Reduced to the video screen, its still a pleasure visiting Steven Spielberg's The Lost World, a land where dinosaurs roam free, and wreak havok. In the first few moments, in which a little girl is approached by a little dinosaur ("What are you?...Some kind of bird?"), I worried that, reduced to this size, his "popcorn" movie wouldn't work. By the time Ian Malcom (Jeff Goldblum) reached the fabled island, I was sure of it. But then, two T-Rexes began to nudge a trailer off a cliff...and I was hooked. Many of the moments on the island are truly magical -- they don't -- can't -- live up to anything out of King Kong. But they still engage you with all your senses. This is a lush land, paradise, but, humans should not be here. The mechanical creatures sputter out of bushes. And even if they aren't too real, the atmosphere is so delicious, that you buy it. This film is a sample of that land, and more. Returning to San Diego, we experience, in an over-used term, a roller-coaster ride. Sheer exhilaration results from this action packed hour and a half. By the end, we have learned that man shouldn't mess with nature -- so, it remains a mystery that this sequel doesn't suck.
Grade: B+
- Max Solovitch Scheinin Read more of Max's work -- reviews, essays, theories, links -- @ http://www.garfieldlib.com/yanews/july97/max/max.html To subscribe to Max's work (includes all essays, theories, thoughts) write him @ solo@cruzio.com with the word "subscribe" in the header. You will receive e-mail on an irregular basis, considering that Max is a lazy/busy kid. "Movies are really a kind of dream state, or like taking dope. And the shock of walking out of the theatre into broad daylight can be terrifying. I watch movies all the time, and I am also very bad at waking up." - Martin Scorsese, from Scorsese on Scorsese
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