The Lost World: Jurassic Park

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Produced by Gerald R. Molen
Colin Wilson
Screenplay by David Koepp
Based on The Lost World 
by Michael Crichton
Starring
Music by John Williams
Cinematography Janusz Kamiński
Edited by Michael Kahn
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release dates
  • May 23, 1997
Running time
 129 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $73 million
Box office $618.6 million[2]

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (also known as Jurassic Park: The Lost World or simply The Lost World or Jurassic Park II) is a 1997 American science fiction adventure directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the second installment in the Jurassic Park film series. The film was produced by Gerald R. Molen and Colin Wilson. The screenplay was written by David Koepp, loosely based on Michael Crichton's 1995 novel The Lost World. The film stars Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn, Pete Postlethwaite, Richard Schiff, Arliss Howard, Vanessa Lee Chester and Richard Attenborough.

Four years after the events of Jurassic Park, dinosaurs have secretly survived and been allowed to roam free on a deserted island off of Central America's Pacific Coast. In the time between the two films, John Hammond loses control of his company, InGen, to his nephew, Peter Ludlow. Ludlow assembles a team to bring the animals back to the mainland to bring in revenue and restore the company. Hammond sees a chance to redeem himself for his past mistakes and sends an expedition led by Dr. Ian Malcolm to reach the island before InGen's team can get there. The two groups confront each other in the face of extreme danger and must team up for their own survival.

After the original book's release and the first film's success, Crichton was pressured by fans and Spielberg himself for a sequel novel. After the book was published in 1995, production began on a film sequel. The Lost World‍ '​s plot and imagery is substantially darker than the previous film. Despite mixed reviews, it was a box office success, grossing $618 million worldwide.

Plot

Four years after the events of Jurassic Park, a wealthy family is on a boat cruise near Isla Sorna off of Central America's Pacific coast. The daughter (Camilla Belle) wanders off and is attacked by a pack of Compsognathus. She is then saved by her family who have heard her screams. The incident allows Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard), the unscrupulous nephew of John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), to gain control of InGen. Hammond contacts Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), whose publication of the incident at Jurassic Park destroyed his academic reputation, to his home. He explains that Isla Sorna (also known as "Site B") is the island where the dinosaurs were engineered and nurtured before being moved to Isla Nublar, Jurassic Park's location. He also explains that after the park was shut down, a hurricane destroyed the containment facilities on Isla Sorna, and the dinosaurs have been living free in the wild ever since. Hammond requests Malcolm to join a team that will travel to Isla Sorna to document the dinosaurs in their natural habitat as a way of rallying public support to prevent Ludlow from exploiting the site. Ian initially declines but, after learning that his girlfriend—paleontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore)—is part of the team and is already on the island, agrees to go.

Ian meets the other two members of the team: equipment specialist and engineer Eddie Carr (Richard Schiff), and video documentarian Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn). Shortly after arriving on the island, they find Sarah after a brief encounter with a herd of Stegosaurus and discover that Ian's daughter Kelly (Vanessa Lee Chester) has stowed away on the trailer that the group is using as a mobile base. Ian tries to take Kelly home, but they're interrupted by the arrival of an InGen team of mercenaries, hunters and paleontologists led by Ludlow, whom they spot chasing and capturing several dinosaurs. Meanwhile, tracker and team leader Roland Tembo (Pete Postlethwaite) separates from the main group and goes after his big prize: a male Tyrannosaurus rex. He decides to capture it by luring it to the cries of its injured offspring. That night, Ian's team sneak into the InGen camp and learn the captured dinosaurs will be brought to San Diego as the main attraction of a newly proposed theme park. This prompts Nick and Sarah to free the caged dinosaurs, wreaking havoc upon the camp.

During the commotion, Nick frees the infant T. rex and takes it to the trailer so Sarah can mend its broken leg. Ian, Kelly, and Eddie secure themselves in a "high hide", a lift Eddie built to keep them safe above the trees. Fearing that the infant's parents might be searching for it, Ian rushes to the trailer to warn them. As soon as he arrives, two adult T. rex emerge from the woods and threaten Ian, Sarah, and Nick. They decide to release the infant, but after a few minutes the adult T. rex return and attack the trailer, pushing it over the edge of a nearby cliff with Ian, Sarah and Nick trapped inside. Eddie tries to pull the trailer back over the edge with his SUV, but is devoured by the two T. rex, sending the trailer and Eddie's SUV plummeting down the cliff. Ian, Sarah and Nick survive and are found by Kelly and the InGen team. With both groups' communications equipment and vehicles destroyed in the attacks, they team up to reach the old InGen compound's radio station on foot. During the trip, Dieter Stark (Peter Stormare), Roland's second-in-command, is killed by a flock of Compsognathus after getting separated from the group during a rest.

The next night, the two T. rex come across the group's camp, having followed the scent of the infant's blood on Sarah's jacket. One of the hunters notices them and screams, causing everyone to flee in panic. The female T. rex chases the group, while Roland stays behind and manages to tranquilize the male. The hunters disband into the thick trees and pass through a field of tall grass, where a troop of Velociraptors attack the hapless survivors. Ian, separated earlier from the group, reunites with Nick, Sarah and Kelly, and they continue on toward the compound. Nick finds the communications room and calls for rescue. After barely escaping a trio of Velociraptors, a helicopter finally arrives and whisks them off the island. From the air, they spot the unconscious male T. rex being prepared for transport.

A freighter carries the T. rex back to the mainland, but crashes into the dock at breakneck speed. Ludlow and several guards investigate and find that the crew has somehow been butchered. A guard opens the cargo hold, accidentally releasing the T. rex, which escapes into the city and goes on a rampage. Realizing the T. rex is likely searching for its infant, Ian and Sarah learn from Ludlow that the infant was captured and is in a secure InGen building. They rush to retrieve the infant and use it to lure the adult back to the ship. Ludlow tries to intervene but is trapped and cornered in the cargo hold by the adult T. rex and killed by the young T. rex. Before the adult can escape from the cargo hold, Sarah tranquilizes it while Ian closes the hold.

Ian, Sarah and Kelly watch on live television as the ship carrying the adult and infant T. rex is escorted back to Isla Sorna. John Hammond explains in an interview that the American and Costa Rican governments have agreed to declare the island a nature preserve. He ends the interview by saying "life will find a way", paraphrasing what Malcolm told him in the first film. The two adult T. rex and their baby are shown to have been returned safely.

Cast

Production

After the release of the novel Jurassic Park, Michael Crichton was pressured by fans for a sequel novel. Having never written a sequel, he initially refused. Discussions about a sequel film began after the successful release of Jurassic Park in 1993. Steven Spielberg held discussions with David Koepp and Crichton to discuss possible ideas for a sequel film, and requested Crichton to write a sequel novel.[3][4] Joe Johnston offered to direct the film, but the job ultimately went to Spielberg.[5]

The Mercedes-Benz W163 used in the film

A production team was assembled in spring 1995, as Crichton was finishing the novel while Spielberg and Koepp were developing ideas for the screenplay. Production designer Rick Carter traveled to the Caribbean, Central America and New Zealand to scout possible locations for filming, before settling on the redwood forests of Eureka, California.[6]

Filming began on September 5, 1996, at Fern Canyon, a part of California's Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Filming continued for two weeks in other state parks and on private land in northern California. The film's opening scenes were shot in Kauai, Hawaii. Throughout the fall of 1996, filming continued on stages at Universal Studios Hollywood.[7] The Site B workers village was constructed there and left intact after filming to become a part of the theme park tour.[6] Filming concluded ahead of schedule on December 11, 1996.[7] Filming at New Zealand's Fiordland National Park was originally planned to take place over five days in December.[8][9] Plans to shoot there were scrapped for unknown reasons.

Although the ending takes place in San Diego, only one sequence is actually shot there, where the InGen helicopter flies over the wharf and banks towards the city. The other sequences were all shot in Burbank, California.[10]

Spielberg suggested the Tyrannosaurus rex‍‍ '​‍s attack through San Diego be added to the film story, inspired by a similar attack scene of a Brontosaurus in London in the 1925 film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's 1912 novel The Lost World.[11]

Many elements from the original novel that were not ultimately used in the first film were instead used in The Lost World.[12] The opening sequence of a vacationing family's young daughter being attacked by a group of Compsognathus was very similar to the novel's opening scene, and Dieter Stark's death is also analogous to John Hammond's compy-related death in the novel. Also, Nick, Sarah, Kelly, and Burke being trapped behind a waterfall by one of the T. Rexes was ultimately taken from the novel, where Tim and Lex are trapped behind a man-made waterfall with the T. Rex attempting to eat them, and Roland Tembo shoots the T. Rex with tranquilizer in the same way that Robert Muldoon did in the novel.

According to Jack Horner, part of the waterfall scene was written in as a favor for him by Spielberg. Burke greatly resembles Horner's rival Robert Bakker. In real life, Bakker argues for a predatory Tyrannosaurus while Horner views it as primarily a scavenger. So Spielberg wrote Burke into this part to have him killed by the T. rex as a favor for Horner. After the film came out, Bakker, who recognized himself in Burke and loved it, actually sent Horner a message saying "See, I told you T. rex was a hunter!".[13]

Music

For the sequel, composer John Williams avoided using most of the previous film's main themes, writing a more action oriented score.[14]

Distribution

The Lost World was released on May 23, 1997. The film made its VHS and LaserDisc debut on November 4, 1997.[15] The DVD, first released on October 10, 2000, includes deleted scenes involving Hammond's ouster from InGen that were incorporated into the Fox broadcast television premiere of the film. The film's Blu-ray version, released in 2011, also includes the deleted scenes.

The film was also released in a package with Jurassic Park.[16] The DVD has also been re-released with both sequels on December 11, 2001 as the Jurassic Park Trilogy[17] and as the Jurassic Park Adventure Pack on November 29, 2005.[18] The soundtrack was released on May 20, 1997. On the same day it was first released to DVD, a deluxe limited edition box set was released that included Jurassic Park and The Lost World, soundtracks for both films with packaging made exclusively for the set, two lenticulars, eight 8x10 stills (4 from each film), and a certificate of authenticity signed by all three producers of the set, all inside a collector case.[19]

Reception

Box office

The T. rex wreaking havoc received an MTV Movie Awards nomination for "Best Action Sequence"

Following four years of growing anticipation and hype, The Lost World broke many box office records upon its release. It took in $72,132,785 on its opening weekend ($92.6 million for the four-day Memorial Day holiday) in the U.S.,[20] which was the biggest opening weekend at the time,[21] surpassing the previous record-holder Batman Forever at $52.8 million. It held onto this record for four and a half years, until the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in November 2001. The Lost World took the record for highest single-day box office take of $26,083,950 on May 25,[22] a record held until the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. It also became the fastest film to pass the $100 million mark, achieving the feat in just six days.[23] Its total box office gross fell below the total of the original film.[24] With grossing $229,086,679 domestically and $389,552,320 internationally, the film ended up grossing $618,638,999 worldwide,[2] becoming the second highest grossing film of 1997 behind Titanic.

Critical response

The Lost World has received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 52% with 33 out of 64 reviewers giving it a positive review.[25] Another aggregator Metacritic gives the film a weighted average rating of 59/100 based on reviews from 18 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews."[26]

Roger Ebert, who gave the first film three stars, gave The Lost World only two, writing that "It can be said that the creatures in this film transcend any visible signs of special effects and seem to walk the earth, but the same realism isn't brought to the human characters, who are bound by plot conventions and action formulas."[27] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune also gave the film two stars and said, "I was disappointed as much as I was thrilled because 'The Lost World' lacks a staple of Steven Spielberg's adventure films: exciting characters. [...] Even in the original 'Jurassic Park,' the dinosaurs – not to mention the human beings – had more distinct personalities than they have here. Save for superior special effects, 'The Lost World' comes off as recycled material."[28] Conversely, Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times saw improved character development over the original, saying, "It seemed such a mistake in Jurassic Park to sideline early on its most interesting character, the brilliant, free-thinking and outspoken theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) with a broken leg, but in its most inspired stroke, The Lost World brings back Malcolm and places him front and center," calling it "a pleasure to watch such wily pros as Goldblum and Attenborough spar with each other with wit and assurance."[29] The dinosaurs were even more developed as characters, with Stephen Holden of the New York Times saying, "The Lost World, unlike Jurassic Park, humanizes its monsters in a way that E.T. would understand."[30] Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B grade; he remarked, "Mr. T-Rex was cool in the first Spielberg flick, sure, but it wasn't until [it was in] San Diego that things got crazy-cool. It's the old 'tree falling in the woods' conundrum: Unless your giant monster is causing massive property damage, can you really call it a giant monster?"[31]

Spielberg confessed that during production he became increasingly disenchanted with the film, admitting, "I beat myself up... growing more and more impatient with myself... It made me wistful about doing a talking picture, because sometimes I got the feeling I was just making this big silent-roar movie... I found myself saying, 'Is that all there is? It's not enough for me.'"[32]

Awards and nominations

Award Subject Nominee Result
Academy Awards Best Visual Effects Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Randal Dutra and Michael Lantieri Nominated
Saturn Awards Best Special Effects Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Pete Postlethwaite Nominated
Best Young Actress Vanessa Lee Chester Nominated
Best Fantasy Film Nominated
Best DVD Collection Nominated
Best Director Steven Spielberg Nominated
Rembrandt Awards Won
MTV Movie Awards Best Action Sequence Nominated
Satellite Awards Best Motion Picture – Animated or Mixed Media Nominated
Image Awards Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress Vanessa Lee Chester Nominated
Grammy Awards Best Instrumental Composition John Williams Nominated
Blockbuster Entertainment Awards Favorite Actor – Sci-Fi Jeff Goldblum Nominated
Favorite Actress – Sci-Fi Julianne Moore Nominated
Sierra Awards Best DVD Won
Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Remake or Sequel Nominated
Worst Reckless Disregard for Human Life and Public Property Nominated
Worst Screenplay David Koepp, based on the book by Michael Crichton Nominated
Stinkers Bad Movie Awards[33] Worst Screenplay for a Film Grossing More Than $100 Million Worldwide Using Hollywood Math Nominated
Worst Sequel Nominated

Adaptations

Both covers for the first issue of Topps Comics adaptation.

Literature

The Lost World: Jurassic Park was adapted into a four-part comic series released by Topps Comics. Each issue had one regular cover, and one photo-variant cover that used stills from the film. The first issue was released on May 1st 1997 with the final issue being released on August 1st 1997.[34][35]

Games

For the complete list of games based on The Lost World: Jurassic Park, see The Lost World: Jurassic Park (video game).

There were also a number of games released based on the movie. These included a pinball game, an arcade game, and a number of releases for home systems including the Sega Genesis, Sony Playstation, and the Nintendo Game Boy. A board game was also available.

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Sequel

A sequel to the film, Jurassic Park III was made in 2001.

References

  1. ↑ "THE LOST WORLD (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. 1997-12-03. Retrieved 2013-04-04.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
  3. ↑ "The Lost World". MichaelCrichton.com. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  4. ↑ "Mobile Lab>Encore section". www.Lost-World.com. Retrieved 2014-11-10.
  5. ↑ "Jumanji's Joe Johnston Joins Jurassic". www.About.com. Archived from the original on 2006-03-05.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Mobile Lab>Pre-Production section". www.Lost-World.com. Retrieved 2014-11-10.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Mobile Lab>Production section". www.Lost-World.com. Retrieved 2014-11-10.
  8. ↑ Chapman, Francesca (October 18, 1996). "Fergie Casting About For A Midwest Pad?". Philly.com. Retrieved 2014-11-10.
  9. ↑ "Scene Is Set For 'Jurassic Park' Sequel". Sun-Sentinel. October 25, 1996. Retrieved 2014-11-10.
  10. ↑ "Filming tions for The Lost World: Jurassic Park". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  11. ↑ Scott, A. O. (2005-02-07). "The Lost World". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-06-30.
  12. ↑ "A tale of two 'Jurassics'". Entertainment Weekly. 1993-06-18. Retrieved 2007-02-17.
  13. ↑ Gritton, Lance. Personal interview. 14 Apr 2007.
  14. ↑ Audissino, Emilio (2014). John Williams's film music : Jaws, Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the return of the classical Hollywood music style. University of Wisconsin Pres. p. 215. ISBN 0299297330. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  15. ↑ IGN staff (2000-06-16). "Jurassic Park". IGN. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  16. ↑ "Jurassic Park / The Lost World: The Collection". IGN. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  17. ↑ "Jurassic Park Trilogy". IGN. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  18. ↑ IGN DVD (2005-11-17). "Jurassic Park Adventure Pack". IGN. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  19. ↑ Amazon.com (2005-11-17). "Jurassic Park/The Lost World limited boxset — Amazon.com". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2007-03-06.
  20. ↑ "The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) – Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. 1997-10-12. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  21. ↑ "Biggest Opening Weekends at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  22. ↑ "Top Grossing Movies in a Single Day at the Box Office". Box Office Mojo. 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  23. ↑ "Fastest Movies to $100m". The Numbers. 2007-06-26. Retrieved 2007-06-26.
  24. ↑ "Jurassic Park". boxofficemojo.com.
  25. ↑ "The Lost World: Jurassic Park". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster/Warner Bros. 1997. Retrieved 2009-06-21.
  26. ↑ "The Lost World: Jurassic Park: Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  27. ↑ Ebert, Roger (June 6, 1997). "The Lost World: Jurassic Park review". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved 2014-11-05.
  28. ↑ Siskel, Gene (May 30, 1997). "Characters Extinct In 'Lost World'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2014-11-02.
  29. ↑ Kevin Thomas (1997-05-23). "The Lost World: Jurassic Park". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  30. ↑ Stephen Holden (1997-05-23). "The Lost World: Jurassic Park". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
  31. ↑ Marc Bernadin (2008-01-17). "Attack of the Giant Movie Monsters!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
  32. ↑ "Steven Spielberg". google.com.
  33. ↑ "1997 20th Hastings Bad Cinema Society Stinkers Awards". Stinkers Bad Movie Awards. Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2007-01-03. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  34. ↑ "The Lost World: Jurassic Park comics". Jurassic Park Legacy. Retrieved 2015-01-27.
  35. ↑ "The Lost World: Jurassic Park". Comic Vine. Retrieved 2015-01-27.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: The Lost World: Jurassic Park