Jurassic World

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Re: Jurassic World

Post by Ben » June 7th, 2015, 5:10 am

Yeah! And even though that sequence makes no sense logistically, it's the sound that really made it - DTS has never been as good again! ;)

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Re: Jurassic World

Post by LastActionHero » June 8th, 2015, 10:35 am

I am going to see this movie just because of Chris Pratt. I loved his acting in Guardians of the Galaxy, and he looks good in the trailers. But this movie is going to suck. Sorry fanboys/girls.
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Re: Jurassic World

Post by LastActionHero » June 8th, 2015, 10:37 am

Ben wrote:Yeah! And even though that sequence makes no sense logistically, it's the sound that really made it - DTS has never been as good again! ;)
They better have a good explanation for after the disasters in previous parks, why are they allowing scientist to create a new one.
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Re: Jurassic World

Post by ShyViolet » June 15th, 2015, 6:45 pm

Saw it today. I don't know...some parts were fun enough and there was some excitement but I never really felt anyone was in any real danger. Of course you know the main characters will survive so there really needs to be a lot of suspense when it comes to the danger situations. There just wasn't. I understand that Spielberg is an extremely tough act to follow but still. So much of it felt quite contrived actually, (especially the nods to the first film) so I would definitely wait for this to come to Blu Ray or Netflix. :?
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Re: Jurassic World

Post by Ben » June 15th, 2015, 8:33 pm

Going Tuesday night...and nothing can dampen my enthusiasm...!

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Re: Jurassic World

Post by Vernadyn » June 16th, 2015, 12:53 am

It wasn't bad, with some entertaining scenes. Pratt is the most likable lead of the franchise, though as a whole the movie doesn't quite live up to the original. Many have said that it beats the sequels--and I agree, but that's frankly not difficult to do. Lost World had some fantastic sequences, but you could tell Spielberg was interested in other matters. And as for 3… without Tea Leoni's character, it would have been a severely disappointing movie. But with Leoni, it's simply unbearable.

Maybe I'll find the time to write more later, but for now, I'll note that Giacchino used the original Williams themes quite well (though sparingly--especially compared to his Mission: Impossible and Speed Racer scores, in which he used the original themes liberally). As expected, he uses the main theme and the fanfare, but he also manages to sneak in the Lost World theme. (When Giacchino conducted the Oscars, he played the Lost World theme when Spielberg walked on stage to present.) However, it's probably his "worst" score of the year; his own material doesn't reach the heights of his superb work for Jupiter Ascending and Tomorrowland.

But based on the movie itself, one would never guess that it had the highest grossing weekend of all time.

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Re: Jurassic World

Post by Ben » June 16th, 2015, 7:46 am

Put it down to the nostalgia of the first movie. That was such a giant, groundshaking release that many people have been going to World to recreate the experience they felt with Park. So you have adults going for themselves and taking their kids to give them that same thrill ride, plus you have those that have now seen or grown up with the original on TV, which more than sill holds up and plays much more often than the sequels, and want to see a follow-up.

It's just that lightning in a bottle thing where all the elements come together on a movie that, whether it's good, bad or indifferent, everyone wants to see, mostly for a nostalgia factor, whatever the ages are.

Personally, I'm expecting it to be better than the sequels (the score aside, Lost World is risible - I saw it again about six months ago and just couldn't believe it was worse than I remember, while I have to say I don't mind III - sure, it's not perfect, but I like Joe Johnston and Don Davis makes great use of the original music themes, while it has two or three decent set pieces better than anything in Lost World), but not as good as the first film. Nothing is going to beat the thrill of that first visit to Isla Nubla, but I'm just super-thrilled to see the park actually open and realised on that grand scale.

I'll likely be back here tomorrow grumbling about it, but for now I'm still optimistic and just expecting a decent dino sequel that, as I had suspected, plays as a continuation to the original film and lets you forget or remember the sequels as you see fit.

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Re: Jurassic World

Post by EricJ » June 16th, 2015, 9:59 am

Vernadyn wrote:But based on the movie itself, one would never guess that it had the highest grossing weekend of all time.
Although wasn't Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on the list somewhere?

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Re: Jurassic World

Post by Ben » June 16th, 2015, 7:34 pm

Well...!

That was just about exactly what I was expecting...and while I can't say I LOVED it, I very much liked it - a LOT!

It certainly pushed all the buttons, from nostalgia to suspense, but if anything, I found the whole thing just very slightly undercooked. All the elements were there and although I'm as surprised as anyone with the box-office I can see why it's making what it's making.

Chris Pratt is now a major movie star, no question. Whenever the movie really works it's because of him. On the flipside, Jurassic World never really doesn't work, but for me the action was quite sporadic and over before it really got going. There were some big set pieces in here raring to go, but they come maybe too sharp and too often, not really being given the room to breathe into a classic moment such as the initial T-Rex attack in the first Park.

I loved the nods back to the original, especially the same goat sound effect, though Giacchino's score wasn't as spectacular as Williams' original or as good as some people think, being a mix of Williams' themes and original music that seemed to borrow heavily from his own (excellent) Planet Of The Apes score from last year. I did hear what sounded like a snippet from The Lost World but the credits didn't specify if this was the case: my feeling is that this was closer to Giacchino's own music for the Lost World computer game rather than re-using Williams' score.

It was a good enough, near great, thrill ride that was never going to eclipse the original Park but easily trumps the sequels, with all the cast putting in good work and the script just about having the right balance of danger and humor even if some of the snarky attitude of the first film was missing (I did miss a Malcolm character even if the guy in the control room, with his JP tee, kind of filled that purpose).

Biggest thrill: seeing the culmination of John Hammond's dream, a fully-functioning dinosaur theme park. Biggest disappointment: that Dodgson's fake shaving can didn't turn up for any plot point. Special moment: finding the old Park rotunda. Most intriguing: where they go from here, even if there are many pointers, from the continuing existence of the island, the Raptor scheme, and Dr Henry Wu's posession of some very important assets and the implication of a greater involvement in an overall larger plot...

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Re: Jurassic World

Post by James » June 17th, 2015, 4:05 pm

Agreed all around! When people ask why when I review films I have two scores (overall and fun factor) this is exactly why! There were lots of plot holes and contrivances, and a lot of just plain silly storytelling. And my kids and I spent the weekend picking apart a lot of the problems. But, man, it was just a fun movie! JP 2 & 3 were serviceable but a bit dreary. This one had me smiling almost the entire film.

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Re: Jurassic World

Post by Vernadyn » June 17th, 2015, 5:38 pm

The action did come in fits and starts. Thankfully, the action was shot so you could actually tell what was going on. (I just saw the new Godzilla, and while I appreciate what the director was trying to do, you just don't hide the action when you're making a giant creature movie). However, each individual scene didn't really build, lacking the kinetic dynamism of a movie like Kingsman.

Brad Bird was the voice of the monorail announcer, though I didn't know that until I saw it in the credits.

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Re: Jurassic World

Post by Ben » June 18th, 2015, 4:26 am

Yes, apparently the director chose "eight or nine three-minute action sequences instead of three 15 minute ones", according to an interview. Nothing wrong with that, but three minutes is not a long time and despite how good they are, they're over before they begin and so do t resonate. A better compromise would have been five or six five minute sequences, and maybe one longer one in the middle, like the T-Rex attack in the first film, which is a classic because of the sustained suspense.

There were quite a few in-joke names in the credits, and a few more - Bird again included - in the special thanks section. Apparanetly the film was never audience tested, apart from one screening for ILM, Skywalker Sound and Pixar employees, so maybe he gave a few good notes, as is his way! :)

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Re: Jurassic World

Post by Vernadyn » June 19th, 2015, 12:48 am

I guess it's good to know he intended the action to be like that. I tend to like reasonably lengthy action scenes that keep the momentum up by creating a sense of progression----a series of narrative beats that move the events forward. James Cameron is one of the best at achieving this, especially in the last acts of Aliens and the Terminator movies. (Though I suppose you could argue that the endings of these films consist of several action scenes strung together). Spielberg's action scenes don't tend to run quite as long as Cameron's, but he also creates progression in that T-Rex sequence and the better action scenes of the Indy films. I actually haven't seen Jurassic Park in a while, but there are so many memorable "mini-events" that comprise that sequence. The realization (via the night-vision goggles) that the goat is no longer there, the famous water ripples, the goat limb landing on the roof of the vehicle--and that's all before the T-Rex even shows up!

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Re: Jurassic World

Post by EricJ » June 25th, 2015, 1:28 pm

Recent fan theory going around:
WAS Chris Pratt's "dino whisperer" character the "Six-foot turkey" kid from the first movie, all grown up, and now traumatized into a respect for raptors?

Still haven't seen the film (saving it to rent on 3D), so more informed heads may have to comment, but it's not out of the realm of plausibility.

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Re: Jurassic World

Post by Dacey » June 25th, 2015, 3:36 pm

He's Star Lord's long lost twin brother.
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