The Lost World: Jurassic Park (film)

Preceded by: Jurassic Park Followed by: Jurassic Park III

The Lost World: Jurassic Park is a 1997 movie and sequel to the blockbuster Jurassic Park. The film was adapted by David Koepp from Michael Crichton's novel The Lost World, and was directed by Steven Spielberg.

Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough reprise their roles from the previous film. They are joined by Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite, Vince Vaughn, Richard Schiff, Arliss Howard and Peter Stormare. Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello make brief appearances.

Plot summary

Four years have passed since the disaster at Jurassic Park, and John Hammond no longer leads InGen. The company is taken over by his ruthless nephew, Peter Ludlow. Ian Malcolm, meanwhile, despite having signed an agreement that forbade him from ever divulging any information on his visit to Isla Nublar, reveals that InGen cloned dinosaurs for use in a theme park, which almost destroys his credibility as he cannot support his claims under InGen's threat of legal action.

John Hammond calls for Malcolm's help. Seemingly, the animals on Isla Nublar surely are dead, but InGen had a second island, named Isla Sorna, where the original research was performed. A hurricane forced an evacuation of this island, and dinosaurs continue to thrive there. Peter Ludlow persuades InGen's investors that a dinosaur theme park is still a profitable idea, and makes plans to move into this second island and capture the animals to bring them to San Diego, where InGen is finishing construction on a Jurassic Park arena. Hammond, on the other hand, is trying to prevent this: if he gathers a team of experts to document the dinosaurs in their habitat, they might save those animals from a life of captivity. Malcolm initially refuses, but then learns that his girlfriend, paleontologist Sarah Harding, is already on the island by herself. He agrees to go in an attempt to convince Sarah to leave. As he prepares for the trip we are introduced to his daughter, Kelly Curtis (one of the three kids he mentions having in the first film).

The rest of Hammond's team consists of Malcolm, engineer Eddie Carr (who built the custom vehicles the team use, including two solar-powered Mercedes SUVs and a special trailer including a mobile laboratory), and wildlife documentary maker Nick Van Owen. They arrive at the island and find Sarah in the wild, taking photographs. After escaping an alarmed Stegosaurus herd, the group returns to their camp site to find Kelly, who had snuck into the trailer before it left for the island. Malcolm, furious, tries to contact the boat which brought them to Isla Sorna. Unfortunately this is interrupted as InGen has officially now sent their second team to the island to hunt down and capture the dinosaurs that inhabit it for transportation back to InGen's facilities.

THe InGen Hunters arrive with custom vehicles and equipment, carried by Chinook and Huey helicopters. InGen's team is led by hunter Roland Tembo and his aide/partner Ajay Sidhu, and mercenaries are led by Dieter Stark. The team's consultant is paleontologist Robert Burke.

By the time night falls, the InGen team has already captured several dinosaurs, mostly herbivores such as a Parasaurolophus, a Pachycephalosaurus, a Triceratops and many others. As Ludlow prepares for a satellite video transmission to the InGen board Nick reveals to the rest that Hammond insisted if Ludlow showed up he was to free the animals if they were captured. Nick and Sarah then sneak into the camp to free the captive dinosaurs and cut the fuel lines on the hunter jeeps. In the ensuing carnage, car explosions set off fires which quickly spread through the camp. One burning vehicle is jettisoned into the air, and nearly kills Tembo and Sidhu.

Tembo, meanwhile, is hunting for his most sought-after trophy; a male Tyrannosaurus. He uses the baby T. rex that he captured and Ludlow injured, waiting for the animal to save his offspring. He hears the rumble back in InGen settlement. Together with Sidhu, he leaves for the camp. Nick finds and frees the baby, and brings it back to the trailer so that he and Sarah can set the baby's broken leg. Malcolm, Kelly, and Eddie hide in a "high hide," an observation platform that can be hoisted to the treetops. Malcolm returns to the trailer just before the T. rex parents arrive in search of their child. Sarah returns the baby to its parents, who leave, only to return a few moments later to attack the trailer. The adult Tyrannosaurus dinosaurs leave after forcing the trailer into a position where its back Trailer is hanging off a cliff with Malcolm, Nick, and Sarah trapped inside. Eddie decides to help, and leaves Kelly alone in the high hide. He takes the other SUV and rides to the trailer. He ties a rope to one of the trees and throws it down to Malcolm, Sarah and Nick. Eddie then hooks the SUV to the trailer and tries to pull it back. The T. rex parents return and eat Eddie. The trailer falls down the cliff, but its occupants manage to survive holding the rope Eddie tied to the tree. The InGen team finds and helps them climb back up.

Without a choice, Malcolm, Sarah, Nick and Kelly join the rival InGen team, because the animal attack destroyed all communications equipment and now they have to migrate to the formerly inhabited InGen operations building, so they can use the communications center to radio for help. Ludlow warns that the center is a preferred Velociraptor nesting site.

During a break on the hike to the center, Dieter leaves the group to use the bathroom and gets lost (his driver Carter is listening to headphones and does not hear Dieter's calls for help). Dieter is killed by Compsognathus soon after getting lost and the others fail to notice his disappearance until it is too late. At night, the group's camp is attacked by Tyrannosaurus, and several people, including Carter and Burke, are killed during this attack. The survivors continue their journey, and are ambushed by several Velociraptor as they go through a high and dense rush-bed.

Malcolm and his friends run for the buildings while raptors are busy with others. Nick rushes into the building and radios for help, while Malcolm, Sarah and Kelly manage to survive a raptor attack. A rescue helicopter takes them away, and on the flight they see that Tembo has incapacitated the male Tyrannosaurus with two tranquilizer darts, and it is being prepared to be shipped to the mainland. Ludlow also orders the baby Tyrannosaurus to be found and brought back to San Diego.

InGen invites all prestigious investors to the docks to witness the arrival of the Tyrannosaurus. The ship does not slow down, and crashes into the dock. Guards board the ship and find that the remains of crew members that have been killed litter the ship. A guard opens the cargo door in an attempt to look for survivors and the Tyrannosaurus storms out of the cargo bay, and heads into San Diego. As Ludlow is surveying the destruction, Malcolm says simply "Now you're John Hammond".

Malcolm and Sarah ask Ludlow, who is in total shock, where the baby is. Ludlow says that the baby was brought by plane, and is at the zoo complex. Malcolm drives to the complex and picks up the baby, while the adult Tyrannosaurus runs wild through the city. Malcolm and Sarah bait the creature with its baby. They drive back to the docks and place the baby dinosaur into the cargo hold of the ship. Ludlow sees them, and follows them into the cargo hold. Malcolm and Sarah escape the ship as Ludlow tries to take the baby back. The Tyrannosaurus rushes into the cargo hold; meanwhile Sarah prepares the sedative dart gun and veterinary tranquilizers, and shoots the T. rex as Malcolm closes the cargo hold door, trapping the animal inside. Ludlow becomes a meal for the baby rex.

Finally, Malcolm, Sarah and Kelly rest in their home, in front of the TV, which is showing the ship cruising back to the island. John Hammond is then interviewed, pleading that the island be preserved and isolated, for the dinosaurs require human absence in order to best survive. Then you can see an open plain at Isla Sorna. There is the Tyrannosaurus couple with their infant and the Stegosaurus herd with their infant. Two Pteranodon come flying, and one of them lands on a branch and shrieks. The end credits roll.

Cast

Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm: A mathematician and chaos theorist. After barely surviving the Incident on Isla Nublar, Malcolm is more cynical and jaded as a result of his experience. He remains the voice of reason concerning InGen's creations.
Julianne Moore as Dr. Sarah Harding: A behavioral palaeontologist who is said to be at the top of her field, Sarah is tough and independent, which makes things difficult for her boyfriend, Dr. Malcolm.
Pete Postlethwaite as Roland Tembo: A Big-Game Hunter, who, although capable of violence, adheres to his own strict moral code.
Arliss Howard as Peter Ludlow: Hammond's conniving nephew; a greedy and manipulative businessman first, last, and always.
Richard Attenborough as John Hammond: The former CEO of InGen, a repentant Hammond takes steps to redeem himself and preserve Isla Sorna.
Vince Vaughn as Nick Van Owen: A well-traveled and experienced "documentarian," photo journalist, and environmentalist.
Vanessa Lee Chester as Kelly Curtis Malcolm: Malcolm's young daughter from a failed marriage, who often feels estranged and alienated from her father. She tries to get closer to Malcolm by stowing-away in Eddie's Trailers.
Peter Stormare as Dieter Stark: A sadistic hunter, and the Second-in-Command of the InGen Harvesters under Roland Tembo.
Harvey Jason as Ajay Sidhu: An experienced Tracker from India, who is the immensely loyal long-time hunting partner of Roland Tembo.
Richard Schiff as Eddie Carr: A timid and sardonic "Field Equipment Expert," who heroically gives his life for his friends.
Thomas F. Duffy as Dr. Robert Burke: An incompetent palaeontologist who is proven to be incorrect more than once.
Thomas Rosales JR. as Carter: Dieter's personal driver and perhaps only friend, whose lack of attention results in his boss being ripped apart by Compsognathuses.
Ariana Richards as Alexis "Lex" Murphy: Hammond's granddaughter and a survivor of Isla Nublar. She greets Malcolm when he arrives at the mansion and informs him that not everything is as it should be.
Joseph Mazzello as Timothy "Tim" Murphy: Lex's younger brother, who also survived the events on Isla Nublar.
Camilla Belle as Cathy Bowman: A young girl who is attacked by Compies when her family stumbles upon Site B during a yacht cruise. She survives the assault, but the incident allows Peter Ludlow to take over InGen Corporation.
Cyd Strittmatter as Deirdre Bowman: Cathy's mother, an constant worrier who fears for her daughter's safety.
Robin Sachs as Paul Bowman: The patriarch of the Bowman family. He assures his wife that Cathy will be fine on her own, unaware of which island they're on.
Geno Silva as Carlos: A local Costa Rican barge captain, Carlos is hired to take Malcolm's team to Site B. However, he refuses to approach the interior of the island, stating that he fears the so-called "Five Deaths."
Colton James as Benjamin: Citizen of San Diego during the imfamous San Diego incident.
Bernard Shaw as Himself: A news anchor for the CNN TV Station who reports on the aftermath of the San Diego Incident.

Production

After the release of the original Jurassic Park book, Michael Crichton was pressured by fans for a sequel novel. Having never written a sequel, he initially refused, until the success of the first Jurassic Park film prompted Steven Spielberg himself to request one.^[1] After the book was published in 1995, production on the sequel film began in September 1996.^[2]

The Lost World was filmed at Eureka, San Diego, and Kauai. Although the ending takes place in San Diego, only one sequence is actually shot there, where the InGen helicopter flies over the wharf and banks towards the city. The other sequences were all shot in northern California.^[3]

Spielberg suggested the Tyrannosaurus rex attack through San Diego be added to the film story, inspired by a similar attack scene of a Brontosaurus in London in the 1925 film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World.^[4]

Many elements from the original Jurassic Park novel that were not in the first film were used for Lost World. The opening sequence of the vacationing family's young daughter being attacked by dinosaurs was inspired by a scene where a Procompsognathus escapes to Costa Rica and attacks young children,^[5] and Dieter Stark's death is analogous to John Hammond's compy-related death in the novel. Also, Nick, Sarah, Kelly, and Burke being trapped behind a waterfall by the female T. rex is taken from the first novel, where Tim and Lex are trapped behind a man-made waterfall with the T. rex attempting to eat them.

According to Jack Horner part of the waterfall scene was written in as a favor for him by Spielberg. Burke greatly resembles Horners' rival Robert Bakker. In real life Bakker argues for a predatory Tyrannosaurus rex while Horner views it as primarily a scavenger. So Spielberg wrote Burke into this part to have him killed by the Tyrannosaurus Rex as a favor for Horner. After the film came out Bakker, who recognized himself in Burke and loved it, actually sent Horner a message saying "See, I told you T. rex was a hunter!".^[6]

Mercedes-Benz's new sport-utility vehicle, the M-class, had not yet been introduced and made its first appearance in the film.^[7] As a result, on the original VHS copies of The Lost World: Jurassic Park, a Mercedes-Benz ad appears before the film.^[8]

Differences from the novel

It should be noted that the list of people who survived to the end of the book version of Jurassic Park differs from the survivor count in that movie. It appears that Crichton may have killed off some of the characters in between the two books to make the book version of The Lost World compatible with the ending of Jurassic Park, the movie. The most glaring example of this is Malcolm, who dies in the first book (but not the first movie), but is revealed in the second book to only have been "very close" to death. John Hammond's is also alive, whereas his book counterpart died in the first novel, however, it should be noted that Hammond was only killed in the novel, but survived the film.

The film version of The Lost World is substantially different from that of the novel. The InGen hunters replace Lewis Dodgson and his two henchmen as the villains in the movie, and neither Dodgson nor Biosyn are mentioned. Certain characters were eliminated for the movie version (Richard Levine and Jack Thorne, though they were in early drafts) and instead made into a composite character, Nick Van Owen. Additional attributes of the novel's Levine were also given to Sarah Harding for the movie version; most notably, the character's career (in the novel, Levine was the group's token paleontologist and Harding was an animal behaviorist. For the movie, Harding became a "behavioral paleontologist"). The two stowaway children from the novel were also made into one character, Malcolm's daughter (whose name, Kelly Curtis, was that of the girl from the novel).

The main characters, Malcolm and Harding, suffer an inversion of roles in the movie. Crichton presents Sarah as a strong woman, from the physical and psychological point of view, muscular and used to safari. Malcolm is the introspective studious man, crippled, weak and not suited for adventures.

In the scene of the mobile laboratory sliding on the cliff, Sarah takes a broken Malcolm on her shoulders and brings him up climbing by the strength of her only arms and legs. In the film the roles are inverted and much more conventional: she falls and it's Malcolm who saves her.

A dinosaur species was also cut from the film: Carnotaurus. In Crichton's book, this large carnivorous dinosaur had a remarkable ability to camouflage with its surroundings with much detail. This species was added in the arcade game, however, albeit inside of the laboratory instead of outside.

Most significantly, there is no T. rex rampage through San Diego in the novel.

Some shots and sequences in the movie were actually taken from the original Jurassic Park novel rather than the Lost World novel, such as the opening sequence with the vacationing family on an Isla Sorna beach or the idea of a boat carrying dinosaurs heading for the mainland. Another concept taken from the first book was the waterfall scene. Several people flee from a T.rex and take shelter in the cavern of a waterfall, as the T.rex desperately attempts to reach his potential victims. In the first book, Lex and Tim were in the cavern of the waterfall as the Rex attempted to drag Tim out using its tongue.

In the Lost World novel, only one of the two trailers falls off the cliff, but it doesn't explode.

Only Malcolm and Sarah were in the trailers, and Eddie Carr is younger in the novel.

Eddie Carr is killed by Raptors instead of two Tyrannosaurs. Jack Thorne is the one who saves Malcolm and Sarah in the novel instead of Eddie, and is not eaten.

Dinosaurs featured

These are dinosaurs and other extinct creatures featured in the Lost World movie:

For a complete list see Isla Sorna

Sexual dimorphism

Since many of the film's dinosaurs had been presumably breeding for a while, sexual dimorphism is reflected in a few of the film's dinosaurs, most notably in the T. rex. The male tyrannosaur is much bulkier and has a different color scheme than the female (apparently green), who appears much like her JP counterpart, and has more facial markings. The male also has noticeable battle scars to emphasize injuries he may have sustained during mating rituals.

List of paleontological faults and inaccuracies

Some of the Jurassic Park dinosaurs and the Isla Sorna's ecosystem were inaccurate or highly speculative. These are some of the faults and speculations:

Scientists aren't sure if Compsognathus hunt in packs or alone.
One Velociraptor leapt twenty feet in the air to attack. It is highly unlikely that real Velociraptors could jump that far or high.
Historically, the dinosaurs in the movie would not have lived at the same time. Thus, it would be difficult for them to adapt as easily to the environment and the other competing species.
The Stegosaurus's head is too broad; there is probably no throat pouch, and there are only 4 digits on the manus and all have hooves.
The Stegosauruses are considerably larger than real ones. Actual Stegosauruses are 7-9m long (about 21-27 feet).
The Velociraptors are also smaller than in the film, and are more anatomically similar to Deinonychus than their jackal-sized counterparts.
With entirely different plants, poisons, bacteria, water, and even air, it would be fairly difficult for the dinosaurs to survive in our atmosphere.

Seeing that the dinosaurs in this movie were genetically engineered with frog DNA and the like, an easy explanation to these faults is that they would behave in whatever manner the bioengineers (read: the moviemakers) wanted, irrespective of how dinosaurs might actually have behaved 65 million years ago.

Score

John Williams was again asked to score the second installment of the Jurassic Park series. Few motifs and themes carry on from the first film. The score for The Lost World: Jurassic Park is, instead, almost an entirely different score. Due to the hectic schedule and many changes post John Williams involvement, the score was heavily edited. The Album is available on CD from MCA but has yet to be released in its completion.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (Film Score) article contains more information on the topic.

Box office

This film broke many box office records upon its release on May 23rd, 1997. It took an incredible $72.1 million gross on its opening weekend ($92.6 million for the four-day Memorial Day holiday) in the US, which was by far the biggest opening weekend taking at the time. It also took the highest single day box office taking of $26.1 million on Sunday, May 25th, and it became the fastest film to pass the $100 million mark, achieving the feat in just five and a half days. The film eventually ended up grossing $620 million worldwide, becoming (at the time) the sixth highest-grossing film of all time, and helped to launch the movie careers of Richard Schiff, Vince Vaughn and Julianne Moore.

Cultural references

The cargo ship Venture transporting the Tyrannosaurus rex to San Diego is a homage to another ship with the same name that transports King Kong to New York in the King Kong movies and later in Peter Jackson's remake.

In an obvious homage to Godzilla, the Tyrannosaurus rampage through San Diego features a brief clip of Japanese tourists, shouting something in Japanese. Translated, they're shouting "We left Japan to get away from this!"

One of the characters in the film, Dr. Robert Burke, is obviously based on paleontolgist Robert Bakker whose theories on warm-blooded dinosaurs helped to inspire Jurassic Park. Interestingly, Tim Murphy mentions "a guy named Bakker" in the first Jurassic Park film; therefore, both Bakker and Burke exist in the same world.

Goofs

When Sarah is clinging for her life on the roof of the warehouse, her hand is first shown holding the support between the tiles. However, in the next scene after the dinosaur falls off the roof, her hand is now shown gripping the tile.
The part where the ship crashed into the docks is very unlikely given the geography of the San Diego Bay and the location of the loading docks. The ship could not have come straight in, but would have had to alter course several times.
Many of the animals have mistaken sizes.

Awards

The movie was nominated for the Academy Award for Visual Effects.

This was nominated for "Best Action Sequence" in the MTV Movie Awards 1998 for the part where the T. rex is destroying San Diego looking for his son.

Trivia

Spielberg suggested the Tyrannosaurus rex attack through San Diego be added to the film story, inspired by similar attack scene of a Brontosaurus in London in the 1925 film adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World. This replaced the original ending, featuring an extended Raptor sequence and an attack by Pteranodons while escaping from the Island. Instead of the CNN news footage of the T. rex returning to the island, the final scene would have been Hammond's funeral, where Malcolm delivers a eulogy. The dinosaurs would remain undiscovered by the general public.
Spielberg was approached by the producers of Swingers who needed the director's approval for use of the theme from Jaws. Spielberg asked to see footage of the clip that would eventually feature the music, which featured Vince Vaughn, who caught the director's eye. Spielberg soon offered Vaughn a part in The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which provided a breakout role for Vaughn.
This was the first film to feature Universal's new logo, which is still used as of 2008.
Mercedes-Benz's new sport-utility vehicle, the M-class, had not yet been introduced. Its appearance in the film was strategically placed, along with full-page ads in several newspapers, such as USA Today, touting the vehicle's appearance in 'The Lost World.' As a result, on the original VHS copies of The Lost World, a Mercedes-Benz ad appears before the film.
Screenwriter David Koepp has a cameo as the man in San Diego who is eaten by the Tyrannosaurus rex. When he breaks from the fleeing masses and tries to enter a video store, the Tyrannosaurus singles him out and devours him. He is listed in the credits as "Unlucky Bastard."
The call of the Parasaurolophus was also the same sound used for the dewbacks in the Star Wars films. It is also very similar to some of the noises made by the Triceratops and Stegosaurus in the same film.
Dieter Stark's death is related to John Hammond's compy-related death in the first Jurassic Park novel.
The end is said to take place in San Diego. There is actually only one sequence shot in San Diego, where the InGen helicopter flies over the wharf and banks towards the city. The other sequences were all shot in northern California.

Reaction

Although the film did well box-office wise, it received mixed reviews. Many of the fans praised it as a worthy follow-up, while others were less impressed. Some of the concerns centered on the characters' reckless and foolish actions (example: Sarah carrying the vest with the infant T. rex blood even though she knew the T. rex could track it), the character of Kelly (who uses gymnastics to attack a Velociraptor), paleontologist Robert Burke (who during the T-Rex chase sees a snake go down his shirt and instead of a snake bite runs through the waterfall to get eaten by the T-Rex) and the Tyrannosaur's rampage through San Diego.

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[6] Gritton, Lance. Personal interview. 14 Apr 2007.

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