It may have been over ten years since Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg’s dinosaurs first trampled all over the global box office, and its sequels may have failed to fully match the standards set by the original. Yet the Jurassic Park Trilogy: Ultimate Edition still brings together a wildly entertaining trio of films, in a very welcome DVD collection. The basics by now are well known. Eccentric billionaire John Hammond employs scientists to bring dinosaurs back to life, with fairly impressive results. Not everything goes to plan, though, and when his dinosaur-ravaged theme park eventually goes amok in the original Jurassic Park, it’s a proper blockbuster rollercoaster ride, whose influence is still being felt in big budget Hollywood movies today.
The Lost World moves the action to Site B, a mysterious location where much of the behind-the-scenes work was done for the creation of the original theme park. That makes it extra dangerous, and again, is a fine excuse for some excellent set pieces. It’s arguably the weakest of the three films, and it’s certainly the flabbiest, but it still entertains, and entertains well.
Spielberg handed the director’s chair over to Jumanji helmer Joe Johnston for the third film, and it proved a wise decision. Johnston keeps his running time brief, cutting out much of the back-story to focus on the lizard-based action. And save for a fairly sudden finale, he delivers the trademark Jurassic Park tension and rampaging action in spades.
In short, the Jurassic Park Trilogy: Ultimate Edition is a fitting testament to a trio of blockbuster movies, that are at worst entertaining, and at best, rip-roaring, high concept, big-budget movie making of real quality. Recommended.--Simon Brew
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