Jurassic World discussion (spoilers)

[suspsy]

I'll give credit where credit is due. If this film had come out instead of The Lost World (which had Julianne Moore playing a vastly superior character to the disgraceful Claire), or instead of the irredeemable JP3, I probably would have loved it.

Gonna have to take you to task on that one. Are you sure you're not looking at "The Lost World" through the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia? Julianna Moore's character was atrocious! I much preferred Claire, at least she was consistent. Sarah Harding was supposed to be an expert in her field, having spent time with African predators, sleeping downwind and all that. Yet moments after man-handling a baby Stegosaurus, stressing out the entire herd and nearly getting her self killed she snaps at Nick Van Owen for lighting a cigarette and proceeds to lecture everyone about "observation without interference" and "if we so much as bend a blade of grass". Later on she lectures the group about the T. rexes superior sense of smell, only to then hang her bloody jacket in the tent she sleeps in along with a bunch of candy bar wrappers. Even the most novice campers know not to keep your food in their tent unless they want to meet a bear up close and personal. And lets not forget all the stupid decisions of the so called heros of the film. Bringing a baby T. rex into a trailer which leads to the death of Eddie Carr? Sabotaging the InGen camp which leads to nearly that entire group getting killed? Say what you want about the InGen crew, they didn't deserve to die for catching dinosaurs. "The Lost World" was a pretty awful movie. I like it, but mostly due to nostalgia I think.

Sarah did indeed make a few glaring mistakes, although I attributed those to being overwhelmed with awe (in the case of the baby Stegosaurus) or sheer exhaustion and stress (not thinking to dispose of her bloodstained jacket). As for bringing the baby T. rex to the trailer, well, she did that in the novel as well and Malcolm called her on it, but she did what she felt she had to do. She was trying to rectify a wrong committed by another human.

Plenty of wildlife biologists and enthusiasts make foolish choices or errors in the field. It's necessarily because they're idiots at heart. Sometimes it's just a case of letting your awe overwhelm your judgment. Look at what happened to Steve Irwin.

In any case, Sarah was nevertheless a far better, stronger, more likeable character than Claire, who has inspired entire articles about her lousy portrayal. Like how she's apparently a bad person because she doesn't want children (as though that were inherently wrong).

I agree that the SFX of JP and TLW were better, but JW far surpasses JP3. I thought the SFX were passable.

As Adam already noted, I was puzzled by the glossy feel of the sauropods, ceratopsians, and stegosaurs. It was like watching a bunch of Papo models come to life.

I don't want to see that movie, where the pterosaurs just hide? That sounds boring. The sequence was one of the best in the movie. If anything, the movie needed more tourists getting killed by dinosaurs.

Adam already touched on most of what I was going to say. I just found the whole sequence way too ridiculous to enjoy. The lack of feathers on the raptors didn't irk me nearly as much. Again, JP3 did a much better job of portraying the Pteranodons. Sure, they also performed the impossible task of carrying off humans with their feet, but at least they didn't attack until the humans until they intruded into the aviary. And once the humans left the aviary, the Pteranodons made no effort to pursue them. Nor did they try to attack the military or their helicopters.

To hide the animal from the audience? To build tension? To give the animal a comfortable place to live? I have lots of pet reptiles, they all have hiding places. No, I don't see some of them very often but they're comfortable. That's what matters.

No one fills a reptile tank with so much vegetation that the animal has to struggle to get around. Besides, the whole purpose of the Freakosaurus was for people to come and view it. They'd have had a pretty hard time simply catching a glimpse of it with all those trees.

As for Zara's gratuitous death, it doesn't quite fit the criteria for a proper "refrigerating" (since she wasn't Owen's GF or lover) but it was the first thing that came to mind. It was a cruel, overly long death that didn't feel right for the character. If you can even call her a character.

And speaking of Owen, the entire JW disaster was in large part his fault. If he hadn't immediately jumped to the conclusion that the Mutasaurus had indeed climbed the wall, it might have occurred to Claire or even the bumbling security guard to check the camera footage or the implanted tracking device. Way to go, Owen!

Oh, and I'd love to see James Cameron direct a future JP film. Avatar showed that he knows how to portray vivid, enchanting animals that are not rampaging monsters, but still fully capable of killing when they need to.

[Plasticbeast95]

I liked the movie, its about time the JP franchise was brought back! 

[Yutyrannus]

No one fills a reptile tank with so much vegetation that the animal has to struggle to get around. Besides, the whole purpose of the Freakosaurus was for people to come and view it. They'd have had a pretty hard time simply catching a glimpse of it with all those trees.

You could say the same thing about the Tyrannosaurus and Dilophosaurus paddocks in the first Jurassic Park as well .

Also, I agree, James Cameron would be a great person to direct a future Jurassic Park film.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

No one fills a reptile tank with so much vegetation that the animal has to struggle to get around. Besides, the whole purpose of the Freakosaurus was for people to come and view it. They'd have had a pretty hard time simply catching a glimpse of it with all those trees.

You could say the same thing about the Tyrannosaurus and Dilophosaurus paddocks in the first Jurassic Park as well .

Also, I agree, James Cameron would be a great person to direct a future Jurassic Park film.

It depends on the reptile. A 10 gallon tank stuffed with plants can comfortably hide a single Anole.  JP had issues with the animals being seen, so JW used the log viewing area for the T-Rex or lured the animal out like the Mosasaur.  The plan seems to have been to do a similar feeding show with the I-Rex being fed via crane with stadium seating.

James Cameron could work out well..but I have a feeling it might be another little known director.

[Plasticbeast95]

please, no Cameron for JP.

[stargatedalek]

I have to agree, I've enjoyed many of Cameron's films in the past but not one of his recent films have really been to my liking. Avatar in particular was a disappointment for me, say what you will about JPTLW's plot but at least it managed to be amongst the few movies to have an environmentalism subplot without merging it with a religious/spiritual subplot.

[Plasticbeast95]

I have to agree, I've enjoyed many of Cameron's films in the past but not one of his recent films have really been to my liking. Avatar in particular was a disappointment for me, say what you will about JPTLW's plot but at least it managed to be amongst the few movies to have an environmentalism subplot without merging it with a religious/spiritual subplot.

the only one of his films I liked was Aliens.

[Gwangi]

Sarah did indeed make a few glaring mistakes, although I attributed those to being overwhelmed with awe (in the case of the baby Stegosaurus) or sheer exhaustion and stress (not thinking to dispose of her bloodstained jacket). As for bringing the baby T. rex to the trailer, well, she did that in the novel as well and Malcolm called her on it, but she did what she felt she had to do. She was trying to rectify a wrong committed by another human. Plenty of wildlife biologists and enthusiasts make foolish choices or errors in the field. It's necessarily because they're idiots at heart. Sometimes it's just a case of letting your awe overwhelm your judgment. Look at what happened to Steve Irwin.

Her mistakes wouldn't have bothered me as much if she wasn't such a know-it-all, so quick to correct and lecture everyone else. I can't toss her mistakes aside for the sake of stress and exhaustion. She lectured Burke that the T. rex would continue to perceive them as a threat and even follow them outside their territory. She explains that T. rex has an excellent sense of smell too. And yet she continues to wear that bloody jacket during their entire trek and hangs it to dry right in the tent she and Kelly are sleeping in. That...that is just plain stupid. That along with her impulse to save a baby T. rex lead to the deaths of countless people. When Steve Irwin was killed, he was the only one killed. And it was by a stingray stab to the chest, he man-handled a lot of animals but I never saw him go into bear country and man-handle a grizzly cub.

In any case, Sarah was nevertheless a far better, stronger, more likeable character than Claire, who has inspired entire articles about her lousy portrayal. Like how she's apparently a bad person because she doesn't want children (as though that were inherently wrong).

Agree to disagree, I found Sarah to be one of the worst characters in the JP franchise. Tough she may have been, but she was an idiot. I liked Claire, I'm not sure why people hate on her so much. Her portrayal was fine, it was the portrayal of everyone else giving her a hard time that was annoying and sexist. She had plenty of bad-ass moments. Don't judge her based on how the other characters judged her.

Adam already touched on most of what I was going to say. I just found the whole sequence way too ridiculous to enjoy. The lack of feathers on the raptors didn't irk me nearly as much. Again, JP3 did a much better job of portraying the Pteranodons. Sure, they also performed the impossible task of carrying off humans with their feet, but at least they didn't attack until the humans until they intruded into the aviary. And once the humans left the aviary, the Pteranodons made no effort to pursue them. Nor did they try to attack the military or their helicopters.

Nope, instead JP3 has talking Velociraptors bent on retrieving two missing eggs and a Spinosaurs with a cell phone ringing in its gut. Even if I agreed that the Pteranodons were better in JP3 it is still not enough to make JP3 the better movie. And I enjoyed the JW Pteranodon scene far more than the JP3 one. Look, this is not a movie you analyze. This is a fun monster movie. Don't like fun monster movies? That's fine! Watch "Walking With Dinosaurs" instead because every dinosaur movie aside from those made for children has been at its heart a monster movie. "Jurassic Park" was the rare exception where is was a particularly good monster movie but nothing the dinosaurs did there was believable either.

No one fills a reptile tank with so much vegetation that the animal has to struggle to get around.

Looked like it was moving around fine in that enclosure to me, especially when attacking Owen and company.

Besides, the whole purpose of the Freakosaurus was for people to come and view it. They'd have had a pretty hard time simply catching a glimpse of it with all those trees.

As Yutyrannus pointed out...we don't see the Dilophosaurus in the original JP, or the Tyrannosaurus. When I went to the Bronx Zoo as a kid (twice I might add) I never saw their tiger, because it was hiding in the vegetation in its enclosure. Zoos have to make enclosures comfortable for the animals they house, not just as a container to view animals in. Besides, Claire and Masrani had no issue observing the animal. And we don't even know if that pen was just a temporary holding pen or the actual public exhibit.

As for Zara's gratuitous death, it doesn't quite fit the criteria for a proper "refrigerating" (since she wasn't Owen's GF or lover) but it was the first thing that came to mind. It was a cruel, overly long death that didn't feel right for the character. If you can even call her a character.

So she was barely even a character and you're lamenting her "cruel" death? I don't generally have sympathy for the people that die in monster movies, unless they actually are a fleshed out character. It was an interesting death, I enjoyed it. Out of place sure, but I didn't find it disturbing.

And speaking of Owen, the entire JW disaster was in large part his fault. If he hadn't immediately jumped to the conclusion that the Mutasaurus had indeed climbed the wall, it might have occurred to Claire or even the bumbling security guard to check the camera footage or the implanted tracking device. Way to go, Owen!

They couldn't track it, it had no heat signature. Even if they checked the camera (maybe they did) it seemed to have some efficient camouflage. Not sure their camera were recording either so they may have been unable to look at past footage. Even if there was, was there a camera facing that wall? Either way, I'm not sure the ultimate death toll was much worse than that created by Sarah and Nick Van Owen in "The Lost World". Even factoring in the Pterosaur attack.

Oh, and I'd love to see James Cameron direct a future JP film. Avatar showed that he knows how to portray vivid, enchanting animals that are not rampaging monsters, but still fully capable of killing when they need to.

But "Avatar" was not a movie about the creatures in it. They were simply there in the environment to flesh out the world he created. "Avatar" was also a rehash of "Pocahontas", "The Last Samurai", "Dances With Wolves" and every other "going native" film ever made. The world he created it its only redeeming quality. The animals in "Jurassic World" were monstrous because it was a monster movie. "Avatar" is not a monster movie. We've seen James Cameron's monster movies; "Aliens" and "Piranha 2: The Spawning". Yeah, that's right...with flying piranhas. With a 7% on Rotten Tomatoes. That was Cameron's first movie as a director. "Jurassic World" was Trevorrow's second. Not bad for a big budget movie from an up and coming director.

[Gwangi]

I have to agree, I've enjoyed many of Cameron's films in the past but not one of his recent films have really been to my liking. Avatar in particular was a disappointment for me, say what you will about JPTLW's plot but at least it managed to be amongst the few movies to have an environmentalism subplot without merging it with a religious/spiritual subplot.

the only one of his films I liked was Aliens.

How many have you seen? "Terminator"? "Terminator 2"? "The Abyss"? The man is a fantastic director, even taking his lesser quality movies into account. And the man can do special effects movies, he's one of the best out there for them.

[stargatedalek]

This is very true, the man knows how to use CGI to great affect.

[Plasticbeast95]

I have to agree, I've enjoyed many of Cameron's films in the past but not one of his recent films have really been to my liking. Avatar in particular was a disappointment for me, say what you will about JPTLW's plot but at least it managed to be amongst the few movies to have an environmentalism subplot without merging it with a religious/spiritual subplot.

the only one of his films I liked was Aliens.

How many have you seen? "Terminator"? "Terminator 2"? "The Abyss"? The man is a fantastic director, even taking his lesser quality movies into account. And the man can do special effects movies, he's one of the best out there for them.

again, I stand by my original statement.

[Gwangi]

I have to agree, I've enjoyed many of Cameron's films in the past but not one of his recent films have really been to my liking. Avatar in particular was a disappointment for me, say what you will about JPTLW's plot but at least it managed to be amongst the few movies to have an environmentalism subplot without merging it with a religious/spiritual subplot.

the only one of his films I liked was Aliens.

How many have you seen? "Terminator"? "Terminator 2"? "The Abyss"? The man is a fantastic director, even taking his lesser quality movies into account. And the man can do special effects movies, he's one of the best out there for them.

again, I stand by my original statement.

Just making sure you were actually aware of what movies he directed because the three I just listed are all pretty damn good. Classics, widely considered among the best in their respective genres and among the best films in all of American cinema. But okay, to each their own. I guess a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes seems someone didn't like "Terminator 2".

[Takama]

I Have the First Terminator on Bluray, Never seen any of the sequels.    Though i Do kind of wish James did direct JP because now every one in the general public is like"DINOSAURS ARE FOR KIDS, GROW UP AND GET A LIFE" to Adults who like them. I would of loved to See a Movie take these animals in a darker tone, without coming off as cheezy as half the Crappy Dino flicks in my collection.

[Gwangi]

I Have the First Terminator on Bluray, Never seen any of the sequels.    Though i Do kind of wish James did direct JP because now every one in the general public is like"DINOSAURS ARE FOR KIDS, GROW UP AND GET A LIFE" to Adults who like them. I would of loved to See a Movie take these animals in a darker tone, without coming off as cheezy as half the Crappy Dino flicks in my collection.

If you enjoyed the first movie you should really check out "Terminator 2". It's just as good, most would say better. One of my favorites for sure. You can skip the rest of the sequels though, especially "Terminator: Salvation". Couldn't say if the new one was good but from what I've read, it's not, and I'm not surprised.

Adults liked "Jurassic Park" too, which is why it is perhaps better that Speilberg directed it. It made it accessible to all ages. Plus, kids eventually grow up. The generation that saw "Jurassic Park" as children are now adults, showing it to their kids. While I'm sure Cameron would have made a great "Jurassic Park", the version we have is a near perfect movie. Say what you want about "Jurassic World", it has shown us that dinosaurs are still very popular. I honestly don't have a lot of people who criticize me for liking dinosaurs.

[tyrantqueen]

I Have the First Terminator on Bluray, Never seen any of the sequels.    Though i Do kind of wish James did direct JP because now every one in the general public is like"DINOSAURS ARE FOR KIDS, GROW UP AND GET A LIFE" to Adults who like them. I would of loved to See a Movie take these animals in a darker tone, without coming off as cheezy as half the Crappy Dino flicks in my collection.

Terminator 1 and 2 are good, ignore the rest. The story (in my mind) ended with 2 and did not need to be continued. I am going to see Genisys but only because I consider myself to be a die hard fan. I don't expect it to be good.

Here is a good review/comparison of the first two Terminators (WARNING for language):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRYFDGDBdG8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB6Ydsahf08

[suspsy]

I really enjoyed Terminator 3. Salvation was awful though.

[Takama]

I Have the First Terminator on Bluray, Never seen any of the sequels.    Though i Do kind of wish James did direct JP because now every one in the general public is like"DINOSAURS ARE FOR KIDS, GROW UP AND GET A LIFE" to Adults who like them. I would of loved to See a Movie take these animals in a darker tone, without coming off as cheezy as half the Crappy Dino flicks in my collection.

If you enjoyed the first movie you should really check out "Terminator 2". It's just as good, most would say better. One of my favorites for sure. You can skip the rest of the sequels though, especially "Terminator: Salvation". Couldn't say if the new one was good but from what I've read, it's not, and I'm not surprised.

Adults liked "Jurassic Park" too, which is why it is perhaps better that Speilberg directed it. It made it accessible to all ages. Plus, kids eventually grow up. The generation that saw "Jurassic Park" as children are now adults, showing it to their kids. While I'm sure Cameron would have made a great "Jurassic Park", the version we have is a near perfect movie. Say what you want about "Jurassic World", it has shown us that dinosaurs are still very popular. I honestly don't have a lot of people who criticize me for liking dinosaurs.

To be fair, i get this kind of Treatment from some friend on Facebook (He used to go to school with me), and when i post a Negative Review of a Dinosaur model on Amazon (I try to judge it from a kids prospective, but if the Page is advertising the model as "Historically accurate" when there anything but, i call out upon it, and rate the item accordingly.) and get Comments from some people saying i should get a life for buying them in the first place.

[Gwangi]

I really enjoyed Terminator 3. Salvation was awful though.

"Terminator 3" is watchable, Arnold is always fun to watch as the terminator which is why despite the negative reviews I will probably go see the fifth movie. The first two were a perfect set of movies. T3 is basically a rehash of T2, only not as well made but like I said, it is watchable. Salvation though, that was awful. I was really excited to see it, especially with the casting of Christian Bale but it was a huge letdown. It didn't help that the trailer spoiled so many key plot points. Oddly enough it would appear that the trailer for T5 is also spoiling the movie and T2 is another classic example of a trailer spoiling its movie. Seems to be a trend with Terminator movies.

To be fair, i get this kind of Treatment from some friend on Facebook (He used to go to school with me), and when i post a Negative Review of a Dinosaur model on Amazon (I try to judge it from a kids prospective, but if the Page is advertising the model as "Historically accurate" when there anything but, i call out upon it, and rate the item accordingly.) and get Comments from some people saying i should get a life for buying them in the first place.

I wouldn't worry too much about the opinions of people on the internet. It's just the nature of the internet to attract trolls and people that have nothing better to do with their time than pick on others.

[stargatedalek]

It's not a movie but imo Sarah Connor Chronicles deserves a mention amongst the best of the Terminator series.

[Takama]

To get a little more on topic, i begin to wonder. What are the odds of Terminator 5 beating Jurassic World at the Box Office when it comes out?  JW surprised me so far, with how well it did, And how many of us were thinking Inside out was going to Beat it?    If Terminator cant beat JW i wonder what this means for the future of Dinosaur movies. Obviously people seem to like the crappy CGI and low use of Practical effects, on top of that,   We have a movie star that's not even based on a real Dinosaur. If JW turns out to be one of the most profitable films of the year (Until Starwars Episode 7 comes out) Does this mean all hopes for Good dinosaurs in Hollywood are quashed?