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JURASSIC PARK - A Thread 65 Million Years In The Making

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That's pretty crazy. The engineering involved for simply entertainment is astonishing.

Does anyone know if Stan Winston studios has other locations or if they outsource? Because my father has mentioned on a few occasions that he remembers hearing roars from this factory across the street from where he was living (Watertown, CT) and that one day he saw them outdoors, testing the movements of a giant dinosaur head because they didn't have the room inside. Not sure if for JP or it could have been for a b-movie, documentary, museum or dino-park but he insists JP because it's the most popular.
 

TriniTrin

war of titties grampa
Final (unpainted) Factory Entertainment Dilophosaurus Bobblehead:

diloi.jpg


Huge improvement over the first version, I can't wait to see it painted!
Yay! My favorite from the movie! I will buy
 

strafer

member
Nice read

I have a theory about Jurassic Park.

It was re-released in 3D last week to mark its 20th anniversary, so it seems a good time to share a theory I have about this beautifully crafted monster movie.

But it is a theory that requires a little context.

In 1992, when Steven Spielberg made Jurassic Park, he was not the celebrated director you know today - accepted into the canon of great auteurs and with two Oscars on the mantelpiece.

No, Spielberg was struggling. The blush was off the rose. He was no longer the wunderkind who had burst on to the scene in his 20s with the breakout TV movie Duel and the biggest-grossing film of all time, Jaws. Jaws was now 18 years behind him and he was in his mid-40s.

His last two pictures, Hook and Always, had flopped and were dismissed by critics as syrupy and insincere. Before that, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade had won praise, but not exactly broken new ground.

And then there were his attempts at serious "adult drama" with the Color Purple in 1985 and Empire of the Sun in 1987. I personally like those films, but critics at the time were sniffy and derisive.

The main criticisms were that he was borrowing heavily from his idol David Lean and was failing to mature into a great director. Many felt he was trapped in childhood.

Desson Howe at the Washington Post wrote:

"In a way, Spielberg is to film what Michael Jackson is to pop. Both grew up within their respective arts rather than in real life, their human growth on perpetual hold."

And:

"Spielberg seems unable to come to terms with anything real."

Hal Hinson, also at the Washington Post, wrote:

"You can feel Steven Spielberg trying to reach into a deeper part of himself, to get past the boy-genius image that the public has of him -- and that perhaps he has of himself -- and bring the adult artist to life...

''In telling the story, Spielberg has revealed more about his own deep-seated ambivalence over leaving his childhood world behind than he may have realised. It's a film about the moviemaker's anxiety over growing up. In 'Empire' and his other films too, adults carry a kind of taint: They're outside the hallowed circle of innocence. And with this picture, Spielberg signals his realisation that to grow as an artist he must venture outside that circle as well. But the movie is also a symbol of his reluctance; it leaves him caught between the two worlds, with one foot in the circle and one foot out.''

In other words, he was seen as a lightweight struggling to mature as an artist.

So, in 1992, Spielberg was a wildly successful director responsible for many of the most lucrative movies of all time, but he had a lot to prove.

I also think he wanted to be accepted by the Hollywood community as an artist as well as a director of lucrative movies. And there is one way you can be dramatically embraced by that community - an Oscar for best director.

Spielberg was nominated for best director for Raiders of the Lost Ark, ET and Close Encounters, but won nothing. The Color Purple and Jaws were not nominated for best director, but were nominated for best picture. As Ben Affleck knows, that is the Oscar equivalent of saying: "Good day to you, sir. I. Said. Good. Day.''

Check out this video of Spielberg learning he has been passed over for a best director nomination in 1977 for Jaws.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2mgrxvTdl-Q

He is clearly disappointed at "getting beaten out by Fellini". He makes this little speech straight into the camera:

"This is called commercial backlash. I don't know if anyone knows the words commercial backlash, but when a film makes a lot of money, people resent it. Everybody loves a winner, but nobody loves a winner.''

Fifteen years later, in 1992, Spielberg was still waiting for that best-director Oscar. His attempts at serious movies had not met with universal praise and he appeared to have lost his touch with the smart blockbuster fare that made his name. In fact, he had been snubbed at the Oscars again and again. He was at a creative crossroads and I believe Jurassic Park subtly reflects this brief identity crisis.

I think the character of Jurassic Park creator John Hammond represents where Spielberg found himself creatively in 1992.

8641464.jpg


Obviously, Jurassic Park can be enjoyed as just a great monster movie and there is an obvious message about the dangers of playing God. But I think there is also a subtle personal message in there from Spielberg. It's just a little facet of the film that seems to be personal. It seems to be a story about a creative showman who is struggling to find meaning in his work, take his skills to the next level and win praise from his peers.

For a start, Hammond is played by prestigious, and Oscar-winning, director Richard Attenborough. A living embodiment of a director embraced by the Hollywood community. He won best director for Gandhi in 1982 - his fellow nominee in that category was Spielberg with E.T.

Also, consider two scenes in the film. The first is where Jeff Goldblum's character, Dr Ian Malcolm, is questioning Hammond's ambitious Jurassic Park venture. He says:

"You stood on the shoulders of geniuses to accomplish something as fast as you could, and before you even knew what you had, you patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you're selling it."

Does this sound familiar? It sounds like an excerpt from one of the reviews of Empire of the Sun. The criticism of the merchandising, the criticism of his rapid ascent at a young age, the criticism of borrowing heavily from David Lean or "standing on the shoulders of geniuses". It is all there. It feels like Spielberg critiquing himself.

Then there is a key scene later in the film. Hammond is despondent. His park is falling to pieces and his niece and nephew are lost in the raptor-infested jungle. He talks to Laura Dern's character about his predicament. He says:

"You know the first attraction I ever built when I came down south from Scotland? It was a flea circus, Petticoat Lane. Really quite wonderful. We had a wee trapeze, and a merry-go... carousel and a seesaw. They all moved, motorised of course, but people would say they could see the fleas. 'Oh, I see the fleas, mummy! Can't you see the fleas?' Clown fleas and high wire fleas and fleas on parade... But with this place, I wanted to show them something that wasn't an illusion. Something that was real, something that they could see and touch. An aim not devoid of merit.''

I don't think it is too hard to make the leap from Hammond's desire to move on from the flea circus to something more meaningful and Spielberg's need to mature as an artist and be accepted by his community.

Hammond and Spielberg are both showmen who want to create something more meaningful and be accepted by their peers. Hammond wants the approval and respect of the scientists he has helicoptered in to Jurassic Park at great expense, Spielberg wants an Oscar from his peers.

Hammond is Spielberg's alter ego.

But, while Hammond doesn't get his wish, Spielberg was about to see his dreams come true.

After wrapping on Jurassic Park in late 1992, Spielberg flew straight to Poland to start filming his next movie. He monitored progress on the dinosaur visual effects at the end of each shooting day in Poland, balancing the two pictures in his mind.

The film he was shooting in Poland was Spielberg's second film released in 1993. It was Schindler's List. The two films were released within months of each other. Jurassic Park was a massive hit and won huge critical praise. Schindler's List, released later that year, was Spielberg's breakthrough as a director of "serious" films. He had tackled one of the darkest chapters in 20th century history, the holocaust, and created a film that answered all his critics.

In the space of a year, Spielberg proved he could still direct great rollercoaster blockbusters, but could also take on weighty subjects with just as much skill and aplomb.

Schindler's List won seven Oscars in 1994. Spielberg won for best director. At the podium he said:

"This is the best drink of water after the longest drought in my life."

He had won. In the words of Hammond, he had created something that wasn't an illusion. An aim not devoid of merit.
 
JP3 Mosasaur aquarium concept art:


Jp3 had a paper thin 'plot', but man..some more interesting set pieces would have helped. I also like the way the Spino attack was supposed to pan out..its much more interesting:



http://ricardodelgadoart.blogspot.de/

They really should have used Mosasaurs instead of that Pterandon aviary scene. The pterandons looked nothing like the versions already established in TLW and it made no sense that they were flying around at the end of part 2 but were locked up in JP3
 
They really should have used Mosasaurs instead of that Pterandon aviary scene. The pterandons looked nothing like the versions already established in TLW and it made no sense that they were flying around at the end of part 2 but were locked up in JP3

Nothing in JP3 made sense.

But I always just excused the Pteranodons as a more aggressive sub species that were kept locked up opposed to the one in TLW. Shame though, the TLW design was gorgeous.
 
I love the first movie, and only the first movie. In fact, it was one of the first five DVDs I got from my short time on the Columbia DVD Club. What I think I like the most about it is the logo. It's so cool, I'd love to have it pasted on everything I own, even 20 years later.
 
Via JurassicParkIV.org

We may have discovered some potential storyboards and/or concept art for the upcoming Jurassic World. This is a bit of an odd case and we aren’t 100% positive the following images are from Jurassic World, but we strongly suspect that they are. Now, before you assume these images are giving away something from the plot we should say it’s very unlikely - if they are from Jurassic World they are tied to the leaked concept trailer, which was to be part of an integrated experience to help bring the world of Jurassic Park back to life. As such, this art would be from around 2010-2011, and would predate Trevorrow’s involvement as well as the Jaffa/Silver script.

CroppedJW.png
croppedJW2.jpg


We have been sitting on these images for almost 2 months now, and in this time we have yet to definitively identify them. What we can say is they share similar origins to those involved with the Jurassic World concept trailer, and we suspect are tied to that project. Further, we also discovered this piece of concept art, and while we aren’t sure it’s from the same project as the storyboard panels it is equally suspect.

CroppedJW3.jpg


We are open to suggestions on what the art may belong to if not Jurassic World. Dinotopia is a project that comes to mind, and while this art came after the live-action mini-series it is always possible there was another film planned which never came to be. While we haven’t been able to get confirmation (or denial) on the artwork, we strongly suspect it belongs to the proposed Jurassic World reboot project.

As always, take this with a grain of salt. While we know this material is not fake, and belongs to a movie involving both humans and Dinosaurs, we cannot guarantee its involvement with Jurassic World.

Remember to stay tuned for more exciting Jurassic World news! Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

Its interesting.. I wish we could be more certain if this was Jurassic World, Dinotopia or something else.
 
Just skimmed the Lost World script, read the ending from where they enter the worker village.

I was gripped just by reading the words from the page, it has a FAR better raptor encounter and ending to the film than the ridiculous T-Rex on the mainland.

Can't tell you how excited I am for Jurassic World.
 
JW-RealConcept1.jpg

More concept art according to jurassicparkiv.org

Looks like back to Nublar with a full working park, I'd love to have a Raptor or T-Rex set piece but this film needs more variety of dinosaurs.
 

RagnarokX

Member
What always bugged me about Jurassic Park, even as a kid, was that magical cliff that appears on the other side of the T-Rex fence.

T-Rex breaks through fence:
1hUefEm.jpg


Grant and kids go through fence:
iiVwRKy.jpg


Maybe JP4 will clear things up; the island is magical, T-Rex on stilts, etc.
 

Morts

Member
What always bugged me about Jurassic Park, even as a kid, was that magical cliff that appears on the other side of the T-Rex fence.

T-Rex breaks through fence:
1hUefEm.jpg


Grant and kids go through fence:
iiVwRKy.jpg


Maybe JP4 will clear things up; the island is magical, T-Rex on stilts, etc.

I've recognized the problem, but I've honestly never minded because of how masterfully that entire scene was done. To this day the whole T-Rex sequence is awe-inspiring.
 

metzger203

Junior Member
What always bugged me about Jurassic Park, even as a kid, was that magical cliff that appears on the other side of the T-Rex fence.

T-Rex breaks through fence:
1hUefEm.jpg


Grant and kids go through fence:
iiVwRKy.jpg


Maybe JP4 will clear things up; the island is magical, T-Rex on stilts, etc.

I think I once read that they had originally planned for the T-Rex to push the car further down the road to the location of the cliff. But yeah I always thought that was weird too. And how about the transport ship with the T-Rex from The Lost World? How exactly did it kill everyone on board when it was inside the cargo hold? I mean a guy's detached arm is still holding on to the steering wheel and as far as I can tell there is no way the Rex could have fit its head inside the cabin.
 

Mistel

Banned
What always bugged me about Jurassic Park, even as a kid, was that magical cliff that appears on the other side of the T-Rex fence.

T-Rex breaks through fence:
1hUefEm.jpg


Grant and kids go through fence:
iiVwRKy.jpg


Maybe JP4 will clear things up; the island is magical, T-Rex on stilts, etc.

I just assumed it moved it and then put it in the enclosure, but that along with the T-Rex chasing the wrangler are my favorite scenes.

Why didn't nerdry know where the east dock was? I suppose his death in the the book wouldn't be PG viable.

Dr Sattler was my first crush as well
 
I think I once read that they had originally planned for the T-Rex to push the car further down the road to the location of the cliff. But yeah I always thought that was weird too. And how about the transport ship with the T-Rex from The Lost World? How exactly did it kill everyone on board when it was inside the cargo hold? I mean a guy's detached arm is still holding on to the steering wheel and as far as I can tell there is no way the Rex could have fit its head inside the cabin.

They probably tried to mix in part of the book where there were raptors on the boat, which could explain the deaths, but then just left it out. Just a guess though.
 
We need some underwater dinos as well.

I didn't enjoy the last movie, so this one better be good!

Marine reptiles are in, unless they got cut during the script revisions.. However, after hearing Colin talk about Jaws during a JW interview I think they made it.

I'm 99.999% sure this will be better than JP3.
 

JdFoX187

Banned
I think I once read that they had originally planned for the T-Rex to push the car further down the road to the location of the cliff. But yeah I always thought that was weird too. And how about the transport ship with the T-Rex from The Lost World? How exactly did it kill everyone on board when it was inside the cargo hold? I mean a guy's detached arm is still holding on to the steering wheel and as far as I can tell there is no way the Rex could have fit its head inside the cabin.

Wasn't there a scene in the script originally that dealt with a group of raptors getting on board and doing damage and then somehow bailing off?
 

bengraven

Member
What always bugged me about Jurassic Park, even as a kid, was that magical cliff that appears on the other side of the T-Rex fence.

That exact same thing came up in the book. In the book it's explained that some parts of the paddock come right up to the fence and other parts have a deep moat.

They didn't go over the railing at the same point that the T-rex came out.

They probably tried to mix in part of the book where there were raptors on the boat, which could explain the deaths, but then just left it out. Just a guess though.

In the original draft, there were raptors that snuck aboard the ship and killed those men, then were loose in San Diego as well. In the shooting draft they decided to just do a T-rex and a line was added about how the T-Rex killed the men in the cabin. I always assumed that if you took that line out, you could just assume that the men were killed by the crash.
 
Marine reptiles are in, unless they got cut during the script revisions.. However, after hearing Colin talk about Jaws during a JW interview I think they made it.

I'm 99.999% sure this will be better than JP3.

I don't see how they can't do underwater creatures with a theme park movie.
 
Wasn't there a scene in the script originally that dealt with a group of raptors getting on board and doing damage and then somehow bailing off?

that sound more in line with a similar event in the JP novel where the kids see a few raptors on the back of a departing ship. The ship is called back though, preventing the raptors from leaving the island. They also don't go all psycho, which is somewhat odd considering the original eight are.

Oh, and the T-rex baby (babies) looks like a giant chick with all the protofeather fur on it. The movie completely ignores this description.
 
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