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The Lost World: Jurassic Park (also known as Jurassic Park 2 and The Lost World) is a 1997 science fiction thriller film, directed by Steven Spielberg. The film was produced by Bonnie Curtis, Kathleen Kennedy, Gerald R. Molen and Colin Wilson. The screenplay was penned by David Koepp, based on the 1995 novel The Lost World by Michael Crichton. The film stars Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn, Pete Postlethwaite, Vanessa Lee Chester, Arliss Howard and Richard Attenborough.
The film picks up four years after the events of Jurassic Park. On a nearby island, dinosaurs have secretly survived and been allowed to roam free but now there is a more ominous threat, a plan to capture and bring the dinosaurs to the mainland. John Hammond, who has lost control of his InGen company, sees a chance to redeem himself for his past mistakes and sends an expedition led by Dr. Ian Malcolm to reach the island before the mercenary team gets there. The two groups confront each other in the face of extreme danger and must team up for their own survival in a race against time.
After the release of the original book and the success of the first film, Crichton was pressured not only by fans, but Spielberg himself, for a sequel novel. After the book was published in 1995, production began on a film sequel. The film received 49% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes and 59 out of 100 based on 18 review at Metacritic. The film earned over USD$612 million at the worldwide box office, which is USD$200 million fewer than the predecessor. It is currently the fortieth-highest-grossing feature film.
Plot
The film opens with a family of tourists on the island of Isla Sorna. Their young daughter explores on her own and runs into a baby Compsognathus. When the child attempts to feed the dinosaur, a large pack emerges and attacks the girl for more food. Her parents run to her when they hear her screams, though it is not shown what happens to her.
Four years have passed since the disaster at Jurassic Park, and John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) has lost control of InGen to his ruthless nephew, Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard). Despite having signed a non-disclosure agreement about the prior events, chaos theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) has gone public and revealed details of his experiences at Jurassic Park. Unfortunately for him, his stories are not widely believed, threats of legal action prevent him from producing any evidence, and his academic reputation is destroyed.
Hammond summons Malcolm to his home, where he reveals the existence of Site B, Isla Sorna. Sorna was the facility where the dinosaurs were actually engineered, before being sent to Isla Nublar when mature. The island was abandoned after a hurricane wiped out most of the facilities, and the creatures have been living in the wild ever since. Hammond mentions what happened to the young girl, informing Malcolm that she's fine. However, Hammond goes on to explain that the loss of Nublar and the incident with the girl have all but bankrupted InGen, and so Ludlow plans to bail the company out by exploiting Site B. Hammond requests Malcolm's help in stopping Ludlow and preserving the dinosaurs' natural habitat, by creating a wildlife portfolio that will convince environmentalists to leave the island as a nature reserve. He initially refuses, but after learning that his girlfriend, paleontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore), is already on the island, he goes along.
The team consists of Eddie Carr (Richard Schiff), an engineer who built the custom vehicles the team will use, and documentary producer and environmentalist Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn). Shortly after arriving on the island, they find Sarah and escape a Stegosaurus herd. When they return to camp, they find Kelly (Vanessa Lee Chester), Malcolm's daughter, has stowed away. He tries to contact the boat to take them home, but they are interrupted by the arrival of an InGen team sent by Ludlow.
The rival team quickly captures samples of several species, including Parasaurolophus, Stegosaurus, Mamenchisaurus, Gallimimus, Pachycephalosaurus, Triceratops, and a swarm of Compsognathus. That night, Nick and Sarah sneak into the InGen camp to free the dinosaurs and cut the fuel lines on the vehicles. The freed dinosaurs cause a huge commotion, compounded by the exploding vehicles. Soon, Roland's second in command, Dieter Stark (Peter Stormare), was said to never be left in charge.
Meanwhile, Roland Tembo (Pete Postlethwaite), the leader of the InGen team, is hunting for his prize trophy, an adult Tyrannosaurus, breaking the leg of a young T. Rex so that its cries might lure its parents. When he returns to the camp, Nick frees the baby, taking it back to their trailer so Sarah can set its broken leg. Eddie and Kelly hide in a tree stand called a high hide, while Malcolm returns to the trailer. The adult Tyrannosaurs come searching for their child and, after retrieving it, throws one half of the hinged trailer over a cliff with Malcolm, Nick and Sarah inside. Sarah falls on the glass, almost breaking it. But Malcolm comes down, grabs Sarah's "lucky pack" and Sarah holds on to it. Eddie throws down a rope and tries to pull the trailer back up using one of the SUVs, but is torn in half and eaten by the Tyrannosaur parents. The trailer falls off the cliff, but its occupants survive by holding on to the rope, only to be rescued by the InGen team. With all of the communications equipment destroyed in the attacks, both groups team up to reach the old InGen compound's radio station, right through a Velociraptor nesting site, while Sarah suspects the adult Tyrannosaurs will continue pursuing them.
On the way, Stark goes off in the woods where he is killed by compys. But Carter could not hear Dieter's calls for help. At night, the male Tyrannosaur comes into the group's camp and looks into Sarah and Kelly's tent. One of the InGen team members, Carter, wakes up and notices the tyrannosaur. His shouts awaken the other group members and they all run, with the Tyrannosaur in pursuit. Tembo tries but fails to shoot the Tyrannosaur, finding his ammunition disabled by Nick. Carter is crushed underfoot and the group separates in the chaos. Nick, Sarah, Kelly and another InGen team member, Dr. Robert Burke, take refuge in a small cave behind a waterfall. The Tyrannosaur puts its head inside but cannot spot them since they are all standing still. However, Burke discovers a coral snake slithering on him and tries to run out of the cave in a panic. The Tyrannosaur then catches and devours him, although, ironically, the snake was a completely harmless milk snake. Malcolm comes in a few moments later, much to the group's relief. Nick decides to go ahead to the compound and radio for help.
Still fleeing the Tyrannosaur, the InGen team passes through a field of tall grass and are picked off one by one by Velociraptors hiding in it. Malcolm and his friends pass through the field unharmed, but are attacked by three raptors and go into hiding. Kelly wounds one of them by knocking it out of a window (using her gymnastic skills) and Dr. Harding manages to pit the last two against each other. The team then run towards a building, where they contact a rescue helicopter. As they fly away, they see that Tembo has caged the adult male Tyrannosaur that he had tranquilized earlier when it had attacked the camp, and Ludlow is preparing to ship it and the baby back to the mainland. Tembo however states that he is done with InGen and hunting, having lost his best friend, Ajay, to the Velociraptors.
When the ship carrying the dinosaur arrives in San Diego, it crashes into the dock. A boarding party finds out the entire crew is dead, apparently killed by the Tyrannosaur, which had somehow escaped. While searching for survivors, a guard opens the cargo hold and inadvertently releases the Tyrannosaur, which enters the city. Malcolm and Sarah learn that the Tyrannosaur stopped breathing due to a tranquilizer overdose, it was given amphetamines to bring it round, but not knowing the proper dosage, they administered too much and the dinosaur is out of control. Realizing that the Tyrannosaur will likely come for its infant, Malcolm and Sarah rush to the Jurassic Park arena to get the young T. rex, which had been brought in separately by plane. They lure the adult with the baby and run back to the boat. Ludlow tries to intervene, but is trapped in the cargo hold and devoured by the two Tyrannosaurs. Malcolm and Sarah manage to tranquilize the adult before it can escape again, and seal it in the hold.
Later, as Malcolm and Sarah fall asleep on the couch in their living room, Kelly is watching television and sees the cargo ship on its way back to Site B, surrounded by a convoy of naval vessels. The program breaks away to an interview of restored InGen Chairman John Hammond, who explains that the island will now be left alone as a natural reserve so the dinosaurs can live free of human interference. He offers a quote by Malcolm, "Life will find a way." The scene cuts to Site B, where the family of Tyrannosaurs is shown in the wild, alongside various other dinosaurs.
Cast
- Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm: A mathematician and chaos theorist and the main protagonist of the film. After barely surviving the Incident on Isla Nublar, Malcolm is more cynical and jaded as a result of his experiences. He remains the voice of reason concerning InGen's plans.
- Julianne Moore as Dr. Sarah Harding: A behavioral paleontologist and the Female protagonist who is said to be at the top of her field. Sarah is tough and independent, which makes things difficult for her boyfriend, Dr. Malcolm.
- Vince Vaughn as Nick Van Owen: A well-traveled and experienced "documentarian," photo journalist and environmentalist.
- Pete Postlethwaite as Roland Tembo: A big-game hunter who, although capable of violence, adheres to his own strict moral code.
- Vanessa Lee Chester as Kelly Curtis Malcolm: Malcolm's teenage daughter from a failed marriage, who often feels estranged and alienated from her father. She tries to get closer to Malcolm by stowing away in the trailers.
- Arliss Howard as Peter Ludlow: Hammond's conniving nephew and the main antagonist of the film. A greedy and manipulative businessman first, last and always. He wants to build a San Diego Zoo of Jurassic Park, only to have a T.rex attack the city instead.
- Richard Attenborough as John Hammond: The former CEO of InGen who survived the Incident on Isla Nublar, and takes steps to redeem himself and preserve Isla Sorna.
- Peter Stormare as Dieter Stark: A sadistic hunter, and the second-in-command of the InGen harvesters under control of Roland Tembo.
- Harvey Jason as Ajay Sidhu: An experienced tracker from India, who is the immensely loyal and long-time hunting partner of Roland Tembo.
- Richard Schiff as Eddie Carr: A sardonic "field equipment expert." He saved Malcolm and Sarah's lives when he refused to abandon them hanging from a cliff while faced by the Tyrannosaurs, getting eaten in the process.
- Thomas F. Duffy as Dr. Robert Burke: The InGen Hunter's pompous paleontologist who is proven to be incorrect more than once. The character itself is actually based on real life paleontologist Robert T. Bakker.
- Ariana Richards as Alexis "Lex" Murphy: Hammond's granddaughter who survived the Incident on Isla Nublar, a vegetarian and self-professed computer hacker.
- Joseph Mazzello as Timothy "Tim" Murphy: Lex's younger brother who also survived the Incident on Isla Nublar. Interested in dinosaurs. He has read Grant's numerous books.
Production
After the release of the novel Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton was pressured by fans for a sequel novel. Having never written a sequel, he initially refused, until the success of the first Jurassic Park film prompted Steven Spielberg himself to request one.[2] After the book was published in 1995, production on the sequel film began in September 1996.[3]
The Lost World was filmed at Eureka, San Diego, Burbank, and Kauai. Although the ending takes place in San Diego, only one sequence is actually shot there, where the InGen helicopter flies over the wharf and banks towards the city. The other sequences were all shot in Burbank.[4]
Spielberg suggested the Tyrannosaurus rex attack through San Diego be added to the film story, inspired by a similar attack scene of a Brontosaurus in London in the 1925 film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World.[5]
Many elements from the original Jurassic Park novel that were not in the first film were used for Lost World. The opening sequence of the vacationing family's young daughter (Camilla Belle) being attacked by a group of Compsognathus was inspired by a scene where a Procompsognathus escapes to Costa Rica and attacks young children,[6] and Dieter Stark's death is analogous to John Hammond's compy-related death in the novel. Also, Nick, Sarah, Kelly, and Burke being trapped behind a waterfall by the female T. rex is taken from the first novel, where Tim and Lex are trapped behind a man-made waterfall with the T. rex attempting to eat them.
According to Jack Horner part of the waterfall scene was written in as a favor for him by Spielberg. Burke greatly resembles Horner's rival Robert Bakker. In real life Bakker argues for a predatory Tyrannosaurus rex while Horner views it as primarily a scavenger. So Spielberg wrote Burke into this part to have him killed by the Tyrannosaurus rex as a favor for Horner. After the film came out Bakker, who recognized himself in Burke and loved it, actually sent Horner a message saying "See, I told you T. rex was a hunter!".[7]
Dinosaurs on screen
Distribution
The Lost World: Jurassic Park was released on Memorial Day, 1997. The film made its VHS debut on November 4, 1997, and was first released on DVD on October 10, 2000.[8] The DVD includes deleted scenes that were incorporated into the Fox broadcast television premiere of the movie. Here, however, they are presented separately from the movie, and of lesser quality than their Fox counterparts, despite appearing on DVD over a year after the broadcast.
The film was also released in a package with Jurassic Park.[9] The DVD has also been re-released with both sequels on December 11, 2001 as the Jurassic Park Trilogy[10] and as the Jurassic Park Adventure Pack on November 29, 2005.[11] The soundtrack was released on May 20, 1997. On the same day it was first released to DVD, a deluxe limited edition box set was released that included Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, soundtracks for both films with packaging made exclusively for the set, two lenticulars, eight 8x10 stills (4 from each film), and a certificate of authenticity signed by all three producers of the set, all inside a collector case.[12]
Reception
Box Office
The
T. rex wreaking havoc received an
MTV Movie Awards nomination for "Best Action Sequence"
Following four years of growing anticipation and hype, The Lost World: Jurassic Park broke many box office records upon its release. It took in $72,132,785 on its opening weekend ($92.6 million for the four-day Memorial Day holiday) in the US[13], which was the biggest opening weekend at the time,[14] surpassing the previous record-holder Batman Forever at $52.8 million. It held onto this record for four and a half years, until the release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in November 2001. The Lost World took the record for highest single-day box office take of $26,083,950 on May 25,[15] a record held until the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. It also became the fastest film to pass the $100 million mark, achieving the feat in just six days.[16] However, its total US box office gross fell below the total of the original film. With grossing $229,086,679 domestically and $389,552,320 internationally, the film ended up grossing $618,638,999 worldwide,[1] becoming the second highest grossing film of 1997 behind Titanic, and the 40th highest-grossing film of all time.
Critical
The Lost World received mixed reviews. On the movie aggregator website, Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 49% "rotten" rating with 28 out of 56 reviewers giving it a positive review.[17] It also has a 59% on Metacritic.[18] It received much of the same criticism as the original Jurassic Park, with praise for the special effects but accusations of flat characterization. Roger Ebert said, "It can be said that the creatures in this film transcend any visible signs of special effects and seem to walk the earth, but the same realism isn't brought to the human characters, who are bound by plot conventions and action formulas." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times saw improved character development over the original, saying, "It seemed such a mistake in Jurassic Park to sideline early on its most interesting character, the brilliant, free-thinking and outspoken theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) with a broken leg, but in its most inspired stroke, The Lost World brings back Malcolm and places him front and center," calling it "a pleasure to watch such wily pros as Goldblum and Attenborough spar with each other with wit and assurance."[19] The dinosaurs were even more developed as characters, with Stephen Holden of the New York Times saying, "The Lost World, unlike Jurassic Park, humanizes its monsters in a way that E.T. would understand."[20] Entertainment Weekly remarked in 2008, "Mr. T-rex was cool in the first Spielberg flick, sure, but it wasn't until [it was in] San Diego that things got crazy-cool. It's the old 'tree falling in the woods' conundrum: Unless your giant monster is causing massive property damage, can you really call it a giant monster?"[21]
The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for Visual Effects[22] and for "Best Action Sequence" in the MTV Movie Awards 1998 for the T. Rex rampage through San Diego.[23] It was also nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film, Best Director, Best Young Actress for Vanessa Lee Chester, Best Special Effects, and Best Supporting Actor for Pete Postlethwaite.[24]
References
- ^ a b c "The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=jurassicpark2.htm. Retrieved on 2009-02-05.
- ^ "The Lost World". MichaelCrichton.com. http://www.michaelcrichton.com/books-lostworld-video.html. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
- ^ "The Lost World Jurassic Park". British Film Institute. http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/546128. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
- ^ "Filming tions for The Lost World: Jurassic Park". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. http://www.movie-locations.com/movies/l/lostworld.html. Retrieved on 2007-06-30.
- ^ "The Lost World". The New York Times. http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=30171. Retrieved on 2007-06-30.
- ^ "A tale of two 'Jurassics'". Entertainment Weekly. 1993-06-18. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,306930,00.html. Retrieved on 2007-02-17.
- ^ Gritton, Lance. Personal interview. 14 Apr 2007.
- ^ IGN staff (2000-06-16 In between, it was also broadcast on Fox in an expanded version.). "Jurassic Park". IGN. http://uk.dvd.ign.com/articles/038/038161p1.html. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
- ^ "Jurassic Park / The Lost World: The Collection". IGN. http://uk.dvd.ign.com/objects/791/791440.html. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
- ^ "Jurassic Park Trilogy". IGN. http://uk.dvd.ign.com/objects/791/791439.html. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
- ^ IGN DVD (2005-11-17). "Jurassic Park Adventure Pack". IGN. http://uk.dvd.ign.com/articles/667/667943p1.html. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
- ^ Amazon.com (2005-11-17). "Jurassic Park/The Lost World limited boxset — Amazon.com". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/Jurassic-Park-World-Limited-Collectors/dp/B00004U8KW. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
- ^ "The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. 1997-10-12. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=jurassicpark2.htm. Retrieved on 2007-06-26.
- ^ "Biggest Opening Weekends at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. 2007-06-26. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/weekends/. Retrieved on 2007-06-26.
- ^ "Top Grossing Movies in a Single Day at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. 2007-06-26. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/days/. Retrieved on 2007-06-26.
- ^ "Fastest Movies to $100m". The Numbers. 2007-06-26. http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/records/Fastest100.php. Retrieved on 2007-06-26.
- ^ "Rotten Tomatoes - The Lost World: Jurassic Park". Rotten Tomatoes. 1997. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lost_world_jurassic_park/. Retrieved on 2009-06-21.
- ^ "Lost World: Jurassic Park The Lost World: Jurassic Park: Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/lostworldjurassicpark?q=The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
- ^ Kevin Thomas (1997-05-23). "The Lost World: Jurassic Park". Los Angeles Times. http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-movie970523-4,0,5416318.story. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
- ^ Stephen Holden (1997-05-23). "The Lost World: Jurassic Park". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/library/film/lost.html. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
- ^ Marc Bernadin (2008-01-17). "Attack of the Giant Movie Monsters!". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20171850_8,00.html. Retrieved on 2008-01-21.
- ^ "Academy Awards Database". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 2006-06-26. http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=1182865095800. Retrieved on 2007-06-26.
- ^ "1998 MTV Movie Awards". MTV. 1998-06-04. http://www.mtv.com/ontv/movieawards/archive/year.jhtml?year=19980. Retrieved on 2007-06-26.
- ^ "Past Winners Database". Los Angeles Times. 1998-06-10. http://theenvelope.latimes.com/extras/lostmind/year/1997/1997sat.htm. Retrieved on 2007-07-07.
External links
