Jurassic Park III: Air Heli-Sabre Marine Copter

Year of release: 2001

Accessories:

-Helicopter

-Missile

-Dino Damage piece

-Pilot figure

Description: this small chopper is about 20 centimetres in length and is coloured mostly green. The front part of the vehicle is painted in a dark metallic green, while the rest is painted in a lighter shade of green. It sports black propeller blades, as well as a dark grey tail piece and landing gear. The cockpit window is transparent green and the cockpit can hold one figure. Right under the blades a detachable piece of transparent green plastic is located, giving the impression an aggressive dinosaur attacked the chopper and did some dino damage. Removing this piece exposes a silver engine with a red button; it also causes a damage sound (which can also be made without the damage piece by just pushing the red button). Two more sounds can be made with this aircraft: first, by rotating the round button on the underside, the propeller blades also rotate and a typical chopper sound is produced. Second, by moving the landing gear on the underside, a firing sound is made, and when loaded, a missile can be launched as well. The chopper is nicely detailed for a vehicle this size, but not overly so. A JP III logo can be found on the left side of the front part.

The Pilot figure is dressed in a light green pilot outfit, adorned with darker green stripes. He also wears black shoes and gloves and a grey belt. He sports an interesting (irremovable) red helmet with black breathing equipment on it which runs to his chest. This breathing tube is detachable from his chest but it doesn’t seem to serve a purpose.

Analysis: this is a good and fairly realistic (as far as I know, but I’m no expert on aviation) military aircraft with some cool options. The sounds are all fine, and so are the actions it can perform. The rotating blades option is an interesting new feature I missed on Kenner’s helicopter sculpts, and the accompanying sound makes it more lifelike. The dino damage piece is a nice addition, though not very original. The firing mechanism used for this toy is similar to the one used for the weapons of the human figures from this toy line, except it works better in this case. The landing gear pushes the missile out (you don’t have to use your fingers this time), but it goes in a straight line and has a decent enough impact force to knock smaller figures over. The firing sound is a bit weird though, but not irritatingly so.

The paint job of this chopper is nothing special, but good enough. Green and black are of course usual colours for military aircraft, so it’s reasonable to assume the designers didn’t want to go all wild and use much different colouring. Nevertheless it would be cooler if they had painted some of the details in different colours, because now it’s quite monochromatic. The colour of the cockpit window piece, transparent green, is rather unrealistic: normal transparency would have looked better. The pilot figure perfectly fits in this cockpit though, but unfortunately most other JP III figures don’t. It would have been great had Hasbro made a bigger helicopter, similar to the ones we actually got to see in the JP III movie, capable of carrying more people. Still, this model is good enough.

The pilot figure is okay, but not brilliant. Like the chopper the paint job could have been better, and a removable helmet would certainly be an improvement. Fortunately the figure stands in a relatively neutral position, unlike most of the other human figures from this toy line. He does hold his arms in an odd pose though: it reminds me of the way C-3PO (from the Star Wars movies, obviously) holds his. However, this way the figure fits easier in the cockpit, so at least it serves some purpose.

Playability: good enough. The chopper has a nice number of options and actions, as well as some good sound effects. Though it’s not very big it’s a cool figure to attack dinosaur figures with, or of course to be mercilessly crushed by one of them big predatory dinosaur figures. The pilot figure is decent, but nothing more. It doesn’t work too well on it’s own, but together with the vehicle it makes a formidable pair. This helicopter is electronic, and more fragile than I expected (at least my particular model is). I suggest you be careful with it and don’t get too rough, because that might damage the electronics and nullifies the funky sounds, which would be a tremendous shame.

Realism: there was no helicopter of this type in the movie as far as I know. It certainly doesn’t remind me of any of the choppers I saw in the JP movies. Nevertheless it looks like a small military aircraft might look, mostly because of the paint job and the look of the pilot. The pilot also looks different from the pilots seen in the three JP movies, but he’s without a doubt a pilot with that helmet of his.

Repaint: no. Neither this model nor the pilot would be repainted for other toy lines.

Overall rating: 7/10. It’s a good model and has some neat features and cool sound effects. Though the pilot isn’t really impressive and the electronics of the chopper have a tendency to break easily (at least in my case), it doesn’t make much difference for the overall coolness of this realistically designed military craft. If you want one I suggest you get it, because it’s a fine model and should provide for some fun interaction with other JP figures. It’s not really rare, but can’t be found all that easily either. You might have to look for it somewhat and it may not be cheap, but it’s worth it.

Jurassic Park Chaos Effect: Air S.A.B.R.E.

Year of release: 1998

Accessories:

-Rocket Launcher with rocket

-Exclusive Dieter Stark figure

Description: this small aerial vehicle basically consists of a flying cockpit with overly big landing feet and rather short heli-blades. The bulk of the chopper is coloured dark green, while the remaining parts (blades, landing feet, windshield, rocket and lights) are all black. On the vehicle's underside there is a small rocket launcher which comes with a single rocket. The tail section of this helicopter ends in a rather big joystick like appendage which sports a large grey button: pushing this button launches the rocket. The cockpit, which sports an all black interior and has little detail by itself, holds a single figure: the windshield section (no windows, so the cockpit is partially exposed to the elements) can be opened so the figure can get in. Right above the cockpit the chopper blades are found (two, not four like the JPS1 Capture Copter had): giving them a push makes them spin around in a decent fashion. On the front part of the cockpit a set of lights sticks out of either side, while a smaller contraption, presumably also a light, is located on the very nose of the chopper; this piece can be tilted up and down in about a 120 degree radius, but this serves no particular purpose. The Air S.A.B.R.E. is equipped with huge landing gear which is attached to the vehicle at the bottom part of the cockpit. Large protrusions stick out of this gear in a rectangular shape, with teeth like serrations at the edges, so the landing gear can hook on to vicious dinosaurs to take them out. This vehicle comes with various stickers for decoration, most notably some with the familiar black and yellow striped pattern carrying the texts 'caution' and 'step', as well as stickers with the InGen and Jurassic Park: Chaos Effect logos on them. There's also a sticker carrying a serial number for this vehicle (G961TJ-12) and two stickers saying 'warning!missile'.

The Air S.A.B.R.E. comes with an exclusive Dieter Stark figure. He looks rather thin, with overly long legs and a rather small head by comparison. He has black eyes and eye brows, white hair in a rather 'flat' hair style and shows an evil grinning expression on his face, exposing his teeth. He's also quite muscular and has both lower arms raised upwards as if holding something, clearly showing off his biceps. He wears a tight beige suit with red highlights around the torso and sides of the legs. He sports big black boots and gloves of the same colour, while carrying orange elbow patches on both arms and a big orange shoulder patch over his right shoulder. Additionally, he sports a red utility belt around his waist and black knee patches on both legs, as well as beige gun holsters on the sides of both upper legs and a console like communication device (if that's what it is) on his left upper leg. Most of these attributes are strapped around his legs with black straps. He also carries three more black wires on his chest though it's unclear what they're intended for. Dieter has some slight tears on his suit, closed with stitches.

Analysis: out of the few helicopters of the various JP toy lines, this is definitely the least appealing chopper. It looks rather odd, more like something out of G.I. Joe than from Jurassic Park. It has a sombre paint job, with a rather military style to it thanks to the dark green colouring. It's not the most successful paint job, but it suffices. The paint job isn't the problem though, it's mostly the design of this chopper. It just looks silly, with the big appendage on the tail and the annoying little lights sticking out on the sides which keep getting in the way of the action, not to mention the huge landing feet it carries around. This chopper could have used a slicker and tougher design to make it look more appealing.

Also, there's the lack of action features on this vehicle. The package boasts a 'heli-blade' action but what's actually meant by that is left vague. You can swivel the blades around, but if that's all, it's one hell of a lousy, cheap action feature. The blades are pretty short and have little impact force when something gets in their path. A similar problem comes with the rocket launcher, which by itself is a rather overused and predictable feature, especially on aerial vehicles. Though the joystick mechanism is pretty neat and not only makes the chopper easy to hold but also delivers an efficient firing mechanism, the range and impact force of the rocket itself leave much to be desired. The rocket can be fired over little more than half a metre, and isn't strong enough to knock over most figures, except the really small ones (like hatchlings) which are not the easiest targets to hit. The landing feet may look odd, but at least they can grab on to various smaller or medium sized dinosaur figures, and can even transport them (though for a light weight vehicle like this most figures are already on the heavy side). It's not sure whether this is their actual purpose, since no mention is made of it on the vehicle's box, but the picture on the front of the box, showing this helicopter grabbing a Velocirapteryx with its landing gear, hints at this particular function. The landing gear and the adequate paint job are basically the Air S.A.B.R.E.'s only redeeming features.

The same can't be said for the hideous Dieter Stark figure that completes this set, and has got to be one of the ugliest JP figures ever produced. It has a totally ridiculous outfit (though not unusual by Chaos Effects standards), being overly elaborate with all kinds of superficial detailing and an awkward colour scheme, and sports a bizarre head sculpt, with a silly hair style and stupid facial expression (for a JP figure at least). This human figure looks more like some anime cartoon figure than being recognizable as a Jurassic Park character. Also, its head and legs are out of proportion with the rest of its body, which also doesn't help. This is definitely one of the worst JP human figures around and makes the Air S.A.B.R.E. set even more of a failure.

Playability: half decent. The Dieter Stark figure has the usual range of poseable body parts, head, arms and legs only (though the way he holds his arms doesn't help playability). The chopper is equipped with a disappointing rocket launcher but at least comes with extra options in its landing gear (though because of the size of the feet this could also hinder playability because it might get in the way of the action). The joystick style of its tail section may look odd, but it does make this vehicle easy to hold. The Air S.A.B.R.E. only comes with a single missile so if it gets lost there's no back-up, but because of its small firing range the chances of it being lost are reduced to some extent.

Realism: realism isn't something to look for in the Chaos Effect line and the Air S.A.B.R.E. forms no exception on this rule. In fact the Dieter Stark figure is one of the least realistic and most cartoonish figures of them all. He also doesn't resemble the Dieter Stark character from the Lost World movie in any way, not to mention Dieter got mauled by Compies in that film so he shouldn't even be alive at all. Compared to the other Chaos Effect figures this chopper isn't actually all that deterring. It at least sports a moderate paint job without flashy bright colours. However, the overall shape and size, even for a single manned type of aircraft, is quite unlikely.

Repaint: no. This vehicle was designed specifically for the Chaos Effect toy line, and would not be repainted for any later lines.

Overall rating: 4/10. The chopper itself is of little interest though there are some good qualities to it, but it's the ridiculous Dieter Stark figure which really makes this set a largely unappealing addition to any JP toy collection. Though it didn't get a worldwide release, the Air S.A.B.R.E. isn't a rare set and can often be found for rather low prices, even MIB, mostly because it isn't particularly sought after, unsurprisingly.

Today's Mini-Review: Black Hawk Down

Black Hawk Down

Rating: ****/*****, or 7/10

Ridley Scott's account of the U.S. Marine incident in Somalia of October 3, 1993. Scott provides the drama, producer Jerry Bruckheimer ensures the expected carnage and explosions (plus a bunch of actual Black Hawk helicopters!). A wonderfully diverse cast of both top actors (Tom Sizemore, Ewan McGregor, Sam Shepard) and former unknowns (among them, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Tom Hardy, Nicolaj Coster-Waldau and Orlando Bloom) portrays the various Army Rangers and their commanding officers, who set out to perform a mission that soon spins out of everybody's control, resulting in a spectacular but horrific onslaught. Dispatched to arrest several high ranking officers of a vicious local warlord in Mogadishu, their objective swiftly turns into a basic fight to get out alive as the soldiers find themselves severely outnumbered when confronted with thousands of angry Somalis. All hell breaks loose on the city streets as a humongous firefight ensues that will witness several Americans gutted publicly and not one but two Black Hawk helicopters taken out. Not to mention the hundreds upon hundreds of Somali footsoldiers that got themselves killed in their attempt to simply overrun their highly trained opponents instead of going about their business with any tactical sense. Starting things at a surprisingly slow pace, an eerie calm before the storm you know will follow, Scott introduces the platoon of sympathetic young soldiers at his leisure, portraying them as fairly naive and rather bored by the lack of action, clearly not entirely grasping the gravity of the tense political situation they're in. But then, how could they predict things would get this bad, considering it wasn't supposed to go down the way it ended up doing? The moment they go in, there's no more time for levity and laughs since what follows is two hours of non-stop action where these boys have to deal with everything their military education had hoped them to avoid. Scott proves completely uncompromising, revealing the absolute brutality of the events in all its graphic horror, resulting in a harrowing viewing experience that's clearly not suited for everybody: if you're uncomfortable at the sight of bloody operations without sedatives or any type of gory dismemberment, you had better stay away from this film. As sudden as it started the fight is over and we're simply left numb and combat fatigued, wondering how things could have gotten so terribly out of hand so fast (even though the mission wasn't actually a failure by definition, as its goal was secured!). Despite its powerful punch, the movie tends to feel monotonous after 80 minutes of relentless gunfire, while it's a shame the Somali point of view is only briefly adressed (since 90% of the Somalis in this film end up as cannon fodder, it would have been nice to know what they thought they were fighting for). Nevertheless, Sir Ridley has clearly proven he's just as adapt at making daring, gripping war movies as he is at historical epics and science fiction pictures. Though there's little doubt audiences will prove as adapt at sitting through this cinematic battle from hell without any sense of shock and horror.

Starring: Eric Bana, Ewan McGregor, Josh Hartnett

Directed by Ridley Scott

USA/UK: Revolution Studios, 2001

Jurassic Park Series 1: Capture Copter

Year of release: 1993

Accessories:

-Tranq Missile Launcher with one missile

-Capture net

-Hook

(Note: the reviewer is not an expert on helicopters, so any incorrect technical terminology or lack of detail should be disregarded.)

Description: somewhat shark like in design, including tail fins, large fins on the side equipped with ski feet (so it stands well balanced) and a large sticker under the cockpit section featuring a huge fierce maul with sharp teeth and a big tongue, the Capture Copter is the only airborne vehicle of the first JP toy lines. Despite being one of the largest vehicles it is a one man chopper and as such there’s only room for a single figure in the cockpit; this cockpit has no “glass” but only plastic grey framing to prevent figures from falling out. The Copter features a set of four long thin blades as well as a two bladed propeller on the upper tail fin: all blades are black and spin around fine. On top of the main blades there is an orange device; its main function is to provide a solid gripping handle to hold the chopper with. On top of this a small grey button sticks out, which activates the net dropping system. Underneath the middle of the chopper, between the side fins, there is a large flat orange “box” supported by a grey framework. Via the four black weights which are to be attached to the net, this box holds the net on each end. Pushing the button makes the net drop. Pressing the two yellow levers below the box together prepares the system for another net dropping action. The net itself is very large and can hold almost any dinosaur figure, save for the very biggest (like the large T-Rex figure of this toy line).

Next to the net dropping system which is the primary weapon of this vehicle, there are several additional features. A grey hook is attached underneath the tail section of the Copter via a string which itself is tied around the lower tail fin. This fin can slide from the base of the tail to the back: the hook can hold the net and thus carry caught animals around, while the fin makes the net capable of being lifted as high or low as the range of the tail fin allows. Below the cockpit a box like orange missile launcher is attached, which can also be detached from the chopper. It can be loaded with a large grey rocket, and the Capture Copter comes with only one of these. Pressing the small yellow button on the underside of the launcher fires the missile a good distance away with a solid impact force.

Apart from the various components mentioned above the Capture Copter is almost entirely painted grey, except for a blue band around the middle part of the tail section. A small JP logo sticker can be found on each side fin, while a sticker featuring engine like detailing can be put just under the main blades. The large fierce mouth sticker runs from one end of the outer cockpit to the other, being about 15 centimetres wide in total and more or less symmetrical.

Analysis: the only toy vehicle of the first JP line which isn’t directly based of a vehicle seen in the movie, the classic Capture Copter is in no way of lesser interest and design than the cars. Its shark like carnivorous appearance makes it look rather organic and not much unlike the dangerous predators it hunts and transports. For this function it is equipped with several sweet action features, none of them suffering from any annoying design flaws.

First, its most eye catching weapon: the net. Unlike most other weapon systems using nets seen in the various Kenner toy lines this one doesn’t get launched (it’s much too big for that anyway), but dropped on a target instead. This increases chances of capturing creatures, since no aiming is required. Once having reached position above its quarry one simply presses the button on top and the net falls and totally engulfs the poor animal. The net’s size makes it suitable for use for almost any dinosaur figure, though the very largest won’t be fully trapped but only hindered. This net system works quite well and can be counted among the best of weaponry.

Second, the hook which can carry the net and move prey from the place of capture to the sight of incarceration. Via the lower tail fin the net can be lifted to various heights, though the tail fin immediately slips back when left loose. For a successful transport the fin must be carefully administered by hand. When large prey is caught in the net, say a JPS1 Stegosaurus, the hook is less easy to control and the chopper itself gets overly heavy, but smaller captives will be no problem for transport by hook and net.

Third, the Tranq missile launcher. This last weapon completes the system of capturing dinosaurs the Capture Copter uses. The net can capture a beast, but it won’t stop it from thrashing around in a desperate attempt to escape. However, this missile launcher sedates caught animals so they can be readied for transport quietly. The launcher has a perfect firing mechanism: just push the button and the missile gets fired, with a range of about a metre and still a great impact force at that distance. It will knock most figures over, except for the heaviest. The chopper comes with only one missile, but fortunately it’s somewhat larger than most other missiles which decreases the risk of losing it. The fact the missile launcher is detachable and can be used separately is also a plus.

All in all, the Capture Copter comes with a fine range of playability options, all in good condition. That and its design make it one of the more successful and appealing vehicles around. Only the dull paint job, being mostly grey with some black and orange detailing, can be considered a downside. Some variation in colour might have helped. But it’s a great toy regardless.

Playability: quite good. Both the rocket launcher, which is detachable so it can be used separately, and the net dropping system work great. The net is quite large and can capture all but the biggest dinosaur figures. The hook which can carry the net to transport captives isn’t very sturdy and when transporting bigger prey the net does slip loose on occasion. The cockpit can carry only one figure but unfortunately not all figures fit (Muldoon for example). The propeller blades swing as well as they should. Overall, this vehicle provides for a great range of playability when combined with figures and dinosaurs.

Realism: though helicopters were present in all three JP movies, this one is in no way similar to any of them. It’s more like a single person hunting chopper. It is reminiscent to some types of military helicopters, but equipped with weaponry to take on dinosaurs in full force instead of shooting and bombing human targets. It is a nigh perfect toy vehicle though, but not the most realistic.

Repaint: as part of the first JP toy line this Capture Copter is obviously not a repaint. The vehicle would not be repainted for later toy lines either.

Overall rating: 8/10. The Capture Copter, no doubt the most classic of the various JP helicopter toys, is great fun and comes with good action features and a neat sleek design. It’s well worth getting, but also the rarest sculpt of the JPS1 toy line. Though certainly not impossible to find loose, complete and MIB Capture Copters are hard to come by and usually fetch high prices. So be warned.