Tag: ILM

More than 18 years after the trademark Tyrannosaurus rex first roared onto the big screen in “Jurassic Park,” the film and its sequels are getting the Blu-ray treatment. On Tuesday, the “Jurassic Park” trilogy boxed set is being released on Blu-ray and DVD, and its bonus features include interviews with cast and crew. Among them is the Industrial Light & Magic visual effects wizard behind the full-motion dinosaurs in the first two “Jurassic Park” films, Dennis Muren. Hero Complex writer Noelene Clark recently chatted with Muren — whose other visual effects credits include “Star Wars,” “Ghostbusters” and “Indiana Jones” titles — about the dinosaur franchise, based on the book by Michael Crichton. NC: Something surprising about “Jurassic Park” is how well it has aged. The story and the effects still hold up really well. Why is that? DM: I wondered ...

When Oscar-nominated director Rob Marshall came aboard as the new captain of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, he was immediately possessed by the siren call of one particular element in the script — beautiful mermaids. No one needs to explain cinematic possibilities of dangerous lust and predatory women to the director of “Chicago” and “Memoirs of a Geisha,” and when he took over the Disney buccaneer franchise he zeroed in on the script’s presentation of the magical aquatic creatures as a place to make his mark. “They are beautiful, seductive women but they use that beauty to lure men to their deaths,” Marshall said with an approving grin. “They are women but they are also animal. These are creatures and carnivores and they want to feed.” And when they feed, sailors in salt water are the main course. Marshall made the mermaids a paramount priority for Ben ...