Jurassic Park III (2001)

A decidedly odd couple with alterior motives convince Dr. Grant to go to Isla Sorna, resulting in an unexpected landing, and startling new inhabitants on the island.

Director:

Joe Johnston

Writers:

Michael Crichton (characters), Peter Buchman

Stars:

Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Téa Leoni

5 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sam Neill	...	Dr. Alan Grant
William H. Macy	...	Paul Kirby
Téa Leoni	...	Amanda Kirby
Alessandro Nivola	...	Billy Brennan
Trevor Morgan	...	Eric Kirby
Michael Jeter	...	Udesky
John Diehl	...	Cooper
Bruce A. Young	...	Nash
Laura Dern	...	Ellie
Taylor Nichols	...	Mark
Mark Harelik	...	Ben Hildebrand
Julio Oscar Mechoso	...	Enrique Cardoso
Blake Michael Bryan	...	Charlie (as Blake Bryan)
Sarah Danielle Madison	...	Cheryl
Linda Park	...	Hannah

Storyline

Dr. Alan Grant is now a happy man with the previous incidents of Jurassic Park now behind him. Grant is that happy that he announce in public, that nothing on Earth can persuade him back onto the islands. Maybe nothing, except Paul Kirby. Kirby and his wife, Amanda want a plane to fly them over Isla Sorna, with Dr. Grant as their guide. But not everything Kirby says is true. When the plane lands, Dr. Grant realizes that there is another reason why they are there, that he doesn't know of. Now, Dr. Grant is stuck on an island he has never been on before, with what was a plane journey now turned into a search party.

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Plot Keywords:

costa rica | bipedal dinosaur | carnivorous dinosaur | actor reprises previous role | dinosaur versus dinosaur | 

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Taglines:

You know how the dream started. You know how the fantasy ended. Time to evolve from point A to site B. Get ready for the Evolution of Adventure

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Universal [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

18 July 2001 (USA)

Also Known As:

Return to the Island: Jurassic Park 3

Filming Locations:

Jurassic Kahili Ranch, Kilauea, Kauai, Hawaii, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$93,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$50,771,645, 22 July 2001, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$181,171,875

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$368,780,809

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Dr. Grant's brown truck with the Museum of the Rockies and Montana State University logos on it was based on the vehicle that belonged to Dr. Jack Horner, paleontologist consultant on the Jurassic Park movies, as well as the man on whom the character of Grant is based. It was a difficult and time consuming process to find an exact match of Dr. Horner's truck to be used in the movie.

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Goofs

A crew boat is visible in the background of one shot just before the parasailing boat enters the fog.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

The Roman numeral "III" in the opening title logo is formed by a trio of claw marks.

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Alternate Versions

After the brief encounter with the ceratosaurus, which turns its nose up at the humans and decides not to attack them, Paul Kirby (William H. Macy) says "Can't help but feel a little offended." The line was edited out for it was thought that it was inappropriately "cheesey" for that stage in the narrative.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Most Extremely Dangerous Dinosaurs (2018)

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Soundtracks

Pteranodon Habitat
(uncredited)
Composed by Don Davis

User Reviews

The weakest of the first two films.

I LOVED the first Jurassic Park at the tender age of 10. It had everything you could want from a movie minus some underdeveloped character personalities but that film ROCKS even until this day and age. Part two was good though not as the original. The third installment: Terrible. Where was the adventure? Where was the excitement? Where was the suspense? Where was the danger? Drained of all the qualities of what made the first one so memorable. This could be blamed primarily on the director, Joe Johnston, who made that box-office bomb The Rocketeer nineteen years ago. What more can be said? At least the special effects were good; the fight between the T-Rex and Spinosaurus and the scene with the Pterodactyls but the plot was basically nonexistent and the acting was wooden and lifeless with no sense of conveying believability. And what's with the "theory on raptor intelligence" part? Were they assuming that raptors were smarter than birds and primates? One needs only to read various books on dinosaurs to find out. Seriously I don't expect movies to educate audiences but a little research wouldn't have hurt. I first saw this on opening day expecting more action, adventure, suspense, danger, and terror. Yet I got a lot less bang for the buck. A fine example on what happens when you switch directors mid franchise.

Not even up to par with the original. Pure piece of crap. If they got the gall to make a fourth installment, better get Spielberg back on board or else this franchise will become "extinct" like the dinos.