Movie Guys: Jurassic Park eats up video competition

Thursday, Nov. 6, 1997 | 7:46 a.m.

* "The Lost World: Jurassic Park" (Universal Home Video; Rated PG-13; VHS/Laserdisc; Grade, A):

Guess what? There was another island with more dinosaurs on it. Steven Spielberg, the world's greatest director, takes us back to Jurassic Park, but this time the dinosaurs are all running free. A team of scientists led by Jeff Goldblum tries to find a way to preserve the park before a rival company steals all the prehistoric critters away for itself. Full of the sort of action and suspense that only Speilberg can deliver, a "King Kong"-style ending and, at a nice price of only $19.99, "The Lost World" provides one of the best times you can spend at home.

By Dave

* "Face/Off" (Paramount Home Video; Rated R; VHS/Laserdisc, Grade, A): This has two of today's hottest actors swapping faces and characters and playing out their opposites in grand fashion. John Travolta plays a vengeful federal agent out to ruin the plans of a psychotic terrorist (Nicolas Cage) who has concealed a bomb somewhere in Los Angeles.

By surgically transplanting Cage's face to his own, Travolta's character (now played by Cage) goes undercover, while Cage's character steals Travolta's face (now played by Travolta) and assumes his identity. The film's clever concept, however outlandish it may seem, allows director John Woo ("Broken Arrow") to orchestrate a brilliant series of action sequences and make violence a choreographed art form. Plus, the great character development is driven by the energetic performances of its two stars, who literally copy each other's styles and mannerisms. By far the best film the summer of '97 had to offer -- and possibly the best film of the year.

By Dave

* "Gone Fishin' " (Buena Vista Home Video; Rated PG; VHS/Laserdisc; Grade, F): Beware, folks! When you are cruising down the video aisle and you come across this stinker, just keep on walking. This incredible travesty of a film stars two accomplished character actors, Joe Pesci and Danny Glover, as boyhood best friends who venture to the Everglades on a fishing trip and become entangled with a criminal-at-large.

What appears to be an attempt at hijinks and slapstick humor results in zero laughs and a most forgettable movie experience. It is a mystery why Pesci, Glover and co-stars Carol Kane and Rosanna Arquette -- even the production assistants, for that matter -- would waste any time on this nonsense, other than for the paycheck. "Gone Fishin' " should have died on the hook.

THE MOVIE GUYS, starring Jeff Howard and Dave Neil, appears every Friday in the SUN. You can also find their capsule reviews of movies in Scope magazine and listen to their reviews and commentary every Saturday and Sunday at 4 p.m. on their radio show "Quiet on the Set" on KBVC 105.1-FM.