JURASSIC PARK 3 Cinematographer Shares Big Budget Scene That Didn't Make It into the Movie

Jurassic Park 3 was, in my opinion, the most forgettable of the Jurassic film franchise. I can’t actually remember the whole film, and I don’t really care to revisit it as much as any of the other movies in its company. But I guess there was a scene that was talked about by franchise producer Steven Spielberg and Jurassic Park 3 cinematographer Shelly Johnson that didn’t make it in that Spielberg was really pulling for. It didn’t make it in, but fans got to see it eventually when it made it into Jurassic World.

In a recent interview with Jurassic Park Outpost, Johnson talked about the scene:

“At one point, I’m not sure if it was written or not, there was a big discussion and some illustrations of a Pteranodon attacking a helicopter, like a big helicopter, a black Hawk. And when they fly away at the end of it they were going to attack and pick their way through the windshield, kind of like they did with the little helicopter in part four.”

It ended up being too expensive, and it didn’t make the cut. But Johnson still expected it up until the end! He added:

“We were kind of waiting for it because as they fly out, that’s where it was. The last thing was this attack and they had to get out of it. And it ended up getting cut because of the expense, everything, you’re at the end of the movie now. And that was the sequence we had least worked out, where everything else we had sets for and had worked it out and it just didn’t seem like it was going to be viable.”

Jurassic Park 3 had a lot of trouble, from the script all the way through production. But this scene may have given it a little more help. Who knows?