLOT:

Set eight years after the events of the original Jurassic Park movie, this one sees the return of Doctor Alan Grant (which sees Sam Neill reprising his role from the first film) who is back doing what he originally loved - uncovering fossilised remains of dinosaurs… the dinosaurs from 65 million years ago… and trying to forget the nightmare of living, breathing dinosaurs that almost cost him and many others their lives.

With people generally only taking an interest in him because of his experiences at Jurassic Park, Doctor Grant's research money is dwindling. When a wealthy businessman - Paul Kirby (William H. Macy) and his wife (Tia Leoni) approach him to take them on a tour of Isla Sorna - which is InGen's second research site. The temptation of a large cheque from the Kirbys is enough to convince him to take a brief walk with the formerly pre-historic beasts once again. The plan is that they will fly low enough over the island for Grant to point out the different breeds of dinosaurs that roam free in this incredible place… at least that is the plan that they have told him. The real plan is that the Kirbys are looking for their 14-year -old son, Eric who has vanished whilst paragliding over Isla Sorna.

Accompanied by his associate Billy, the Kirbys and a mysterious group of men assembled by the Kirbys who have a secret mission to help find their son, Grant is horrified when Kirby orders the private plane they are in to land on the island! Knowing full well how dangerous the environment is, Grant tries to convince the Kirbys who have already started the search for their son that they must leave - just as a huge roar erupts from the nearby jungle. All but one of the men manage to scramble back onto the plane and prepare to take off. As the plane hurtles down the landing strip at a terrifying rate, the one man who didn't make it back to the plane in time runs out onto the strip ahead of the plane, bloodied and terrified. As it looks like the plane is about to hit him, a massive dinosaur bursts from the jungle and snatches the man up effortlessly in its' jaws. In a sudden attempt to avoid the massive creature, the pilot of the plane pulls up sharply but the plane crashes straight back down into the jungle - where a world of new monstrous creatures - including the Spinosaurus (which we find is more than a match for the previously dominant T-Rex) and Velociraptors that have evolved in this now natural habitat and are now able to communicate with each other with an extremely developed intelligence to a degree that even Doctor Grant couldn't have imagined.

As if the mortal danger faced by everyone isn't bad enough, Grant discovers that the massive cheque written by Kirby isn't worth the paper it's written on…assuming he or anyone else would live long enough to get off the island - let alone spend it. Kirby is not a rich business man - but runs a small kitchen and tiling company. It's going to be another one of those days for Doctor Alan Grant…

-------------------------

THE ACTING:

The acting in this third instalment of the Jurassic Park franchise is fine with some very commendable casting choices. The problem is the characters that the actors play. You just don't quite care enough about them to hope they make it off the island in the first place - in fact you'll probably be hoping that the hungry dinos appear and eat some of them as quickly as possible - simply so that we don't have to put up with them anymore.

Easily the best piece of casting in Jurassic Park III is the return of Sam Neill as Doctor Alan Grant. He brings something very familiar and comforting with the film as we already know he is able to keep a cool head in a crisis - that might actually see him capable of surviving the ordeal and maybe helping others do the same.

-------------------------

THE SPECIAL EFFECTS:

With the special effects of the first two movies being as ground-breaking (literally) as they were, this film had a lot to live up to… and mostly gets away with - by the skin of its massive, sharp and pointy teeth. Most of the dinosaurs look great - with the usual suspects such as the T-Rex and Velociraptors looking pretty convincing. That said, there's a new beastie to cause a rumble in the jungle… the Spinosaurus which is so bad-ass, it wipes the floor with the T-Rex! It's like the Rex and Raptors in the sense that it's by and large very convincing as a living, breathing monster - with the help of a pretty damned seamless blend of CGI and huge live action puppets.

The downside is that some of the secondary dinosaurs are not quite as well done as some seen in the previous two films. It's by no means all bad… it's just… not quite as good as Jurassic Park and The Lost World.

-------------------------

THE MUSIC:

The music in this film is not from the mind and soul of John Williams - but instead is composed by Don Davis who composed the music for the entire Matrix trilogy. He has brought us another very fine score here which conveys the grandeur, thrills and peril that accompanies it onscreen.

The downside is that it does have a bit of a different feel from Williams' style but has imported his original Jurassic Park theme - just to help remind us we are watching a sequel to the first two films.

-------------------------

THE DVD:

This is the original release of Jurassic Park III I'm reviewing here as the studio annoyed me like so many others have by re-releasing something I already owned - albeit in a slightly nicer version than the one I already owned… THE SWINES!!!

Anyway… here are the specs of the DVD:

Feature Run Time: 91 minutes approx.

Presentation ratio:
1.85:1 Anamorphic PAL

Available languages:
English DTS 5.1
English Dolby Digital 5.1

Audio commentary with the special effects team including Stan Winston, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Michael Lanteri.

"The Making Of Jurassic Park III" featurette
"The New Dinosaurs Of Jurassic Park III" featurette
"Tour Of Stan Winston's Studio" featurette

A Visit To ILM:
-------------------
"Concepts"
"The Process"
"Muscle Simulation"
"Compositing"

Theatrical Trailer

Bonus Trailers:
------------------
Jurassic Park
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Back To The Future Trilogy
E.T. - 20th Anniversary Re-Release

"Montana: Finding New Dinosaurs" featurette

Behind The Scenes:
-----------------------
Spinosaurus Attacks The Plane
Raptors Attack Udesky
The Lake

Storyboard To Feature Comparisons:
--------------------------------------------
Lab
The Aviary
The Boat Attack

Photo Galleries:
-------------------
Slideshow
Production Photographs
Poster Gallery

DVD-ROM Content:
-------------------------
Jurassic Park III: Dino Defender Demo
Danger Zone! Demo
Film Stills
Wallpapers
Production Notes
Plot Synopsis
Cast And Crew Bios
Dinosaur Information
Trivia Game

Dinosaur Turntables - featuring spinning versions of the CGI dinosaur models before and after rendering and also test animations.

Both picture and sound quality are extremely high standard. It would be pointless to have a film such as if each thunderous roar of a dinosaur and the crashing of its footfalls didn't shake your room and make your neighbours wish that your mother had never met your father…

-------------------------

MY CONCLUSION:

This is definitely the weakest of the three existing Jurassic Park movies in my humble opinion but as I said earlier, it's not all bad. There are certainly enough moments to make you sit on the edge of your seat and some very nice photography and set-pieces to ogle at when you start to think about how much better the previous two movies were…

There are just too many differences to allow a seamless continuity from the previous instalments. The absence of Spielberg in the director's chair is probably enough to put a lot of people off in itself. Though I am by no means saying Joe Johnston didn't do a fine job on this one. It just feels a little different.

The lack of John Williams' musical score is a similar point to the lack of Spielberg. We have seen time and time again that Spielberg and Williams are a pretty much perfect partnership. That said though, as previously mentioned, Don Davis' score certainly does the film justice though again is just a little different from the feel of John Williams' music.

The shorter run time of this one really irritated me at the cinema… I just felt it was too short (as the previous two films were each just over two hours long ) which made it feel like they'd tried to put too many ideas into a shorter space of time and made the film feel somewhat rushed.

One of the things that made me realise they had rushed elements of the film was the fact that this film features Pterodactyls quite strongly. There was a giant aviary that contained pterodactyls in the first Jurassic Park novel but did not feature in the original film. Hence - they have ported the scenes set there into this movie instead. The scenes work fine in themselves and are set in very ominous but equally impressive surroundings. The BIG problem for me is that the film makes an enormous deal of the Pterodactyls escaping the aviary and flying off into the sunset to no doubt nest elsewhere - perhaps in our everyday world! What's wrong with this idea? Jurassic Park: The Lost World ended on a scene of dinosaurs adjusting to living lives untouched by man… the last shot of which was a Pterodactyl swooping down from the sky - uncontained - not a cage in sight - and landing on a tree!!! Why make a big deal of a creature escaping in the third film when it was already portrayed as free to fly around in its predecessor?!?

They say that if you have enough monkeys typing furiously on typewriters, they would sooner or later produce the entire works of Shakespeare… Perhaps they should hire them to write Jurassic Park IV before 2008? In fact… Scratch that idea. I need those monkeys to keep banging out my wondrous reviews for me!!! Well… If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys!!!

Thanks for reading my babblings!!!