Jurassic Park III

Jurassic Park III is a 2001 motion picture, and a sequel of The Lost World: Jurassic Park and the highly successful original Jurassic Park. The film was directed by Joe Johnston and include stars like Sam Neill, Téa Leoni and William H. Macy.

Plot

Its some four years after the second film, The Lost World: Jurassic Park. The public is aware of the existence of cloned Dinosaurs on Isla Sorna. Taking advantage of this, an illegal para-sailing operation "Dino-Soar" has been set up to give coastal tours of the island. A young boy, dinosaur enthusiast Eric Kirby (Trevor Morgan), and family friend Ben Hildebrand, decide to go parasailing. However, the boat is apparently attacked by dinosaurs, severing the wire to the sail, and Erik and Ben drift towards the island.

Meanwhile, the viewers revisit Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern). Both have continued their paleontological careers but are no longer involved romantically; Ellie has married and has children; Grant is still digging, now with young Billy Brennan, and has made some interesting discoveries about the Velociraptor, even producing a replica voice box.

Grant is approached by Amanda (Téa Leoni) and Paul Kirby (William H. Macy), apparently thrill-seekers, who want Grant to give them an aerial tour of Isla Sorna. Mr. Grant is reluctant at first but once again, the promise of funding for his dig gets the better of him.

Meanwhile, a group of mercenaries, apparently hired by Kirby practice target-practice on a plane dressed like a dinosaur.

Another plane, carrying Billy, Grant, the Kirby’s and the mercenaries arrives at Isla Sorna. Grant soon figures out something's not quite right, when the Kirby’s try to land the plane. When the plane lands, it is quickly attacked by the Spinosaurus, a finned crocodile-like Dinosaur, killing two of the mercenaries and stranding the group on the island. The Spinosaurus then proceeds to kill a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Grant finds out the Kirby’s are in fact searching for their lost son. Grant decides to head back toward the shore.

Along the way, the group encounters the parasails, as well as the remains of Ben Hildebrand. Eric, however, seems to have escaped safely. Billy salvages the parasails. Also discovered nearby are a nest of Raptor eggs.

The group approaches an old laboratory, similar to the one seen in the village at the end of The Lost World. However, they are quickly attacked by Velociraptors. During the resulting chase, the last mercenary is killed, and Grant becomes separated from Billy and the Kirby’s. He is rescued from a pack of raptors by young Eric, who has been living on the island for two months.

Eventually, everybody is reunited, but they soon find themselves being chased by the Spinosaurus. Able to find shelter in another building, Grant finds out that Billy stole some Raptor eggs, explaining the earlier attack. He is somewhat disappointed in Billy.

The group attempts to reach a boat docked in a nearby river. However, they have to pass through a massive aviary and are attacked by Pteranodons. Billy apparently dies trying to save Eric.

Grant and the Kirby’s board the boat, encountering some Brachiosaurs, Stegosaurs, and Ankylosaurs grazing in a field.

At night, they find some Spinosaur dung, containing the remains of the mercenaries. Among them is a cell phone, swallowed by the Spinosaurus. Grant washes the cell phone and attempts to contact Ellie, but only gets out."The river....Site B!" as the Spinosaur attacks again. Paul manages to distract the Spinosaurus while Grant fires a flare gun, scaring the Dinosaur away.

The group is close to the shore when suddenly the Raptors reappear, wanting their eggs back. The eggs are given back to the Raptors, and using his raptor voice box Grant fakes a signal that causes the Raptors to leave.

The group arrives at the beach to see a military detachment awaiting them. As they board a helicopter, Grant finds Billy, still alive but badly injured. As the helicopter heads toward an aircraft carrier, some Pteranodons fly by, looking for a new nesting ground.

Assorted Trivia

Several of the Dinosaur action sequences, such as the Pteranodon aviary and the Spinosaur's river attack, were part of the original Jurassic Park novel but due to budget and other concerns, were left out of the finished films.

Isla Sorna's look in this film is somewhat different from that in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. This is because much of Lost World was shot in California forests, while JPIII filmed in Hawaii, where the original film was shot.

Jurassic Park III is the first Jurassic Park film not to have the following:

• directed by Steven Spielberg.

• written by David Koepp

• based on a Michael Crichton book (Although certain scenes are heavily influenced).

• A comics adaptation produced by TOPPS comics.

• Score by John Williams.

Reaction

Jurassic Park III opened to mixed reviews and audience reaction. Some believed it was an improvement over the somewhat overblown The Lost World: Jurassic Park and returned to the simplicity of the first film, while others felt it started to see the series spiral into B-movie territory, something that had also happened with Universal's Jaws franchise. The film managed to do decently at the box office, making $180 million domestic and $365 million worldwide. Another sequel is currently in development, this time with more Spielberg involvement.

External Links

• Jurassic Park III at IMDb
• Dan's JP3 page