The Lost World: Jurassic Park

October 14, 7:32 PMSteven Spielberg ExaminerJustin Murphy

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     Resulting from the success of Jurassic Park at the box office, Spielberg convinced friend and author Michael Crichton to write sequel to his original novel. Fans wanted a sequel, and Spielberg wanted to give them one the best way he knew how. He would base it on a novel written by the author of Jurassic Park. This story revolved around the character of Ian Malcolm and how his academic career was destroyed by the revelation of an island where dinosaurs lived and breathed. Then he is invited John Hammond’s house and told of a Site B.

    Ian Malcolm was a side character in the first film, mostly for comic relief. While a good portion of the original cast returned, Sam Neill and Laura were noticeably absent. Along with their characters Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler. Many fans of the first film found this sequel quite enjoyable, but there was criticism over the two missing character from the first film. Also, fans felt the dinosaurs were treated more like characters than monsters. However, the end did feature a Tyrannosaurus Rex breaking free and terrorizing San Diego. Many felt this end resembled King Kong or Godzilla, more so than Jurassic Park.

    More criticism was directed at the human actors who were described as not being engaging as in the original. Adding that more focus was placed on special effects and action sequences than pure human drama and their reaction to the dinosaurs. There has been endless about this sequel between Jurassic Park fans since The Lost World opened over a decade ago. Most feel is nowhere near as good as the original was. Yet some feel it is better than Jurassic Park III while a small minority feel Jurassic Park III is better. However, fan reaction and criticism can never compete with money.

    In spite of such criticism, the film had the biggest opening weekend at the box office since Batman Forever the previous year. It was also the second biggest film opening of the year behind Titanic,. The film also held the biggest opening weekend for the next four and a half years when it was beaten by Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone. The Lost World also held the record for single day box office opening for a couple years until the release of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 1999.