***This review really is for the 3D Blu-ray version. I preordered it and it arrived the day before official release :) ***My wife and I watched it and the 3D is very well done, they clearly did full 3D mapping with curved shapes for faces and pixel infill behind things when you can now see around them. My wife found it as good as 3D gets. As an engineer with image processing background I noticed a few things like artifacts around fast moving stuff and places where (of course) things would not be in focus that were not originally in the plane of focus. I think if you don't go looking for flaws it will just be a great 3D experience, this isn't a cheap cardboard cutout change to 3D, it's the good kind.
I do have a complaint about the Bluray and advertising. The Bluray took a while to start up and then would repeatedly get stuck showing "downloading new attractions from BD-live"; until I turned off BD-live for the Bluray player. Basically the disc is trying to download advertising and taking forever to do it. This screen will not let you exit to menu. Perhaps there was a server problem because we had the disc before official release but do be warned that this disk has an aggressive advertising agenda before the movie. On the plus side I turned off "BD-live" on the player and then there were NO ads and we were able to get to the content fairly quickly,
-I.C.A.Q.
(edited to fix some typos and clarify that this review is for the actual 3D Bluray)
All I can say is WOW! I and my family were immensely pleased. This is every bit as amazing as I remembered it, and then some.
The 3D was definitely a benefit here, and it heightened my appreciation of the movie. While of course Spielberg had no inclination that this would eventually go 3D, the movie has several sequences that really seem to have been made specifically for it. As anyone who has seen the movie can guess, there are all sorts of scenes that almost literally jumped out at the audience in the original, and they're even more super-charged here.
While this has to be one of the most-watched movies ever, I'm sure there are many who have never seen it -in fact, I could tell there were a few in the audience nearby me, as they jumped more than a few times at key moments.
What's really terrific is that the 3D was never obtrusive, but only improved the movie and made it more intimate. It is as if we gained a new sense of experiencing a film beyond regular sight and sound. And yes: the sound was even more improved as well. Believe me, it kicked butt.
See it if you can at the theater: on the big screen this is mind-boggling. I will bet those with a big 3D screen in their house (and a suitable sound system) will be totally impressed as well, but this was amazing to see on the big screen.
It was stunnning: "Jurassic Park" HAS NOT AGED ONE DAY since it was released 20 years ago. Spielberg's movie is that good. Credit is due his special effects team (Dennis Muren, Stan Winston, Phil Tippett and Michael Lantieri), who received Oscars for their work (the movie won two Oscars for sound editing and mixing) and they deserved every penny they earned for their work. Even on the big screen there was not the slightest hitch with their work.
See it at the theater if you can, but I am sure you will love it at home, too. It is an exhilarating movie that hasn't lost a step in 20 years: truly AMAZING!
NOTE: It makes you wonder if we'll ever see Jaws re-released this way, or Close Encounters of the Third Kind (30th Anniversary Ultimate Edition)...can you imagine them as 3D? One can only hope.
Buy Jurassic Park (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet) (1993) Now
It's more than a little uncommon for a film to visually impress two times in a row. What made for spectacular viewing the first time becomes old news by the second. And with the rate at which the technologies used at the movies advances, these former special-effects heavyweights begin to look dated very quickly.That makes it all the more impressive that Jurassic Park 3D a classic celebrating its 20th birthday this year is still eye-poppingly amazing to look at. The special effects alone have aged like a fine wine, due in no small part to the film's reliance on animatronics over computer animation. Whereas CGI tends to leave everything looking just slightly "off", the dinosaurs of this park feel as real as they come. There's none of that oddly shiny, too-perfect look of modern movies.
Someone at Universal deserves a pat on the back for the job of converting this movie to 3D. The original was obviously never filmed with 3D in mind, but the new sense of depth is completely convincing. It is, in a word, awesome. And in a movie that has the awesomeness of the natural world as a major theme, that really helps to sell it to you.
Behind Jurassic Park's new bells and whistles is the same excellent Spielburgian film it has always been. John Hammond, a visionary scientist, has had a jolly old time playing around with genetics. The fruit of his labor is a private island filled with creatures long since extinct, which he wants to make into an amusement park. He invites three scientists the couple Alan and Ellie, and the eccentric ladies' man Ian Malcolm for some academic cred, as his investors are having some trouble believing that resurrecting long-extinct T. Rex's is actually safe. The opening act allows us time to soak in just how incredible this prehistoric wonderland really is. From the huge beasts, to the hatching of a tiny infant raptor, the world of Jurassic Park is wild, but seemingly controlled.
Controlled that is, except for the park's malicious computer programmer, Newman err, Dennis Nedry. In an attempt to steal dinosaur embryos for a rival genetics company, Nedry inadvertently shuts down the park's security, releasing the hordes, including one hungry T. Rex. The delightfully carefree and safe dino zoo quickly turns into a prehistoric nightmare, with the scientists, Hammond, and his grandchildren all fighting to survive.
Jurassic Park knows what it wants to be it's a science-fiction thriller, and it does that well. There are more iconic scenes here than a raptor has teeth. Beyond that, though, it's effective as something of a pseudo-nature documentary. When they aren't trying to gobble up the heroes, the dinosaurs simply go about their business running with their herds, finding a meal, and nesting for the night. It's a grim reminder of humanity's dualistic relationship with nature. Sometimes we live in harmony and mutual wonder. Sometimes they eat us instead.
The acting is mostly excellent, particularly with Jeff Goldblum as Ian. His sarcastic skepticism plays off of the other scientists' straight-man performances hilariously well. Richard Attenborough also does a wonderful job as Hammond and his rapidly-decaying ego. Despite the fact that the entire park was his idea, you do feel sorry for the man as his dream crumbles to pieces around him. While the characters are not the centerpieces (Jurassic Park is much more War of the Worlds than ET), it helps the film immensely to have such engaging performances.
Jurassic Park is definitely worth a second viewing, especially in 3D. The added dimension fits the film perfectly, as if it were shot that way all the way back in 1993. And if you're somehow lucky enough for this to be your first viewing, than enjoy. You're in for a wild ride.
Read Best Reviews of Jurassic Park (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet) (1993) Here
I got the DVD hoping the movie would still be fresh after all the years of not seeing it. Its theater release was amazingly successful. You know why? It is a Spielberg production to a Michael Crichton novel that is treated with respect. This is not trash that is all too prevalent in cinema today. This is a movie for all to enjoy, except for those who try to find something wrong purposely.The cast is great. Sir Richard Attenborough has been in acting for quite a while and is perfect as Hammond, the tragic millionaire who's honest intentions prove disastorous (even if it's not totally his fault). Sam Neill and Laura Dern are totally believable as scientists who find themselves coming to grips with the revelations about their work and why their way of life could be jeopardized. Jeff Goldblum is immersive as the 'mathmetician' who argues the moralities and possible repercussions of the park. Wayne Knight and Samuel L. Jackson support an already stellar cast.
Aside from the great performances, the story is really what makes the movie work. Michael Crichton sparked a timeless screenplay. You just have to assume that the innovative and ground-breaking visual effects at that time can hold an audience only for so long. The audience has to care about who's on screen as well as what is. It's a classic and merits its longevity. Oh...the DVD's transfer is great and sound is theater-quality perfect. The DVD extras are above normal fare. However, the whole package is a steal for basically an average priced DVD. I rank this as a must-have for collectors everywhere.
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JURASSIC PARK is one of the best, if not the best, movies made about dinosaurs ever. It's also one of only a handful of movies ever made based on a novel that was already in preproduction before the novel ever was released. It's also one of the first movies to use CGI in significant scenes throughout the film. It's also the movie that gave Sam Neill a break and reinvigorated the career of Jeff Goldblum. The movie (promoted by the release of the novel about a year earlier) got the general public (and not just kids) excited about dinosaurs again and did to paleontology as a major what RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK did to archaeology.The premise, seeped in pop science, is that a multi-billionaire, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) brings dinosaurs back to life by cloning the dino-DNA taken from mosquitoes trapped in amber. He builds a zoological theme-park he calls Jurassic Park. However, in order to call off a bunch of lawyers after an accident with one of the park's workers, Hammond has to get a group of scientific experts to endorse that the park is safe and viable. Thus, Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), and Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) arrive to tour the facilities. Hammond's grandchildren, Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim Murphy (Joseph Mazzello), are also along for the ride as test subjects. Due to a hurricane and the shenanigans of a greedy employee, the park experiences a major breakdown and the dinosaurs get loose.
JURASSIC PARK set records upon its initial release in 1993 and it isn't difficult to see why. The CGI effects that have become common in just about every movie since then were in their infancy then, yet the creatures appear completely lifelike. Of course, Spielberg not only used CGI but he had some live action dinos and models involved as well. It was a massive undertaking, but one that had a huge payoff.
There's not much to complain about with JURASSIC PARK. Sam Neill is great as Dr. Grant (the role was originally offered to Harrison Ford and I'm actually glad he turned it down) and Jeff Goldblum is almost always a delight to watch on screen. After 15 years of directing his own movies, Richard Attenborough came back for the perfect part as John Hammond. The action sequences in the film are still as exciting to watch as they were when the film first was in theatres. The movie is classic Spielberg and those are some of the best movies ever made.
This DVD includes a very informative documentary about the making of JURASSIC PARK, some clips from an early production meeting (it's probably the closest an average person can come to meeting the real Spielberg), some storyboards and other illustrations, Phil Tippett's Animatic of the "Raptors in the Kitchen" sequence showing the raptors as they were originally conceived with having lizard-like tongues, trailers for all three JURASSIC PARK movies, a dinosaur encyclopedia featuring the dinosaurs seen in the movie, some production notes, and a list and partial filmography of the cast & crew.
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