Trivia for
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) More at IMDbPro »

• Director Steven Spielberg had to attend an early screening for Swingers (1996) in order to give approval for the use of the Jaws (1975) theme. There he was so impressed by Vince Vaughn that he offered him a part in this film.
  
  
• The ship which crashes into the InGen quay at San Diego docks, traveling at 26 knots, is called "S.S. Venture". This the same name as the ship that brought the giant ape to Manhattan in King Kong (1933) and King Kong (2005).
  
  
• In the San Diego video store, there is a poster advertising a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger as King Lear. This is a reference to Schwarzenegger's playing "Hamlet" in Last Action Hero (1993) - the movie that was practically wiped out at the box office by the first Jurassic Park (1993).
  
  
• At least five scenes were cut from the film before release, and some appeared in the trailer: Peter Ludlow talking to the InGen committee about their expenses, Roland and Ajay talking in a bar, T-rexes trying to attack Kelly, who was left alone in the High Hide, The Raptors and T-rexes fighting in the rex's nest, and Pteranodons attacking the rescue helicopter.
  
  
• When the T-rex bites the traffic signal in San Diego, a street sign on the right edge of the screen reads in part "NO DINOSAURS".
  
  
• The man that is eaten by the T-Rex next to the video store (in San Diego) is David Koepp, one of the writers of the film. He is credited as "Unlucky Bastard".
  
  
• Director Cameo: [Steven Spielberg] Reflected in the TV broadcasting the CNN story about the return of the dinosaurs, sitting on the couch next to Jeff Goldblum and eating popcorn.
  
  
• Held the record for the biggest opening weekend ever for four and a half years, May 1997 to November 2001.
  
  
• Steven Spielberg originally approached Juliette Binoche about playing the role of Sarah Harding. She supposedly replied that she would appear in the film only if she could "play the dinosaur". The part went to Julianne Moore instead. Binoche had previously declined the part of Dr. Satler in Jurassic Park (1993).
  
  
• The tyrannosaur scratching its head as it approaches the residential area of San Diego is a nod to King Kong (1933) in which the tyrannosaur makes the same gesture before encountering the ape.
  
  
• In the San Diego video store, there is a window poster for Robin Williams in "Jack and the Beanstalks" using artwork from the Hook (1991) poster (also directed by Steven Spielberg). Further inside the store is a floor display for Tom Hanks in "Tsunami Sunrise".
  
  
• According to Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park novels, Sarah Harding is the daughter of Gerry Harding, the vet who treated the sick triceratops in the first film. In the book, Sarah was a zoologist, not a paleontologist; the paleontologist who Malcolm went to Isla Sorna to save was a man named Richard Levine, a character who only made it to the film as certain aspects of the Sarah character.
  
  
• Originally, Dr. Ian Malcolm's team included a fifth member, a paleontologist named Dr. Juttson. He was obviously inspired by the character Richard Levine from the novel. Dr. Juttson was dropped due to an already overcrowded cast, and most of his lines were given to Dr. Sarah Harding.
  
  
• When Dieter Stark, played by Peter Stormare, is first attacked by the Compys (Compsognathus), he starts yelling and throwing stones at them, then he mumbles parts of various curses in Swedish, however he doesn't complete any of them. Steven Spielberg thought it was excellent and kept the take in the final cut.
  
  
• The Japanese tourists running from the rampaging T-Rex in the San Diego scene (an obvious homage to "Godzilla" movies) are saying in Japanese: "I left Japan to get away from this?!"
  
  
• As T-rex turns to walk between houses in residential San Diego, he glances at the basketball hoop in the driveway, then makes a distinct dribbling motion with his right arm as he passes behind the house.
  
  
• In Early Drafts of the Script, Lex and Tim were kept in for much longer. Some even had the kids going back to the park and encountering the dinosaurs again.
  
  
• The alpinist Tembo mentions as the first man to climb the Mt. Everest without oxygen bottles is Reinhold Messner.
  
  
• The five islands in Las Cinco Muertes are: Isla Matanceros, Isla Muerte, Isla Sorna, Isla Tacano, and Isla Pena.
  
  
• The name "The Lost Island" was originally considered for The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), with the studio thinking the public may confuse it with the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic.
  
  
• Thirteen stunt performers worked on Jurassic Park (1993), while 50 were used for this sequel.
  
  
• The film introduced the new Universal Logo.
  
  
• Initially, three Mercedes ML-320s were modified for the trip to Isla Sorna. The third SUV, built as a "mobile observatory," is currently on display at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart.
  
  
• Art Malik turned down the role of Harvey Jason.
  
  
• Joe Johnston lobbied for the director's job but schedule problems during the post-production of Jumanji (1995) forced him out. Steven Spielberg was also adamant to direct this sequel himself, promising Johnston the director's chair for the third movie, which he indeed directed.
  
  
• Director Trademark: [Steven Spielberg] [father] Malcolm admits he's a bad father.
  
  
• Writer David Koepp said that when he was writing the script to this movie, he taped a fan letter next to his computer screen. The letter was from a viewer of the original Jurassic Park (1993) film who complained he "waited too long" to show the dinosaurs in that film.
  
  
• The baby stegosaurus Sarah interacts with was named Claire on set.
  
  
• Like the first Jurassic Park (1993), this shoot finished before the scheduled 74 days. It was completed in 69 days.
  
  
• The two models of the T-Rex each weighed 9 tons. Due to their weight, the crew constructed sets around them, rather than moving them onto sets.
  
  
• The cliff side set was built on to the side of a parking building.
  
  
• The paleontologist "Dr. Burke" is an affectionate caricature of real-life paleontologist Robert Bakker.
  
  
• Steven Spielberg wanted to work with Indian actor M.R. Gopakumar in the movie, but due to his passport traveling issues he was unable to accept that offer.
  
  
• Director Trademark: [Steven Spielberg] [Signs] Using a sign with directions or instructions as a joke. In this case, the T-Rex crosses the pier at the San Diego port bearing a sign that reads, "No animals or vegetables beyond this point."
  
  
• Malcolm remarks that Hammond went from "industrialist to naturalist in four years." Richard Attenborough's brother is naturalist David Attenborough.
  
  
• One shot from the film appears in the original entrance video of the World Wrestling Federation faction Degeneration-X. It's a shot of people running for their lives down the street to escape the rampaging dinosaur. The shot, from which 17 frames are used, occurs at 1:52:57 in the movie, immediately after the bus drives through the video store. The footage was used by the World Wrestling Federation in December 1997, but may have been used earlier than that.
  
  
• The title of this sequel is an obvious reference to the earlier dinosaur novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which has been adapted into numerous films. One of them, The Lost World (1960), starred David Hedison, who had previously played the ill-fated scientist in The Fly (1958). This film stars Jeff Goldblum, who appeared in The Fly (1986).
  
  

• SPOILER: The prop used as a tranquilizing gun at the end of the movie was originally used as a high powered weapon by Michael Gross in Tremors II: Aftershocks (1996) (V).
  
  
• SPOILER: The script called for a scene where the Velociraptors got on board the Venture as it was about to set sail. As chaos ensued, the T-Rex also got loose, and killed everything else aboard. This explains why many of the crew members are dead in places the Rex cannot reach. The scene was never filmed.
  
  
• SPOILER: WILHELM SCREAM: Not the classic Wilhelm, but "the second scream" is heard as Eddie is being eaten by the Mother and Father Tyrannosaurs.
  
  
• SPOILER: There are 13 on-camera deaths, 10 on the island and 3 in the city, the most of all three films.
  
  
• SPOILER: David Koepp lifted several set pieces from the original Jurassic Park novel for use in this sequel. These include: The procompsognathus attacking the young girl; hiding from the Tyrannosaur behind a waterfall, while the creature tries to find them using its tongue; Dieter Stark being killed by Procompsognathids (Hammond in the novel); Roland Tembo tranquilizing the Tyrannosaur (Robert Muldoon in the novel).
  
  

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