Have an Account?
| Register Now
Movie Poster
View Photo Gallery

Remove ads with our VIP Service Facebook logoTwitter logo
Jurassic Park III
After conducting an aerial tour of Isla Sorna, InGen's second site for their failed Jurassic Park experiment, Dr. Alan Grant finds himself in the middle of dinosaur trouble again when his plane...  View more >

Starring Sam Neill, John Diehl, Michael Jeter...  View more >

Add Movie to Favorites

Seen It?

How would you rate this movie?
[--- See Now! ---] [--- Good ---] [--- Wait for Rental ---] [--- Stay Away! ---]

Reviews Summary


Please Note: Reader Reviews are submitted by the readers of The BigScreen Cinema Guide and represent their own personal opinions regarding this movie, and do not represent the views of The BigScreen Cinema Guide, or any of its associated entities.

Jul 17, 2001
As the third installment in the Jurassic Park franchise, no one should go into this movie with expectations that exceed that of any other sequel. So long as you do this, you will not be disappointed in what you get for your money, just don't expect the spectacle and wonder instilled by Jurassic Park (the first one).

In this installment, Isla Sorna (the second island, featured in "The Lost World: Jurassic Park") has become a thrillseekers destination. Deemed off-limits by the Costa Rican government, adventurous types are sought by greedy "tour guides" willing to duck the authorities and deliver the thrills of a lifetime, for a price.

It is just such an adventure that is the setup for Jurassic Park 3. A man and his stepson partake in a parasailing tour along the coast, only to have something dreadful happen (imagine that) to the boat below them. The boy's mother and original father enlist the help of Dr. Alan Grant, albeit slyly, to help them rescue their son. Using the lure of research money, Dr. Grant is convinced to do a flyover of the island only to find out that the mission involves actually landing on the island, which starts the chain of events everyone comes to the movie to see.

While the original filled audiences with awe of the splendor of dinosaurs roaming the land again, Jurassic Park 3 skips the awe and goes right to the death and destruction. New to the scene is the Spinosaurus, who establishes himself as the main bad-guy by causing some trouble for our intrepid rescuers as well as kicking some T-Rex butt.

For an hour and some change, we follow everyone as they try to save themselves and find the boy at the same time. You get more dinosaurs, the Velociraptors get more character development, and fans of old Little Caesars' pizza commercials get something, too. As with any sequel that doesn't take itself too seriously, there are some bits of humor and references to the preceding movies, which are well-done.

But you get very little sense of wonder, which is the main thing this movie is lacking in my opinion. Even "The Lost World" had an incredible scene with the herd of Stegosaurus in the stream, which was an amazing scene to behold. Director Joe Johnston tried to do the same here, but it comes off as a glamour shot instead of the effect I think he was intending.

Overall, is it worth the price of admission? You bet! Is it going to be the greatest movie of the summer? I can't imagine it. Fortunately, the hype engine and the expectations aren't running as high as they were for "Pearl Harbor" so perhaps audiences will be happy and keep Jurassic Park 3 at the top of the charts for a few weeks.

As for me, I'm planning to have a movie night with my DTS DVD of Jurassic Park and relive the awe and wonder of 1993 all over again...
[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jul 18, 2001
This is a must for anybody who remained a fan of the series after "The Lost World." The movie doesn't have too much in the way of plot, but it certainly has more than the afore-mentioned sequel. The plot involves a couple chartering a plane (not to mention Sam Neil) to fly them over Isla Sorna, the island from "The Lost World." Of course, Alan Grant (Neil) is in for a surprise as the small plot develops.

Violence, face-munching, and crap-digging ensue as Ian Malcom's "chaos theory" is once again proven for an hour and a half (shorter than most summer blockbusters- a plus!).

Although somewhat predictable, the movie moves along at a breakneck pace with some very cool action scenes, including fiery boat ride and some raptor-related goings-on (mainly the face-munching). It also had a sense of humor about itself, without which it almost surely would have crashed and burned.
The biggest problem I had was that the action scenes were so engaging and fun to watch that I began to forget important plot points, like the reason the people were on the island.

Hmmm. . .that's the whole plot pretty much. But any movie with action scenes so awesome that they make you forget even the most threadbare plot is worth recommending in my book.

All-in-all, I would say that "JP3" is not as good as the original (because of the itty-bitty plot and some underdeveloped characters) but much, MUCH better than the first sequel. Oh, and the new dinosaurs add a WHOLE lot (one reason I didn't like "The Lost World" too much is because it had too much of the same-> T-Rex and raptors were pretty much it). Face-munching baby birdy-dinos kick a whole lot more behind than an extra Rex.
Jul 21, 2001
this movie was very entertaining and to be seen at it's best would have to be on the big screen. It is a clean well done movie that the whole family can watch.

I don't try and tell you what the director is trying to do, or what hidden meanings are in the story, or try and imitate a real critic. All I look at is how I was entertained for my buck. I got my bucks worth here.
[--- Good ---]by  
Jul 21, 2001
I believe Jurassic Park 3 is superior to part 2, but falls short of the awe of the original. If you are a fan of the series, you'll no doubt enjoy it. There's plenty of tense dinosaur chase scenes, some of them very well done. Character development is thankfully short and spiffy, and the entire movie flows along at a nice pace. The T-Rex is seen, but is upstaged by a larger and meaner spinosaurus (which looks a lot like a T-Rex with a long snout). T-Rex also plays 2nd fiddle to the raptors, who are portrayed this time as super intelligent dinos, able to communicate. We're even told they may be more intelligent than primates (hard to believe).

Overall, the movie's a good one. I would have enjoyed it better had a few scenes been explained better. I would recommend it for matinee (discounted) viewing.

***1/2 out of *****.
[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jul 22, 2001
Great Great Movie.....Not as good as the first one but 10 times better than the second. This one was more intense and had a great deal more violence. A couple of people took there little kids out after the first 20 mintues. More detail on the attacks. Not so much...a raptor pounces on someone and then all you hear is screaming. They acutally show them being ripped apart.

I personally like more graphic violence ina movie. But it shouldn't have been PG-13. I can see R. But I am not a critic eaither. But this was great, it never stopped moving. One thing after an another. It never gave you time to catch your breath. I give it a 9.5 out of 10.
[--- Good ---]by  
Jul 23, 2001
'Who would build a 0m dollar ship without a rudder' was William H. Macy's cry of consternation during JP3's shoot. This was a bad omen. Knives brandished eagerly, the critics and public were ready to tear this movie to shreds, much akin to a fight between a velocipator and a beaver. One could see why Mr. Macy held this view. Whilst starting to film without a finished script is not unique, it certainly doesn't bode well (Hudson Hawk anyone?). Factor into this Steven Spielberg's refusal to helm, as well as it been a second sequel, then it was obvious the the pteranodons were hungrily circling above.

I won't bother to explain the plot because their isn't one. Just think of any monster B movie an you'll get the idea (people run away from dinosaurs, some get eaten and some escape). However, this is no bad thing. In terms of character development and original plot twists this fails on all counts. But does anyone go to see JP3 expecting The Seventh Seal? I think not.

In the context of the summer blockbuster it delivers by the bucket load. Every utterance is geared up to moving the actors from one stunning set-piece to the next. The script is lean, fast an 100% efficient. The set-pieces themselves (and isn't this the real reason why we'll go and see JP3?) are imaginative well executed and completely thrilling. OK, so the CGI doesn't have the same jaw-droppingness of the original but the dinos are realistic enough to make you think you could reach out and touch them.

If you read the reviews of JP2 then you may have decided to leave the JP franchise, and nobody could have blamed you for that. But a word to the wise, for an exciting, frightening, crazy summer blockbuster joy ride see JP3. William H. Macy eat your words.
[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jul 23, 2001
One of the most recognizable images from the first Jurassic Park was the cup of shivering water. The equally shivering humans glanced at it nervously, waiting in suspense for the unseen terror that would undoubtedly soon come.

In so many ways, Jurassic Park 3 dispenses with all that suspense, and gets straight to the chasing, the biting, and, of course, lots of noble sacrifice for the greater good. If all you want is lots of angry dinos, you've got it here in spades. But the plot, the characters, and all the little things that Jurassic Park 1 did right feel aged and weak here.

You can virtually pick out the people that are going to die in the first twenty minutes. As you would expect, they are those who receive little screen time to begin with. The main characters seem sadly underdeveloped. Tea Leoni seems like a serious fish-out-of-water in what is admittedly a stiff, constricted role as a divorced mom seeking her child. William Macy has some good lines, and does an excellent job with what he had, but also seems a little wasted with this role, as does Sam Neill. There is a lot of talent in both the large and the small roles here, but you can almost hear a collective yawn coming from their mouths, as they look forward to their next job.

And the yawning is completely understandable. There is absolutely no surprise in this film. You've seen this all before. The CGI effects are no longer cutting edge. People die, are reunited, and "escape" in a totally predictable fashion. About the only thing truly worth watching are the dinosaurs, which are admittedly well-done. They are quite fun to watch, but the magic of seeing them for the first time has worn off. I do not jump upon seeing a raptor anymore.

By the end of the film, I just felt a bit sad, and quite nostalgic for the first Jurassic Park. In a sense, I felt the same sort of pity watching Troy Aikman attempting to play football after his umpteenth concussion. You can understand why he does it, but you just want him to stop.

In the film, there is a point when Sam Neill states, in no uncertain terms, that he does not wish to return to Jurassic Park. At the end of the film, despite having done so, I'm sure his character would maintain this conviction. I encourage you to do the same.
[--- Stay Away! ---]by  
Jul 23, 2001
God this movie was awful. If spielberg needed money this badly, he could have probably gone to the local soup kitchen before selling his soul on a piece of crap like Jurassic Park III.

The acting was horrible, although Sam Neill had that creepy "Event Horison" vibe to him that I like. I was hoping he'd run off and join the raptor herd to later help slaughter the rest of the group. That might have been funny enough to warrant spending seven bucks on.

The plot was so thin it was transparent. You'd think Grant would quit falling for the whole "We'll fund your research" line, but hey... I suppose it's too much to expect something original in any movie with "3" in the title. There was one scene where the ex-husband walks in on the boy's mother as she's changing. I'm still not sure how that fit into the rest of the movie except to throw in some pointless PG nudity.

It doesn't really explain their relationship at all, in fact we never really figure out ANYTHING about these characters! There is absolutly NO background on any of them except that the mother, father, and mother's ex-husband are looking for their kid that was lost on the island EIGHT WEEKS ago. I suppose I shouldn't say if he lived or died, but it'd be pretty stupid either way, wouldn't it?

The dinosaurs were also paper-thin in this one. Unlike the first JP movie, where the dinosaurs were just prehistoric animals and acted as such, these were big rubbery monsters like you'd expect to see in a 5-year-old's coloring book or maybe a afternoon japanese TV movie about the destruction of Tokyo. I swear... I've seen better special effects in old episodes of Scooby Doo. (You know where they run through the hallway and keep coming out different doors? that's pretty cool...)

Finally, the absolute WORST part about this movie were the Raptors! How do you outdo the raptors from JP1? They were already the worst dinosaur hollywood could think up, right? I got it! Let's make them TALK with eachother and say they were as intelligent as humans! Better yet, let's let Grant talk WITH them!

This was a cheesy horror/slasher movie that I would LOVE to see appear on MST3K someday. Even after JP2, it was a disappointment. Rent it if you want a good laugh with your buddies, but stay away if you're looking for a quality flick.
[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jul 25, 2001
Loved it
[--- Good ---]by  
Jul 25, 2001
Finally, a good summer movie. This is the only decent movie I've seen this summer. Everything else has been very mediocre. Jurassic park 3 is not the best written movie you'll see. Nor, is it the most scary. But, jurassic park movies don't need to be. These are action/adventure movies.

It's better than the Lost world, and just falls short of Jurassic park. This is what should have been the second entry in the series.
[--- See Now! ---]by  
Jul 25, 2001
We have seen all 3 Jurassic Park movies and this one was not a disappointment, the story line was really quite good, usually when you're into a 3rd chapter of a movie, the story gets pretty predictable, this one was pretty interesting!

If you are a Jurassic fan...........get on out and see this one !!
Jul 25, 2001
The third Juassic Park movie is a little better than the second, but not much better than the first. I love the first the most.

In JP3, Sam Neil and a rich couple are off to the dinosour island to rescue their son who is lost. The film has more of the same with the humans being chased by the dinosour, inculding a huge one with a duck's beck. The dinosours are bigger and smarter than those in the last two films.

Although I am disapointed with the ending, I still love Jurassic Park 3, and even though the running time is shorter than the last two, I think this film is worth your time. Nice to see Laura Dern again.
[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Jul 28, 2001
When I saw Jurassic Park 3 I noticed it didn't have the magic of Steven Speilberg like the last two. It offered some comedy with some unknown actors and actresses.

The special effects in the movie were astonishing! The dinousaurs looke very real. The story line could have been adjusted a little bit. The movie is about smart dinosaurs and a kid who was in a hang gliding crash with an adult. The parents are looking for him but run into dinosaurs along the way. The movie is long but the time flys by.

In my conclusion you should wait until it comes out on video. I am Jon Hoffmann with SMR (Star Movie Reviews)
Jul 29, 2001
A fun movie, but not a great movie. Go for the special effects, not for the characters or the plot.
[--- Good ---]by  
Jul 30, 2001
I was glad to see the producer's return to the quality of Jurassic One. It didn't have the depth in plot put made up for it in action sequences!

The couple, in search of their son, seemed mismatched to me! But the light humor from the Mr. was welcome. The intensity of the Mrs. seemed contrived...

The visuals were wonderful and exciting! This movie is what I call a "two-fer", meaning I'll see it again just to catch what I missed the first time!!
Aug 2, 2001
Hey Steve!! Shake your money maker baby!!!
[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Aug 5, 2001
Better than the Godzilla 2 that they gave us last time around, 2 was okay until the left the island for the city. This one is mainly just not getting eaten by the new dino in town, the big boy.

The novelty and wonderment of the first is gone, they are just cool and fantastic as they were in the first one, no more excitement, which means if you do a sequel, then, you must have a great storyline, oops!, none of that happened in this sequel. Talk about being dissappointed. Usually if a movie is one and a half hours long I am really feeling cheated, this one I was glad to see be over!!!

If you like dinos, go see it at the dollar theatre, if it does not matter, wait for the video.
[--- Wait for Rental ---]by  
Aug 20, 2001
this movie was just ok. dont expect anything much. i mean what all can u do
the maker of this movie must of been smoking sum cheap stuff because it is just stupid. nothing outstanding.

i just hope to god that they dont make another movie becuase it would be worse than this one. dont see it unless u r desperate to see a movie.
[--- Good ---]by  
Aug 21, 2001
Ok, it was good, but if you are thinking there might be another movie you want to see, go see that one instead of Jurassic Park 3. It would be one that'll be fine to see as a rental if you must.

I guess the graphics were great and the action was typical Jurassic Park exciting, however, this movie lacked in a real plot. It reminded me of the first one without the suspense. All I really wanted to do was slap the characters for being so completely stupid. I really don't care for plots in movies being based on the stupidity of the characters.

I guess all in all I was disappointed, but if all you want is action, by all means, go see it, that's all you'll get.

Looking for more opinions?

Check out our Featured Movie Reviews for Jurassic Park III.




New Movies - Box Office - Favorite Movies - All Movies
Coming Soon - Search



Home - About Us - Feedback
News Headlines - Theaters - Movies - Reader Reviews - Movie Links
Your Account - VIP Service

The BigScreen Cinema Guide is a service of SVJ Designs LLC. All graphics, layout, and structure of this service (unless otherwise specified) are Copyright © 1995-2024, SVJ Designs. The BigScreen Cinema Guide is a trademark of SVJ Designs. All rights reserved.

'ACADEMY AWARDS®' and 'OSCAR®' are the registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Find Us on Facebook
Find Us on Instagram