JURASSIC PARK ULTIMATE TRILOGY (BLU-RAY + DIGITAL COPY)

Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy (Blu-ray + Digital Copy)
Actors: Sam
Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite
Directors: Joe Johnston, Steven Spielberg
Writers: Alexander Payne, David Koepp, Jim Taylor, Michael
Crichton, Peter Buchman
Producers: Bonnie Curtis
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, Subtitled,
Widescreen
Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
Region: Region A/1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number of discs: 3
Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Release Date: October 25, 2011
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1993
constituted a banner year for Steven Spielberg, who released both his
biggest moneymaker and greatest creative triumph within six months of each
other.
The former – the dinosaur roller-coaster Jurassic
Park – saw its accomplishments eclipsed by subsequent blockbusters,
while the latter – the Holocaust drama Schindler’s List – has only
risen in esteem and now stands as one of the most important movies ever
made.
Yet in its own small way, Jurassic Park represented a watershed
too. It stood poised between two seminal eras of special effects, as
practical models and puppetry slowly gave way to CGI. Its release changed
the way blockbusters were made, and its expert combination of multiple
effects techniques grants it a durability that later films lack. The new Blu-ray
set gives viewers a chance to rediscover how much fun it can be.
The original Jurassic Park spawned two fair-to-middling sequels, both
of which center around the same basic scenario as the first. A large company
has cloned dinosaurs and set them up on a tropical island, hoping to exploit
them for various profit-making purposes. Things don’t go as planned and
various hapless visitors to the island need to stay clear of marauding
carnivores before being rescued. The formula never deviates, nor does it
need to.
With Spielberg at the helm of the first two and his protégé Joe Johnston at
the third, they trundle out an agreeable series of chase scenes, money shots
and general mayhem. Each one is thoroughly predictable, but also comfortable
and entertaining with no pretense beyond giving us our money’s worth. A
top-notch cast – including Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern and Julianne
Moore – helps overcome the sketchy character development, and with the best
special effects artists in the industry behind it all, the real purpose of
the exercise always shines through.
The original film remains the best, of course, with the next two ranking as
enjoyable junk food and nothing more. In the behind-the-scenes features,
Spielberg cites it as a work of craftsmanship, and in those terms if no
other, it may be his best. The visuals hold up extraordinarily well after 18
years, with expert techniques selling us on the notion that dinosaurs truly
live and breathe. The film’s simplicity also prevents it from feeling unduly
dated (save for the onscreen computers, for which there’s no help), and
Spielberg’s sense of tension and suspense result in some terrific set
pieces. Part of me hopes that he’ll direct a flat-out horror film someday,
but until then, we have Jurassic Park to keep us warm.
The second and third films parlay the same formula into increasingly
diminishing returns. Luckily, there’s still enough juice to help them retain
some basic entertainment value and while you might forget them the instant
the credits roll, you won’t regret popping them in the player for a viewing.
Packaging them as a trilogy makes all kinds of sense; the sequels often feel
like cool supplements rather than films of their own, and certainly benefit
from appearing alongside their progenitor (for completion’s sake if nothing
else).
The films’ standing in the annals of cinema is comparatively minor to be
sure: no one will ever mistake them for great art. But their influence
continues to be felt today in every new summer hit that comes along. In an
age where spectacle and bombast are as disposable as ice cream wrappers,
their durability becomes a selling point in and of itself. Dinosaurs will
always be cool… a fact for which the Jurassic Park trilogy should be
eternally grateful.
THE DISCS: The set contains three discs, one for
each movie. Video transfer is surprisingly substandard for the first film,
which shows a lot of graininess in some of the shots. The two sequels betray
no such flaws, however. The various behind-the-scenes documentaries are
outstanding, with in-depth discussions from everyone concerned about the
development of the film’s groundbreaking effects and the ways they stretched
Michael Crichton’s source material into a trio of feature-length films. They
aptly demonstrate how the trilogy influenced future films, as well as
Spielberg’s innate genius for the pure craft of filmmaking. Some of the Blu-ray
menu features are a little clunky – like not restarting the movie after it’s
been paused for a while – but also clear and easy to maneuver.
WORTH IT? Some of the specifics could be better,
but the set looks terrific by and large, and the movies themselves benefit
from the transfer to HD. It’s worth the price of admission for casual fans
and cinephiles alike.
RECOMMENDATION: A nice set does justice to a solid
trio of movies, provided you can forgive the odd technical glitch or two.
- Rob Vaux
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