Subject: REVIEW: THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK (1997)

From: [email-masked] (Ben Hoffman)
Date: 29 May 1997 18:21:20 GMT

THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK
                       A film review by Ben Hoffman
                        Copyright 1997 Ben Hoffman

Anyone who has seen the original JURASSIC PARK will surely want to see
the sequel.  As with the first, it is filled with dinosaurs, both big
and little, more menacing than I recall in the one that preceded this.
For this reason, it is incumbent upon me to suggest that parents of
children under 9-years-old and those of sensitive 10-year-olds take
their offspring to other movies.    It is a bit frightening to see a
couple of tyrannosaurs  engaged in pulling apart a human they have
captured, or to see hundreds of little dinosaurs about the size of
small geese, poke out the eyes of humans, chew at their lips and
cheeks.   It is a kind of THE BIRDS except with dinosaurs.

Then, too, the photography. like much of the story, is dark.  Hardly
any daylight, sunlight, penetrates the huge trees and brush of the
dense forest.   This, when it is in the whole movie, is in itself
depressing.  Nevertheless, the special effects are, as expected,
spectacular though not more so than in the original.  For one thing,
the dinosaurs do not come across as shocking, surprising, as when
first seen in JURASSIC PARK.  There really is nothing here to compare
with our first view in the 1993 version of the dinosaur lifting its
head above the trees in a graceful movement that astonished and
delighted us.    While it is true that THE LOST WORLD utilizes new
computer technology to make the animals move more gracefully, the
improvement was not noticeable.   The original Jurassic Park was
spectacularly wonderful with  Live Action Dinosaurs' Stan Winston in
charge both then and now.

As for the story:  You will recall that John Hammond had discovered
that embedded in amber were bits of DNA.  He was able to utilize the
DNA to grow full- sized prehistoric animals.  It was his dream to have
an amusement park on an island off Costa Rica where visitors could
come to view the dinosaurs and other beasts.  The park was going to be
foolproof safe. Dr. Ian Malcolm, a brilliant mathematician, said there
was no such thing as 100% safe.  As predicted, disaster struck and
everyone fled the island and all the prehistoric animals died . . . or
so everyone thought.

Four years have elapsed since John Hammond's dream came to a disastrous
end. Just when it was believed that the dinosaurs and other prehistoric
animals had all died, it now appears that there were some survivors
living on the nearby island of Isla Sorna where they were free of human
interference   Having learned his lesson that one must not tamper with
nature, Hammond (in this version played by Richard Attenborough) wants
sightseers kept away and the island policed so the prehistoric animals
can live in  peaceful surroundings. To this end, he talks
mathematician Ian  Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) into overseeing that his
wishes come true.  Things do not quite work out that way.

Others hired by Hammond for chronicling of the island's inhabitants are
paleontologist  Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore),  maker of video
documentaries (Vince Vaughn) and a field equipment specialist (Richard
Schiff) to enable the three to carry on their mission.

The film's villain is Hammond's money-hungry nephew, Peter Ludlow
(Arliiss Howard), who takes control of the company and sets out to
breed the creatures, bring them to the island and set it up as another
Park. Ludlow hires an adventurer, Roland Tembo (Pete Postlethwaite) to
be in charge on the island.

Also in the cast is young Kelly, (Vanessa Lee Chester) who stowed away
on the ship going to the island where deadly dinosaurs roam.   Little
did Kelly know what she was going to experience.

Music composed by John Williams.

If you loved JURASSIC PARK, as almost everyone apparently did, and you
want more of the same, THE LOST WORLD  will again turn you on.

Based on  Michael Crichton's novel, THE LOST WORLD.

Directed by Steven Spielberg.

2.5 Bytes

4 Bytes = Superb
3 Bytes = Too good to miss
2 Bytes = Average
1 Byte  = Save your money

Ben Hoffman