Jurassic Park: The Collection (Jurassic Park / The Lost World) (Widescreen)

Description

Jurassic Park Steven Spielberg s 1993 mega-hit rivals Jaws as the most intense and frightening film he d ever made prior to Schindler s List, but it was also among his weakest stories. Based on Michael Crichton s novel abJurassic Park
Steven Spielberg s 1993 mega-hit rivals Jaws as the most intense and frightening film he d ever made prior to Schindler s List, but it was also among his weakest stories. Based on Michael Crichton s novel about an island amusement park populated by cloned dinosaurs, the film works best as a thrill ride with none of the interesting human dynamics of Spielberg s Jaws. That lapse proves unfortunate, but there s no shortage of raw terror as a rampaging T. rex and nasty raptors try to make fast food out of the cast. The effects are still astonishing (despite the fact that the computer-generated technology has since been improved upon) and at times primeval, such as the sight of a herd of whatever-they-are scampering through a valley. --Tom Keogh

The Lost World: Jurassic Park
After the global phenomenon that was Jurassic Park, it was a given that novelist Michael Crichton would conjure up a sequel and that Steven Spielberg would then commit it to film. Considering the potential profit involved, it was practically a commercial mandate. Perhaps it was inevitable that both efforts were contrived, and well below the talents of Crichton (well, maybe) and certainly Spielberg, who just didn t have the heart for this recycling after the artistic triumph of Schindler s List. What we re left with, for better and worse, is a redundant blockbuster that still benefits from Spielberg s mastery of high-intensity action sequences and the further development of amazing computer-generated special effects. What s missing is the awe and wonder that made Jurassic Park a technical marvel and a dazzling product of scientific imagination. The story s a no-brainer: after the deadly fiasco of the original dinosaur theme park, we re taken (along with returning star Jeff Goldblum) to a second island where genetically engineered dinosaurs still thrive under the watchful eye of Goldblum s biologist girlfriend (Julianne Moore). But a devious capitalist (Arliss Howard) is determined to export dinosaurs to a new park in San Diego, financing a hunt-and-capture expedition that results in another series of fatal disasters. In Spielberg s hands this movie s more exciting than it has a right to be, given the creative paucity of Crichton s novel and David Koepp s adapted screenplay. The special effects are state-of-the-art, and the T. rex s rampage through the streets of San Diego is nothing short of spectacular; but apparently an improvement upon the shortcomings of Jurassic Park was too much to hope for. --Jeff Shannon