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~*~ MIKE'S LOST WORLD REVIEW ~*~
Written June 28, 1997 - After seeing it TWICE
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!!! SPOILER WARNING !!!
fire fire fire
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS FOR
THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK (1997)

IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT YET GO SEE IT FIRST!!!
WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!?!

The Lost World

THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK (1997)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Starring Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite, Vince Vaughn
Mike's Rating: 8.5 / 10 DINOSAURS

THE SETUP
OK here we go. Deep breath. I've been waiting 4 YEARS for this movie and I need to get all my thoughts down before I go insane.

So the movie opens with a BRILLIANT scene. A rich British family has their yacht anchored near Isla Sorna (Site B - a SECOND island, which we didn't know about!!!). Their little daughter wanders off on the beach and gets attacked by a pack of tiny Compsognathus dinosaurs. It's terrifying and sets the tone immediately: this isn't going to be a cute adventure. The dinosaurs are DANGEROUS.

Then we're back on the mainland with Ian Malcolm (JEFF GOLDBLUM BABY!!!) and John Hammond. Hammond reveals that InGen had a second island where they actually bred the dinosaurs before moving them to Isla Nublar. After the park was abandoned, the dinosaurs were just... left there. FREE. Living wild. A LOST WORLD. Malcolm's face when he hears this... Goldblum is PERFECT.

Hammond wants to send a team to document the dinosaurs and build public support to protect them. Malcolm wants nothing to do with it - UNTIL he finds out his girlfriend Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore) is already there. So he has to go. The man literally says he's going to bring back his girlfriend from Dinosaur Island. I felt that in my SOUL.

SITE B - ISLA SORNA
When they arrive on Isla Sorna... OH MAN. The difference between this and the first movie is that these dinosaurs are WILD. They're not in paddocks. They're just... there. In nature. Herds of Parasaurolophus, Stegosaurus with babies, Pachycephalosaurus headbutting each other. It's BEAUTIFUL. Spielberg gives us these amazing nature-documentary-style shots and you just want to LIVE on this island (minus the carnivores).

Sarah Harding is already there photographing the Stegosaurus when Malcolm, his daughter Kelly (who snuck aboard - teenagers, am I right?), and the rest of the team arrive. The team includes Eddie Carr (Richard Schiff), who's the tech guy, and Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn), who's a documentarian/environmental activist.

Then the TWIST: InGen sends a SECOND team, led by Peter Ludlow (Hammond's nephew who's taken over the company) and the great hunter Roland Tembo (PETE POSTLETHWAITE, what a casting choice). Ludlow wants to CAPTURE dinosaurs and bring them to a Jurassic Park in San Diego. The two teams collide and everything goes ABSOLUTELY SIDEWAYS.

THE BIG SET PIECES (A.K.A. WHERE I SCREAMED IN THE THEATER)
1. The Stegosaurus Encounter
Sarah gets too close to a baby Stego while photographing it and mama and papa are NOT HAPPY. Those tail spikes (thagomizers!!!) swing around and nearly take her head off. The baby Stego is SO CUTE though. First new dinosaur species in a JP movie and Spielberg knocks it out of the park. The CG is flawless - better than the first movie somehow.

2. The Double Trailer Over the Cliff
THIS. THIS IS THE SCENE. The two T-Rex parents come to the trailer looking for their injured baby (which Sarah and Nick brought in to fix its broken leg - BAD IDEA). They push the trailer off a cliff. Sarah, Nick, and Malcolm are inside as it teeters over the edge. The glass floor cracking under Julianne Moore's body... I was GRIPPING my armrest so hard my knuckles turned white. Then Eddie comes to rescue them with a rope and the T-Rexes come back and... Eddie... poor Eddie. Ripped in half. The most brutal death in any JP movie. I actually gasped out loud. The whole theater did. RIP Eddie, you died a hero.

3. The Raptor Attack in the Tall Grass
If you thought the raptors couldn't get scarier, YOU WERE WRONG. Both teams are trekking through a field of tall grass to reach the old InGen facility. From above, you see the grass parting as raptors close in. One by one, people get pulled under the grass and disappear. It's like JAWS but on land. The overhead shot of the grass trails converging on the group is PURE SPIELBERG GENIUS. I'm getting goosebumps just writing about it. My buddy Dave was literally hiding behind his popcorn during this scene.

4. The T-Rex in San Diego
OK OK OK. So InGen manages to capture the male T-Rex and ships it to the mainland. The cargo ship crashes into the dock (EVERYONE on the ship is dead and we never fully find out how - CREEPY) and the Rex escapes into San Diego. A T-REX. IN A CITY. IN AMERICA. It eats a dog. It drinks from a swimming pool. It crushes a bus. It's absolutely BONKERS and I LOVED every second. Some critics are saying this is too silly and "Godzilla-like" but they can fight me. Seeing a T-Rex rampage through an American city is everything 10-year-old me ever dreamed of. The shot of the Rex roaring in the suburban street with the palm trees is ICONIC.

The Rex is eventually lured back to the ship with the baby Rex and it gets tranquilized and shipped back to Isla Sorna. Malcolm and Sarah are heroes. Hammond gives a speech about leaving the dinosaurs alone. Roll credits.

WHAT I LOVED
  • Jeff Goldblum as the lead. He was the best part of the first movie and giving him the lead role was the PERFECT choice. Malcolm's sarcasm, his fear that's mixed with fascination, his chemistry with Julianne Moore... Goldblum IS this franchise now as far as I'm concerned.
  • Pete Postlethwaite as Roland Tembo. What a CHARACTER. The great white hunter who just wants to hunt a Rex for the sport of it. He's technically a villain but he's so COOL and has a weird honor code. When he finally bags the Rex with the tranq dart, the look on his face isn't triumph - it's hollow. Great acting.
  • MORE dinosaurs, MORE variety. Stegosaurus, Compy packs, Pachycephalosaurus, the Rex family... Spielberg expanded the dinosaur roster perfectly.
  • The trailer over the cliff scene. Peak Spielberg tension. Up there with the best sequences of his career.
  • The tone. It's darker than the first movie. More people die. The dinosaurs are wilder and more dangerous. It feels like a REAL survival movie at times.
  • The FX. ILM and Stan Winston outdid themselves AGAIN. Check my Behind the FX page for details!!!

WHAT I DIDN'T LOVE (SORRY BUT GOTTA BE HONEST)
  • Kelly's gymnastics scene. Look, I love that they gave Malcolm a daughter. I love that she stows away. But the scene where she defeats a raptor with a gymnastics routine on the uneven bars is... uh... it took me out of the movie for a second. The whole theater kind of groaned. Sorry Kelly, I still like you though.
  • Some character deaths felt wasted. Dieter Stark (the hunter who gets killed by Compys) was set up as a jerk but his death scene goes on forever. And Eddie deserved better than to just be a rescue-then-die character.
  • Missing the original cast. No Sam Neill, no Laura Dern (except a cameo phone call), no Samuel L. Jackson (obviously). I LOVE Goldblum as the lead but I missed Grant and Sattler.
  • The San Diego ending is divisive. I personally LOVED IT but I can see why some people think it feels like a different movie tacked onto the end. The tone shifts from survival thriller to Godzilla homage. I think it works but I can understand the criticism.
  • Not as magical as the first. But honestly, NOTHING could be. The first JP was a once-in-a-lifetime movie event. TLW is a great sequel that gives us more of what we love. Just don't expect that same "first time seeing a dinosaur" feeling because you can only have that once.

COMPARISONS TO THE ORIGINAL
Let me be clear: Jurassic Park (1993) is a 10/10 perfect movie. It's in my top 3 movies of all time along with Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark. The Lost World was NEVER going to top it. No sequel could.

But here's what TLW does differently and sometimes BETTER:

CATEGORY JP (1993) TLW (1997)
Wonder/Awe JP wins by a mile Still great but you've seen dinos before
Tension/Horror Incredible (kitchen, Rex) TLW edges it out (trailer, grass)
Lead Performance Sam Neill (great) Jeff Goldblum (AMAZING)
Villain Dennis Nedry (legendary) Peter Ludlow (meh) / Roland (great)
Visual Effects Revolutionary Technically better but less impactful
Dinosaur Variety 7 species More species, more screen time
John Williams Score Arguably the greatest film score ever Great but recycled themes

MIKE'S FINAL VERDICT
8.5 / 10


The Lost World: Jurassic Park is a GREAT sequel. It's not as magical as the original (what is?) but it delivers more dinosaurs, more action, more Jeff Goldblum, and some of the best set pieces Spielberg has ever directed. The trailer cliff scene alone is worth the price of admission.

If you're a Jurassic Park fan, you NEED to see this. If you're not a JP fan... what are you doing on my website?? Go watch the original first, THEN go see Lost World in theaters while you still can!!

"Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running, and screaming."
- Dr. Ian Malcolm, speaking absolute TRUTH

I WILL be seeing it at least 2 more times in theaters. Maybe 5. My wallet is crying but my heart is FULL.

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