Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2 HR, 7 MIN
I absolutely fell in love with Jurassic Park the first time I saw it in 1993. It, along with Terminator 2: Judgement Day, are the two films that I think really changed movies and Hollywood in general. Jurassic Park may be the very definition of popcorn flick but it has an intriguing premise thanks to author Michael Critchon, a perfect cast, a director who knows how to balance awe with terror, and top notch visuals that still hold up well 18 years later.
This is undoubtedly the best Jurassic Park has ever looked but it is showing some signs of age. That doesn’t bother me in the least however, Jurassic Park was an early entry into the world of CGI and some shots don’t hold up as well in 1080P resolution. Overall detail is leaps and bounds better than the DVD but there are some scenes that suffer from crushing blacks. There is also a noticeable amount of grain which is occasionally overpowering but I’d rather see too much grain than have it completely scrubbed away with excessive DNR. Jurassic Park holds the distinction of being the first film released in DTS and even after 18 years it still sounds great. Bass is nice and tight, the surround channels are used often and to great affect, and dialogue is always crystal clear even when the T-Rex and Raptors are causing havoc all over the park.
The special features on Jurassic Park are also good. The headliners are the newly produced Return to Jurassic Park documentaries that are included on each disc. The first segments make up the bulk of the extras on disc one. Dawn of a New Era, Making Prehistory, The Next Step in Evolution run about an hour back to back to back and are really well done and feature interviews with much of the cast and crew and give a great look inside of the entire process that brought Jurassic Park to life. There are also some older extras including a Making of… documentary, assorted featurettes, and a SD trailer.
The Lost World
Year: 1997
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 2 HR, 9 MIN
A phoned in sequel that is technically superior to its predecessor in almost every way except in plotting and heart. I hadn’t seen The Lost World in a number of years and it’s actually a better film than I remember giving it credit for but it’s still far from a great film. The same year Spielberg directed Jurassic Park he also directed Schinder’s List, similarly the same year he directed The Lost World he turned around and directed Amistad. In 1993 he directed two back-to-back classics (albeit completely different types of classics) and in 1997 Spielberg attempted to repeat that success and came up short. Not all the blame falls on Speilberg, Critchon’s novel didn’t do the film any favors. The Lost World tries to upstage Jurassic Park at every turn but something creatively was lost… and why does Jeff Goldblum have a black daughter? They couldn’t find any other way to work a black guy or gal into the film?
Even though Jurassic Park looked very good The Lost World’s video transfer easily beats its predecessor. Black levels are superb, the level of detail is good, and while there’s a layer of grain present it never comes close to being overpowering. The audio is even better than the video and if I had to sum it up in one word it would be “Spectacular!” The dialogue is always crystal clear, all seven channels come alive with a flurry of activity, and your subwoofer will get a wonder workout because the bass is intense.
Extras on The Lost World fall short of what was included with Jurassic Park. Two documentaries are included; Finding the Lost World and Something Survived are decent but it’s a bit of a circle jerk with lots of people saying how great the film is but never mentioning some of the issues that hinder The Lost World. The rest of the special features are pretty forgettable with some “vintage” featurettes, some semi-interesting deleted scenes, and a shitty looking standard definition trailer.
Jurassic Park III
Year: 2001
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 1 HR, 32 MIN
There are movies I hate and then THERE ARE MOVIES I HATE. Jurassic Park III definitely falls in latter category. For a movie that was filmed almost 10 years after the original film some of the effects looks downright terrible. Pay close attention to the dinosaur attack when the plane is stuck in the tree, ask yourself “If Spielberg directed this would it look this bad?” It’s a lazily written film where somehow another kid that’s wise beyond their years end up on dinosaur island. JP3 is filled with tons of cliché action staples and clocks in at an embarrassingly short 92 minutes. The only saving grace of the entire film is Sam Neil but he’s the sole cast member that I wasn’t rooting for to die.
Unlike the abyssal film the video and audio are amazing. I think only the most persnickety videophiles would be able to spot anything to complain about. JP3 features a reference quality soundmix; the surround channels are constantly busy even in the calmest scenes the ambient noises completely envelop you. You’ll never have any problem understanding the stilted dialogue thanks to the well balanced front sound stage. Last but not least the bass is foundation shaking but never out of control. It’s really too bad that the best looking and sounding disc also houses the worst film in the franchise.
Jurassic Park III features the last installment of the newly produced documentaries, this one being plainly named The Third Adventure. Like The Lost World documentary there is very little discussion of this film’s shortcomings and it’s mostly clip after clip of cast and crew saying how great the film is ten years later… blow me. Also included are some featurettes first released on the initial DVD release, another SD trailer, and a good commentary track featuring the late, great Stan Winston and various members of the crew.
Conclusion
If Universal had released the original by itself I would not have purchased this set because of my general dislike for the sequels. Jurassic Park still remains a very effective action adventure, while The Lost World isn’t quite as bad as I remember it being, but Jurassic Park III is just as miserable now as it was 10 years ago and I’m still waiting for my apology from all involved for how it turned out. For anyone that’s worried about the presentation you can put your fears to rest because the Jurassic Park trilogy has never looked or sounded better. I think the special features could have been a little bit stronger but the newly produced documentary starts off extremely strong until petering out some in regard to the sequels. If you’re a big Jurassic Park fan then I think overall you’ll be very pleased with this set otherwise you might want to wait and see if Universal releases each film separately so you can pick and choose your poison. Either way, “Welcome back to Jurassic Park.”
I still haven't seen part III, sounds like I'm not missing out on much.