Starring: Sam Neill, William H Macy, Tea Leoni, Alessandro Nivola
Director: Joe Johnston
Category: IIA
The film: The Jurassic Park series has come a long way since the first instalment nine years ago. Then, the technology that brought dinosaurs to life was brand new and the film-makers astonished a world weaned on the plasticine dinosaurs made famous in epics such as The Valley Of Gwangi (1969). Computer-generated images were the name of the game, and Jurassic Park was a sensation. So this time around, you really know what you're in for. The delight in Jurassic Park III, then, is that Joe Johnston manages to come up with an effective thriller despite the sense of deja vu. Sam Neill makes a welcome return as the world-weary palaeontologist, Dr Alan Grant. He is lured to Isla Sorna - an island where the leftovers from Jurassic Park: The Lost World (1997) have been moved - by a couple posing as adventurers. What he doesn't know is that he's part of a rescue mission - the couple's kid has gone missing during a joy flight gone wrong. Cue dinosaurs, worried humans and mayhem. The most deadly of the new breed of dinosaurs we meet is the spinosaurus, who makes T-Rex look like a T-lady. There are some fabulous chase sequences down a hillside and up a river, and Johnston will keep you on the edge of your seat.
The extras: Dino-nerds will go berserk over this release as you get to see everything from a documentary shot in the fossil-filled hills of Montana, to a behind-the-scenes look at just how the beasties used in JP3 were made. It's obviously all about countless long, hard hours of painstaking work. And the strain shows on the workers involved; given their chance in front of the camera, it looks like they just don't want to leave. There is some stunning footage of the stars 'acting' with computer-generated images and a great tour of the Industrial Light And Magic complex - the place where they've created special effects for everything from Star Wars to Michael Jackson video clips.
The verdict: The debate about the Jurassic Park series has always been about whether or not these creatures are too scary for kids. If that's a worry, the special features will take much of the fright away and give the dinosaurs a 'real' image. That'll be great for families. For the rest - if you're interested in dinosaurs you'll be pleased.