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DVD Jurassic Park: Prime Survival
 Rating: 5.1 Genres: Adventure | Sci-Fi Director: Jack De La Mare Writers: Sakari Sihvo Stars: Elliott Crossan, Liam Inder, Charlie Patch |
| Storyline The story revolves around 3 friends who are heading for a trip to a deserted island. Little do they know, the island was once used for the habitation of dinosaurs bread by a familiar company. As they discover more about the island and the secrets it holds, the more danger they find themselves in. Their efforts to escape take them on a complete thrill ride throughout the whole movie. Written by Jack De La Mare |
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| Details: Country: UK Release Date: 8 April 2011 (USA) |
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| Box Office Budget: £1,000 (estimated) |
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4 comments
The tagline for Steven Spielberg's 1993 classic blockbuster Jurassic Park read, 'an adventure… 65 million years in the making.' For the cast and crew of this fan film spin-off, that statement has never rung more true. The production for this movie, the first movie made by Jack De La Mare, has been incredibly troubled (like JP4 really). Production began in 2007, and the film has had many set backs, with the initial 2009 release date pushed right back to 2011. Weaker people would've given up on the project years ago, but Jack and his team have stayed with it through the highs, the lows and the re-shoots. The halts have been down to mostly post-production, visual effects and sound being the main culprits. But now, the movie is finally ready to be released online to all those who have been patiently waiting and following Jacks numerous update videos. And having been at the preview screening (I'm going to claim it as a press release, yeah I sound official!), is the film a testament to the commitment from Jack and co.?
Now, with a fan film like this, you can't expect top quality film-making, as no one involved does this professionally. At least not yet anyway. I do strongly believe that if the crew made this now, the quality would be miles better. But they can't help that. So, no, the acting is hardly RADA standard (although Chris Bentley's Australian accent is something special). And yes, hair lengths may change, and voices may break. But this is all part of the fun when watching a fan film of this nature. However, there is plenty here which shows signs of brilliant amateur filmmaking. First off, the cast, consisting of Elliott Crossan, Liam Inder and Charlie Patch, certainly convey a genuine friendship on screen as the three friends who take an unfortunate trip to a certain island off the coast of Costa Rica (even if they don't seem too worried when Elliott disappears for a bit). They're fun to follow through all the Dino-action, and react surprisingly well to the CG incarnations of their prehistoric antagonists, most of the time anyway. The Dino-action itself is very well edited; the effects are incorporated very effectively into scenes for the most part. There are some ropey areas, and some dinosaurs look more textured then others, but, once again, for a fan film, it's very impressive considering this was completely new territory for Jack, and to take on a film which requires a great extent of animation for their first film at the age of 14-15 is incredibly ambitious (it seems he spared no expense). With this in mind, I think the animation is very impressive indeed, with the scenes on the beach being a particular highlight.
The problem with most fan-made films such as this is that they can be quite cringe-worthy to watch, particularly if you know the people involved. But with this film, I hardly cringed at all, and I honestly mean that, I'm not just saying that for the sake of friendship with the people involved. I had a big smile on my face watching this film with the cast and crew. They may have been cringing, which is understandable, but for someone who wasn't involved in the production, I certainly wasn't. There may be continuity errors and a few mistakes within certain frames (oh hey, Bellis), but overall they do not over-shadow how fun the film is. A lot happens in its 40 minute runtime, and I was almost left wanting a little more. There are some nice nods to the Jurassic Park franchise and the musical score certainly improves the experience of the movie. I think, and I'm sure Jack and co would agree, this film was very much a learning experience. Those of you who have seen Isolated (and if not, why the hell not) will agree that lessons were well learnt in terms of filmmaking technique. For what it is, Prime Survival is a lovingly constructed tribute to Spielberg and his Dino-franchise, and features moments that do truly impress. And it really is a testament to everyone's commitment to see this movie finally come to light and find its way on to the World Wide Web. It's great fun to watch and this reflects the levels of enthusiasm from all involved. All that is left to say is a huge well done to Jack, the cast and the crew; it certainly is a fun first film to be proud of. I'm sure it will stay with you all as a fulfilling, worthwhile experience. So, head on over to YouTube and check it out for yourselves! Clever girls.
I have watched your movie and each time find new things I like and dislike. I'm going to start with the pros- *You guys had a very good location. The island itself made the movie feel a bit more professional. Also the plane, helicopter. Those helped a lot.
*The Dinosaurs looked OKAY. But the good thing is most people have no idea how to do 3D Animation, so that helped a lot.
*The Music also created a professional type feel. It helped keep the story going.
Now to the not so great things- *I hate to say it but, the acting was horrible. I mean I know it must have been hard to act like you were being attacked by the dinosaurs if there was nothing there, but still. There was like zero emotions when Adams Uncle died.
I do realize though, you were young. Overall I gave you 7/10 for a strong effort and in my opinion,creating the best fan made Jurassic park film on YouTube! Never stop shooting! -Zach
Three boys travel to an island off the coast of Costa Rica. Only to find a lost world inhabited by dinosaurs.
This is somewhat of a special review, because I have been waiting to see this fan film for a long time and I was very excited to hear that after 5 years I could finally sit down and see what Jack De La Mare had created. Now obviously (and as Jack has stated himself) this is not a film with a Hollywood budget but that is what is great about this particular fan film, with what he could get De La Mare has achieved something special.
There are a lot of special effects shots, more than I had anticipated, and the great thing was they looked fantastic. The dinosaurs are the stars of the show, and there are touches to the animal's characters that were interesting; for example the Dilphosaurus eating the Raptor was something that I've wanted to see for along time and now I can. As fan films go this is up there with AVP: Redemption and Batman: Dead End. It is a fun enjoyable ride for lovers of the Jurassic Park universe. Even with it's flaws it is a milestone for a young aspiring film maker who never gave up on it's creation, and that is something to respect.
Prime Survival is an enjoyable homage to all things Jurassic Park, not a perfect piece of work but it holds up against 99% of fan films. For lovers of the franchise it is the perfect filler until Jurassic Park 4 pops its prehistoric head out from the jungle.
Having a large Jurassic Park site you see a lot of ambitious projects that come and go throughout your tenure of running it and in fact of spending the better part of a decade being involved in the Jurassic Park community. Prime Survival, a film by Jack De La Mare, is probably one of the most ambitious projects that was undertaken by an international team of fans spanning from the United States and United Kingdom to make a "new JP film" to satisfy that long urge for another go at the franchise. Prime Survival is that attempt and it does not disappoint in terms of a new dino-romp. For a Fan film, it's quite well down, how it compares against the actual films released by Universal? Well you just can't compare as it isn't a valid comparison. Fan films are usually done by hard working folks with a shoe-string budget to add supplementation to their favorite film/TV franchise. What makes Prime Survival special is the fact it is possibly one of the FIRST released Fan Films to take itself seriously. Why is this a good thing? Because frankly you need to realize that almost ever JP fan film out there has been a spoof or a gag reel of old and tired humor of spoofing the Same. Exact. Scene. Over. And. Over. Again. Thankfully Prime Survival isn't that. It has adventure in a rather basic storyline involving three boys journeying to Isla Muerta.
Isla Muerta is part of the Las Cinco Muertes island chain in the Jurassic Park franchise. The only island we've seen out of this chain is Isla Sorna, InGen's Site B. As for what happens when they reach the island, you can imagine. They're stuck and they need to find a way off of the island.
So what's the good word?
Story: While the storyline appears basic you can tell there's more to it when you watch the film. The story is believable and it doesn't have any of these kids living on a dinosaur island for eight weeks, they're there and they get out within a span of two-three days like a majority of JP films. The story itself flows quickly and gets to the point fast. The film run time is about an hour, but it does a fairly decent job of introducing us to our characters, what they want, why they go to the island, and does some interesting continuity work for it. There was a lot of honest care and effort placed into explaining things in the story and taking the time to show us things like, "Well this is why Dinosaurs are on this other island." and keeping it straight and to the point at the same time. I would admit the ending did seem a bit rocky and there were moments where the film itself seemed to drag on and stumble a bit, but it did well to recover from these moments and keep telling the story and telling it good. Being a Fan Film it did what it could and it did great even with showcasing as many dinosaurs and action sequences as it did in one hour. I give the story telling ability an A.
Acting: "Remember we were young" was held as sort of a reminder for me while I reviewed this so I didn't judge too harshly on them. For the actors being the age range they were they did remarkably well. Could it have used work? In truth, yes, some extra ADR work here and there, but other than that they did remarkably well! I give this portion a B.
Special Effects: For a Fan Film the special effects are basement quality, but done really well and look actually really nice for an amateur film-making. You can tell a lot of care and such was taken into account here. You can't get much better than this with a Fan Film in my opinion. The animal movement though some of the animals look like they wouldn't "move that fast" or "that slow". The effort is there to make it good, but some of these sequences still seemed jerky. I give this section an A.
Music: Done by former staff member BrachioInGen (we wish him luck in his endeavors with musical composition!) the score is distinctly Jurassic Park mixed with The Lost World: Jurassic Park flare. Generally a nice score with a few recognizable injections of the Jurassic Park theme and a recognizable action motif it does its job of fitting with the film and does it well. This gets an A.
Action Sequences/Ambiance/Setting: The setting chosen was distinctly "Jurassic Park" in some ways. I do admit a lot of the "buildings" did not seem as run-down as they do in the films, when you side-step this and just go "Yeah they probably couldn't get away with trashing that to make this." it's actually feasible and works well. I did like the nod on there to a Jurassic Park website, JPToys.Com, and to JPLegacy in the end credits.
As to the dinosaurs used, herbivores can be dangerous too it was shown and I applaud this usage! The thing is sometimes throwing herbivores into an action sequence can be tricky as you don't want them to see "out of character". Some of the sequencing during the action sequences appeared to be cut here and there, but it was still generally done well. One sequence with the Stegosaurus I felt was misplaced was during the films climax for the last action sequence to escape we didn't see why it was running, but it seemed to be spooked by someone or something. The film though deserves credit for being a good dinosaur romp! I give this portion a B.
Good going guys! I hope Jack you can make another JP film some day. I got an idea for a Live the Legend fan film involving my T.rex I'm dying to get out there!