Jurassic Park is an American science fiction media franchise that centered on a disastrous attempt to create a theme park of cloned dinosaurs. The dinosaurs escape confinement and terrorize the human characters. It originally began in 1990 when Universal Studios bought the rights to the novel written by Michael Crichton before it was even published.
The book was successful, as was Steven Spielberg’s 1993 film adaptation, which led to three sequels, although the third and fourth films were not based on novels as the first two were. Numerous video games based on the franchise have been created by various software developers since the release of the 1993 film.
The Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy was released on to DVD and Blu-ray on October 25, 2011, in North America. The first film was re-released onto 3D on April 5, 2013. Since 1996, several water rides based on the series have been opened at various Universal Studios theme parks. On June 1, 2016, the first three films of the franchise were added to the Netflix streaming service, but were removed on September 1, 2016.
The fourth film, Jurassic World, was initially scheduled to be released in the summer of 2005, but was delayed numerous times and was ultimately released in June 2015. It became the first film that grossed over $500 million worldwide during its opening weekend, and has grossed over $1.6 million throughout the course of its theatrical run, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of all time. When adjusted for monetary inflation, however, this film is the second highest-grossing in the franchise after Jurassic Park. An animated film, Lego Jurassic World: The Indominus Escape, was released on October 18, 2016 with the home media release of Jurassic World, alongside a short film, Employee Safety Video.
A fifth film, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, is scheduled to be released on June 22, 2018. A sixth film, tentatively titled Jurassic World 3, is scheduled to be released on June 11, 2021. As of 2000, the film franchise has generated approximately $5 billion in revenue, making it one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time.
The Films (4/5):
Collectively, the films that make up the Jurassic Park Collection have been some of my all time personal favorites, regardless of the notable degradation of quality in theatrics and film presentation, or increase of plot-holes sprinkled out throughout the stories. These films have always and will continue to hold a special place in my heart so that I will eventually be able to share the love of them with my child as he gets older.
Picture Quality (5/5):
Holy hell, these four films and their presentation with the 4K UHD format were absolutely phenomenal. The only complaint that I have with this would be that the first two films of the series felt as if they did have a lot of saturation to them; but it wasn’t too distracting and that it didn’t really deter from the overall experience that this package had to offer. Everything about the films packaged in this release felt significantly more realistic as my wife and I watched through them, and they offer an experience that’s very reminiscent of what it felt like to watch these movies as they came out throughout our childhoods.
Audio Quality (5/5):
Packaged with English DTS:X track, the four films packaged in this release of the Jurassic Park Collection offer a completely brand new, freshly remastered experience as the sound absolutely powerhouses through all of the available channels of the home theater system. While it isn’t quite immersive as it could have been with the added element of the elevation channels; the power that simply roars through the speakers with this track really makes the experience all that more significant. Still, to this day, the scene from the first Jurassic Park with the cup of water, that scene was the absolute best part of this particular series’ audio track and it remains true with this release.
The Packaging (4/5):
The Jurassic Park: 25th Anniversary Collection comes bundled in an eight-disc digi-pack solution where each of the discs are held in a makeshift cardboard sleeve. Within that package is the standard 4K UHD disc for all four of the films that make up the franchise, as well as all the standard Blu-ray copy of all four films. Each of the UHD discs feature a piece of artwork that’s relative to that film while each of the Blu-ray discs feature no artwork related to the movies outside of the standard release text and considerably bland black background. Within each of the pages of the digi-pack, there are various pieces of artwork for each film to highlight some of the notable sequences that play out in each movie. The digi-pack is housed in a thicker cardboard slip case that features the same piece of artwork that’s provided on the front of the case that houses the discs. There are no DVD copies included with this release; but, there is a digital copy redemption pamphlet included that includes all four films to be added to your digital library.
Special Features (5/5):
Unfortunately, all of the UHD discs packaged within the Jurassic Park: 25th Anniversary Collection are just like any other standard 4K UHD disc as there are no special features included on these discs. All of the special features provided within this release are made available on the included Blu-ray discs. The content that’s provided within this release offers one hell of a behind the scenes look into the work that went into these films, a nice expansion on each storyline respectively and ultimately a very nicely done celebration of the success that this franchise has had over the years. Included with this release is:
- Jurassic Pack
- Return To Jurassic Park: Dawn Of A New Era,
- Making Prehistory: The Next Step In Evolution
- The Making Of Jurassic Park
- Original Featurette On The Making Of The Film
- Steven Spielberg Directs Jurassic Park
- Early Pre-Production Meetings
- Phil Tippett Animatics: Raptors In The Kitchen
- Animatics: T-Rex Attack
- JLM & Jurassic Park: Before & After The Visual Effects
- Foley Artists Storyboards
- Production Archives
- And Much More!
- The Lost World: Jurassic Park
- Return To Jurassic Park: Finding The Lost World, Something Survivied
- Deleted Scenes
- The Making Of The Lost World
- Original Featurette On The Making Of The Film
- The Jurassic Park Phenomenon: A Discussion With Author Michael Crichton
- A Compile Dance Number: Thank You Steven Spielberg From ILM
- ILM & The Lost World: Before & After The Visual Effects
- Storyboards
- Production Archives
- And Much More!
- Jurassic Park 3
- Return To Jurassic Park: The Third Adventure
- Feature Audio commentary With The Special Effects Team
- The Making Of Jurassic Park 3
- The Dinosaurs
- The Special Effects
- The Sounds
- The Art
- Montana: Finding New Dinosaurs
- Tour Of Stan Winston Studio
- Spinosaurus Attacks The Plane
- Raptors Attack Udesky
- A Visit To ILM
- Dinosaur Turntables
- Storyboards To Final Feature Comparison
- And Much More!
- Jurassic World
- Welcome To Jurassic World
- Jurassic World: All-Access Pass
- Innovation Center Tour With Chris Pratt
- Deleted Scenes
- Chris & Colin Take On The World
- Dinosaurs Roam Once Again
- Jurassic’s Closest Shaves
Technical Specs:
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265
Resolution: 4K (2160p)
HDR: HDR10
Aspect Ratio: 2.00:1, 1.85:1
Original Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1, 2.00:1
Audio
Jurassic Park
English: DTS:X
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: DTS 5.1
French: DTS 5.1
Japanese: DTS 5.1
Portuguese: DTS 5.1
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: DTS 5.1
French: DTS 5.1
Japanese: DTS 5.1
Portuguese: DTS 5.1
Jurassic Park 3
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: DTS 5.1
French: DTS 5.1
Japanese: DTS 5.1
Portuguese: DTS 5.1
Jurassic World
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: DTS 5.1
French: DTS 5.1
Japanese: DTS 5.1
Portuguese: DTS 5.1
Subtitles
Jurassic Park
English, English SDH, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
English SDH, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish
Jurassic Park 3
English SDH, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish
Jurassic World
English SDH, French, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish
Runtime
4 Movies – 474 minutes
Final Thoughts:
All in all, this particular set, this release of Jurassic Park: 25th Anniversary Collection is absolutely fantastic and I personally couldn’t think of a set more deserving of this treatment. The visual presentation of these 4K discs, despite some with what appeared to be an increase in saturation, offered one hell of an experience from start to finish. The new, re-mastered audio tracks leave one hell of an experience for anyone with a home theater system that’s able to process DTS:X tracks with their jaw right to the floor. The special features, I absolutely couldn’t think of one extra thing to include with this release. If you’re on the fence about grabbing this for your collection, I would absolutely recommend grabbing it. Jurassic Park: 25th Anniversary Collection came out on 4K UHD this past week on May 22, 2018.
Note: This Blu-ray was sent to us for review. This has not affected our judgement or editorial process in any way. Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this process.