Jurassic Park III

"No force on earth or heaven could get me on that island."

Years after the events of Jurassic Park, Dr. Alan Grant (Neill) has become famous due to his actions on Isla Nublar.  He is trying to use his celebrity to get money to continue his current dig.  At the dig he is met by Paul (Macy) and Amanda (Leoni) Kirby, who want to take him along on a special fly-over the island of Isla Sorna to see the dinosaurs that are living there.  He reluctantly agrees and takes along his assistant Billy Brennan (Nivola).

However, the Kirby's have not been completely honest.  They intend to land on the island to locate their son Eric (Morgan) who has been missing for 8 weeks.  Their calls to Eric attract a Spinosaurus which kills a few members of their group and causes the plane to crash.  With no other choice, Grant leads the group to find a way off the island.  They stumble onto a Velociraptor nest and are soon on the run from the raptors.  Can they find Eric and avoid the carnivorous dinosaurs?


After the success of Jurassic Park and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Universal Studios wanted to make another installment in the series.  Steven Spielberg was involved in another project and turned over directing duties to Joe Johnston.  Michael Crichton only wrote 2 "Jurassic Park" novels, which served as the basis of the other films.  While he was not involved in this film, some of the plot points from the books were used this film.  The script, written by Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne, and Jim Taylor, used some ideas that were planned for the other films, while crafting a new story.

Once again paleontologist Jack Horner served as a consultant on the film.  This time he even gets name-checked in the film.  Horner served as the inspiration for the character of Dr. Alan Grant, who returned for this film (again portrayed by Sam Neill).  In this film, they introduce a predator even bigger than the Tyrannosaurus Rex: Spinosaur.  The Spinosaur is the dinosaur on the poster for the film.  The film also focused on Pteranodon, who originally appeared at the end of the second film.

This film is darker than it's predecessors and loses some of the fun in the process.  It is still a mindless thriller, but the suspense and wonder is gone.  It doesn't want the audience to be awestruck by the dinosaurs, it just wants to raise the stakes.  This is the only film that isn't based around the park.  It's isn't bad, it just isn't as good as the rest of the series.

After the poor showing of this film, it took 14 years for a new installation in the series: Jurassic World (in 2015).


Jurassic Park III (2001) 92 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for intense sci-fi terror and violence
Director: Joe Johnston
Starring:Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant
William H. Macy as Paul Kirby
Tea Leoni as Amanda Kirby
Alessandro Nivola as Billy Brennan
Trevor Morgan as Eric Kirby
Michael Jeter as Udesky
John Diehl as Cooper
Bruce A. Young as Nash
Laura Dern as Ellie