Jurassic Park III

Jurassic Park III is rated PG-13: for intense sci-fi terror and violence.

Just like riding the same roller coaster time and time again, Spielberg's latest prehistoric attraction Jurassic Park III, suffers from repeated exposure. After the original Jurassic Park, and its sequel The Lost World, we know every turn and bump in the track and now we hardly even blink when the big monsters eat those cast members whom we don't like or don't know.

Needless to say Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill)--the world renowned paleontologist introduced in the first movie--is going to figure out a way to survive through the experience of being brought back to the Park for a second go round after Paul (William H. Macy) and Amanda Kirby (Tea Leoni) promise a substantial donation toward his current dig in return for a guided aerial tour of the island. But Dr. Grant is really wishing he had never accepted their check when the couple's obvious disinterest in dinos makes him question their real motive for the sightseeing expedition. His suspicions are confirmed when the Kirby's announce their intentions to land the plane.

Thanks to a T-Rex who refuses to provide runway privileges, the trio along with Dr. Grant's young assistant Billy (Alessandro Nivola) and a few inconsequential others (who serve solely as hors d'oeuvres) end up crashing into a tree. Lost in a jungle with teeth around every corner, the Kirby's finally confess that they have come to rescue their 14-year-old son who was stranded on the island eight weeks ago, due to a parasailing accident.

While Dr. Grant seriously doubts the boy's survival, I began to doubt mine, after ninety minutes of Tea Leoni screaming and essentially announcing "Fresh meat... come and get it!" to every carnivore in the neighborhood. Full of stupid people and smart dinosaurs, the movie provides non-stop opportunities for beasts to chase and rip apart something or someone, with more violence but less thrills as the original. Boasting stunning visual effects, it's a shame someone didn't ask dinosaur expert Barney (who makes a cameo appearance) to help give this script some intelligence.

Studio: (pictures (c)2001 Universal Pictures).

Overall: C
Dr. Alan Grant and a group of buffoons become stranded on Isla Sorna, the second island owned by InGen—the company that put bite into amusement parks. Searching for a lost boy, the group battles beasts at every turn in this violent and poorly penned sequel… but the dinosaurs do look great.

Violence: D
Parasailing characters crash-land, boat crashes, explosive test blows up old airplane, nightmare sequence features dinosaur, without permission plane enters in restricted air space, man is knocked unconscious, violent plane crash, dinosaur attacks aircraft with people inside, dinosaur throws man to the ground and steps on him, plane with people inside is knocked out of tree and fuselage rolls and crushes, dinosaurs brutally fight and kill each other, man punches another man—implied though not seen, decomposing body shown, hole kicked in abandoned vending machine, dinosaur frightens character, vicious dinosaur attempts to attack people, man nearly killed by dinosaur is left barely conscious, dinosaur clamps jaws on man’s head—twisting his neck until he dies, dinosaurs try to eat character hanging from tree, dinosaurs surround character, large dinosaur chases people, giant bird-like creature plucks up one character and chases others, bridge collapses and people fall into water, creature falls into water and is hit with large object, characters pecked at and one presumed dead after being eaten by bird-like creatures, dinosaur attacks people on boat pushing them under water, character fires flare gun at dinosaur, fire breaks out, dinosaur attempts to eat character, character falls into fire.

Sexual Content: A-
Woman in a bra is seen briefly from back.

Language: B
At least: 5 mild profanities, 5 terms of Deity used as profanities or expletives.

Alcohol / Drug Use: B+
Adults socially drink in a bar.

For a detailed explanation of how content determines grades, click here

Do you think science should attempt to reintroduce animals that nature has made extinct? How about species made extinct by man?

For an article on a real project intended to bring an extinct bird back to our world, check www.cnn.com/NATURE/9907/20/cloning.enn/ on CNN’s website. Look toward the bottom of the page for additional real life cloning stories/links.

For a look at Jurassic Park’s predecessors, see our reviews of the first and second movies. For a more family friendly movie featuring these incredible creatures, check out Disney’s Dinosaur.

Although we have not reviewed the DVD version of Jurassic Park 3, we provide the following for your convenience.

• Studio: Universal
• Theatrical release date: July 18, 2001
• DVD release date: December 11, 2001
• Runtime: 93 minutes
• Production company: Universal
• Package type: Keep case
• Aspect ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1
• DVD encoding: Region 1
• Available audio tracks: English (DTS), English & French (Dolby Digital 5.1)

• Theatrical trailer
• “Making Of” Jurassic Park 3
• New dinosaurs
• Tour of Stan Winston studio, Visit to Industrial Light and Magic
• Dinosaur turntables
• Behind the scenes
• Storyboard sequences
• Jurassic Park archives
• Finding new dinosaurs