Jurassic Park Steven Spielberg's phenomenally successful sci-fi adventure thriller is graced by state-of-the-art special effects from the team of Stan Winston, Phil Tippett and Michael Lantieri from George Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic. The film follows two dinosaur experts -- Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) -- as they are invited by eccentric millionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) to preview his new amusement park on an island off Costa Rica. By cloning DNA harvested from pre-historic insects, Hammond has been able to create living dinosaurs for his new Jurassic Park, an immense animal preserve housing real brachiosaurs, dilophosaurs, triceratops, velociraptors, and a Tyrannosaur Rex. Accompanied by cynical scientist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), who is obsessed with chaos theory, and Hammond's two grandchildren (Ariana Richards and Joseph Mazzello), they are sent on a tour through Hammond's new resort in computer controlled touring cars. But as a tropical storm hits the island, knocking out the power supply, and an unscrupulous employee (Wayne Knight) sabotages the system so that he can smuggle dinosaur embryos out of the park, the dinosaurs start to rage out of control. Grant then has to bring Hammond's grandchildren back to safety as the group is pursued by the gigantic man-eating beasts. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi The Lost World: Jurassic Park Just when you'd think that scientists would realize dinosaurs and humans don't mix, along comes The Lost World: Jurassic Park to prove you wrong. In this sequel, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) summons chaos theorist and onetime colleague Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) to his home with some startling information -- while nearly everything at his Jurassic Park had been destroyed, engineers were also operating a second site, where other dinosaurs, resurrected through DNA cloning technology, had been kept in hiding. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi Jurassic Park III Director Joe Johnston takes over the creative reins from Steven Spielberg for this third installment in the thriller franchise. Sam Neill returns as Dr. Alan Grant, a scientist who's tricked by wealthy couple Paul and Amanda Kirby (William H. Macy and Tea Leoni) into a fly-over of Isla Sorna. The object of their sightseeing tour is one of the Costa Rican islands populated by ferocious, genetically bred dinosaurs and the "site B" setting of Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World (1997). After their plane crash-lands, it's revealed that the Kirbys are actually seeking their teenage son, lost on the island after a paragliding accident. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation [