THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 5, 1994 TAG: 9410050038
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: CRAIG SHAPIRO
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines
IAN MALCOLM'S death in ``Jurassic Park'' gave me the willies. The brilliant mathematician, mortally wounded and delirious, can only watch as raptors claw through the roof of the island compound - a grisly testament to his own chaos theory.
That was ``Jurassic Park'' the novel. ``Jurassic Park'' the movie, just out on video (1993, MCA/Universal), sanitizes much of what author Michael Crichton had to say about why it's bad to tamper with nature.
But what a trade-off. Steven Spielberg orchestrated a thrill ride that made more money than any movie ever ($900 million), won three Oscars and put a T-rex with tear-away flesh under Christmas trees everywhere. Video sales may topple the $23 million record set by Disney's ``Aladdin.''
A technical marvel, ``Jurassic Park'' (PG-13 for violence) is king of the monsters for a simple reason - it plays in a way like no other film has to a long-held fascination for fans young and old. Translation: Dinosaurs are cool.
The credits, though, oughta list Willis O'Brien and Ray Harryhausen, pioneers in cinematic trickery who long ago broke the ground for ``JP's'' mind-boggling mix of robotics and computer animation.
O'Brien, of course, was the genius behind ``King Kong'' (1933, Turner), one of the all-time great movies. Using 18-inch stop-motion models, he pitted Kong against more than biplanes. I can think of a half-dozen dinosaurs that roamed the big ape's island home. Amazing.
Harryhausen, the acknowledged stop-motion master, created all kinds of fanciful beasts for ``Jason and the Argonauts'' and ``Sinbad's Golden Voyage.'' ``The Valley of Gwangi'' (1969, Warner) is a silly yarn about cowboys who capture an allosaurus, but it's worth watching for the dinosaur alone, especially the rampage at the end. Put ``The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms'' (1953, Warner) on your list, too.
Dino-buffs should check ``The Lost World'' (1925, Nostalgia), the silent take on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle adventure that ends with a brontosaurus (it would be an apatosaurus today) brutalizing London. You want funny? Try ``Caveman'' (1981, MGM/UA). Vicious? ``Carnosaur'' (1993, New Horizons), a Roger Corman cheapie, had its moments. Kids will love the mini-dinosaurs in ``Prehysteria'' (1993, Paramount).
Free advice: Steer clear of magnified lizards and guys in rubber suits. There's loads of other dinosaur films that deliver the goods. Any will do until the ``Jurassic Park'' sequel comes along.
You didn't know? It's in the works.
TOP TAPES (in this week's Billboard):
Sales: ``The 3 Tenors in Concert 1994,'' ``Beethoven's 2nd,'' ``D2: The Mighty Ducks,'' ``Sleepless in Seattle,'' ``Playboy Celebrity Centerfold: LaToya Jackson''
Rentals: ``Four Weddings and a Funeral,'' ``Schindler's List,'' ``The Ref,'' ``The Crow,'' ``Philadelphia''
The Couch Report
``Luna Park'' (1991, New Yorker). ``Mad Max'' meets ``A Clockwork Orange'' in the new Russia. Andrei is the leader of a right-wing gang of bodybuilders who clean up Moscow by beating up Jews and foreigners. Then he learns his father may be a Jewish composer. The relationship is never fully explained, but that ambiguity and Andrei's frustration - ``Who am I? Why was I lied to?'' - is telling in a broader way. (Russian with English subtitles)
(CAST: Oleg Borisov, Andrei Goutine, Natalie Egorova. UNRATED: violence, language, brief nudity)
``Camera Buff'' (1971, New Yorker). Kryzsztof Kieslowski (``Blue'') raises thoughtful questions about art and sacrifice. Filip buys a camera to film his baby daughter; when he's asked to make a company documentary, then wins an award for it, he's swept up in a moral dilemma exacerbated by the place and time - Poland in the early '70s. Kieslowski uses a technique similar to Filip's amateurish attempts, making the anguish real. (Polish with English subtitles)
(CAST: Jerzy Stuhr, Malgorzata Zabkowska, Krzysztof Zanussi. UNRATED: themes, language, situations)
``Bitter Moon'' (1994, New Line). Perverse. Bizarre. Twisted. Roman Polanski's over-the-top black comedy - ``Love Story'' on blue acid - is all the above. And hugely entertaining. Proper Hugh Grant, on a cruise to rekindle his marriage, is at first repulsed then becomes a willing audience for Peter Coyote's obsessive story. Some viewers may be, too. Take it as a dare.
(CAST: Peter Coyote, Emmanuelle Seigner, Hugh Grant, Kristin Scott-Thomas. RATED: R for nudity, situations, language, violence)
Also: Tupac Shakur in ``Above the Rim,'' the inner-city hoop drama (R); ``The Accompanist,'' love, envy and Beethoven during World War II (PG), and Linda Darnell in ``Forever Amber,'' the 1947 adaptation of Kathleen Winsor's racy novel (unrated). MEMO: Next Wednesday: ``The Paper,'' ``BackBeat,''cq ``The Inkwell,'' ``Holy
Matrimony,'' ``Where the Rivers Flow North,'' ``Golden Gate'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
EARLY RELEASE
TUESDAY WAS the official day ``Jurassic Park'' was supposed to
have come out, but some of you may have noticed it on sale last
weekend. So did I.
Two stores at Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach had big displays
right up front. When I asked why, the clerk at one said, ``Another
store broke the release date, so we did, too.''
MCA/Universal doesn't seem upset. Hey, sales or sales. But a
spokesman in Universal City, Calif., did say he had ``gotten calls
from all over the country'' about the tape going on sale early.
We're not really responding to it all,'' he said. ``It's just a
big title. It's very rare.''
- Craig Shapiro
by CNB