Alan Grant isn't too convincing early on when he says that nothing could drag him back to Jurassic Park. You know it's only a matter of time until crack paleontologist rant once again  faces off against the genetically recreated dinosaurs. Jurassic Park III cuts to the quick in getting to the action pronto. It depends heavily on an audiences' familiarity with the original to cut through the dinosaur explanations and drop its adventurers smack dap in the middle of trouble.

Calling all dinosaurs! ©Universal

     Money is still too tempting to Alan Grant. When he is approached by a  thrill-seeking married couple with an offer to guide them over the dinosaur habitat of Isla Sorna, he is far to easy prey. Grant isn't the best tour guide either, but it doesn't matte because the charade lasts only a short time. Grant finds out pretty quickly that the Kirbys are really out to rescue their teenage son recently lost over the island in a foolish tourist attempt. There's little time to question the intelligence of the whole operation before the dinosaurs come rushing through the jungle for human snacks.
      Sam Neill is right at home facing off with dinosaurs. Neill's presence is a comforting bonus in Jurassic Park III  His good nature adds a measure of relaxed familiarity to the ferocious dino confrontations. You need an anchor of stability in the chaotic world of nature run amok. William H. Macy and Tea Leoni join the dinosaur patrol as  estranged husband and wife Paul and Amanda Kirby. Macy seems off his natural turf, but Leoni throws her body and screams about with like a good horror movie veteran. Young Trevor Morgan is all right as Eric, but he fails to deliver any of the charm of Jurassic's original youngsters.
     Director Joe Johnston is right at home weaving the wonders of CGI and live actors into a convincing blend. A veteran of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Jumanji, Johnston keeps runs a relentless race for survival against the dinosaurs and leaves little time to contemplate the greenery. .
     Universal delivers the DVD of Jurassic Park III with Raptor cunning. The DTS soundtrack explodes with powerful and accurate bass thwumps to stirring effect. Surround details are precisely located and active. You may walk out of the home theater with traces of dinosaur residue on you cheeks. John Williams' music floats menacingly through the jungle growth. Jurassic Park III is stunning visual assault. CGI advances deliver ever more life-like creatures and this DVD transfer makes sure every byte is resolved on the screen. Resolution is in maximum force. Colors are dead-on accurate with excellent saturation. Shadow detail is revealing with outstanding blacks. Even the fog is tightly delivers in this spectacular DVD transfer.
    A dinosaur portion of extras accompany the feature in this special edition. There's a pretty standard making of featurette and lots of CGI focused specials. Audio commentary from special effects team of Stan Winston, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor, and Michael Lantieri provides good insights into the enormous task of making Jurassic's neo- prehistoric creatures come to green screen life. 

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