Jurassic Park III (2001)

Director:

Joe Johnston

Writers (WGA):

Michael Crichton (characters)
Peter Buchman (written by) ...

Release Date:

18 July 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

This Time It's Not Just A Walk In The Park!

Plot:

A decidedly odd couple with ulterior motives convince Dr. Alan Grant to go to Isla Sorna (the second InGen dinosaur lab.), resulting in an unexpected landing...and unexpected new inhabitants on the island.

Plot Keywords:

Island | Dinosaur | Raptor | Search | Predator

Awards:

4 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Sam Neill	...	Dr. Alan Grant
William H. Macy	...	Paul Kirby
Téa Leoni	...	Amanda Kirby
Alessandro Nivola	...	Billy Brennan
Trevor Morgan	...	Erik Kirby
Michael Jeter	...	Mr. Udesky
John Diehl	...	Cooper
Bruce A. Young	...	M.B. Nash
Laura Dern	...	Dr. Ellie Sattler
Taylor Nichols	...	Mark Degler
Mark Harelik	...	Ben Hildebrand
Julio Oscar Mechoso	...	Enrique Cardoso
Blake Michael Bryan	...	Charlie (as Blake Bryan)
Sarah Danielle Madison	...	Cheryl Logan
Linda Park	...	Hannah

Also Known As:

JP3 (USA) (promotional abbreviation)
Jurassic Park 3 (USA) (alternative spelling)
Jurassic Park 3: The Extinction (USA) (working title)
Jurassic Park: Breakout (USA) (working title)
Return to the Island: Jurassic Park 3 (USA) (working title)
The Extinction: Jurassic Park 3 (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense sci-fi terror and violence.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX | SDDS | DTS-ES

Certification:

Iceland:10 | Malaysia:U | New Zealand:PG (TV rating) | New Zealand:PG (DVD rating 2005) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #38315) | Brazil:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M | Canada:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIA | Hungary:14 | Ireland:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:11 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

California, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Near the end of the movie, when the Spinosaurus attacks Amanda Kirby (Téa Leoni) in the water and tries to grab her, the actress admits that she was injured by accident during those scenes when its claws would scratch her. When Leoni returned home from work one night and her husband David Duchovny saw the various slashes on her back she received during filming, he asked "At what point in this movie do they whip you?"

Goofs:

Continuity: During the opening scene of the movie while Erik and his uncle (Ben) are para sailing, Ben starts to film with a video camera. While videoing the tugging begins, the next scene the camera is gone, but the next its back again. After this Ben slides the camera to his side and the camera disappears out of his hand.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Enrique Cardoso: Here you go, my friend.
Ben Hildebrand: Make sure you get as close as you can! I'll give you something extra if you make it a good trip!
Enrique Cardoso: Hey, I'm gonna get you close, my friend, but not too close, eh. You don't want to be eaten.

Movie Connections:

References Strangers on a Train (1951)

A big enjoyable Summer popcorn movie...

JP3 seemed to appear in the Summer 2001 movie schedule with a lot less hype than its competitors, so I didn't know what to expect... but that's good, isn't it? I'd enjoyed the first Jurassic Park movie but, like a lot of people, thought the sequel was a bit poor (to say the least). Thankfully Part III is much, much better. It won't linger too long in the memory but as far as Summer Popcorn Movies go, this is great stuff.

The story is slight but it's enough. Kid gets stranded on Dino Island. Parents journey to island, with Sam Neill in tow, to rescue kid. And basically that's it. But hey, who wants convoluted character arcs and labyrinthine subplots in a movie with dinosaurs in it? You want running and screaming and velociraptors running amok, right?

Jurassic Park 3 delivers.

The cast, led by the ever dependable Sam Neill, spend most of their time running and jumping and looking pensive -- their acting muscles aren't exactly taxed -- but it's fun to watch these great actors (especially William H. Macy) on a big rollercoaster ride, getting the hell knocked out of them.

Joe Johnston takes over the megaphone duties for this sequel and he does a damn fine job. The action sequences are thrilling and a nice line of tongue-in-cheek humour is woven throughout. And the visual FX are so well integrated in this movie that you really do forget you're watching something that isn't real. Hats off to ILM!

My only complaint is the running time. As the end titles rolled I looked at my watch and saw that it hadn't even been on for 90 minutes! Too short! I wanted more! I suppose it makes the film more of a sharp adrenalin boost. There's no time to get bored. Top stuff.