The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Rated PG-13
(for intense sci-fi terror and violence, and brief language)
Released: May 23, 1997
Runtime: 129 minutes
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Jeff Golblum, Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn, Pete Postlethwaite, Vanessa Lee Chester, Richard Schiff, Arlis Howard, Peter Stormare, Sir Richard Attenborough
Available to rent through Amazon Video or buy on Blu-ray and DVD, or the Blu ray box set of all 4 Jurassic films.
Day 18 of “30 Days of Spielberg”
The Lost World: Jurassic Park is another one of those sequels that people tend to dump on, dismiss, or just shrug off with an “Eh, it was alright I guess,” which leaves me shaking my head. People. It’s Jeff Goldblum and dinosaurs. What more do you want from a summer movie?
When it first opened in 1997, the answer to that question was basically “nothing else” as it debuted to a then opening weekend record of $72 million (a mark that wasn’t topped for another 4 ½ years). With less focus on science and more on terror, The Lost World’s ambitions were certainly streamlined compared to its predecessor.
That simplified approach kept it from reaching a classic status (and maybe even feeling a bit long), but once you get past the fact that it’s not the equal of Jurassic Park, it’s still thoroughly entertaining in its own right.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park is an unabashed monster movie, plain and simple, with only one goal in mind: to give us an exhilarating mix of scares, laughs, and gasps through one spectacularly conceived and choreographed sequence after another. Each and every one delivers, from the epic dino hunt to the T-Rex attack on the science bus (splintering glass! I still remember the gasps and shrieks in the theater)…
…to that freaky nighttime raptor ambush – first in the open field of tall grass, and then at abandoned park facilities – to name a few. Spielberg kept shoveling thrills nearly as fast as I could shovel popcorn.
The quality of the actual dinosaurs was also taken up a notch, from the general visual texture to their seamless real world integration, including physical choreography with real people and things.
In addition, camera moves were longer and more active. Spielberg Oners pop up from time to time, too, enhanced by on-set action and effects that would later be caused by the digital dinos. (Janusz Kaminski’s patented luminous glow, incidentally, continues to enhance and magnify Spielberg’s penchant for stark single-source backlighting.)
Sure, this wasn’t the big surprising game changer that the first Jurassic was, but Spielberg took what we were expecting and then amped it up. As a bonus for true film nerds, the whole Site B “dino safari hunt” construct was an homage to the John Wayne/Howard Hawks African safari flick Hatari. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if “Hatari with Dinosaurs” was Spielberg’s pitch.
And Jeff Goldblum! Who else is going to deliver dialogue better than him:
Sarah Harding: I’ll be back in five or six days.
Dr. Ian Malcom: No, you’ll be back in five or six PIECES!
Beyond Malcom, the ensemble isn’t as compelling as in the original; on balance, the characters are this film’s primary weak spot. Even so, the actors are solid talents who keep things clipping along, and even play off of each other better than the script should probably allow. This happens, in part, because of Spielberg’s penchant for overlapping dialogue ala Robert Altman (a frequent technique Steven employs, one I’ve been remiss to not mention sooner during my “30 Days Of Spielberg” retrospective). The blockbuster breakout roles for Julianne Moore and Vince Vaughn didn’t provide much in the way of range, but these indie stars elevate thinly drawn people with the strength of their screen charisma.
The big exception here is Roland Tembo, a character as well-written as he is brought to life by Pete Postlethwaite. A steely big game hunter and real man’s man, Tembo makes for a very captivating addition; not a macho caricature, but intimidating and formidable.
Inspired, too, is Malcolm’s African-American tween daughter Kelly, played with spunk by Vanessa Lee Chester. Even Fargo‘s Peter Stormare shows up to get chewed on by a swarm of rodent-sized dinos.
For the slight this movie gets, I’ll still take The Lost World over the latest Jurassic World by a fairly easy margin (and I really enjoyed the reboot). This is more clever, fresh and inventive than detractors give it credit for, plus I particularly dig the darker, more primal, percussive approach John Williams takes with the music (as heard here in the sequel’s new theme).
And the capper? Letting a T-Rex loose on the mainland! Many griped this was one ending too many. Oh contraire; what an unexpected and completely satisfying bonus. Sure, it was selfishly motivated (Spielberg said he wanted to be the guy who brought a dinosaur rampage stateside before anyone else got the chance), but it’s so much fun.
The archetypal Monster Movie sequence, it’s completely in the spirit of the entire adventure: a T-Rex terrorizing downtown San Diego and its suburbs with people running and yelling and screaming for their lives in all directions. What’s not to love? Plus, seeing that T-Rex roar against the backdrop of a city skyline should put a smile on the face of any movie geek.
Yes please and thank you, Mr. Spielberg.
NOTABLE TRIVIA
- This was Spielberg’s first film in nearly 4 years, following Schindler’s List in December of 1993. It was the longest break of his career, but he wasn’t on vacation. He spent the mid-90s focused on two major projects: the Shoah Foundation, which documented the testimonies of as many Holocaust survivors as possible from around the world, including interviews with every known living survivor. In addition, it was during this time that he began to form the movie studio DreamWorks with partners David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg.
- Although The Lost World is based on Michael Crichton’s sequel novel of the same name, the two stories bare few similarities. In fact, as my memory serves, Jurassic Park III would pull more inspiration from Crichton’s second Jurassic book than the actual film named after it.
- Vince Vaughn did not audition for the film. Ironically, Spielberg decided to cast him after watching Swingers during a break one day in the casting process. And the only reason he watched it was to approve the use of the Jaws
- Spielberg originally wanted Juliette Binoche for the role of Sarah Harding, that eventually went to Julianne Moore. It was the second time Binoche turned Spielberg down. The first? For the role of Dr. Satler in Jurassic Park, that eventually went to Laura Dern.
- The Japanese tourists running from the rampaging T-Rex in the San Diego scene (an obvious homage to “Godzilla” movies) are saying in Japanese: “I left Japan to get away from this!”
I Can't Unsee That Movie: film news and reviews by Jeff Huston 
As it happens, my 14-year old son and I just watched this! He really liked it! But two things still bother me: 1) why’d he have to let the dog get eaten at the end. I know, I know…still, never kill the dog! And 2) how’d the T-Rex get out of the hold and eat the ship’s crew at the end. I always hated that one plot hole. Why not have some velociraptors on there too and just say they did it? I would have love to have seen some raptors loose in the city along with the T-Rex!
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Raptors would’ve made the whole thing infinitely more complicated, and more of the movie would’ve needed to be about that. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was discussed and considered, but at some point you have to make choices – and these were the choices they made. With an add-on extra act its best to keep things streamlined, and one T-Rex does that.
In terms of how did he get out of the hold, those are questions better left unanswered in my opinion. He just does, that’s all we need to know. The movie really doesn’t hinge on how. And more to the point, not answering that question actually plays to the franchises underlying theme of chaos, which is actually a plus.
In terms of raptors loose in the city: I wouldn’t be surprised if we see something to that effect in JURASSIC WORLD 2.
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It’s funny that Binoche turned the dinosaur movies down, given that she ended up co-starring in Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla.
As for the dog dying, I loved it. Loved it! This movie came out at a time when gratutious dogs were gratuitously surviving in blockbuster after blockbuster (Independence Day, Daylight, Twister, Dante’s Peak, Volcano, Speed 2: Cruise Control, etc.; even A Time to Kill let the dog live, even though it had died in the original book), and the fact that Spielberg actually *killed* the damned dog was a breath of fresh air.
I wrote about that here: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/filmchat/2008/01/let-sleeping-dogs-die.html
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Great point, Peter! It really must’ve been a conscious reaction to that trend – which, as you say, is a brilliant little stroke of dark humor. (Thanks for your link!)
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Well, ok, I can see the argument for both of those (the dog being eaten and the TRex escaping the hold). But I still have to say: First (about the dog) – instead of Fido, they couldn’t find a few more lawyers in San Diego for the TRex to chew on? (kidding…) and, second, Spielberg has had other little plot holes like this (how, exactly, did Indy hang on to that submarine in Raiders??). I don’t know why this one bugged me more than others. Again, I probably wouldn’t even have remembered it if my son and I hadn’t JUST watched the film last weekend. But to go as far as to show the TRex being loaded into the cage to go in the hold, then show the crew all eaten (and the cargo doors closed), and show Goldblum trying to actively stop them from opening the cargo doors (lest the beast escape) and showing the door dramatically open to release him on the unsuspecting public and NOT explain how he got out of the hold (and back in) somewhere in there? Seems sloppy. I do remember seeing it in the theater and really enjoying the first half of the film and then thinking the ending seemed tacked on. Though I did enjoy the monster on the loose in San Diego.
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Yeah, many thought the ending felt tacked on, maybe because in part they’d had a fully satisfying experience on the island (one that was coming to a close). But for me the ending was a pleasant surprise; I thought the movie was ending too, then to get all that extra was a bonus.
Those unseen details don’t bother me as I don’t see them as legitimate plot holes. The only plot holes that bug me are ones where the core logic of the narrative is in complete, or contradictory, causing the whole movie to fall apart.
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That’s true – the lapses in Spielberg’s films are almost endearing. They don’t really interfere with the enjoyment of the film at all.
…and now I want to watch it again 🙂
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