JURASSIC PARK III

JURASSIC PARK III (promotional abbreviation: JP3, also JURASSIC PARK 3 [from IMDb]). Joe Johnston, dir. Michael Crichton (IMDB: "character," we assume for creating Dr. Alan Grant); Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor (III), script. Steve Spielberg, exec. prod. USA: Amblin Entertainment, United International Pictures (=UIP), Universal (prod.) / Amblin, UIP, Universal (dist.), 2001. Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Téa Leoni, Alessandro Nivola, Trevor Morgan, Michael Jeter, featured players.

Interesting for its commentary on brains and bodies (and what counts for survival), and for self-conscious revisiting of old questions in SF/Horror on exploration, authority, and playing God (see Peter Biskind's "Pods and Blobs" discussion in is Seeing Is Believing [1983] and elsewhere). JP3 is relevant here for the tension between the dangers of biotechnology in cloning dinosaurs and the glory and beauty of the dinosaurs produced, and for the images of technology slowly overcome by the vegetation of the jungle (cf. and contrast ice machine in MOSQUITO COAST). At least one shot gives us hatched dinosaur eggs within a ruined machine within a trashed building within the over-running jungle, perhaps suggesting that the technology-produced organic is out of confinement and in our world. Note also the uselessness of macho weaponry against T. rex and bigger brutes, and that it's not even considered in saving people from intelligent, social, communicating raptors.

Discussed briefly but very usefully as part of the Jurassic Park series, and in terms of the development of CGI, by Stacey Abbot, "Final Frontiers: Computer-Generated Imagery and the Science Fiction Film" (pp. 94-95).

Sidenote: For the continuing use of live human actors, note story told on the set of CAROLINA (2003) by Alessandro Nivola, who played Albert Morris in CAROLINA and, to the point here, Billy Brennan in JP3. Part of the sophisticated SpFX of Billy's being seized and dropped by a Pteranodon (clip here)[1] consisted of Nivola's being lifted by a crane and dropped into the water. Some fine effects can still be done with mechanisms and (for an alliterating cyberpunk term) "meat." — RDE (from his brief career in the film biz)

RDE, early; 6Nov22