When I attended the New York Licensing Show last June, I learned about a number of movies that were scheduled to be released as far as a year away. Among those movies was Jurassic Park III. When I made it to the Universal Studios booth and I saw the JP3 logo and found out that JP3 was slated for release in May of 2001 – I prayed for a time machine so I did not have to wait an entire year for the third installment of the series that brought a subject I have been fascinated with all of my life to the big screen with such amazing storylines and special effects – that I literally kicked off my shoe when I saw the first Jurassic Park in the theatre.

After tacking a copy of the JP3 logo on my desk and patiently waiting an entire year until the movie hit the big screen – I finally sat next to Christine, watched the movie – and was completely disappointed.

Unlike it’s first two prequels, Jurassic Park III lacked a captivating storyline, the edge-of-your-seat drama that the first two had – and the amount of dinosaurs that were in the other movies. Plus, the movie was only an hour and a half long. So as the credits rolled this time – it became apparent that my year-long vigil was all for nothing.

After we saw the movie, Christine told me that she did not really recall the first two installments of the Jurassic Park trilogy – so since I had them both on tape –I suggested that we watch them. So we bought some popcorn, sat on the couch – and watched Jurassic Park – the 1993 release that first introduced the world to genetically created dinosaurs in a theme park created by John Hammond – a man who dreamed of bringing the world biological attractions that no one had ever seen before. The movie also introduced it’s audience to the wonders of CGI – or Computer Generated Images that made the dinosaurs seem as real on the screen as they were when they roamed the Earth millions of years ago.

After not seeing Jurassic Park for years – and after seeing JP3 – I was really amazed at the first of the three Jurassic Parks now that I saw it again. The two hour and six minute movie had such an in depth story line – that they did not even show a dinosaur until forty-five minutes into the movie. And when they finally did – it was such an amazing moment that it took my breath away. And then, when things started to go wrong – I grabbed on to the edge of my seat and did not let go until the credits rolled just like I did eight years ago when I watched the movie for the very first time.

A few days later, Christine and I once again sat on the couch to watch the second installment of the Jurassic Park series – The Lost World. Set four years ahead of the first one, the story begins with a rich couple docking on Isla Sorna – an island eighty seven miles away from Jurassic Park. After encountering a few hungry natives – the Board of Directors of InGen – the company that created the biological creatures, takes control of “Site B” – which is the island where the dinosaurs were “grown”, from an ailing John Hammond, who has been lobbying for the past four years to leave the island a biological preserve. But now that Hammond’s evil nephew has control of InGen – he plans to pillage the island and bring the dinosaurs to the mainland – and open Jurassic Park San Diego. Before the island is ruined by man, Hammond wants to send a team of four people on the island to document the dinosaurs in their “natural habitat” – which unlike the first movie – is free of fences, boundaries or walls. Among the four people Hammond selects for the trip is Dr. Ian Malcolm, played once again by Jeff Goldblum.

As I sat and watched this movie that I have not seen since I sat in a theatre in 1997 – I was once again blown away at the film I was watching. This movie was not only more frightening then the first one – it had more twists, turns, surprises – and shocking moments then it’s predecessor. Of all the sequels I have seen since the first time I sat in a theatre and watched the lights dim – this one is very high on my top five list. And after watching Jurassic Park only a few days earlier – I was really into the second installment of this amazing series because the first one was still very fresh in my mind.

Which brings me back to Jurassic Park III – which is now an even more extreme disappointment after watching the first two movies again. But I guess in a strange way, Jurassic Park III was not so bad after all – because while it did not even come close to the first two – it did give me a greater appreciation for them and made me enjoy them even more when I sat and watched them again.

Word is that after only being released for fourteen days and grossing nearly one hundred and twenty five million dollars – there is already talk about a Jurassic Park 4. I just hope that in this case – the wait will be worth it.