The Jurassic Park Franchise - Page 6

You know, I never got the need for the second island. It only confused things.

No, and it was also used as a subtle plot twist. The Kirbys, who turned out not to be millionares, also didn't do enough research to know that Alan Grant had never been to Site B.

I think the need for the second island was mostly from the books, I think they mentioned the first island being napalmed to stop the spread of the animals, but it's been over a decade since I read them. It also paints Isa Nublar as a COMPLETE lie, as they weren't even really creating the Dinos there.

Well, the movie ignored so much from Lost World as it was, I don't see why it needed to stick to the two island concept.

They didn't. It's odd, I always felt that the Lost World book was more of a sequel to the first film, not the first book (Bringing Ian back, crazy chameleon dinosaurs). I always felt like they were "saving" the original island for a future sequel that ended up not being made.

Totally agree, plus it makes one of the main plot points of the first film (the embyo theft) totally pointless. As they would in fact be fake.

I can't be the only one who, as a kid, thought that the lingering shot of Nedry's stolen embryos getting covered in mud was what would lead to Jurassic Park 2. Then the whole Site B stuff came up and I felt at least a LITTLE disappointed.

As an over-excited 13 year old, I imagined a scenario where Future-Humans find it in a few thousands years and clone dinosaurs, only to run amok.

Back to the Jurassic Future?

A lot of people thought that, but I could never understand why they did. Why would that little canister be the lynchpin of the sequel when the entire breeding facility was still there?

About a third into the film, we were given a powerpoint presentation about how the amber preserved the mosquitos carrying Dino-Blood. If the facility shut down, nothing's powering the embryo fridges. However the Barbasol can, covered in the mud, might have been preserved.

It seemed like such a lingering shot for something so fleeting. From now I'll laugh and go "Oh Dennis Nedry, you fool. Let's take a moment to reflect on your hubris."

I think that was the intention, honestly. I think Spielberg only lingered on it so he could show it being buried in mud.

Laura Dern screaming "SHHIIIT!  SHIIIIIT!!!!" in the back of the 4WD 100% convincingly is enough reason to love the first one.  She was fucking terrified.  Dern was sorely missed/underused in the other ones.  A huge part of the believability and the tension of  JP  comes from the actors' ability to act against nothing/puppets.   The first cast nailed it pretty well - even the kids (that being said, having a giant, potentially lethal, mechanical t-rex head smashing the crap out of the the car you are in probably would bring out a pretty convincing performance from a child actor.)

 

Don't forget her "GAAAAAAAAAWD-DAAAAAAAAAAMN!" in reaction to the raptor jump-scare when she resets the power grid.

She's a fantastic and obviously intelligent actress, and the reason she's so great in those "screaming" scenes where virtually every other actor and actress in monster movie history seemed fake and cheesy is because she understood the simple fact that people normally don't just *SCREAM* sounds and draw them out.  People scream *words*, not "AAAAAAAAAHHHH!"  It's ridiculous how rare it is to see that in Hollywood movies, and because of its rarity it makes her scream scenes a million times more authentic than anything else out there.

That's actually something I've never even thought about, Stormin... a really interesting point. 

 

I have no problem with a great scream, but it seems true that we don't hear characters screaming words as often as we should.  Other than, "NOOOoOOOOoooO!" that is...

 

But I was going through the haunted house at Universal Studios (can't remember what it was actually called) recently, and when something jumped out at me, I usually went, "GAAAAAH-EEEAIAIAI!!!!"  Or "ACK!" 

I have to mention that, all of its other glaring problems aside, what ultimately continues to take me out of Jurassic Park 3 is William H. Macy's multiple moments of asking "What was that?" when he hears a noise or catches a glimpse of something. It's as if he has short-term memory loss and keeps forgetting that he's on an island with fucking dinosaurs. His delivery irritates me to no end.

Good point.

Also, she ROCKED those safari shorts.

How funny that we're discussing how everyone thought the Barbosol cannister would come into play with the sequel and it looks like the upcoming game does just that: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-debut-jurassic-park/710663

Well, thank god we finally find out what happened to Dodgson.

 

And really, the best they could send to an island full of carnivorous dinosaurs is a woman in cargo pants and a tank top?  Sure, she may look like Alyx Vance, but she seems a little unprepared for the situation.

Nobody cares.

 

Nice hat.

 

(pssst!  you shouldn't use his name!)

Still love the first movie.  So many little moments.

 

 

And Laura Dern has never looked so attractive as in this movie.

Where's the squeal!?

 

Also, it's probably because I watched this movie so young (I would've been in 5th to 6th grade in 1993), but I always thought Laura Dern was a lot older than she actually was in it.  Her being paired with Sam Neill probably had something to do with it as well.  It's definitely the best I've ever seen her look.  The next time I saw her was probably in Citizen Ruth.  If you've seen the movie, you'd know that it wasn't a pleasant sight.  Hahahaha

LOL, Nedry's high-pitched velociraptor squeal always irritated me.

Hey mcnoj, don't say I never did nothin' for ya.

 

 

Sorry brandhay.
 

THAT'S GREAT!!!  In return, I give you an oldie that made my friends and me crack up hard in a moment of weakness.

 

And brandhay, your comment made me finally connect Nedry's primal squeal to the high pitched squeals of the dilophosaurus that killed him! 

 

This movie's got LAYERS!

Did Sam Jackson die because he smoked?

 

My favorite Jurassic Park YouTube video. I guess English people find Jeff Goldblum's accent impenetrable? 

Oh god, mcnooj, that video just made me pee my pants. LOL

 

Sam Jackson had an idea back when they were discussing JP 2 that his character could come back, one-armed, and pissed. Sam Jackson should write every movie.

"The dinosaur's really close to the caaaar!"

 

And, mcnooj, I challenge anyone to keep a straight face watching that WTF vid.

I envision him grafting a dino arm to his body and running Isla Nublar like Dr. Moreau!

It's simultaneously awesome and sad that we can legitimately expect Telltale's series to exhibit better storytelling than any of the three movies.

 

Also, did I compare the character of Nick Van Owen to Hitler yet?  I want to get around to doing that.

Glorious imagery.

Like William Stout meets Alphonse Mucha.

 

Sam Neil's reaction to seeing the dinosaurs for the very first time honestly makes me cry, and fuck you if you don't agree.  Anyone else would have overplayed it, or underplayed it, but he just fucking nails it.  That shot of him sitting in the grass with tears in his eyes gets me every single time.

 

I love how he pulls off his glasses and silently turns Laura Dern to aim her in the direction of the spectacle he's looking at.

Sam Neill is the heart and soul of the first Jurassic Park.

Holy fuckin' shit!

 

IT'S A DINOSAUR!

 

Jesus Christ!  What the fuuuuuck!?

 

 

Sam Neil gets all of that across wordlessly and with class.

 

EDIT:  On the topic of the film's VFX that we (rightly) praise to the heavens... check out this recent Q&A with Phil Tippett.

 

http://blog.mondotees.com/2011/09/03/check-out-the-full-phil-tippett-mmm2-qa/

 

The man actually criticizes aspects of the animation that he had a hand in (good computer animators were hard to find back then).  But what he does praise is the way Spielberg used smart filmmaking in a way that those issues didn't matter.

Phil T is the man. I'd love to meet him.

 

EDIT: Holy crap he's gone Old Testament with that beard. And he's so awesomely candid in that Q&A. Did he burn bridges long ago with the Beards? Or is he just not concerned about fallout?

Edited by DARKMITE8 - 9/13/11 at 2:19pm

Phil Tippett's great but some of his criticism of (recent) George Lucas and James Cameron are a little hypocritical. After all, he himself directed the dreadful Starship Troopers 2 and his effects work on the Twilight movies are pretty awful as well.

The FX on Starship Troopers 2 as I recall were great, but yes atrocious movie.

I was shocked to see the Tippet Studios name on one of the Tremors sequels(2? 3?) though. That work(assuming it was the CG) was bad.

 

Just caught the re release and it damn near moved me to tears. We were in a packed screening, everyone was cracking up at Goldblum and jumping in the right places.

 

The effects are just jaw dropping. Just this beautiful and seamless marriage between CGI and practical that is almost non existent today. Even the weakest effect - the brachiosaurus in broad daylight is showing it's age - is beautiful in context. The build up, the score, Neill and Dern losing their shit. It's just incredible. Although I will say the scene has lost most of it's impact after watching McNooj's "Holy Shit it's a Dinosaur" Thanks buddy  

 

There's not much else to add that hasn't been said - the casting is immaculate, Goldblum is hilarious, Neill is subtle and human and Dern is hot as all hell. 

 

Highlight of the night - When Sam Jackson explains that without the Lysine the dinosaurs slip into a coma and die, a voice cried out "YES THEY DESERVE TO DIE, AND I HOPE THEY BURN IN HELL!"

So Harrison Ford was Spielberg's first choice for Alan Grant butFord turned him down (what a year that would've been for Ford; The Fugitive AND Jurassic Park). Looking back, it does seem that Sam Neill is channeling Ford even down to the hat.

 

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2011/09/16/indiana-jones-sequel-jurassic-park-harrison-ford-steven-spielberg-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-video/

 

 

 

Hindsight and all that... but I'm glad Sam Neill got the part.  Having Harrison Ford in another Spielberg adventure movie would've been too much baggage for a movie where the dinosaurs were the star.  Instead of being its own thing, it would've felt like Indiana Jones and the Park of Jurassic.

 

But still... I'd like to see that.  Hahahaha

Very much agreed on both counts.  If the fourth one is made and they actually decide to bring back returning characters, they need Grant & Malcolm together again..............not separately.  They aren't nearly as much fun on their own.  Both or neither, I say.

So 3D conversion for the first film next year? I might catch that.

 

 

 

That would get me to pay extra for 3D, and risk a migraine.

 

And to bash 3 a little bit:  I hated that the T-rex, the de facto hero of the last two movies, was offed so unspectacularly just to show how badass the Spinosaurus was.  I lost any goddwill for the movie at that point.

 

I also thought the kid was more irritating then any of the previous.

 

Ugh.  I already have the series on Blu-Ray, I don't need yet another version of it.

 

I can't wait for the year where there will be no new movies released, they'll simply all be 3D conversions of old movies.

I'm up for seeing JP in 3D.  I couldn't give two shits about buying ANY film in 3D on home video though.

 

Best thing about 3D TVs and Blu-rays?  They've driven the prices down in the regular versions.

Seeing the trailer for the 3D rerelease of the original Jurassic Park, I was darkly amused to find the classic theme music Inception Bonged. Maybe that's what sells to kids these days; I also recall hearing some lines from Channing Tatum...