Customer Reviews

The Lost World - Jurassic Park [VHS]

5 star:		(103)
4 star:		(57)
3 star:		(61)
2 star:		(49)
1 star:		(73)

 

 

The Lost World - Jurassic Park has gotten a lot of criticism since its release. Much of it is justified, but equally as much is based on a very unfair comparison to the blockbuster original. Only a handful of movies can justifiably claim the title of "classic", and none that I know of are sequels.

The biggest problem for The Lost World is that it is impossible to recreate the sense of awe and wonder that was inspired by Jurassic Park's groundbreaking effects work. Instead, too much emphasis was placed on the savagery of the carnivorous dinosaurs and the incredible stupidity of the humans invading their territory.

However, it must be pointed out that the T-Rex's, raptors and other sauripods in this film are equally as impressive as they were in Jurassic Park. There are some very good, shuddery action sequences. When the location shifts to San Diego, there is a good deal of very legitimate comedy. The total absurdity of an Animal Control truck's headlong response to a rampaging Tyrannosaur could only be countered by its equally headlong departure from the area.

No, The Lost World is not as good as Jurassic Park. Yes, it's a little too violent and yes, Jeff Goldblum's moralizing gets to be just about sickening. But for all of these minor distractions, this is a very entertaining movie that is well worth your investment of viewing time and maybe a few dollars. And after all, this time the critters win!

I see reviews here that give this film one star, and in a way, it does deserve just that. However, there are certain parts that must make you think this movie is better than most people say it is. For one, the special effects are better than the original, and the way the film is shot makes them seem much more realistic. However, great special effects are no match for a good story.

Jurassic Park, the original, had a wonderful plot. Two dinosaur experts visit a park, not knowing what to expect. And the scary part is this....something like that could actually happen. Now, tell me this....why would Dr. Malcolm, Jeff Goldblum, go back to an island just to save his girlfriend? Yeah, he loves her and all, but I'm pretty sure that Mr. Hammond could get her back safely without making him go all the way there.

Also, there are several inconsistantcies in the film. Look at the original: There's a raptor expert with a gun hunting down what he knows best. What happens? He gets killed. Now look at JP2: A young girl that knows nothing about the animals, and might I add that she doesn't have a gun, takes out three of them using gymnastics. Maybe is she was Jackie Chan......I'm not gonna even get into that.

Jurassic Park 2 needed to have a plot that would make you think, "Oh yeah, that could happen." Not, "They must want pictures of those cute, innocent dinosaurs!" And they all know that they're dangerous, but yet, they want the pictures. I'd be like, "Forget that! I can live without 'em!" Spielberg, in my opinion, is the greatest director of all time. He scored big with the original, Saving Private Ryan, Jaws, and several others...but when it comes to JP2, it just didn't work out.

I prey that Jurassic Park 3 will be something worth the money I'm paying, not a plot where the film doesn't develope right, so they go back to get more pictures! (I only hope they don't read that and go, "Great idea.")

If you liked Jurassic Park, you'll be disappointed with its sequel. But if you really loved Godzilla, and you thought that was the best movie ever, you might like this one. But go ahead and see it anyway.....some of the action scenes may be funnier than a comedy.....

Just when you'd think that scientists had realized dinosaurs and humans don't mix, along comes The Lost World: Jurassic Park to prove you wrong. In this sequel, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) summons chaos theorist and onetime colleague Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to his home with some startling information - while nearly everything at his Jurassic Park had been destroyed, his engineers happened to have a second site, where other dinosaurs, resurrected through DNA cloning technology, were kept in hiding. It seems the dinosaurs on the second island are alive and well and even breeding; and Hammond wants Malcolm to observe and document the reptiles before Hammond's financiers can get to them. Malcolm had enough of the dinosaurs the first time out, but he decides to make the trip when he finds out that his girlfriend, paleontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore), is already there. However, Ian and Sarah aren't the only visitors arriving on the island; a camera crew led by ecological activist Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn) is on the way, as is Roland Tembo (Pete Postlethwaite), a world-class wild game hunter who is supposed to round up the dinosaurs and who hopes to bag a prehistoric trophy for himself in the process. This sequel to Jurassic Park boasted even more impressive special effects than the first film, though the acting and screenplay aren't always at the same level.

This DTS version has less extras (Deleted Scenes, Illustrations and Conceptual drawings, Storyboards, Models, The World of Jurassic Park, Industrial Light and Magic), but the sound is sure going to compensate that. The French Surround is not available too. Thats why it is on you to decide whats more valuable.

Is any further proof needed that Hollywood today is populated by people with no imagination whatsoever. Nobody can even think up original names for films, it seems.

This has nothing to do with Conan Doyle's timelessly wonderful epic. Neither has it very much to do with Michael Crichton's highly readable follow-up to his excellent book 'Jurassic Park'.

Things start well, with some gritty direction, and strong characters are played by Jeff Goldblum and Pete Postlethwaite. There is also a mildly interesting plot about a ruthless organization attempting to abduct the dinosaurs and a few humorous scenes involving a send-up of Robert Bakker. But they're soon lost in the avalanche of special effects and one chase scene after another.

Admittedly the special effects are as good as before and there are a few genuinely suspenceful scenes, but most of it seems to be played for laughs. There's no sense of awe and wonder, the dinosaurs just being taken for granted. Halfway through the film I had completely lost interest.

And as for the final T-Rex scene - it's just a joke. A 50-foot long, 18 foot tall dinosaur stomping through the middle of a densely-populated city and hardly being noticed?

Worth going to see for the special effects, but this is one of those all-too-common sequels which is about money rather than quality.

I don't know why The Lost World producers insist in telling that this motion picture is based on the novel by Michael Crichton if almost nothing has survived from his remarkable story in this motion picture. "If I hadn't found a story I was interested in, Jurassic Park would have remained just a nice memory for me," says Steven Spielberg. However, the bestseller novel The Lost World, by Michael Crichton, which is really a great story and the perfect sequel to Jurassic Park, seems to be "ignored" by this motion picture producers and the cinematographic adaptation of the original story became a running and screaming breathtaking adventure with amazing visual and sound effects, and an spectacular soundtrack, but with a little convincing story, completely different from the proposal of Michael Crichton for The Lost World, disappointing everybody who had read his novel. A lost story concerning a Lost World!

Does this movie have flaws? Yes, But at least it's a respectful sequel to the original. Jeff Goldblum is in fine form as the lead, and Pete Postlewaite is great as the big game hunter out for the ultimate game. The film is not as good as the first but its much, much better than Jurassic Park 3. This film deserves your attention, and it really does deliver on its thrills.

If you want to watch a real sequel to Jurassic Park that really delivers on what it promises, then The Lost World Is your Film.

I am very disapointed in this excuse for a movie based on a book. The book is a great example of Michael Crichtons amazing work, but this movie takes all that and tosses it out. It depresses me to know that people would see the movie without reading the book. When someone hears "The Lost World" Michael Crichton should come into mind, not Universal Studios. It contradicts so many points in the book it is offensive. Sure the visual effects are good, but so what? That's all nothing without a friggin plot. If you see this move, please, for Crichtons sake, read the book first.

The original JURASSIC PARK was rightly hailed as a masterpiece. It was a winner on several fronts including story, performance and, especially, the special effects that created the dinosaurs that starred in the film. Of these criteria, the only one which THE LOST WORLD can lay claim to is that of the special effects. The dinosaurs are just as stunning in the sequel as they were in the original and there is some additional variety as well. That being said, everything else about this one is weaker.

A few years after the original story, a scientific team heads back to the islands to learn what they can. Included among them is Jeff Goldblum's girlfriend. He has no wish to return but does so in order to protect her. Unknown to him, his daughter stows away. Things are exciting and tense enough with that setup but the board of directors of the company that originally financed the venture sends in a large scale team in order to capture some of them and bring them back to a "zoo". Inevitably, there is conflict between the capitalist exploiters and the environmental types. They put these differences aside, however, when it looks like all of them are on the menu. Things get even more complicated when it looks like all of San Diego is on the menu as well. It is all very reminiscent of KING KONG.

The film is well done and the acting is credible but it is just not as exciting as the first. It is certainly worth viewing, especially if you like dino flics but save it until after you have seen everything else that is high on your list.

I really thought the whole, My girlfriend is on the island so I must go save her, was really stupid. Coulden't they find a better way to get him there? Unlike others, I did not think the acting was that bad. I really thought Jeff did a good job. I thought the special effects were good too. The thing that really made me mad was that the movie was compleatly different from the great book by Michael Crichton. If you read the book but have not seen the movie, DO NOT BUY THE MOVIE. It will be a waste of your time and money. Instead go and read the novel again. The fact that they changed the characters and made new ones for the movie was just plain stupid. I say it would have been a better movie if they just stuck to the book.

Don't get me wrong, it's a great movie, but for a Spieldberg film, it bites the dust.

It is very LOOSELY based on the book. Where's Levine? Hammond is alive? A rescue mission? Nuh-Uh. he movie is nothing compared to the GREAT book.

Ian Malcom and a rescue squad go to an island to rescue his ex, Sara [in the book, SHE comes after HIM]. His black [?] daughter sneaks on [in the book, she is white, her BEST FRIEND is black, who also sneaks on in the book]. He never figures out what InGen was doing on Isla Sorna! Meanwhile, some bad dudes are transporting dinosaurs to San Diego [might be in the book, might not've reached it]. I know for a fact the San Diego scene is not in the book.

Overall, I really liked this fantastic movie. It is great, but not based on the book!