Plot: What’s it about?
The advent of DVD has allowed for some of the most widely accepted films to be seen and heard in our homes with a quality that is second only to going to the theater. As time passes, DVD becomes more and more mainstream and with that, more and more titles that we’ve been “waiting on” are coming to DVD for us to own. It also seems that the titles themselves are making their way as special editions, too. Only a few titles of the “Top Grossing 100” have been released as bare bones DVD’s (Titanic comes to mind), so it’s a good sign that Movies like Jaws, North By Northwest and Braveheart not only come into our homes looking and sounding great, but they have hours of additional material to make them all the more enjoyable. Such is the case with the latest blockbuster to grace the DVD format…Jurassic Park. Stephen Spielberg, master of the movies, both big and small showed us that he could make us laugh, cry and scare the living hell out of us as well. With Jurassic Park being one of the main event movies of the Summer of 1993. Of course, I was one of those people who thought the movie was for kids, so I went and saw “Last Action Hero”, and we all know who eventually won out between those two…As the DVD format matures, it seems that more and more of Spielberg’s titles (which are tops on most everyone’s list) are making their way, so we can cross Jurassic Park off the list now…
Based on the book by Michael Crichton, we meet the dinosaurs before we meet the main charcters in the film. Of course, the characters play second fiddle to the real stars of this film…the dinosaurs. However, for what it’s worth, the cast is comprised of big time stars and even a screen legend by the name of “Sir” Richard Attenborough playing the title character of John Hammond, the creator of Jurassic Park. Hammond has figured out a way, partly by being the billionaire CEO of Ingen (a biological development company), to clone many species of dinosaurs. How, you ask? Well, there’s an informative little cartoon that tells us…Based on the premise that mosquitos, who fed off the blood of dinosaurs some 65 million years ago, that got trapped in the sap of trees and likewise had been preserved in amber. By digging up the amber, extracging the dinosaur blood (thereby containing the DNA) and replacing the missing links with that of frogs, it’s now possible to create living dinosaurs in the 20th century! This being a very touchy subject, the park has already been frought with lawsuits and requries the approval of several scientists or it faces losing the financial support of it’s contributors. That’s where the cast comes into play. We see that Hammond has already selected a “chaoticitian”, Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) and now Hammond is looking for the leading Paleontologist, Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and at his side is the leading Paleobotonist, Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern). Their mission, along with Malcolm, is to tour the park for a weekend. The thought is that they’ll be satisfied with it to give it their “seal of approval”, thus the financial backers to Jurassic Park will have nothing to worry about. Of course, that doesn’t happen.
Being of scientific minds, and after their initial shock of seeing living dinosaurs wears off, they have moral conflicts with how the park is run. They find out that the dinosaurs are deprived of becoming male (hence no “unauthorized reproduction”) and are concerned that they will not coincide with the 20th century. This is all a precursor to what Jurassic Park is really all about…the dinosaurs run amok! Through some extravagant set of circumstances, Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) has agreed to sell the embryo’s of certain species to a competitor. Nedry feels that he has not been financially compensated for his role as head programmer enough, so he riggs the system to fail, therby buying him enough time to steal the embryo’s (without being caught) and collect his money. This doesn’t happen, though, as the park is down, the electric fences go down and before we know it, the dinosaurs are loose and anything that moves is the next meal! The rest of the movie is basically a cat and mouse game, with the concern being shifted on the park opening, to the people getting off the island in one piece. This is more of a showcase to see what Spielberg can throw at us, but it’s fun, frightening and exciting all at the same time. Jurassic Park has some dark sides to it (people do die, that’s for sure), but there’s enough light-hearted jokes in it that it’s suitable for most anyone. Not only is it historically accurate, the acting and energy throughout the movie will make it one that you’ll want to watch over and over. I personally like it more and more every time I watch it.
Video: How does it look?
Jurassic Park is shown in it’s original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. With Spielberg, it’s hard to determine what aspect ratio he will use. With the entire “Indiana Jones” trilogy, Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, he used a wider lens (2.35:1), but with more of his recent movies, he has used the 1.85:1 ratio. Not that there’s a difference in quality of the film. This film (and it’s sequal) was shot in an open-matte, and it’s been cropped a bit, but still benefits from the anamorphic enhancement. Compared to my old VHS copy, this is leaps and bounds a better transfer, and yet another reason that DVD is taking over. A few scenes had a bit of noise on them, but nothing that is overly distracting. Enough to take the grade down a notch, but not much more. Still, the main attraction (so to speak) of Jurassic Park are the special effects, namely the dinosaurs. Even with all the CGI effects that we’re subjected to, these still look very, very real. Edge enhancement is kept to a minimum, as the masters have been downconverted from their original High Definition masters. It should also be noted that if you’re not a fan of widescreen films, these will be available in full-frame editions as well (“These” being this and “The Lost World”). Overall, a near perfect transfer with only the slightest knicks and scratches here and there.
Audio: How does it sound?
Aside from being one of the top three-grossing movies of all time, Jurassic should be remembered for it’s sound. Just like “Saving Private Ryan”, Jurassic Park features one of the most aggressive sound mixes to date. The version reviewed here was the Dolby Digital 5.1, though it should be noted that a DTS version does exist and we’ll be reviewing that one when it becomes available. As expected, the 5.1 soundtrack is second to none. The sub-woofer (.1 channel) is almost constantly active, and it’s most noticeable in one of the movie’s flagship scenes. the “stomping” of footsteps as the puddle filled with water begins to shake is an image that not only leaves an impression on the mind, but the audio makes all the more realistic. From countless dinosaur roars, to a very clean dialogue track, to noises coming out of most every channel time and time again, Jurassic Park will have your head swaying to see if those noises you hear are indeed in the movie. On the whole, the audio is second to none and is reference quality. This something to sit your friends down and say “Listen to this…”
Supplements: What are the extras?
Jurassic Park has been released as part of Universal’s “Collector’s Edition”. This means that the disc is loaded with tons of extras, and it is…the most noteable feature is the making of documentary, hosted by none other than James Earl Jones. This documentary follows the production of Jurassic Park from it’s opening storyboards to the final post-production and everything in between. Interviews with Stephen Spielberg, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill among others offer insight into the making of the film. Jurassic Park is very technical as well, and interviews with the crew that make the magic happen allow them to tell us “how” they made it all come together, it’s really quite interesting. Clocking in at under an hour, it’s informative and a feature that I’m glad was included with the DVD. Also included are some sequences that deal with the claymation models. Saving money, the artists made some “mini-movies” to show how certain scenes would be acted out, and it’s suprising to me how closely they resembled the final scenes; though they do look a bit humorous compared to the real thing. There is a “Foley Artists” section that shows how the sounds were added to make the movie all the more exciting. If you ever doubt what sound can do to a movie, check this out and I think you’ll be suprised. As is a standard, there are some Cast Bios and Production Notes, but it’s all things that we know by this point, but still it’s nice to have them included. Trailers for this, The Lost World and even Jurassic Park III (coming Summer ’01) round out a very nice special edition. The only thing missing is a feature length commentary by Stephen Speilberg, but you can’t have everything. Overall, a very solid edition from Universal, it’s nice to see the blockbusters get the deluxe treatment.
