Product Details

• Actors: Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Téa Leoni, Alessandro Nivola, Trevor Morgan
• Directors: Joe Johnston
• Writers: Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor, Michael Crichton, Peter Buchman
• Producers: Cheryl A. Tkach, David Womark, Kathleen Kennedy
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: December 11, 2001
• Run Time: 98 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (694 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00003CXXR
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #11,676 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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• This is item 3 in The Jurassic Park Series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Surpassing expectations to qualify as an above-average sequel, Jurassic Park III is nothing more or less than a satisfying popcorn adventure. A little cheesier than the first two Jurassic blockbusters, it's a big B movie with big B-list stars (including Laura Dern, briefly reprising her Jurassic Park role), and eight years of advancing computer-generated-image technology give it a sharp edge over its predecessors. While adopting the jungle spirit of King Kong, the movie refines Michael Crichton's original premise, and its dinosaurs are even more realistic, their behavior more detailed, and their variety--including flying pteranodons and a new villain, the spinosaurus--more dazzling and threatening than ever. These advancements justify the sequel, and its contrived plot is just clever enough to span 90 minutes without wearing out its welcome.

Posing as wealthy tourists, an adventurous couple (William H. Macy, Téa Leoni) convince paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and his protégé (Allesandro Nivola) to act as tour guides on a flyover trip to Isla Sorna, the ill-fated "Site B" where all hell broke loose in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. In truth, they're on a search-and-rescue mission to find their missing son (Trevor Morgan), and their plane crash is just the first of several enjoyably suspenseful sequences. Director Joe Johnston (October Sky) embraces the formulaic plot as a series of atmospheric set pieces, placing new and familiar dinosaurs in misty rainforests, fiery lakes, and mysterious valleys, turning JP3 into a thrill ride with impressive highlights (including a T. rex versus spinosaurus smack-down), adequate doses of wry humor (from the cowriters of Election), and an upbeat ending that's corny but appropriate, proving that the symptoms of sequelitis needn't be fatal. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker

A further rematch of Homo sapiens versus the velociraptor, with honors fairly even by the end. The raptor has longer teeth and, we now learn, more refined social skills, but man has the satellite phone. After an absence of one movie, Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) returns to a dino-packed island with a bullish assistant (Alessandro Nivola) and a couple of lily-livered adventurers (William H. Macy and Téa Leoni). The result, directed not by Steven Spielberg but by Joe Johnston, is the most streamlined installment of the franchise so far. For your money, you get no ethics lectures, not much science, and a handful of half-baked characters; everything is set, in other words, for a spirited game of chase-and-chew. Isn't that why you bought a ticket in the first place? In English and Raptorspeak, though sadly without subtitles. -Anthony Lane
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly good sequel is full of action and humor!, July 29, 2001

By	D. Litton (Wilmington, NC) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Jurassic Park III" attempts to pull a new twist on the source material of the first film, taking us to a new place where new dinosaurs will soon be wreaking havoc on human kind. Does it work? Completely! Combining some very effective action sequences with some of the bets humor for a movie of this genre, "JP3" is a thrill machine that doesn't portray itself as anything more or less. One might sneer at the drawn-out franchise, but there's no denying how much fun this film can be on many levels.

The movie brings back the original character of Alan Grant (Sam Neill), who is now a college professor of paleontology. He hopes that his new theory of raptor intelligence will inspire his students as well as earn some funds for his research, though his students seem more interested in his experiences at Jurassic Park so many years ago, experiences he would rather put behind him than rehash to the world.

That is, until Paul and Amanda Kirby (William H. Macy, Tea Leoni) come calling, with the promise of those needed research funds in exchange for Grant coming along with them to the island of Isla Sorna, the second island where the action of "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" took place. Posing as tourists with a taste for adventure, their true intent is to locate their lost son, who they believe to be located on the island after a boating accident eight weeks earlier.

Once Grant finds out their true intentions, he demands that the mission be aborted, but soon, their plane crashes on the island, leaving them stranded among the carnivorous creatures, who are quick to start scaring the hell out of their new prey. Along with some new and quite dangerous dinosaurs, the velociraptors prove Grant's theory of raptor intelligence correct, though I'm sure he was none too thrilled about being right when he finds himself surrounded by them.

Like the first "Jurassic Park," "JP3" brings on its share of action sequences and suspenseful moments, which are a sheer delight for those who enjoy a good jolt. I was sitting up in my seat after the plane crash, as the never-before-seen spinosaurus tosses the wreckage around like a child's toy. A fight between the spinosaurus and a tyrannosaurus rex is charged with intensity, and the group's fight to stay alive is made all-the-more challenging by a high quotient of prehistoric predators.

The film also explores what "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" merely conceived in words. The whole basis for that film was the creation of prehistoric life on the second island, and this movie takes us to the many sites of that creation, as well as showing us their attempts to contain that life in cages. One of those settings is a bird-cage, where pteranodons retrieve their prey for their young. The compound where our group finds temporary refuge recalls that of "Jurassic Park," where the story all began.

Combined with the action is a heavy load of comic relief, lying within some very witty dialogue and situational humor, lightening the impact of scenes that would otherwise be too intense for younger audiences. Even so, this humor is a delight for all ages. At one point, Grant gives the group an ultimatum, to either search for their missing son or follow him, to which the pilot soon after replies, "We'll search for your son, in the direction he's going." Another situation finds them looking for a cell phone in a large pile of dino droppings, possibly one of the funniest scenes in a movie yet.

The cast seems to be having fun with the film. Sam Neill is as good as new in his reprisal of the role of Alan Grant, the same wit and intelligence pouring from him with ease. William H. Macy makes for a lot of good laughs as the cumbersome Paul, And Tea Leoni plays a well-mannered damsel in distress as his wife. Grant's protégé, Billy, is played by Allesandro Nivola, and after this film, we can expect to be seeing more of him in the future.

The summer season is a time when movie studios bombard audiences with films full of action and humor, with little care for plot or substance. Surprisingly enough, "Jurassic Park III" surpasses any negative expectations you may have (believe me, I had my own). Director Joe Johnston may be no Speilberg, but his latest film beats out some very stiff competition, from "The Mummy Returns" to "Pearl Harbor," to become the best summer movie of the year!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Odds are we won't leave this island alive, January 12, 2006

By	Matt (NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jurassic Park III (Widescreen Collector's Edition) (DVD)

It would be nearly impossible to trump the first Jurassic Park film. People were blown away by that movie. The technology was cutting edge and the premise was nearly magical in its element of fantasy. Making a third installment to the series presents an obvious challenge. How do you uphold the level of entertainment set by the first two films? The answer: new dinosaurs...

In this film, we get the addition of a few new dinos. The Spinosaur, being even bigger and badder than the T-Rex, is the "guy on the block" now. Flying pteranodons are introduced on Isla Sorna, where they were once housed in a huge cage, now left to patrol the skies freely. The Velociraptors have also gotten an upgrade. They look a bit more menacing than the Raptors from the original Jurassic Park. These new additions are what make this film what it is.

The first film was set on lush pastures of modeled prehistoric land. The setting for this film is far more delapidated. This is the land the dinosaur rules. The premise of the film is a bit cheesy, but you barely notice, given the amazing production and spectacle of the film. Once on the island, all you experience is the thrill of the search and the chase. The fact that a divorced couple are searching for their wayward child becomes secondary to the dinosaur action that ensues once they arrive.

I knew I would enjoy this movie simply because I love the idea of Jurassic Park, yet I was pleasantly surprised by just how good it turned out to be.

The DVD is bursting with bonus material. It would take hours to get through it all - but it's well worth it. There's an extensive "Making of.." featurette, a "New Dinosaurs" featurette, a tour of the studio in which the dinosaurs were conceived and brought to life, storyboards, DVD-rom options, etc... The Special Edition certainly does the process of the movie justice, providing deep insight into the production.

Highly recommended.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars BETTER THAN THE SECOND BUT NOT AS GOOD AS THE FIRST..., August 14, 2004

By	Lawyeraau (Balmoral Castle) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

This review is from: Jurassic Park III (Widescreen Collector's Edition) (DVD)

This film has outstanding special effects, excellent cinematography, a wonderful cast, and a thin script. While it is better than the second film in the Jurassic Park series, it comes nowhere near equaling the original Jurassic Park movie.

This film sees two of the original stars return, Sam Neill, as paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant, and Laura Dern, in a cameo reprising her original role. Add William Macy and Tea Leoni, as a divorced couple who kidnap Dr. Grant and take him to Isla Sorna, site of Jurassic Park II, on a search and rescue mission for their twelve year old son, who disappeared eight weeks earlier while parasailing over Isla Sorna with his mother's boyfriend.

After the initial breathtaking, opening scene of the boy and his mother's friend parasailing, the movie starts going south almost immediately, which is not to say that it is not enjoyable. It is, but not as enjoyable as it could have been, had it been filmed with an intelligent script.

The movie is only an hour and a half long. In the process of making it a succinct film, the actors race through the plot, leaving certain questions unanswered or certain issues unexplained, in the almost indecent haste to get the film over with.

The actions of some of the characters are often unbelievable. Clearly terrorized, the characters do not hesitate to run off by themselves. They also do not hesitate to make as much noise as possible. Obviously, they do this in order to put themselves into a situation where they will be injured, chased, or eaten by a dinosaur.

As I said, little thought appears to have been given to formulating an intelligent script. Still, if the viewer is willing to suspend all rational thought, one should get some enjoyment from viewing this moderately entertaining film