The Jurassic Park Series

With the fifth instalment imminent, I was thinking that this franchise is unusual. It has been very successful financially but is different from other successful franchises. I can't imagine meeting someone who would proclaim themselves to be a big fan of the series like you would find big fans of the Star Wars/Aliens/Harry Potter/Indiana Jones series. Have you ever met someone who says "I'm a huge Jurassic Park fan"?

The films are pretty entertaining but don't contain memorable characters which would make them genre classics. I have the feeling they lack something, and I find the fact they are still churning them out quite surprising.

Any thoughts on the series?

 

I consider myself a huge Jurassic Park series fan, but they are far from my favorite movies.

I did meet someone recently who said that the original Jurassic Park is his favorite movie. Even though I really like the movie, I judged him negatively for that. That probably means I am a jerk and movie snob more than anything, but I am fine with that.

 

I’ve never cared for the franchise all that much and I don’t quite understand why it’s so popular either. I wonder about who goes to see all those movies the same way I wonder about the Fast and the Furious franchise. I think JP is a cut above FF, but still.

To answer your question, I did have one friend who was a total diehard for the franchise, but he’s a pretty weird guy. I’m not sure what his thoughts on the newer entries are, but I know he loved the early stuff.

 

I think they're great. Why do we need deep character development in summer blockbuster films about dinosaurs?

 

I liked the first album.

 

Aside from kids, I don't think too many people are raving about how great Jurassic Park is. I certainly don't hear a lot of adults talking about it. The first one seemed like a watershed moment, technology-wise, and there was definitely a lot of talk after it. The ones that followed I've seen on TV, the second and third ones, and they are good enough entertainment-wise. I wouldn't pay to have them on DVD though, and they seem to get played on TV with enough frequency that I'm not panicked about not seeing them again as they always tend to show up. They definitely get the job done as an action film, I'd probably think they were the greatest movies of all time if I was 8-9 years old.

 

Back in 1993 there was a novelty in seeing computer-generated dinosaurs on the screen. For me that novelty is long gone.

I have no idea what the appeal of the last three movies is

 

The first movie is a really fun popcorn movie with a great score and fantastic special effects that I think still hold up pretty well and were amazing back in the day.

 

Dinos run amok eating people.

 

There was a wow factor with the first two films. CGI was fairly new, and Spielberg combined the cutting-edge technology with animatronics, giving the dinos in the first two films an added sense of realism. Steven Spielberg knows how to direct edge of your seat action sequences. The cliff scene in The Lost World is the highlight of the series, with the T-Rex reveal in the first film a close second. Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm is a riot, easily the most charismatic character in the series. I’m in the minority in preferring The Lost World to Jurassic Park.

 

"Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that's how it always starts. Then later there's running and um, screaming." Dr. Ian Malcolm from The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

 

Fair enough. It does have quite the spectacle, but IMO nothing endearing enough to make it such a widely loved franchise.

 

Has anyone picked up the 4K box set? Any reviews?

 

Oh, I agree, it's become horrible (I still like the first couple). While it still makes money, I don't know that it can be called a 'widely loved franchise'.

 

Yes! Haven't had time to watch 'em yet, but the first review I read of the UHD set was thumbs up for noticeably improved color gamut and sound over BD (even though the first film is over 25 years old). I'm sure that FX improves with higher definition as the tech advanced with successive films.

Generally speaking, dinosaurs are a widely loved franchise, but you're right. Regardless of the praise for Michael Crichton's original novel and Spielberg's first effort, the series is uneven.
That said, over the years my appreciation for Jurassic Park and it's sequels has grown as the human allegory of extinction risks increase.


Cat

 

Crichton’s most recent post-humous novel Dragon Teeth from 2017, a prequel to Jurassic Park, is going to be turned into a tv series on National Geographic, adapted by Graham Yost (Justified).

 

Yeah, it's not really all that good.

I just watched the first two. Disliked the first movie so much that I almost didn't bother with the sequel.

To be fair, the dinosaurs were pretty amazing. I have to admit that the first few times they were on the screen it was almost shocking how real they appeared. I was definitely impressed, especially with that one who was sick. And that was while watching the movie on my 23" computer monitor (so much for needing to watch a movie like this on the big screen in a theater, though I'm sure it would have been all the more impressive).

The problem is that this is all the movie has. Anyone looking for interesting characters or an interesting story is bound to be disappointed. The dinos are impressive for the first few times they are on the screen. Once I was past that scene with the sick dino, none of them were ever that interesting again for the rest of the film. 5/10 on the strength of the special effects but I need more than that over 2 hours.

The second film I liked better. 6/10, because it had more of a storyline and it was darker overall.

In fairness to these movies, I am not really the target audience.

 

Good in surround sound. I’d say the same about Independence Day and other action films. As films, they’re not exactly cinematic art. They can be fun though.

 

You done any of the Jurassic Park tours in Hawaii?

 

No, I have never been to Hawaii. My anxiety keeps me in my hometown most of the time.

 

The first one was really groundbreaking at the time, I went the cinema for the first one that was packed out and remember that first scene when they see the dinosaur and how took back the cinema was that night.

I still think the first one holds up great to be honest.

 

Laura Dern's khaki shorts.

 

I love dinosaur movies! A grade, B grade, C grade whatever.....
It's no different to a 'Jaws' or a 'Bond' really.
Life is, things happen, people die, someone saves the world.
It wont happen again
End of story.....

Part 2:
Life is, things happen, people die, someone saves the world.
It wont happen again
End of story.....

Part 3:
Life is, things happen, people die, someone saves the world.
It wont happen again
End of story.....

Part 4, well you get the idea.

They can make them, and I'll at least see them once.

 

I have certainly seen people like that on Youtube, who like the first film so much they become a fan of the whole 'concept'.

 

I thought the first was really good- I especially liked Jeff Goldblum ("I am always looking for the next ex-Mrs. Malcolm."). The others have all been pretty entertaining. I have watched all of them, but there had to be nothing really good to watch before I did.