Jurassic Park III
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Jurassic Park III is the 2001 film sequel to The Lost World: Jurassic Park and the third entry in the Jurassic Park franchise. The film was directed by Joe Johnston and stars Sam Neill, Alessandro Nivola, Téa Leoni and William H. Macy.
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Plot Summary
Four years have passed since the events of The Lost World. The public is aware of the existence of cloned dinosaurs on Isla Sorna but humans are now prohibited from making contact with the island. Taking advantage of this, an illegal boat-towed para-gliding operation "Dino-Soar" has been set up to give "safe distance" coastal tours of the island. Young dinosaur enthusiast Eric Kirby (Trevor Morgan) and family friend Ben Hildebrand decide to go parasailing. However, the boat is seemingly attacked by reptiles and left unmanned, heading towards a cluster of protruding rocks. Eric and Ben then detach the tow rope and drift towards the Isla Sorna.
Meanwhile we revisit Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern). Both have continued their paleontological careers but are now working independently; Ellie is married and has two children while Grant has furthered his digging career, now with a young protégé named Billy Brennan (Alessandro Nivola). Together they have made some interesting discoveries about Velociraptor, even producing a replica of the creature's resonating chamber, equivalent to a voice box.
Grant is approached by Paul (William H. Macy) and Amanda Kirby (Téa Leoni), who claim to be wealthy thrill-seekers who want Grant to give them an aerial tour of Isla Sorna. Grant is very reluctant to begin with, but once the Kirbys' propose a donation to fund his dig, he can't say no.
The plane carrying Grant, Billy, the Kirbys and three mercenaries arrives at Isla Sorna. Piloting the plane is Nash and a self-styled "booking agent" named Udesky. Grant suspects something is not quite right when the Kirbys try to land the plane. Grant becomes agitated and is knocked unconscious by another mercenary named Cooper. Billy wakes Grant after the plane has landed, and we hear Amanda shouting someone's name through a megaphone. Grant tells her to stop but she persists; we hear a very loud roar in the distance. The mercenaries, who have entered the jungle to make sure the area is "safe", burst through the trees and get everybody to board the plane. As the plane speeds along the runway in a frantic attempt to leave, Cooper, who has been left behind, runs onto the road and pleads for the plane to stop. A Spinosaurus appears from nowhere and devours the helpless man. The plane manages to take off but smashes into the Spinosaur's tail, and crashes through the the forest canopy. As the crew try to call the mainland on the satellite phone, the Spinosaur returns and pulls off the front of the plane and eats Nash (who has the satellite phone). The group flee into the dense jungle where the collosal beast can't follow. Here they find a young Tyrannosaurus, which chases them back towards the Spinosaur. They have a brief fight where the Spinosaurus kills the rex by snapping its neck.
Grant finds out that the Kirbys are in fact searching for their lost son and are not as wealthy as they claimed. Grant decides to lead the group towards the shore, but the Kirbys protest and tell Grant that, since they are now stranded, they may as well look for Eric as planned. Grant says they can look for him if they so wish, but he says he won't risk his life searching for someone who is most likely dead. The Kirbys decide to look for their son while following the others. While trekking through the jungle, the group discover the para glider, along with the unsightly remains of Ben Hildebrand. Eric, however, is nowhere to be found. As Grant and Billy salvage the paraglider, Paul and Amanda find a large nest of Velociraptor eggs.
After Billy has finished photographing the nest, the group enters a derelict InGen laboratory. After exploring the compound, they are attacked by a raptor. The group flees the building while the raptor calls for help. During the resulting chase, Grant becomes separated from Billy and the Kirbys. Udesky runs back to the forest and into more raptors, who torture him. Billy and the Kirbys are hiding in a tree and notice the his crippled body. He moves his arm, indicating he is still alive. As they descend the tree, Amanda slips and clings to a branch; two raptors scurry out of the bushes and leap towards Amanda, trying to pull her down. They stop their attack and leave after hearing the other raptors calling. Before leaving, they finish off Udesky.
In the meantime, Grant is rescued from a pack of raptors that pooped all over Eric who has been living in an abandoned truck for 8 weeks. Eric has salvaged supplies and food from the InGen compound and has been using gas grenades to evade dinosaur attacks.
Everyone is soon reunited, but their harmony is interrupted by the Spinosaur, who they notice after hearing the satellite phone ringing from inside the dinosaur. They manage to find shelter in an abandoned observatory and the dinosaur ends the pursuit. Grant discovers that has Billy stolen some raptor eggs, explaining the earlier attacks. He is furious with Billy, claiming he is "no better than the people who built this place."
The group attempts to reach a barge docked in a nearby river. However, they are forced to pass through a massive aviary and are attacked by Pteranodons. Using the para glider he salvaged, Billy tries to rescue Eric from a nest of Pteranodon chicks and is attacked by several adults. He plunges into the river as they continue to attack him, seemingly killing him.
Grant and the Kirbys board the boat, encountering some Parasaurolophus, Brachiosaurus, Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus grazing in a field. Grant marvels at the way they coexist with each other and their environment.
While floating down river they hear a familiar ring tone. They find some Spinosaurus dung containing the undigested bones and clothes of the mercenaries. Among them is the satellite phone, swallowed by the Spinosaurus earlier. A Ceratosaurus approaches but is warded off by the smell. As they set off down the river, Eric notices the fish in the water seem spooked. The Spinosaurus emerges from the water and rips the boat to pieces, tearing the engine open and spilling petrol into the river. Grant attempts to contact Ellie, but only manages to say "The river! Site B!" as the boat is submerged. They swim to the surface where Paul distracts the Spinosaurus by climbing a construction crane while Grant fires a flare gun, igniting the spilt petroleum and scaring the beast away.
The group is close to the shore when the raptors suddenly reappear, wanting their eggs back. The eggs are returned to the raptors, and using the raptor resonating chamber, Grant fakes a signal that momentarily confuses the raptors, who retreat when they hear the approach of helicopters.
The group arrives at the beach to see a detachment of the United States Marine Corps, including two aircraft carriers, no doubt sent by Ellie and her husband. As they board a helicopter, Grant finds Billy, still alive but seriously injured. As the helicopter heads towards an amphibious assault ship, three Pteranodons fly past, apparently looking for new nesting grounds.
Cast
- Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant: World-famous paleontologist who survived the incident on Isla Nublar and has since developed an extensive and groundbreaking theory concerning raptor intelligence.
- Alessandro Nivola as Billy Brennan: A young and overly-enthusiastic graduate student at Grant's digsite whose impulsive actions land the entire rescue party in jeopardy.
- William H. Macy as Paul Kirby: The owner of a hardware store who poses as a wealthy businessman in order to lure Grant onto Isla Sorna to help search for their son.
- Téa Leoni as Amanda Kirby: Paul's ex-wife who accompanies the group to Site B, feeling guilty for having lost Eric. Knows very little about dinosaurs.
- Trevor Morgan as Eric Kirby: The 12-year-old son of Paul and Amanda who ends up stranded on Site B for eights weeks, and must fend for himself without Ben Hildebrand.
- Michael Jeter as Udesky: A meek but sardonic mercenary "booking agent" who travels with his two associates to the island, and is ultimately crippled and killed by raptors.
- Bruce A. Young as M.B. Nash: The mercenary pilot who abandons Cooper and is subsequently eaten by the Spinosaurus while carrying the satellite phone.
- John Diehl as Cooper: A tough mercenary who is killed by the Spinosaur on the Site B runway.
- Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Sattler: A paleontologist who also survived Isla Nublar and is Grant's former flame, and makes good on her promise to help him when he needs it most.
- Taylor Nichols as Mark Degler: Ellie's husband and an expert in treaty law at the US State Department, who uses his connections to help Grant's group get rescued from Isla Sorna.
- Mark Harelik as Ben Hildebrand: Amanda's reckless boyfriend who does not survive his landing on the island after he is killed.
- Julio Oscar Mechoso as Enrique Cardoso: The owner and operator of the illegal "Dino-Tours" parasailing service, which offers to take tourists close to Site B so they can see the dinosaurs. Cause of death is unknown; possibly Pteranadons.
- Blake Michael Bryan as Charlie Degler: The three-year-old son of Ellie and Mark, who thinks of Alan Grant as "The Dinosaur Man."
- Sarah Danielle Madison as Cheryl Logan: A graduate student who flirts with Billy at Grant's dig site in Montana.
- Linda Park as Hannah: Ellie's assistant whose duties include dealing with Tom, Ellie's editor.
Featured Dinosaurs
| Jurassic Park III Dinosaurs |
|---|
| Ankylosaurus • Baryonyx • Brachiosaurus • Ceratosaurus • Compsognathus • Corythosaurus • Parasaurolophus • Pteranodon • Spinosaurus • Stegosaurus • Suchomimus • Tyrannosaurus rex • Velociraptor |
Production
JP3 was originally going to be called "Jurassic Park: Extinction", but then Universal decided to drop it. JP3 was greenlit in 1999, with the story by Steven Spielberg of Alan Grant who live in a tree of eight years on one of the islands, to study the animals. Joe Johnson rejected it because he felt it was like an episode of "Friends", and no one wanted to see six college students of the dinosaur island. Johnston never had any concrete concept for the third installment, other than stating the film would be "more stand-alone" and feature lots of flying reptiles.
Production began on August 30, 2000 without a finished script, with filming in California, Oahu, and Molokai. Although it is an original story, not based on a Michael Crichton novel, it does contain minor scenes from Crichton's Jurassic Park and The Lost World novels that were not featured in the film versions, such as the Pteranodon aviary and the use of the boat. In a change from the first two films, Spinosaurus replaced T. rex as the main antagonist. As to why Spinosaurus was chosen for such a role, Johnston stated, "A lot of dinosaurs have a very similar silhouette to the T-rex... and we wanted the audience to instantly recognize this as something else." Baryonyx was originally considered to be the "big bad" before Spinosaurus was chosen.
The special effects used for the dinosaurs are a mixture of animatronics and CGI. The portrayal of several dinosaurs differs from that of the previous two films. Due to new discoveries and theories in the field of paleontology suggesting that Velociraptors were feathered, the Velociraptors in the film have quill-like structures on the head and neck. "We've found evidence that Velociraptors had feathers, or feather-like structures, and we've incorporated that into the new look of the raptor," said paleontologist Jack Horner, technical adviser on the film.
Trivia
- JP3 is the first Jurassic Park film not to be directed by Steven Spielberg, written by David Koepp, or feature original music by John Williams. It's also the first film in the series not based on a Michael Crichton novel, although it contains minor scenes from Crichton's Jurassic Park and The Lost World novels that were not featured in the film versions.
- According to director Joe Johnston, he was interested in directing the sequel to Jurassic Park and approached friend Steven Spielberg about the project. Spielberg said that should interest come in doing a second sequel, Johnston would be allowed to direct.
- This is ,so far, the only Jurassic Park fik where the t-rex is not the king of the dinosaurs. That role, was instead, given to the spinosaurus.
- Several of the action sequences, such as the Pteranodon aviary and the Spinosaur's river attack, were featured in the original Jurassic Park novel, but were previously abandoned due to budget and story concerns. The sequence in the laboratory, with all the dinosaur fetuses in the tanks of liquid, was in the Lost World novel, but not the movie.
- The landscape of Isla Sorna is drastically different from that in The Lost World. In reality, this is because much of The Lost World was shot in the coniferous forests of California, while JP3 was filmed in Hawaii. This is considered a major flaw by many Jurassic Park fans, although this could be because the parts of the island seen here are in the Northern half of the island, which is tropical, while the sections scene in TLW where from the Southern portion of the island. While this is possible, some dispute that such changes in terrain would occur on an island the size of Sorna.
- Surprisingly, a vast majority of jungle scenes are actually studio based with artificial trees and plants.
- Some draft scripts featured Billy's death. He was brought back in late revisions to remove all tragic elements from the ending in order for the film to end on a higher note.
- The film originally included Jeff Goldblum and his character, Ian Malcolm. A few days into filming, Goldblum injured his leg and decided to drop out, stating that his character wasn't that important to the script. Many fans were pleased Goldblum dropped out, saying that the character would get boring if they used him for a third time.
- The film was going to be released in Summer 2000, but delay of production reslated the film for a Summer 2001 release.
- There were also some other titles for this movie such as Jurassic Park: Extinction, and Jurassic Park: Breakout. The DVD shows some early poster artwork.
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