Film 5 - The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Film Review:

Okay, big moment, this is the first film I ever saw Julianne in. I was fourteen and really liked dinosaurs as all fourteen year old boys do but, it was a certain Ms Moore that really excited me that day back in the summer of 1997.

The Lost World (TLW) is an interesting one. How do you follow the biggest film of all time? It's tough but this film does well I feel and is a bit underrated. Okay, it was never going to be as brilliant as the original, but I liked how it tried to be different. The plot was intertesting and centering it around Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm was a good move, he was able to be both funny and dark. The dinosaurs were all entertaining and the film had quite a dark tone to it, the rain, the dark scenes and the quite brutal dinosaur deaths. It was an easy film to criticise and it was never going to please everyone. But as two solid hours of entertainment, it doesnt go far wrong. Even the most hardhearted critic would have to admit that the sight of the T-Rex rampaging through San Diego was the stuff teenage boys dream about!

There are some wonderful moments, the raptors in the grass - how many times has that scene now been copied? - the T-Rex in the tent, the horrible compy scene and the trailer attack. I could have happily lived without Ian Malcolm's moaning daughter and her awful gymnastics subplot though, why does this film really need a teenage girl in it?

Overall I loved this film at fourteen and I'd be a down right liar if I didn't admit to still loving this film at 27, oh and by the way, summer of '97, I saw this 6 times at the cinema...

Top Julianne Moment:

Sarah Harding and the cracking glass.

Life like T-Rexs, savage raptors in the long grass and CGI that still holds up today but the best moment in the film? The glass. Just a plate of cracking glass over a cliff and Julianne on top. The look on her face as she resists the natural urge to panic and moves slowly over the glass was an acting masterclass in a film you didn't expect to see one. Go back and watch the scene, it's just superb!

Julianne Review:

As per usual I just bloody love her. Okay it's not an Oscar winning performance, it's being chased around by CGI dinosaurs, but Julianne still manages to find the reality in it and create something special as Sarah Harding. She doesn't play the usual damsal in distress that you sometimes find in these action films, she is quite capable of looking after herself and is believable as a brave and educated woman. The way in which she interacts with the other characters in excellent, her sparky relationship with Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm is a joy to watch, when they bicker and argue, it helps root the film in reality. It cannot be easy to act opposite CGI dinosaurs, but there are some excellent moments where her brilliant talent is apparant. The above mentioned "glass scene", the scene with the T-Rex in the tent where if she moves, she'll be spotted and chase scene with the raptors.

I really cannot explain what made me fall in love with Julianne at the young age of 14 when watching this film for the first time. It made me want to watch more of her films and every single one I watched, made me love her a little bit more. It's funny, I've never thought about the fact that it's been 13 years. Life is interesting because at 14, you have no idea about what is to come, the trial and tribulations - very dramatic sounding - and the things that will change. You meet so many different people and luckily some making a lasting connection and stay in your life but so many disappear from your life and you lose touch with them. Even what you do with your life changes and you really have no idea where it can take you, at 14 I wanted to be the next Steven Spielberg and now at 27 I'm an English teacher and I couldn't imagine doing anything else, I love my job. Your personal life changes as well, partners and romances come and go and you think you've found someone who you love so much you can't imagine ever being without and a matter of years down the line, you never even hear from them. There really aren't many constants in life but I think writing this blog, I may have just realised that Julianne is far more than just some actress that I like, she may be one of the most important constants in my life. She's always there for me. I mean obviously I dream that one day I'll get to meet her - never going to happen but I can dream - and I know exactly what I would say to her. "Thank you." When I've been in need of a laugh or a distractions I've had "Evolution" or "The Laws of Attraction". When I've fancied some action or excitement, I've had TLW or Hannibal or Assassins. When I've felt sad or stressed out I've had "Far from Heaven" or "The Hours" or when I've needed to find some faith in life or love again, there's things like "Trust the Man" or "The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio". She isn't just some actress, she looks after me through all her different films and through all my different ups and downs in life. One of my first night's away from home at University, missing my family and friends, I had "The Laws of Attraction", she saved me that night and I love her for it. Thats why I want to say thank you to her. I would give anything to tell her because I know that until the day I die, I'll always have Julianne in my life.

Thank You x

I'm really glad that at 14 I liked dinosaurs, I think the other cinematic option was Speed 2: Cruise Control. Ouch...

Revisit "The Lost World: Jurassic Park"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=878A6J2vbLA