User Reviews

Not quite as good as the first one only because several of the first movie cast was not in it. Sam Neill, Laura Dern are two that come to mind. This is still an excellent movie. Jeff Golblum is back as Doctor Ian Malcolm and does his usual good job. His character is still insightful and more importantly he still gets some humorous lines as well. Julianne Moore plays a very tunnel vision doctor that is more interested in the animals than in her own survival, at least at times. One of the not so good guys that are also on this island if the hunter played by Pete Postlethwaite. He is there for the protection but his personal objective is to bag a big one. Well it turns out he gets bagged.

The Lost World is Steven Spielberg's follow up to the innovative Jurassic Park, so how does it's sequel measure up by comparison? Well it's far better than most have given it credit for. The Lost World is a flawed film, but it's a film that set out to be different, and not just a rehash of the previous film, something the newest film in the franchise Jurassic World has done. Many seem to like Jurassic World for how it "recaptures" the feel of the original film, but by comparison, comes off as a pale soulless imitation of Jurassic Park.

The Lost World however, gets away from the theme park idea, and does something that wasn't expected. In The Lost World it is revealed that there was another island called Isla Sorna (Site B) that had dinosaurs that were bred, and raised before being brought to Jurassic Park, on Isla Nublar. The film starts with a wealthy family yachting, and stumble upon Isla Sorna, where their daughter is severely injured by little dinosaurs called Compsognathus that act like land Piranha.

Jeff Goldblum reprises his role as Dr. Ian Malcolm, and is summoned by John Hammond for reasons unknown. Ian Malcolm is still a sarcastic character, much like he was in Jurassic Park, but his character is visibly different after the events of Jurassic park, he rarely laughs, or smiles, and Ingen has made Ian a laughing stock, after trying to create public awareness after what happened to him at the park. Hammond is also losing his credibility, after the incident at Jurassic Park, and Ingen has taken control away from Hammond, and given it to his arrogant nephew, named Ludlow, who Malcolm has clashes with.

Hammond tells Malcolm that he has been trying to preserve Isla Sorna, and protect it from human interference, but implies that the island is in danger of being pillaged for it's assets. Hammond say's public opinion could keep exploiters from removing the dinosaurs, but that in order to gain such support, a photo record must be obtained, which means sending people in to research, which Ian immediately disapproves of. This is until he finds out that his girlfriend, Sarah Harding a Paleontologists, has already gone to the island. This gives Malcolm as reason to go to a place he would rather never revisit again, as this dinosaur island has no fences of any kind, and the dinosaurs are free roaming.

Ian arrives to the island with two other companions Eddie Carr, a field equipment expert, and Nick Van Owen, a video documentarian as well as Malcolm's daughter Kelly (a unneeded character) who sneaks aboard the ship in one of the team's vehicles. Soon they find Sarah, and come across a herd of Stegosaurus, where Sarah has a close encounter when she gets to close to an infant Stegosaurus. The Lost World focuses a great deal on the nurturing habits of dinosaurs, which expands upon the first film, which tried to portray dinosaurs not only as movie monsters, but as animals. This film carries that idea further, and delves into how these animals act in a more naturalistic environment. The T-Rex's also have an infant, that gets injured by Ingen's team. Sarah, and Nick repair the baby's leg, but when the T-Rex's show up, they're less than appreciative, and wreck the trailers/vehicles, believing they have to defend their territory further.

This forces Malcolm, and his companions to join forces with Ingen's team headed by Ludlow, but lead by Roland Tembo, played by the late Pete Postlethwaite. Of course since both teams have different agenda's this leads to conflict. Regardless they come together to try and reach a communication center to get off the island. Of course along the way dinosaurs show up, resulting in casualties. After the group gets separated by the T-Rex's, Roland tranquilizes the male T-Rex. Ludlow then want's to bring it to San Diego, where a facility has been built to house the dinosaurs, since the dinosaurs captured earlier were released by Sarah, and Nick. This is where many people are left divided, some liking the T-Rex running around San Diego, and some hating it.

There's no denying that the way the T-Rex gets to the mainland isn't well executed, and makes little sense. It also may feel tacked on because it was, the original ending was different, but Spielberg felt the The Lost World needed a bigger ending, just as he did with Jurassic Park. While it may seem out of place, the entire film teases the idea of bringing dinosaurs back to the mainland. Malcolm, and Sarah find the infant T-Rex that was also brought back, and use it to lure the adult T-Rex, back to the cargo hold of the ship, where they both could be contained, and be brought back to the island. Not before the T-Rex causes some dino-damage down the streets of San Diego, which admittedly is neat to see.

The Lost World isn't as good as Jurassic Park, but it isn't as bad as critics, and "fans" alike have made it out to be. The Lost World has it's issues, such as underwritten plot elements/characters, and unneeded characters like Malcolm's daughter Kelly, but also has a strong cast/performances, and the effects are even more believable looking than in the first film. The animatronic dinosaurs looked even more convincing in The Lost World, especially the T-Rex's that had subtle changes made mechanically, making them much more lifelike. The CGI is also impressive, especially during the Compsognathus sequence that required the animation of several little dinosaurs. John Williams provides another great score for The Lost World, adding more tribal melodies to go with the mood, and look of the film. The Lost World may not be Spielberg's best film, but it's hardly his worst, and it's a decent, well made followup to a film that never really needed one.

Here comes the sequel to an epic. Steven Spielberg is back and what we get is a mixed bag. I saw it as a kid and naturally loved it. But as we grow older, so do our knowledge and need for probing. Some cast members did not return and weren't even referenced to at all in the story but other aspects in this film make up for it. Jeff Goldblum does reprise his role and I'm quite happy about that. Julian Moore and Vince Vaughn star here, but to me the actor who really caught my eye was Pete Postlethwaite, as Roland. In terms of story this film was definitely built as a thriller. A lot of the story is non-sensible, as I'm sure you've read. The boat somehow guiding itself back to the exact spot where it was destined via no pilot (or maybe auto-pilot…), an experienced mercenary on an island full of flesh-eating dinosaurs wandering off just to take a leak, with Juan listening to his MP3 trying to catch a baby dinosaur when I'm sure you heard its enraged father is right behind him…eh, the list goes on give or take. Basically this purely a money-shot type of film. We do see a bit of a deeper side to Goldblum's character and that does add a bit of zest to it all. A lot of the other characters are mildly gone into, just barely enough to get a sense of who they are. But suckers like me to this day end up caring for them. Ha-ha Decent characterization at best.

Once again a riveting score by John Willams, but in all fairness we get no real time to appreciate it. The SFX of course good as can possibly be, but we established that in the first movie. In America what movie doesn't have good SFX? That's why I don't care when people say Godzilla films SFX are terrible. Because I LOVE dinosaurs I give it a 7.9, around a near B-, but no doubt still a keeper by far. I proudly own the DVD as part of my collection.

As entertaining, and as unbelievable, as the first is Spielberg's return to rampant, DNA induced Dino's, "The Lost World".

I guess a sequel was inevitable, as is the final twenty minutes of this film. Surprises are supplied in the script, yet most of the action sequences lack imagination. Only the very early scenes impress, the initial encounters being at times thrilling, especially the scene in which the T-Rex's shove twin trailers over a cliff.

Special effects again take the limelight, but we've seen it all before, so the affect is diminished. John Williams score makes a welcome return, and his aural composition is supported by great cinematography.

Dr. Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) returns from "Jurassic Park", and is now the hero of the moment. Goldblum plays well the mathematician who is decidedly unenthusiastic about being among the deadly dinosaurs. Much more keen is his new g.f., played by the likable Julianne Moore. She is the palaeontologist who volunteers to observe the dinosaurs in their natural habitat and make recordings for entrepreneur Sir Richard Attenborough. Vince Vaughn forms part of this passive group. Heading up an opposing, aggressive band who plan to capture and export the beasts is Pete Postlethwaite, portraying most enjoyably the great white hunter who longs to stalk a male T-Rex.

Leave it to Spielberg to recreate the excitement, drama and thrills of the first film. A shame about the closing thirty minutes though.

Sunday, July 13, 1997 - Knox District Centre

The Lost World was a film which had to reach a very high standard. following the impressive Jurassic Park which pioneered the consistent use of CGI and arguably one of film's most symbolic creatures, T-Rex.

Because of this a pretty good film was slated. In one sense justifiably so as the Lost World could never compare to the first instalment in the franchise. It was always going to be an impossible task to improve on the first film which had so much going for it and unsurprisingly it is not the best film in the world.

In some respects this film does shoot itself in the foot. The end sequence is silly, there are numerous unexplored errors and for the raptor fans, they get a pretty raw deal. Furthermore the Lost World continued on the premise that children would be able to survive a dinosaur attack while mercenaries with guns could not...

If you leave these issues aside the Lost World is a respectable movie and no matter how many times I watch it does entertain.

What I liked was that unlike Jurassic Park 3, it continued the idea of the dinosaurs being animals rather than monsters. Apart from the Raptors which were just as scary and monstrous as in the first film, none of the animals attack for pleasure or financial gain (compared to the humans in the film). They hunt and kill for their basic needs and instincts. One could say that the film follows an ecological route, and criticises all corporate involvement in animal exploitation.

Plot wise, The Lost World is basically an add on to the first film. We find out that there is another island other than Isla Nublar with dinosaurs called Isla Sorna and the now bankrupt Ingen wants to harvest the island in order to ship the dinosaurs back to the mainland.

Hammond, who had recently lost control of the company, however disapproves of this and so decides to construct a team to document the animals in order to gain public support for their conservation. He tries to recruit first film survivor Ian Malcolm who initially refuses.

However when Malcolm finds out his girlfriend Dr.Harding has already gone to the island on her own he decides to rescue her. What transpires is a 2 hour survival movie full of dinosaur attacks, suspense, action and Jeff Goldblum (Malcolm) attempting sarcasm along the way.

While the sarcasm may grate after a while the movie does have some great one liners:

Nick:"Hammond's check cleared or I wouldn't be going on this wild goose chase".

Malcolm: "Well your going to the only place in the world where the geese chase you"

Similarily while the plot isn't that complicated the characters are enjoyable. Malcolm is definitely the funniest with his sarcastic one liners (see above). Roland played by Pete Posthelwaite (a surprising casting as I would not expect to see him in a Hollywood action movie) is especially good as the cold, yet human hunter character in the film.

The only annoying character is surprise, surprise Malcolm's daughter Kelly, who despite spending almost the entire film screaming and whining about the least bit thing (stereotype teenager), is brave enough to do a complicated gymnastic routine inside a derelict house on rusty bars to kick a Raptor through a window. It is an annoying trait in Jurassic Park that in every film there is always an annoying kid.

Interestingly when compared to the book the film is does a good job. Jurassic Park the film was nowhere near as good as the novel but there is a definite improvement over the Lost World Novel in this film. Not saying the book was bad (or for that matter the first film), it was just that I enjoyed the film a lot more. My advice is to watch the film before you read the book. While the book has its moments don't expect it to be a repeat of Crichton's classic first novel.

Additionaly the CGI and models come back with avengence!!! As you'd expect after 4 years of development the dinosaurs look better than ever, and still look pretty impressive. Certainly this film has aged pretty well.

The moving models have improved as well. Supposedly both T-Rex's in Lost World contained twice the equipment of the previous T-Rex from the first film. Lost World looks great and as you would expect from a Spielberg film, has great production values. Locations look sublime with the coniferous forests, tall grass and no fencing making the new island look and feel like a true lost world rather than a science experiment.

Finally I personally loved the look of the vehicles. Certainly this is not a film which will disappoint (or unlike the JP III will confuse you)with its look and feel and as stated before has great production values.

All in all, this is a severely underrated film which was always going to be slated if it was not 100% as good as its predecessor. It is not as good as Jurassic Park but the Lost World is definitely a film you can enjoy. Certainly it will entertain you for its 2 hour duration and has always been a personal favourite. So its unsurprising that I was overjoyed to see it move ahead of the disastrous Jurassic III in the IMDb polls. A well deserved result.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park, the sequel to Steven Spielberg's iconic blockbuster, was released to massive commercial success, but critical disappointment. While audiences flocked to see the follow-up to the highest grossing movie of all-time, critics lambasted the movie for failing to live up to the high mark set by its groundbreaking predecessor. I'm here to set the record straight. The critics were demonstrably wrong. The Lost World is one of the most underrated, and over-hated movies of recent memory. Four years after Jurassic Park captivated audiences around the world, Steven Spielberg returned to the director's chair to craft a sequel that matched the original in every area that mattered. The Lost World is as technically accomplished, as thrilling, and as exquisitely crafted as the highly praised, Jurassic Park. Critics be damned!

Michael Crichton's sequel novel serves as inspiration for The Lost World's story, which introduces Isla Sorna, or Site B, as its main setting. This island is the site where Jurassic Park's dinosaurs were bred and raised. After the events of Jurassic Park, the site was abandoned and dinosaurs roam free once again, in a proverbial "lost world". Ian Malcolm, the neurotic chaotician from the first film, is the centerpiece figure of The Lost World, substituting for Sam Neil's Alan Grant, who was left out of Crichton's book. Malcolm's girlfriend, Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore) and her team of biologists are sent to Isla Sorna to study the unique animals on the island. Meanwhile, InGen's team, led by great white hunter Roland Tembo, played with scene-stealing gusto by the late, great Pete Postlethwaite, come to capture some of the island's larger inhabitants. Ian Malcolm learns of this news and takes it upon himself to retrieve his girlfriend from the dinosaur-infested island. The Lost World doesn't bother much with exposition (After the pieces are put in place, it's non-stop dino-action), but David Koepp's script is not simple-minded. Here is a story that, in its own way, still develops its characters and encourages engagement. There are ideas present in The Lost World (on greed, nature, human hubris), which is more than you can say about its successors.

One of the criticisms The Lost World often receives is that it lacks the compelling characters of the first film. It's a complaint that holds no water. Moore's wide-eyed, overly enthusiastic Dr. Harding, Vince Vaughn's militant eco-activist, Nick Van Owen, the aforementioned big game hunter, Tembo, and the rest of the new characters are, in the most basic sense, well drawn. What they lack in situational awareness (haters will have you know that there are dumb decisions made by some), they make up for in personality. Love them or hate them, these are real characters. People, with passions and flaws. Not the fleshy placeholders of JP3 and Jurassic World. And that's not to mention Jeff Goldblum, who carries the protagonist load admirably. When you think about it, his role here is not only different from the first film, but different from most anything Goldblum has done. We know he can do quirky, but his understated cynicism here comes off totally natural all the way through. Malcolm is the ultimate grounding force among all the dinosaur chaos; a huge asset to the movie.

The cogent story and memorable characters, as welcome as they are, are only the icing on this cake. The essence of The Lost World is its fantastic dinosaur action. Here is where this movie outclasses nearly all its competitors. The Lost World is Steven Spielberg flexing his cinematic muscles. He takes the set pieces, a trailer dangling off a cliff, a basecamp ambush by territorial T-Rexes, or a raptor hunt in long grass, and weaves from them some real tension, suspense, and above all, thrills. Spielberg knows how to tease an action scene and have it explode to life at just the right time. Even when things move to San Diego in the final act, the richness of Spielberg's action remains. His sense for visual iconography, like glass slowly cracking, shadows streaking across tents, and trails being made in grass, is unparalleled. We've grown used to modern action that numbs the senses, but the satisfaction of Spielberg's action is that it enriches them. At this point, he's just showing off.

But what is dinosaur action without the dinos themselves? If Jurassic Park redefined creature effects for the modern age, The Lost World perfected them. Combining the very best of both animatronics and digital effects, Stan Winston and ILM create dinosaurs even more dazzling than those in Jurassic Park. The intricately detailed large scale animatronics move smoothly with a wide range of motion, and the CGI is as photo real as anything in 1997, or today for that matter, but what separates these dinosaurs from other movie monsters is the way they are treated as characters. The dinosaurs of the Lost World: Jurassic Park are written and directed with a constant eye for realism. The T-Rex parents, the biggest stars of the film, don't chase and eat people just because they are T-Rexes. When they attack, we know why. They exhibit maternal instincts when their baby is taken from them and territorial instincts when the scientists venture too far into their domain (As do the stegosauruses, in a fabulous early scene). It is a credit to writer David Koepp that a film that could have easily devolved into mindless action maintains a certain level of intelligence, even in its most fantastic moments. And we aren't just told that the dinosaurs are "animals, not monsters". They actually behave that way. The T-Rexes sniff the air for signs of their baby, the raptors snap at each other during a hunt, the compys swarm a piece of food dropped on the beach; These moments feel like they were taken from a documentary. Of course this is how dinosaurs would behave. They are given reasons to roar and chase, when the lazy thing to do would be to create dinosaurs that exist only to look cool.

Okay, so the story may not be as fresh as the original Jurassic Park, I can buy that, but The Lost World matches the first movie in nearly every other way. The special effects, action, score, set design, cinematography, you name it, they all carry the same mark of quality as the original Jurassic Park. There is passion behind the creation of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. A novel from Michael Crichton, Steven Spielberg at the helm, ILM and Stan Winston at the top of their respective games, and John Williams providing the music; This is the only Jurassic Park sequel that can stand with the original. It does exactly what a big budget sequel should do. It skips through the requisite set-up and launches full force into the thrills. The Lost World is jam-packed with jaw-dropping special effects and pulse-pounding action, yet it stays smart enough and scary enough to feel fulfilling. It's the very best kind of summer popcorn entertainment, and without question the best sequel to Jurassic Park.

89/100

I guess I'll have to put this one under my guilty pleasures department. I've always been a sucker for dinosaurs, and with the filming technology available today, a film like this one and it's predecessor have just the right ingredients for a fun time. Granted, there are many elements in the story here that don't make a whole lot of sense, but there's that old saying about suspending disbelief, so that's what I'm applying here.

Besides all the puzzling plot elements, and you know what most of them are, here's one I picked up in an early scene. When Kelly (Vanessa Lee Chester) looks at the wall map showing 'Las Cinco Muertes', The Five Deaths, the island of Isla Sorna is at the center of that cluster. In the opening screen narrative it's stated that this island is eighty seven miles southwest of Isla Nublar, but none of the other islands on the map go by that name. So a bit of a continuity slip-up there.

You know what I got a kick out of? At one point, one of the principal characters upon arriving on the island, states that the Eisenberg Uncertainty Principle is in effect, that is, it's not possible to study something without changing it. That was oddly reminiscent of the original Star Trek Prime Directive; an interesting concept but virtually impossible to maintain, because once you're there, your actions have consequences.

Say, and how about that Roland (Pete Postlethwaite), is he a Nascar contender or what? Recall when the InGen team first arrive on Isla Sorna and he's driving on the jungle trails with Ludlow (Arliss Howard). I had to rewind the scene because he had his head turned completely around to Ludlow in the back seat for a full forty seconds at one point - how did he do that?

Well anyway, not a lot of credibility to the picture, but how can you not marvel at the imaginative CGI work creating those magnificent dinosaurs? Stego's, T-Rex's and all those mini-predators make for a couple hours of dino fun. You don't even have to pay attention to the scientists.

I really enjoy this movie. It's not as good as the first movie, but it is hard to top Jurassic Park. And not many sequels surpass their predecessors anyway. It's good time for everyone.

This movie is about Jurassic Park, the sequel. It turns out that dinosaurs were also kept on another island, where they were born and raised for a short time before being moved to the official park island. But when a research team go to capture them on camera and simply observe them, bad things happen. Whilst another team comes with bad intentions that get almost everyone hurt.

Overall, I give this movie a 7 out of 10, which in my ratings book is: Great.

The first movie and the novel it was based on were masterpieces of film and literature.

Sadly the same can not be said for the second film. This is one example of where the movie is actually better then the novel.

The Lost World by Michael Crichton was a good novel but nowhere near as exciting or as adventurous as the original.

The movie sequel improves it, but not by much. Actors such as Jeff Goldblum (who is always great), Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn and Pete Postlewaite all put on amazing performances. But the rest of the movie drags on in so many places. The movie could have been cut in sequences and made shorter as it would have allowed the pace to continue on more.

The special effects were amazing as were some of the stunt sequences involved. As cool as it was to see the T-Rex play havoc in San Diego at the end, it was not really needed. They could have ended it a different way back in the island.

Steven Spielberg had even gone on record saying this was an inferior film to the original. And he is right. But the movie is still entertaining, worth a watch and made us believe in dinosaurs again

With the apparent public discovery of the 'Site B' production island full of dinosaurs, John Hammond assembles a team to visit and document the area before it is exploited by others.

Included in the four man team are Dr. Ian Malcolm and his girlfriend, Dr. Sarah Harding.

When the team reaches the island, they soon discover the presence of another group of people. This new group however are not there for biological data but instead have something more sinister in mind.

After a series of events, both groups become stranded when all their communication equipment is lost.

It is then that the terror really begins as both groups scramble for their lives....

If ever there was going to be a sequel to a movie, this had to be the one, but the title should have been 'The cool one from Jurassic Park, has his own movie!!'.

And while it's nowhere near as good as the first movie, and even though it has some silly moments, and is a tad overlong, it's still a gripping movie.

The Spielberg magic is still there, it's evident when Moore is laying on the pane of glass and it's cracking, and the grass paths being formed by the Velociraptors in their opening scene.

But obviously the film has many flaws, Vince Vaughn, he's annoying, and then just vanishes before the final act. Goldblum is the star, but it looks like his job here is to say something funny every now and again, moan, and do that thing he did in the original and Independence Day where something happens and he spouts a line (think 'Checkmate').

Postlethwaite is the best thing here, but his subplot is way overlong and completely out of context with the rest of the film.

The final act is good, but doesn't carry the oomph factor we were all expecting.

So all in all it's a fine movie, not the best sequel in the world, but not as bad as the critics make it out to be.

It goes without saying that TLW has absolutely nothing on the original. JP beats the sequel on pretty much everything, no need to go into why. That being said, I honestly don't understand why this one gets more praise than JP3... JP3 is no masterpiece and once again NOTHING on the original. But, I do think it holds up better than TLW. I even think JW for all it was holds up better too because while it wasn't mind- blowing, it was fun for all it was! Indeed, TLW is by no means the worst film ever made but it is the weakest in the franchise in my opinion (probably an unpopular opinion).

Unlike the others, I have no attachment to the characters in this film. Goldblum is much more likable in the original as a secondary character not as the main protagonist. He commands no emotions and you don't feel invested in his cause (whatever it is...) As for the others, does anybody really care about them? Especially Vince Vaughn, I don't see what he ever brings to a film (not even dodgeball, it's made by the other actors). The only actor I appreciated in this film was Pete Postlethwaite's character, and he didn't have THAT huge a part.

I do like the heavy T-Rex focus of the film, everyone loves a good T-Rex, that can't be argued. The raptors don't get enough justice in TLW though, they aren't utilised enough and don't have the same terrifying appeal that they held in the first. Also, I won't comment too much on that ridiculous scene where Goldblum's daughter gymnastics a raptor through a window onto a spike... enough said really.

I don't like being harsh on this film as I am a big fan of the series. I was too young to go to the original release in 1993, but I can still remember going to TLW even though I was only five years old at the time. I liked it as a kid, but it doesn't translate well into adulthood for me... unlike JP which will always be welcome on my DVD shelf. Indeed, TLW was never going to live up to it's predecessor, and I am aware that most of it is based on the book, but I honestly can't help but think of TLW as an unfulfilled prospect that could have been much better than it was.