Jurassic Park III

Details

When a wealthy couple approaches palaeontologist Dr. Alan Grant and asks him to act as their guide on a sightseeing flight over Isla Sorna, he is understandably reluctant to return anywhere near the dinosaurs that almost killed him years earlier. However, with a blank cheque dangled in front of him and research funding becoming increasingly difficult to find, Grant reluctantly agrees to accompany them.

Unfortunately, Paul and Amanda Kirby have not been entirely truthful about their intentions. Rather than wealthy tourists, they are actually a divorced couple searching for their missing son Eric, who disappeared while parasailing near the island some eight weeks earlier. Grant certainly wasn't expecting the aircraft to land and, almost as soon as it touches down, the local inhabitants come to investigate. A frantic attempt to take off ends with the aircraft badly damaged and crashing into the forest, leaving the group stranded on Isla Sorna.

With nobody aware of their location and little hope of rescue, Grant decides their best chance is to head towards the coast. The Kirbys, however, are still determined to find their son. Unfortunately, the island's inhabitants are far from friendly and this time there are some new dinosaurs waiting for them, including the enormous Spinosaurus and a group of rather intelligent Velociraptors.

Picture & Sound

The picture is bright and colourful with a superb amount of detail. Whereas the previous films occasionally suffered from picture imperfections and dust specks, this is an exceptionally clean transfer without any obvious signs of imperfections, outlining or artifacting.

At times it is very difficult to tell whether the dinosaur on screen is CGI or animatronic. Much of that is obviously down to the impressive special effects, but a poor transfer can easily expose their flaws and fortunately there are no such problems here. If you're not a fan of widescreen you'll also be glad to learn that a separate full-screen edition of the film is available.

This is exactly the sort of film your surround system was built for. As with the two previous Jurassic Park films, your sound system is given a serious workout. Whereas you previously needed to buy different editions of the films to experience the DTS and Dolby Digital soundtracks, this disc includes both for your enjoyment. There is surprisingly little to differentiate between the two formats, with both producing some stunning results, plenty of powerful LFE and an abundance of ambient effects throughout the surround channels.

The dinosaurs provide plenty of opportunities for the soundtrack to show off, with their footsteps, roars and movement frequently spreading around the soundstage. Dialogue is equally impressive, remaining clear and concise even during the busier action sequences, while there is also some excellent stereo steering across the front channels. Whichever soundtrack you select, you're unlikely to be disappointed.

Menu & Extras

Although the menus can hardly be described as exciting, they are scored and subtly animated. Whenever a sub-menu is selected, a dinosaur's claw takes a chunk out of the screen before revealing the next menu. It's a simple effect, but considerably more interesting than the static menus found on many discs.

There's extras aplenty, with an interesting Making of Jurassic Park III featurette and a reasonable Audio Commentary from the special effects team, although the latter does start to become a little boring after a while. The various production featurettes provide a welcome look at both Stan Winston's practical effects work and ILM's computer-generated dinosaurs, while the archives contain plenty of additional material for anyone interested in the making of the film.

There's also a Dinosaur Turntables section where you can view the CGI dinosaur models used in the film from various directions. It's an interesting idea, although it's a pity you can't manually control the viewpoint yourself. Storyboard comparisons, trailers, photographs and DVD-ROM material help round out what is a pretty comprehensive collection of extras.

Overall

This is much closer to what The Lost World should have been, with a darker and more interesting script and considerably less time wasted before the dinosaurs start causing trouble. At only an hour and a half it moves along at a brisk pace and, although it doesn't have the sense of wonder of the original film, it works well enough as a straightforward dinosaur adventure.

With the continual improvement in CGI effects, Stan Winston's team and ILM have managed to create dinosaurs that look better than ever. The technology also finally allows flying Pteranodons to feature properly, enabling scenes reminiscent of those in Michael Crichton's original novels to be brought to the screen. Then there's the Spinosaurus, a dinosaur even bigger than the T-rex, which spends much of the film eating its way through the cast. When you see the two creatures together you really do appreciate just how enormous this monster must have been when it clomped its way around the planet.

Unfortunately, as with The Lost World, the film comes to a rather abrupt end, while Alan Grant's attempts to communicate with the Velociraptors are just plain absurd. There are times when it feels as though the series is beginning to run out of ideas and I'd be very surprised to see a Jurassic Park IV. Mind you, if they do decide to have another crack at it then they'll really need to get Spielberg back in the director's seat.

If you enjoyed Jurassic Park but were disappointed by The Lost World, then you're probably going to enjoy this film. The script manages to keep things ticking along nicely, there are enough new dinosaurs to keep fans happy and the action rarely stops for long. Add an interesting selection of extras and excellent picture and sound quality and you really can't complain too much about this disc.

Special features

• Feature commentary with the special effects team
• The making of Jurassic Park III featurette
• The new dinosaurs of Jurassic Park III featurette
• Tour of Stan Winston studio featurette
• A visit to ILM featurette
• Dinosaur turntables: 3D look at the dinosaurs in the film
• Behind-the-scenes featurette
• Storyboard to final feature comparisons
• The Jurassic Park III archives
• Theatrical trailers
• Montana : Finding new dinosaurs featurette
• DVD-ROM features