Badmovies.org Forum

Spoilers below, be warned.  

Not liking JPIII because of bad acting/thin plot/wore out story line is like not liking Godzilla movies for the same reason.  I went ot see JP3 because the duinos eat things, mostly people or each other.  

Now, I will admit I enjoyed part I the best, but this one was alright.  Cool dino fight scenes between the Tyranosaurus and the spino, a lot of very subtle humor like the part where they feel relived the Spino is gone, only to have the Rex pop up from its kill(Neil "Hold very, very still", Rex, ROOOAAARRRR, and everyone but Sam Neil runs).  Macy gets some good moments in too.  There just may be a small Aliens spoof in the movie in that the kid that is hiding in that truck hiding from raptors is alot like Newt's bunker in Aliens.  

Do you really need a plot in a movie based on dinosaur attacks?  Did we watch Valley of the Gwangi for the James Fransiscus expierience?  No, it was for the Alasaur that eats an elephant.  The dino effects arent mind blowing like they seemed in JP1, but you aint going to see dinosaurs any better, anywhere else.  Trust me.  Do I have to mention "Baby, Legend/Secret of the Lost World"?   Sean Young would prefer I didnt.  

As for Spielberg, yeah, he blows.  He has pretty much been coasting since Raiders of the Lost Ark.  SPR was pirated from about 5 different war movies, and the non pirated parts were themes already worn out by then anyhow.  He "homages" so much that I think Temple of Doom may have been stolen from an Alan Quaterman movie rather than vice versa!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

For those that read the origonal JP book, di dyou notice how the swiming spino(in the book a rex), the pteradons, and a few other features were driect out othe book?  

My main gripes about JP3 are that they rush the story along like they have to have a plausible journey to get to the coast.  

Where did that 20mm(actually a .50 cal with a fake barrel jacket) go?  I want to see someone shoot a damn dinosaur!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How did the kids step dad die?  he was alive when they landed.

Why did no one care he was dead?  He was despartley trying to save her kids life as the parasail went into the island.  

Why did that raptor have a mohawk?  

Tea Leoni.   She's not a terrible actress, she just has "supporting actress" written all over her.  And she doesnt need to be in an action movie.  


So please, enjoy this movie as an excuse to laugh and see the dinosaur based violence so rarley seen in our workaday, post cretaceous world.  Just think of it like a Godzilla movie, or a less self aware "Alien" sequel.  The actors are having fun, the script isnt intended to be the Kramer vs Kramer of the 21st century.   Its the type of move Burt Reynolds would have made had it been made in 1978.  

BradLaGrange

Yeah, that about nails it on the head.  The bit with the hold still, roar, and run had everyone in the theater rolling in the aisles.  It's an entertaining b-movie, nothing more, nothing less.  And the dinos rock!

A B-movie that's made 80 million in 5 days!  Imagine if all our favorite B-movies made  that much money!

Good review, Ringneck.  I couldn't have said it better myself.

Thanks for the kind words.  JPIII is doing well at the box office and has a 6.4 on the IMDB, so apparently some people besides us three dug it.  

I REALLY liked Sam Neil in this one.  At first I thought he didnt want to be in the movie(compare his speach to the fat kid in pt I to the fundraising speach in III), but then I realized that it was more of a character development thing.  I tgot through to me when the kid said he liked his first book better, because "He liked dinosaurs then".  Having to fight for survival had destroyed his child like worship of dinosaurs almost like having your child hood hero beat you up.  

I still wished someone would have shot a damn dinosaur though.  There are sub 20mm guns that would do a number on dinosaurs, like a .50 cal machinegun(lets face it, if you can afford a custom 20mm gun, you can afford a $10,000 .50 cal, or $7,000 semi auto copy) or even something like an M1A/M-14 or FAL in .308 would have made most dinos think twice about continuing to attack you.  

Lots of the movie was over the top, but then dinosaurs in a modernday world is over the top too.  I would like to see a JPIV if they can make it as enjoyable to watch.  

I am curious as to why they didnt go back to the first island though for this movie, unless those sets were gone and to expensive to reproduce.

BradLaGrange

I think, I could be wrong, but the first island was destroyed.  It was in the novels and I think Hammond mentions it in passing at the beginning of Lost World.  Nonetheless I would have liked to have seen that big gun do something other than blow up a plane (hell they could have had them shoot, miss, blow up a tree or something and have the terrified dinosaur turn tail and run - then the Spino roars out of the bushes from behind them and gobbles somebody up...that would have worked).

Personally I think the comparisons to Godzilla are dead on.  Jurassic Park is Universals kaiju franchise.  I'm proud to say I enjoyed each movie (they're just meant to be dumb fun b-movies folks, nothing more nothing less) on its own terms and would willingly go see Jurassic Park 4 (which is already in development I hear).

I really like how they explained the Spino (and any other dinosaurs they might want to cook up and use later) with the statement  "That wasn't on their list."  and the cynical reply "I think they were working on a lot of things that weren't on the list."  So the door is wide open to begin using a new dino in each movie.  Also the genetically engineered creatures can begin to mutate, changing in unique and horrifying ways.   The possibilities, and amount of sequels, could be endless.

Hell those big honking lizards are a lot more fun that Jason, Michael, and Freddy.

I would almost certainly go to see JPIV, and eagerly await it, provided they stay with their formula.  I wouldnt want to see imaginary, genetically enhanced dinosaurs appear, dinosaurs in space(we were transporting the raptors to Terras 5 when the containment fields were neutralized and now they are loose on the ship........), or the series get preachy(the first half of Pt II put me off, but the dino in the city thing was WAY to cool, especially the dino vs. GTO car chase).  

An avenue I think might be cool would be where the company that was trying to steal embryos getting embroys somehow and starting dinosaurs somewhere in the contential mainland(a whole Valley of the Gwangi tie in there), or them trying ot get a live dino from one of the Islands.  

I think you are right about the first Islands facilities being destroyed, I had forgottne that.  Not that they couldnt have poked around the old ruins anyhow.  

What really disapointed me is how the Rex got killed, I liked it better than the spino and was hoping the fight would be a draw.  It was pretty realistic though in that the fight ended with a broken neck, rather than splatter, the internal injuies being what kills in fights with real animals.  

BradLaGrange

I heard it's a Movie some people like some dont my aunt's friend say they kill off the black guy why in horror movie history they have to kill black people. Because we can save the day?