If “Jurassic Park” is about the hubris involved in playing God for purposes of capitalistic entertainment, “The Lost World” is a parable about the arrogance of humanity in attempting to control nature for either nefarious or noble purposes.

Spielberg and screenwriter David Koepp, adapting Michael Crichton’s sequel novel, demonstrate that latter point in the movie’s centerpiece sequence: activist Nick Van Owen (Vince Vaughn), along with paleontologist Sarah Harding (Julianne Moore) free a cadre of dinosaurs from the clutches of the InGen corporation, and in the process rescue an injured infant Tyrannosaurus Rex. Upon bringing the baby Rex back to their Trailer camp, the child’s cries attract its mother and father as Nick and Sarah attend to the kid’s broken leg. Although Sarah, Nick, and Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) give the infant back to its parents, it’s too late — the dinos attack the trailer in retribution.

In attempting to top the iconic moment of the T-Rex escaping her pen in the first “Jurassic Park,” Spielberg milks every possible ounce of tension from the scene, stacking the deck against our helpless human heroes with each passing second: not only are there multiple Rexes instead of one, but the humans are soon trapped inside the trailer as the dinosaurs push it over a seaside cliff, causing Sarah to fall against what was once a front window and try to save herself before it cracks open.

Fortunately, the group’s field equipment expert and pal Eddie Carr (Richard Schiff) manages to tow the trailer back up the cliff long enough for his friends to save themselves. Because this is “Jurassic Park,” everything has a consequence and a cost — Eddie is turned into a wishbone by the Rexes, and the entire trailer falls down around Malcolm and the others while they hang onto a tow cable for dear life.