Jurassic World 3D Blu-ray (2015)

by | Oct 26, 2015 | DVD & Blu-ray Video Reviews

Jurassic World 3D Blu-ray (2015)

Cast: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard
Studio: Universal Studios  [10/20/15] (3 discs)
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Story: Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver
Video: 2.20:1 for 16:9 1080p color HD 3D
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 7.1, English, French & Spanish DTS 5.1,
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Extras: Deleted Scenes, Welcome to Jurassic Park, Innovation Center Tour with Chris Pratt
Length: 124 min.
Rating: ***

This newest Jurassic Park sequel has been a long time coming, with the original ground-breaking film released in 1993. The original opened up spectacular new vistas in computer created special effects (CGI) and last year the original was converted after the fact to 3D.

Jurassic Park had two sequels, which I felt were weak. The third film in the series, where the dinosaurs get loose in California was really a big budget Godzilla movie.

This 4th Jurassic film, Jurassic World potentially had a lot going for it. More than 20 years of improved CGI technology and a lot of time to spend thinking about where the story could go.

I didn’t consider this latest dinosaur romp a step forward. It was yet another ‘kids in peril’ movie (continuing a Spielberg plot device, although he didn’t direct), and it added the rather cliche’d plot about the government conspiring with a private company that profits from war. This group was thinking how great it would be to turn the raptors lose in Afghanistan. What could possibly go wrong with that plan?

One also has to wonder about the stupidity of a plot that once again has a Theme Park opened with murderous creatures in close proximity to the guests. How could these people ever get insurance?

Having said all that, the movie is fun to watch, knowing that a lot of people are going to get munched, and it’s always the people who deserve it because they made some stupid or unfeeling remark earlier in the screenplay. Of course we know the cute kids will be fine.

What did surprise me was that it didn’t seem as if the CGI was significantly better than the original film. Maybe the first one was such a breakthrough that we are jaded. Sequences were longer, and there were lots of CGI created crowds running around we didn’t see in the first film, but the dinosaurs didn’t really look any better than in 1993, although they looked great.

The Blu-ray video was sharp and of reference quality. The 3D is another after-the-fact conversion, that wasn’t particularly convincing. I was surprised, given the money spent on this film. I recently watched San Andreas, another post-converted to 3D film, and it looked really terrific. Jurassic World, not so much.

Soundwise, the disc offers a very nice aggressive 7.1 and 5.1 surround presentation done in DTS-HD Master Audio. I listened to both the 7.1 and 5.1 versions, and found the sound excellent, with many directional effects and the requisite low bass of the dinosaurs stomping around.

Jurassic World is better than both sequels, but doesn’t have the crisp writing and character development of the original. It’s certainly worth seeing, but I didn’t find the 3D version particularly compelling. Audiences flocked to it though, making it one of the biggest box-office draws of the year.

The acting is nothing special. Chris Pratt and his fellow actors do their best with a pedestrian script, but let’s face it, these movies let the actors mainly run and scream and offer an occasional quip. The discs come in several editions; some have 3D, some don’t.

—Mel Martin

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