Tag Archives: T.Rex

Why Jurassic Park III Still Roars (for Me, Anyway)

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Alright, cruising right along into our second week of #JurassicJune. Last week we looked at The Lost World Jurassic Park, so it only makes sense that this week we would continue the Jurassic franchise and take a look at Jurassic Park III.

To my knowledge, there was no book guiding the story here, which many fans claim is the reason it is the ‘weakest’ of the original three movies. I’ve done exactly nothing to verify this, but I read that Crichton was brought in during the earliest days of the script’s development, but after three days of brainstorming, he had nothing, and left to let the movie make itself without his guidance.

Woah.

Whatever the film’s critical reception — many also point to the 14 year gap between titles as proof of the movie’s poor quality — I still think there is a lot to love about this film, and greatly enjoyed my most recent rewatch which was actually somewhat revelatory for me.

Let’s start with my initial impressions. I honestly can’t remember the last time I watched this film (presumably sometime in 2022 in the lead up to Jurassic World Dominion but maybe farther back), so I feel like I can genuinely call these impressions ‘initial’ though there will always be some faint rose-colored echoes of childhood experience tainting a completely objective view of the film.

In any case, my initial thoughts — unfortunately — while watching were that it looked a bit cheap compared to the previous films. In the bonus commentary, a lot of time is spent talking about how this movie was a huge step forward for CGI, and that they used much more of it in this film than any of the previous films, taking painstaking effort to make the skin and musculature of the dinosaurs sag and droop as it might in real life. Unfortunately, it seems to almost be a rule of thumb that CGI just looks worse and worse the older it gets. Ostensibly, there will be some point at which the CGI from ten years ago will not look noticeably worse than the CGI of today, however, I think we’re still a ways away from that (also this movie is now over TWENTY years old).

I wish I could say that it was just the CGI that cheapened the experience for me, but I also thought the practical effects suffered as well. The scene in which the Spinosaurus attacks Dr. Grant and crew in the airplane was essentially all practical effects, and I have to admit, the Spino just seems to move like a robot. The whole sequence feels more like you’re on a ride at Universal more than actually being attacked by a dinosaur.

Finally, I’ve never thought of this movie as a 3D experience, I don’t ever remember watching it with 3D goggles on, whether in theaters or at home. However, I notice MANY shots in the film which seemed to exist for no other reason than that the dinosaur would loom out over the audience members. I haven’t yet watched a movie in 3D and been happier for it so this also was a small strike against the film for me.

But there is still a whole lot I found myself loving about the film. First and foremost: Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus! Obviously what we know about this weird looking dinosaur has changed quite a bit since 2001; however, this version of the dinosaur is still completely captivating. Famed paleontologist, and inspiration for Alan Grant’s character, Jack Horner consulted on the film and explains (in yet another special feature video) that Spino’s skull was 8ft long and (in 2001) was considered the largest predator known. Essentially a whale that could walk around on land and swim. He mentions that they essentially equated size with ferociousness, and bam the classic “Spino vs T-Rex cliche (of which this film is the trope codifier) was born.

I see a lot of flack for this move because these two dinosaurs did not live in the same time period and would never have faced off in this way . . . To which I say, it’s still awesome, and doesn’t break the logic of the movie which is essentially that the folks at InGen didn’t care how an ecosystem would have actually worked, they just wanted to build as many cool dinosaurs as they could. In any case, Spinosaurus Aegyptiacus (whatever it happens to look like at the moment) has played a huge role in my fiction, and likely never would have been on my radar if not for this movie. So I’ll always be indebted to JPIII on that account.

Some other cool dino things I appreciated about the movie: 1) Ankylosaurus sighted! They are also becoming a fav of mine so I was happy to see them included; 2) They at least tried to put feathers on the Velociraptor. Later we’ll see MUCH more where that came from (check out Prehistoric Planet Episode 3 Freshwater for a better representation); 3) Tyrannosaurus Rex shown more as a scavenger than a hunter (interesting!).

I think this post is starting to run on a bit, so I’ll begin to wrap it up with the revelatory bit I mentioned in the beginning of the post. Since I started working in makerspaces back in 2018 (wow 7 years already!), I have half-assedly kept a sort of running list in the back of my mind of all the fiction I’ve consumed which contains a 3D printer, or some type of digital fabrication device. I had completely forgot that this movie uses one to make the velociraptor resonating chamber despite having seen tons of 3D printed resonators on Tik Tok and other places . . . I just never put it together that they actually had one in the movie.

I don’t remember watching that scene when this movie came out and thinking: “Oh I want to do stuff like that when I grow up” . . . and yet here we are . . . with JPIII having influenced my choice of career more than any of the previous two “better” movies. I guess you never can tell.

Give Jurassic Park III a Watch?

Of course! Despite its aging graphics and some other flaws in the film, Jurassic Park III still has quite a bit of wonder for any dinosaur enthusiasts, or even anyone looking for a halfway decent monster movie. I enjoyed rediscovering Spinosaurus, seeing some Ankylosaurs and of course the dreaded Velociraptors.

On a more personal note, I couldn’t believe how the ‘worst’ film of the trilogy was still clearly influential enough on my eleven year old mind to plant the 3D printing seed in my brain, which grew unconsciously over the next 17 years to result in me working with 3D printers nearly every damn day.

That’s all I have for this week. What are your thoughts on Jurassic Park III. Are you a fan? Or did it flop? Did it connect to your life in any unexpected ways? And as always, which dinosaurs did you enjoy seeing in this film? Which are your favorite? Can’t wait to talk some more about this movie! Leave your thoughts in the comments.

(Hopefully) we’ll be looking at Jurassic World next time on the blog! Happy #JurassicJune!

Gushing About Jurassic Park for its 30th Birthday!

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Finally! A #JurassicJune post that actually has to do with the Jurassic franchise. If you’re unsure what significance this day holds, it’s that today, June 11th 2023, marks 30 years since Jurassic Park came into theaters.

Of course the franchise is pretty much going crazy and looking for any possible excuse to celebrate (and probably bring in some more money). The Jurassic World YouTube account has been releasing bits of new content, special events are scheduled at comic conventions like Supernova in Melbourne and Comic Con in San Diego. New Funko Pop toys depict a pivotal scene from the movie . Even the Natural history Museum in London is opening a special JP anniversary themed store (you can see a more thorough list of 30th anniversary events on Jurassic Outpost’s Here’s all the ways you can celebrate the 30th Anniversary of Jurassic Park!).

It’s no surprise considering the film grossed $914 million during its first run in theaters, and was the highest grossing film of all time until Titanic came along in 1997. It’s inspired five sequel movies, animated shows, and probably every kid born in 1990s.

Darren Naish probably stated it’s importance most comprehensively in Dinopedia: A Brief Compendium of Dinosaur Lore:

“Jurassic Park is hailed today as being massively inspirational to many people working in paleontology. It played a crucial role in the history of western cinema and the application of digital effects and, in 2018, was recognized by the USA’s Library of Congress as worthy of preservation in the United States National Film Registry.” – pg 84.

It’s. A. Big. DEAAL!!

For my own part, I have no doubt that this movie is one of the reasons I grew up fascinated with dinosaurs and (according to my parents) some of my first words were archaeopteryx and deinonychus. I suspect they were not some of the first words I was able to spell considering I misspelled them both in the original draft of this post.

There is also no doubt, that when I began writing Narmer and the God-Beast, I had this movie in mind although I never listed it as an influence. In my stuck-in-development-hell (aka laziness) Egypt and Dino novel, there are assuredly tons of little homages to this film, most of which are subconscious because this movie has pretty much been a part of my wiring since before I can remember (I did manage one very conscious use of ‘Life uh, finds a way’ but I think I hid it pretty well).

And I think that is probably the case for many of us, whether it’s saying “Hold on to your butts.” before doing something we’re unsure of, or “Must go faster.” when someone is driving too slow in the left lane (maybe this is just me). If we heard someone say “What have they got in there, King Kong?” or “Clever girl.” (with that weirdly specific intonation) we’d all know what was being referenced.

According to Naish this movie is certainly why we think of dinosaurs as dynamic and quick like birds instead of slow and lumbering oafs. I would argue that this movie also managed to instill significant fear in “genetic power”, aka genetic engineering when it comes de-extinction, to the point where — as I mention in my review of Jurassic World: Dominion — the “kids these days” can’t even sit through one of the newer movies because they can’t believe someone would be dumb enough to bring back dinosaurs in the first place (to the “kid’s” credit, it has literally not worked well for anyone in five other movies).

On the other hand, its what made some of my friends study genetics in the first place . . .

Anyway, there’s probably whole books to be written about the influence of Jurassic Park (and probably whole books that already have been written), but . . .

How Does it Hold Up Now After 30 Years?

I’m sure nobody is surprised to hear me say I watched it again just before writing this post and . . . it holds up incredibly well!

There were two scenes that really stuck out in my mind after watching it again. The first is when Grant and Sattler see the Brachiosaurs for the first time, and also when they visit the Triceratops. Grant can’t speak at the sight of the Brachiosaurs, and the mention of a T. Rex has him collapsing. Sattler is actually crying when she touches the Trike.

In my humble opinion, these are the two most realistic scenes in the entire movie. They are the scenes that best depict how it would feel to suddenly have dinosaurs in real life. And the reactions of Grant and Sattler are really those of the audience. The premise of these movies alone, displayed perfectly in those two scenes, is one that is just so good . . . inspires so much awe and wonder . . . that 30 years later we’re still so excited about these movies.

But of course, after 30 years, it’s only gotten so much sweeter.

In my review of the Jurassic Park novel I mentioned how paleontology and what we know about these creatures has changed since 1993, but so much still holds true. As I’ve learned more about the history of the field and started to recognize names like Robert Bakker (see my review of Raptor Red) and Jack Horner (a real paleontologist who consulted for the movie and was the basis for Grant’s character), the movie has actually grown in my esteem as I became aware of the many layers of attention to detail this movie incorporated into its final version.

*for those wondering, Tim compares Bakker’s book to Alan’s (aka Horner), while Alan is essentially (and hilariously) attempting to run away from Tim.

Finally, it seems like every year, I learn some new tid bit about the movie which makes it that much more interesting to me. For instance, I just read an article about a waterfall scene which was scrapped from the film because it would have been too expensive and redundant. Essentially, the scene would have involved a T. Rex swimming after them, and chasing them over the edge of a waterfall (though apparently a T. Rex swimming is not too expensive for Prehistoric Planet Episode 1: Coasts).

Interestingly, I do believe this scene was cribbed directly from the book (as the post points out), but more fascinating in some ways is that a version of this scene lived on in sequels The Lost World and Jurassic World. In the first, there is a scene of a Rex licking people’s faces through a waterfall and in JW people go over the side of a waterfall.

Anyway, to me this is the sign of a good movie. With every viewing (even after 30 years) I still manage to catch something new which I never have before.

How about y’all? Has anyone given this movie another watch recently? How did it hold up in your opinion? What are the best scenes? Which dinosaur is your favorite?

Let me know in the comments. And if you’re appetite for Jurassic Park themed content is not sated after all those links up above, please read my Jurassic Park Book Tag for a little extra fun! We’ll be talking dinos all month!