Bill Kelley IIIUPDATED: “Jurassic Park” films roar onto 4K in a 25th Anniversary Collection
Updated: Aug 26
4K ULTRA HD REVIEW / NEW HDR FRAME SHOTS
John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) shows his guests an infant Velociraptor.
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"JURASSIC PARK: 25th ANNIVERSARY COLLECTION"
4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, Digital copy; 1993, 1997, 2001, 2015; PG-13 for intense science fiction terror and violence; streaming via Amazon Video, Apple TV (4K), Movies Anywhere (4K), Vudu (4K), YouTube (4K)
Best extra: “Return to 'Jurassic Park': Dawn of a New Era”
IT’S HARD to imagine it’s been 25 years since Steven Spielberg’s “Jurassic Park” hit theaters. Now, the complete “Jurassic” franchise has been upgraded to 4K: “Jurassic Park” (1993), “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” (1997), “Jurassic Park III” (2001) and “Jurassic World” (2015).
Spielberg, with seven films so far, including “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “E.T,” “The Post,” "Saving Private Ryan" and “Ready Player One” for July 24, and Christopher Nolan at seven, including “Dunkirk,” the “Batman Trilogy,” and “Interstellar,” are the top filmmakers pushing their work to the 4K Ultra HD format.
Spielberg’s fascination with dinosaurs started early when his father took him to the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, home to one of America's largest collection of dinosaur bones. "Like most kids, one of my first long words was ‘Triceratops,’" Spielberg says during the "Return to 'Jurassic Park': Dawn of a New Era" documentary.
(1) Badlands, near Snakewater, Montana. (2) Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) view a sonic impression of a fossilized Velociraptor. (3) Dr. Grant provides a teaching moment for the young boy about a scenario in which he meets a raptor in real life. (4) Laura Dern as Dr. Ellie Sattler.
We watched Spielberg behind a massive 35mm camera, actually operating it in the summer of 1992, while directing his actors at the same time. "Start crawling toward me," he instructs one actor in the opening sequence of what has become one of Hollywood's biggest franchises. "Grab it. Grab it," he continues. "All the way…that's great. That's a cut. Fabulous!"
His goal for "Jurassic Park" was simple: to make a movie for dinosaur lovers, not a monster movie. Based on the novel by bestselling author Michael Crichton, Spielberg hired him to adapt his book into a script. "The second I read [it], I knew we were not dealing with monsters, but a credible look at how dinosaurs may someday be brought back alongside modern man," Spielberg says. Aside from pure entertainment, Crichton tackles the big question: DNA cloning may be viable, but is it ethical?
Universal’s 4K Ultra HD “25th Anniversary ‘Limited Edition’” set includes three-hours of interviews detailing the complete franchise. All of the extras are found on the enclosed Blu-rays, clones from previous editions, with the same picture and sound for the movies.
(1) Welcome to Jurassic Park, located on the island Lsla Nublar, 120 miles west of Costa Rica. Deep rich colors are evident on the 4K version. (2) Composite scenes with CGI are slightly softer, suffering from early ‘90s computer technology. (3) Jeff Goldblum as Dr. Ian Malcolm, a mathematician and chaos theorist. (4) John Hammond's (Richard Attenborough) guests are amazed by the size of the Brachiosaurus, considered the tallest of all dinosaurs.
Spielberg envisioned using full-size animatronics as much as possible for the dinosaurs. Stan Winston (“Terminator 2,” “Aliens”) and his FX gang were the only effects wizards in Hollywood who could pull it off. "He had an amazing shop, great artistries, and great technology," says Spielberg, who then recruited paleontologist Jack Horner as a consultant. Horner, like Sam Neill’s character, believed dinosaurs evolved into birds. "Horner became our creditability."
Winston and crew started with 1/16 scale models, then moved up to 1/5 scale dinosaurs. Once those got the green light, life-size animatronics were ordered. That's when everything came to life. Movements were seamless as up to a dozen puppeteers worked in concert to operate the massive creatures.
But the REAL game changers were George Lucas' computer pros at Industrial Light & Magic, who revolutionized computer-generated images (CGI). Initially, Spielberg had committed to old-school stop-action photography with models – much like the technology used for "King Kong" in the 1930s. However, the gang at ILM proved realistic CGI was achievable, producing over 60 digital effects, mostly for distant shots and the famous stampede of long-neck Gallimimus, running between actors Sam Neill (Dr. Alan Grant), Ariana Richards (Lex Murphy) and Joseph Mazzello (Tim Murphy). Four years later, hundreds of CGI effects were created for the sequel, "The Lost World: Jurassic Park."
(1&2) Dr. Grant is amazed by the Triceratops. (3&4) Everything starts to unravel when Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) reboots the Jurassic Park computer system, causing the electric fencing to go offline. (5) Grandson Tim Murphy (Joseph Mazzello) finds a pair of night vision goggles and he discovers the goat is missing at the T-rex exhibit. (6-8) The T-rex breaks through the fencing that's no longer electrified, as the DTS:X soundtrack produces deep sonic bass response and loudness during the attack. (9) Chief engineer John Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson) says, “I get Jurassic Park back online without Dennis.” (10) Dr. Sattler and park game warden Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck) find Ian Malcolm badly injured from the T-rex attack.
There are dozens of insider stories from the cast including Jeff Goldblum (Ian Malcolm), who recall when Spielberg became an on-set sound effects master using a bullhorn to screech like a Raptor to get reactions from his cast to the non-visible dinosaurs.
"Return to Jurassic Park: The Third Adventure" details how Spielberg passed the director’s baton to longtime friend Joe Johnston ("Captain America: The First Avenger"). Just five weeks before production, Johnson killed the original script and demanded a new plot for the first act. This is the weakest of the series, where Sam Neill returns as Dr. Grant, and is tricked into helping a wealthy couple (William H. Macy and Téa Leoni) find their tween son who disappeared near the theme park ruins.
The "Welcome to Jurassic World" documentary provides a fascinating back-story to the rags-to-riches tale of its writer/director, 38-year-old Colin Trevorrow, who Spielberg handpicked for the $150 million “Jurassic World” reboot.
Trevorrow came to the meeting with a basic storyline on paper. He and Spielberg marveled at how fans loved the franchise and committed to recapture its spirit for a new generation.
The original "Jurassic Park" had been a life changer in Trevorrow's teenage years. When it premiered in 1993, he had just been grounded. "I remember openly defying my parents," Trevorrow admits. He snuck out of the house and went to a midnight showing for multiplex employees; his friend worked there and invited him to the screening. "I don't encourage other young people to do it, but it was a very indelible memory. And, it was one of the most thrilling films ever made," he says.
(1&2) Dr. Grant, and John Hammond's grandchildren Tim and Lex watch a Tyrannosaurus kill a Gallimimus. Dr. Grant, Lex, and Tim climb the once electrified fence. (3) The power returns while Tim continues to climb off the fence and was electrocuted. (4) Muldoon and Dr. Sattler encountered several raptors.
AUDIO
All the 4K “Jurassic” films received a major upgrade with the expansive DTS: X soundtrack pushing those Oscar-winning sounds and sound effects to height speakers. Still, the majority of sound comes from the traditional front, center, and rear speakers. The subwoofer gets a major, earth-shattering workout. Don’t be surprised if walls and picture frames vibrate. The bass response kicks in at the first 30-seconds when the title “Jurassic Park” hits the screen.
"Jurassic Park" also changed the movie industry when Spielberg insisted the soundtrack use the then-new state-of-the-art digital audio technology (DTS audio format) for the T-Rex roars. Over 800 theaters installed the digital playback system in 1993; Spielberg was a co-founder of DTS technology.
VIDEO
This review only focuses on the 4K quality of “Jurassic Park.” There is an obvious bump in resolution compared to the Blu-ray since the original 35mm camera negative was scanned and mastered in 4K (1.85:1 aspect ratio).
Wide shots provide the greatest benefit as distant objects and landscapes are now crystal clear and detailed. Facial close-ups, a trademark of “Jurassic’s” photography from Dean Cundey (“Hook,” “Apollo 13”) and Spielberg, are more defined with moles, hair, and wrinkles, plus the HDR color toning is completely different with rich saturated colors. The HDR maximum light level is 910 nits and an average level of 101 nits.
The Blu-ray is still afflicted with an overt orange cast, leaving the impression the cast had gone to a tanning salon.
The 4K remedies the unbalanced color, presenting natural skin toning, and the overall brightness darkened for ultra-high-resolution setups. Still, composite scenes with CGI are slightly softer, suffering from early ‘90s computer technology. Title shots are also soft compared to the rest of the presentation.
Overall, “Jurassic Park” looks really good, but compared to Universal’s “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” something’s missing. “E.T.” has impeccable HDR and sharpness, while its film grain is ever-present as it should.
We’re not sure if Spielberg or the studio ordered a new 4K master, or used the master from 2010. The scanning process of the negative would’ve have been the same, but the technicians’ work with the film grain and color toning could have been handled differently. We clearly see the results of the HDR toning and expansive color palette, but the sharpness and film grain is slightly reduced.
Maybe a touch of digital noise reduction was applied, especially if they used the 2010 master. Universal was notorious at that time for heavy-handed DNR. I think a better 4K presentation was possible.
“The Lost World: Jurassic Park” and “Jurassic World” are both exceptional with 4K/HDR toning and natural film grain. Both have the WOW factor.
Spielberg's mega-hit is still a lot of fun and a landmark piece of filmmaking in the world of CGI. Don't hesitate to run to this upgrade!
— Bill Kelley III, High-Def Watch producer
(1&2) Dr. Grant and Tim whose hair still shows signs of being electrocuted, have a quiet moment before the next battle. (3&4) Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim try to hide inside the kitchen, but the Raptor is on the hot trail.
(1) John Hammond's dream for Jurassic Park has died. (2-4) Dr. Grant, Lex and Tim survive Jurassic Park. John Hammond's cane with a fossilized mosquito trapped in amber.