Jurassic World 3D Blu-ray Review
Kristy Sturdivant
October 31st, 2015
With sequels to The Avengers, Star Wars, Mission: Impossible and The Hunger Games among 2015’s most anticipated sequels and getting all of the attention, it was another sequel/reboot that ended up stealing the summer and maybe even the year of blockbusters. It has been 14 years since we’ve seen a Jurassic Park movie and over 20 years since the original JURASSIC PARK wowed audiences. Given how disappointing its sequels were, there wasn’t much reason to have hope for JURASSIC WORLD and I’m clearly among the stunned group that ended up having a blast in my trip back to Isla Nublar.
Despite all the terrible events and bad juju surrounding Isla Nublar, a theme park has finally been erected called Jurassic World. Up and running for a couple of years now, it seems that park director Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) has everything under control and it’s obviously a very safe weekend to bring her estranged nephews down for a visit. Unfortunately, Dr. Wu (BD Wong) has created a new breed of dinosaur called “Indominus Rex” that will be bigger and meaner and will surely attract new patrons. Not surprisingly, the dinosaur outsmarts the humans and is on a rampage across the park, heading right towards the tourists. Luckily, Owen (Chris Pratt) and his pack of velociraptors are on duty and will save the day.
That description makes the film sound completely ridiculous and formulaic, with a real potential to be just as horrible as JURASSIC PARK III. Thankfully, that is not the case. JURASSIC WORLD is so fun and action packed that you won’t even notice some of the slight flaws of the film. From the beautiful landscapes with roaming dinosaurs, to the fantastic SeaWorld-esque show and the ridiculously fun dinosaur battle at the end, JURASSIC WORLD is a blast. So don’t bother trying to study how a velociraptor could take orders from a human or how an underwater dinosaur could survive in such a small tank; just go with it and let director Colin Trevorrow take you on an incredible ride.
For the most part, JURASSIC WORLD kept a quick, energetic pace. It seemed unnecessary to have the storyline with Hoskins (Vincent D’Onofrio) where the military was interested in using the velociraptors as weapons. That dragged on for a while and felt like something that would have been better served in a sequel. We had a giant, sport-killing dinosaur on the loose, so we didn’t really need a military conspiracy subplot.
Much has been made of Claire’s heels and if that’s enough to turn you off the movie then there’s clearly nothing anyone can do for you. Aside from her wardrobe, Howard was fine as the female lead. Aside from Indominus Rex, the best addition to the Jurassic Park franchise was Chris Pratt. We knew it after GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, but Pratt is just a great lead actor. He commanded every scene he was in and made an already fun movie that much more enjoyable.
JURASSIC WORLD isn’t quite the groundbreaking film that JURASSIC PARK was and it’s definitely not as clever or well directed, but it’s just as fun and truly captures the spirit of the first film. This is what a Jurassic Park film should be and if they can keep this momentum going, the franchise will live on for many years to come.
JURASSIC WORLD 3D BLU-RAY REVIEW
The 3D presentation added another element to the intensity of the film, specifically in three or four scenes. Even aside from staring down a dinosaur’s mouth while it eats a shark, the 3D depth was a nice addition.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: Of course it was a beautiful and stunning film to behold on Blu-ray.
Audio: A very nice mix of ambience dinosaur noises intertwined with screams and huge T-Rex-ish roars.
Deleted Scenes (6:08): Just a couple of scenes that didn’t add much and was a bit of a letdown.
Chris & Colin Take on the World (8:57): A short little back and forth between Director Colin Trevorrow and Chris Pratt. No spoilers, but this was a fun and quick watch.
Welcome to Jurassic World (29:52): Various cast and crew discuss different aspects about the film. Again, a nice little piece worth watching.
Dinosaurs Roam Once Again (16:29): A nice feature about the visual effects used during the film and how the actors “reacted” to the dinosaurs.
Jurassic World: All-Access Pass (10:11): Another conversation between Chris Pratt and Colin Trevorrow about various scenes in the film and a breakdown and conversation about them.
Innovation Center Tour with Chris Pratt (2:01): More Chris Pratt is never a bad thing, even when it’s just a little set tour and some details he points out that you may have missed in the film.
Jurassic’s Closest Shaves — Presented by Barbasol (3:00): A montage of some of the most intense and action packed scenes from all the Jurassic Park films, all with a groan inducing product tie-in.
