The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) Universal/Sci-Fi-Action-Adventure RT: 129 minutes Rated PG-13 (intense sci-fi terror and violence) Director: Steven Spielberg Screenplay: David Koepp Music: John Williams Cinematography: Janusz Kaminski Release date: May 23, 1997 (US) Cast: Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn, Pete Postlethwaite, Arliss Howard, Richard Schiff, Vanessa Lee Chester, Peter Stormare, Thomas F. Duffy, Richard Attenborough, Ariana Richards, Joseph Mazzello, Camilla Belle. Box Office: $229M (US)/$618.6M (World)
Rating: ***
I didn’t like The Lost World: Jurassic Park when it first came out. I found it dull, redundant and lacking the “WOW!” factor of its predecessor. It only came alive in the climactic sequence in which a T. Rex escapes captivity and runs amok through the streets of San Diego. Admit it, that part’s cool!
As it’s in my nature to do, I gave The Lost World a second chance and enjoyed it more this time around. It’s actually rather entertaining once you realize that director Steven Spielberg was going for a darker tone for this sequel to the 1993 summer blockbuster. I think that’s another reason I didn’t take to this film when I saw it at a special pre-release screening. It didn’t help that my companion read the Michael Crichton novel upon which it’s based and maintained a running commentary regarding what it got wrong.
As I watched The Lost World this time, I was transported back to my youth when I subsisted on a near-steady diet of movies like this. It’s custom-made for 14YO movie geeks. When stripped down to its core, The Lost World is a B-level jungle island adventure/monster movie. The main differences are a cast of A-list actors and a $73 million price tag.
Set four years after the events of Jurassic Park, Dr. Ian Malcolm (Goldblum, Independence Day) finds himself facing down another group of cloned prehistoric creatures. Disgraced as a result of going public with what happened on Isla Nublar, you can understand why he initially turns down former InGen CEO John Hammond’s (filmmaker Attenborough) request to accompany a team of researchers to Isla Sorna (aka Site B) to study the dinosaurs in their natural habitat. You see, that’s where the dinosaurs were originally engineered before being sent to Nublar. After the park shut down, the dinosaurs still at the facility on Sorna got loose and are living free in the wild. Malcolm quickly changes his mind upon learning that his girlfriend, paleontologist Sarah Harding (Moore, Boogie Nights), is already on the island.
He heads off to Site B with video documentarian Nick Van Owen (Vaughn, Wedding Crashers) and equipment specialist Eddie Carr (Schiff, The West Wing). Shortly after their arrival on the island, Malcolm learns that his teenage daughter Kelly (Chester, Harriet the Spy) stowed away on the trailer that serves as their mobile base. As if that wasn’t enough, Hammond’s unscrupulous nephew Peter Ludlow (Howard, Full Metal Jacket) arrives on the scene with his own team of experts which includes hunters and mercenaries. Ludlow took control of InGen in the wake of an incident shown in the prologue. He intends to capture several dinosaurs and transport them to San Diego for use in a proposed theme park. Bad idea, dude!
Naturally, all hell breaks loose and the two ever-dwindling teams must work together to make it off the island. Although this drags on a bit longer than necessary, there’s this one cool scene where a pair of T. Rex push the trailer off a cliff with Malcolm, Sarah and Nick still inside. It hangs precariously from the edge with the three characters holding on for dear life. You can see the ground far below through the back windshield. Sarah falls and lands on the glass which starts breaking. It’s one of the best scenes in The Lost World.
One of my biggest complaints about this movie is that certain scenes are so dark (and rainy) that it’s difficult to make out what’s going on. I didn’t have this issue with the first movie; I could see what was going on in every scene. But as I said, Spielberg is going for a darker story here, so the visual style makes perfect sense. It also lends a note of realism to the decidedly unreal proceedings. The creature effects, a blend of CGI and animatronics, are incredible. There appear to be more dinosaurs in The Lost World, something that will no doubt please the young dinosaur fanatics in the audience.
Composer John Williams contributes another memorable score. Anytime this guy scores one of these big summer movies, it’s pure gold. The acting is on par with the first movie more or less. Malcolm sheds the Roy Orbison look for something more conventional which is interesting because the character is about as far from conventional as you can get. I guess it can be seen as a sign of the times that Spielberg doesn’t think it necessary to explain why Malcolm has a black daughter. It’s barely even mentioned. In the role, Chester does a decent job. She’s not all that annoying.
Spielberg and writer David Koepp (Mission Impossible) drop the deep philosophical questions of the first movie to make room for more action and adventure. It makes sense. Why rehash the same deep issues? The Lost World exists for one purpose, to entertain. That it does. It’s not perfect, but it’s not the stinker I remember from two decades ago. Besides, how can you not love watching a T. Rex rampage through a major city like Godzilla? It’s sure to bring out the inner 14YO in everybody.
