Welcome to two of the biggest (in several senses) DVD releases of the year. Although they (partially) share the same name, the same director (Steven Spielberg) and the same source material author (Michael Crichton), the difference between these two epics lies--for me--in the treatments. Jurassic Park's superior narrative about a mysterious island resort where the impossible has occurred (dinosaurs recreated) and the improbable (that the dinos will be happy as theme park attractions) is being tested on an advance band of tourists, works so well because everything is revealed gradually. In The Lost World, by contrast, the T-Rex is out of the bag, so to speak, and the film is essentially an admittedly suspenseful but nonetheless predictable humans-on-the-menu romp. Both discs feature pristine picture and stellar Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, extensive "making of" docs, storyboards, production photos, and more, with the edge going to Jurassic Park for the fascinating "sitting in" on a pre-production meeting showcasing Spielberg's velociraptor-agile mind. Jurassic Park is highly recommended and an Editor's Choice. The Lost World: Jurassic Park is recommended. (R. Pitman)
Jurassic Park; The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Universal, 127 min., PG-13, $26.98 Vol. 15, Issue 6
Jurassic Park; The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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