JURASSIC PARK

[thx217]

Damn, those are some amazing looking busts. Why the hell can't we get a maquette looking like that!!!

Yeah, Sideshow, you Heard that?

 

[uscmhicks]

I'm watching Jurassic Park 3 now , I just remembered I had one of these from years back on the universal studios ride. By the way does anyone else thing Jurassic park 1 has better visual effects than 3 ?

 

[Sachiel]

I didn't like the Raptors. They looked too cartoony. I think it was the red eyes mostly.

 

[Agent0028]

Are you talking about the JP3 Raptors? I agree they did seem cartoony to me too, not nearly as scary as the originals. I love the scene in the first one where they learned to open the doors. I think that is one of the biggest "Oh crap" movie scenes for me. I also hated that little mohawk thingy on their heads. Where the heck did that come from?

 

[Scar]

Other than the alpha female, I found the JPIII raptors loathesome, as to the movie itself in its entirety (the Spinosaurus and the Pteranodons were just shameful), and even the female raptor was nothing in realism compared to what we saw in JP and TLW. Why they went from the realistic camouflage-grounded flesh pigmentation to bright white with speckled black, and dark grey with red and white streaks, as well as the pitiful "mohawks," is absolutely beyond me. I could go on and on (and I have on other forums and to my friends) ceaselessly about the rampant, unabashed rape of zoological and paleontological science in the movie, but I won't get into it here; suffice it to say that any foundation built up on extant science from the first two films was razed entirely in the third. But I digress...

The effects, I personally thought (and I feel Stan Winston would agree with us here, hicks) were leaps and bounds beyond JPIII in terms of realism that we saw in JP and TLW. The reason? The heavy reliance upon the animatronic dinosaurs, and insistence on the part of Spielberg that the actors INTERACT with these creatures. The CG in JP was revolutionary for the industry, there's no disputing it. However, it was the blend of animatronics and CG that made the first two movies what they were. The third had far, far, far too many scenes that were solely CG, a point which proved an issue of great contention between Joe Johnston and Stan Winston.

And the biggest "oh crap" moment concerning the raptors for me has always been the famous "clever girl" scene (i.e.- Muldoon's Death, and my all-time favorite death scene in a movie ).

 

[uscmhicks]

Other than the alpha female, I found the JPIII raptors loathesome, as to the movie itself in its entirety (the Spinosaurus and the Pteranodons were just shameful), and even the female raptor was nothing in realism compared to what we saw in JP and TLW. Why they went from the realistic camouflage-grounded flesh pigmentation to bright white with speckled black, and dark grey with red and white streaks, as well as the pitiful "mohawks," is absolutely beyond me. I could go on and on (and I have on other forums and to my friends) ceaselessly about the rampant, unabashed rape of zoological and paleontological science in the movie, but I won't get into it here; suffice it to say that any foundation built up on extant science from the first two films was razed entirely in the third. But I digress...

The effects, I personally thought (and I feel Stan Winston would agree with us here, hicks) were leaps and bounds beyond JPIII in terms of realism that we saw in JP and TLW. The reason? The heavy reliance upon the animatronic dinosaurs, and insistence on the part of Spielberg that the actors INTERACT with these creatures. The CG in JP was revolutionary for the industry, there's no disputing it. However, it was the blend of animatronics and CG that made the first two movies what they were. The third had far, far, far too many scenes that were solely CG, a point which proved an issue of great contention between Joe Johnston and Stan Winston.

And the biggest "oh crap" moment concerning the raptors for me has always been the famous "clever girl" scene (i.e.- Muldoon's Death, and my all-time favorite death scene in a movie ).

exactly , and yeah dude , that scene kicks ass !!!

 

[MaulFan]

Ya, I think that's what tainted JP3 for me. As a film, it's not that bad, for sure not as interesting as 1 and 2, but the killer was the departure on the dinosaurs. They abandoned visual appearance of all the dinosaurs we'd seen before as far as colors and other subtle anatomy elements (spikes on raptors) and even some roars. I love JP 1 and 2 for the dinosaurs and the way they were from looks to sound, everything, and 3 seemed to just toss that all out the window and do whatever it wanted. There's been rumor for awhile that Spielberg would return to the franchise for a 4th installment, maybe after Indy. I'd certainly entertain another JP if Steven directed but otherwise, I can't imagine one sparking my interest that much.

 

[Adoptedscot]

I like the 'Land before time' 1st movie more than I like JP3.
All the Dino's in JP3 had some kind of red colouring on them which was very frustrating.
I love that scene Scar 'Clever Girl' like he's got great respect for them, then gets eaten.

Awesome Souvenir you got there Hicks
x

 

[Agent0028]

Yeah Muldoon's death was good, but the door opening is the one that gets me the most.

The only thing I liked about JP3 is that Alan Grant was back.

 

[Sick Boy 82]

I just want these in a Blu-Ray boxed set already! WTF??!!

 

[Scar]

Ya, I think that's what tainted JP3 for me. As a film, it's not that bad, for sure not as interesting as 1 and 2, but the killer was the departure on the dinosaurs. They abandoned visual appearance of all the dinosaurs we'd seen before as far as colors and other subtle anatomy elements (spikes on raptors) and even some roars. I love JP 1 and 2 for the dinosaurs and the way they were from looks to sound, everything, and 3 seemed to just toss that all out the window and do whatever it wanted. There's been rumor for awhile that Spielberg would return to the franchise for a 4th installment, maybe after Indy. I'd certainly entertain another JP if Steven directed but otherwise, I can't imagine one sparking my interest that much.

Agreed. This is where I lost a great deal of respect for paleontologist Jack Horner; he told them it was time to play up T.rex as a scavenger, which is what we're intended to see it doing in this movie, scavenging from a carcass before it gets locked into a fight with Spinosaurus, described by Horner as "the largest known carnivore and a true predator."

First of all, of the very very very few known specimens that we have of Spinosaurus (most nearly-complete skeletons were destroyed in a German museum bombed during WWII), we know that they were large, lightly-built piscavores with conical teeth built for grabbing, making it efficient in quickly snapping up large coastal fish species, or even grabbing small terrestrial dinosaurs while it disemboweled them with its thumb claws. However, to hype it up to look like a duck + crocodile hybrid on steroids is nothing but unabashedly disgraceful to the true animal.

My biggest gripe of the ENTIRE film was that when the T.rex locked its jaws onto the Spinosaurus' throat, that the Spinosaurus did not die immediately, or fall to the ground in a crippled heap. Unlike the Spinosaurus, the teeth of Tyrannosaurs were designed to not only slice through flesh with ease, but to punch cleanly through bone. The bite force of the T.rex was evidenced in the first two films wherein the T.rexes slice through metal like butter at room temperature, but to then have trouble with the esophagus of a flesh and blood animal? It was just an event hyped up to tout the new prehistoric cash cow which ended up back-firing for Universal in what is one of the studio's greatest misfires.

Nevermind that the Pteranodons, rendered sssssooooo well in the very brief shot at the end of TLW, were then suddenly sequestered in an aviary in JPIII without explanation, and that they now all had teeth (whereas they should be toothless and so lightly-built that they would be physically incapable of lifting a human being); one of my friends said what sounded the death knell of the movie was the scene when Dr. Grant, "whom we all know and love, blows into a 'bone whistle' to confuse the raptors enough into convincing them to abort their attack. What would you to if someone kidnapped your children and then suddenly started to spout back poor English to you? I'd still gut them!"

Have to say I agree with him, the scene with Grant attempting to mimic a call through a replica of a Velociraptor vocal chamber, dissuading the entire raptor pack, was not only implausible, it was funny. And another thing that pissed me off was that the raptors weren't at all motivated by hunger, not at all! For example - the scene in JPIII when they kill Udesky in order to set a trap to expose the others? I might have forgiven this scene if they at least hauled away his body like Bengal tigers, crocodiles, and avian raptors do today, stashing the corpse in a food cache rather than wasting a kill!

See, what'd I tell ya! And off on a tangent I shall go!

 

[Starkiller]

I want more collectibles and the trilogy on blu-ray!


And in order or release is the order of greatness...


JP>TLW>JPIII

 

[Agent0028]

Which island were they on in JPIII? I just figured it was the original island from JP and that's why the pteradons were in the aviary. That was another scene I sorta liked, it was one of my favorite parts in the book and when I read it several years after seeing the movie I was disappointed it wasn't in it.

 

[Scar]

It was Isla Sorna, the same island that was in TLW, not Isla Nublar (the Jurassic Park island). I would have been happy if the Aviary scene in the movie was done in the fashion that it was in the novel. Still, to have been done well, the Pteranodons would have had to have been without teeth and, as with the novel, viciously territorial, assailing the intruders, leaving them covered with wounds and droppings. The whole "lifting the humans to the nests as prey for the young" is just something Pteranodons were physically incapable of, and they never would provide live prey that outweighs adults as food for the offspring.

 

[uscmhicks]

It was Isla Sorna, the same island that was in TLW, not Isla Nublar (the Jurassic Park island). I would have been happy if the Aviary scene in the movie was done in the fashion that it was in the novel. Still, to have been done well, the Pteranodons would have had to have been without teeth and, as with the novel, viciously territorial, assailing the intruders, leaving them covered with wounds and droppings. The whole "lifting the humans to the nests as prey for the young" is just something Pteranodons were physically incapable of, and they never would provide live prey that outweighs adults as food for the offspring.

Dino expert
These movies rock !!

 

[Scar]

Dinosaurs and fauna in general are long-standing hobbies of mine. That's why I believe these movies are so appealing. They don't treat the dinosaurs as lumbering brutes or mindless killing machines, but as animals motivated by natural drives. I know TLW gets a lot of heat, but from the standpoint of ethology alone, the movie is extremely well done. JPIII...not so much.

 

[zoid2323]

Dinosaurs and fauna in general are long-standing hobbies of mine. That's why I believe these movies are so appealing. They don't treat the dinosaurs as lumbering brutes or mindless killing machines, but as animals motivated by natural drives. I know TLW gets a lot of heat, but from the standpoint of ethology alone, the movie is extremely well done. JPIII...not so much.

I agree the way they portrayed the raptors as thinkers and problem solvers was very cool IMO.

 

[Agent0028]

What does TLW get heat for? The only thing I disliked about it is the end when they take the bloody T-Rex to America. Blah.

 

[Scar]

The ending, which people didn't see as an homage to Godzilla films, they saw it as cheddar. It's a shame, because inspiration derives from when an elephant escapes from a circus, and how much havoc those rampaging creatures could potentially cause. Now what if it weren't an elephant, but a 7-8 ton carnivore with an accelerated metabolic state (due to drugs intended to counteract the tranquilizer). I think it fit well, but not everyone does, and that's fine. Still, why people discount the entire movie based on that is beyond me, especially considering how it takes the social and behavioral roles of the dinosaurs into such great consideration. What makes the movie such a gem for me is that it places the animals within the sphere of their own environments, unconstrained.

 

[MaulFan]

One thing that the Rex running loose in the streets continues from JP1 is the notion the while it's neat to see dinosaurs alive again, you can't control something like them, they get out, wreak havoc, and all the precautions in the world will innevitable fail in some way and the results can be disastrous.

My favorite thing about TLW is Malcom, I enjoy the character and Jeff Goldblum, and I thought he was really entertaining, him and Vince Vaughn brought some nice humor to it.

"Sarah! Sarah Harding!" "How many Sarahs do you think are on this island?"