Jurassic Park Trilogy (2001) Review

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(More customer reviews)Steven Spielberg's 1993 blockbuster is still the best of the Jurassic trilogy, and the film retains all the amazement and anticipation it had when it was first released.
Taken from Michael Crichton's thrilling novel, Jurassic Park is one Spielberg's most expertly-crafted films. The special effects are from FX maestro Stan Winston, who did the special effects for Aliens (1986) and Terminator 2 (1991). The seamless combination of CGI and robotic creatures creates some truly terrifying action set- pieces.
Despite what some critics thought when the film was released, I feel that all the principal actors give good performances, especially Sam Neill as Alan Grant and Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm. But admittedly, the dinosaur creations are the main attraction, and Winston's monsters (which won him another Oscar after Terminator 2) are truly frightning. Great entertainment.
The Lost World is an exciting adventure starring Jeff Goldblum, Vince Vaughn, Julianne Moore and Pete Postlethwaite. The film picks up four years after the incident at Jurassic Park, where a corporate businessman Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard) plans to take dinosaurs off the second island (Isla Sorna, where dinosaurs have been breeding) and bring them to a theme park in San Diego.
Spielberg knows what the audience wants; the film has more dinosaurs, even better CGI and impressive animatronic dinosaurs from the maestro Stan Winston. The action throughout the film is exciting and while not as astonishing as Jurassic, the effects are first-rate. Although the action is good, the story isn't one of Spielberg's best. That said, the principal cast are fine, especially Goldblum as Malcolm ("Ooh, aah, that's how it always starts, and then later the running and screaming") and Postewaite as Roland Tembo, a game hunter intent on shooting one of the Tyrannosaurs. Silly in parts, it's still an exciting adventure movie, with enough action and light humour to satisfy audiences.
Joe Johnston, taking over the reigns from Spielberg, has created an adventure that starts off quickly and hardly ever lets up. Sam Neill, returning to the role which made him famous in the original, is a stronger presence than in the first Jurassic, and the supporting cast of William H. Macy and Tea Leoni manage not to get lost amidst the barrage of CGI dinosaurs. The special effects are, of course the main stars, with Stan Winston's excellent dinosaurs surpass the ones for the original. And the plot (a bunch of people get stuck on an island with dangerous dinosaurs) provides plenty of great scares (a scene with nasty pterodactyls is the high-point) and fast-paced action to satisfy audiences. Great fun.
The trilogy DVD extras are first- rate, with superb picture and sound for all the discs. The special features are exceptional, with a 50 minute 'making of' of the film. Most interesting, however, is the footage of early pre-production meetings with Spielberg and the FX team discussing how certain shots and effects should be done. Also there are storyboards, production photos and web links.
The extras for The Lost Wolrd are fantastic, with a comprehensive 'making of', deleted scenes, trailers and ton of production info. The highlight on the JP3 Disc is the Commantary from the special effects team of Stan Winston, Michael Lantieri and some of the crew. Also, you get a series of 'making of's and trailers. Best of all is Disc 4 "Beyond Jurassic Park" featuring over two hours of never-before-available bonus material from all three films. Excellent entertainment that is a must-have for Jurassic fans.

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Under the Mountain (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a terrific movie, with great performances from its young stars. The writing and direction really brought out the best in them. What's more, the world the story portrays is great fun and a little scary.
Highly recommended. It's good stuff.

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Teenage twins Rachel and Theo travel to Auckland to stay with relatives following the sudden death of their mother. Where there was once a psychic bond between them, now there is a rift as Theo, particularly, refuses to confront his grief. Rachel reaches out to him, but is rebuffed. Staying with their Aunt Kay and Uncle Cliff on Lake Pupuke, the twins are fascinated by the volcanic lake and the smell that seems to come from the creepy old Wilberforce house around the shore. They visit Mt. Eden, where Theo sees Mr. Jones, a strange old man from whose hands fire seems to glow. When it seems the twins are being watched – and that the Wilberforces can smell them – Theo resolves to investigate the Wilberforce house. Inside, he and Rachel find what can only be an alien environment. They overhear Mr. Wilberforce talking about something stirring beneath the ground. He says he will kill the twins if they find “the fire-raiser." Rachel is alarmed and reaches out to Theo but, terrified of getting close to anyone since his mother’s death, he pushes her away and sets out alone to find the fire-raiser – the man he saw on the mountaintop.

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In the Mouth of Madness (1995) Review

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(More customer reviews)Before I get into my review of the film itself, let me say that one of the other reviewers is quite correct. The commentary on this DVD is hands-down the most mind-numbing exercise in boredom ever. "So, you used a soft focus back lighting here to deepen the shadows, right?" "yep". Not a real quote from the commentary, but it gives you a taste of the tedious nature of their conversation.
The movie, on the otherhand is anything but boring. I had been a Carpenter fan for quite some time when I went to see this in the theater. Most of Carpenter's films seemed to be centered around a certain atmosphere. IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS is wrapped around a concept. If enough people believe something, does it become reality?
Sam Neill plays John Trent, an insurance investigator who specializes in smoking out con artists. He is hired to find Sutter Cane (played with relish by Jurgen Prochnow), the world's leading author. The search leads to a town that shouldn't exist; Hobb's End, a town featured prominently in Sutter Cane's books.
What follows is a mixture of John Carpenter atmosphere, H.P. Lovecraftian madness, and deep concepts. Even if you don't want to think that much, you can still enjoy the film for it's terrifying beauty, disturbing images, and great performances by a fine cast that includes Charlton Heston and Bernie Casey. Although not taken directly from any one H.P. Lovecraft story, the locations and creatures are probably the best depiction of Cthulhu-type content ever filmed. Even the title of the movie sounds very much like "In The Mountains of Madness", a Lovecraft story. It does a fine job of honoring Lovecraft's work without copying any of his ideas directly.
If I was grading the film by itself it would definately get 5 stars, but I am rating the DVD as a whole. I must take off a star for the horrible commentary track. The DVD comes in a paper case with a plastic snap lock. Hopefully someone will release a deluxe edition of this picture and add some meaty extras, but until then, get this DVD if you enjoy a good scare.
One of John Carpenter's last truly scary films. An all-around gem.

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IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS - DVD Movie

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