Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 4K UHD (2018)

[Colson]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Music can save a movie (see Jaws

I was about to object to this, but then I realized you're right. Jaws is an amazing movie, but the score is really the thing that elevates it to classic status. Without the music, the tension just isn't there.

[Cherokee Jack]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

BTW no-one said that Arliss Howard in Lost World wasn't the textbook definition of a vapid villain but, as I explained before, the movie doesn't compound this by then making Pete Postlethwaite a caricature of the great white hunter (even though it tried!) as he's absolutely fantastic in the film and raises the character well above stock villainy. Compare him to Buffalo Bill in FK, the difference is astronomical. Again: the issue is not about these characters having the same motivations on paper, it's about how those motivations are conveyed on-screen and FK sketches all of its characters so thinly I'm surprised they don't disappear when they turn sideways.

Tembo is interesting solely due to Postlethwaite. The character is downright abused by Koepp and Spielberg: he's given no proper introduction in the theatrical so we're left asking, 'Who the hell is this guy?' when we first see him, he literally spells out his character's motivation to the audience with a hackneyed quote ('I went up there to live'), what should have been his character's finest moment (

[Show spoiler]death of his friend

) occurs off-screen making his telling off of Hammond's nephew fall flat (doesn't help that it's more bad dialogue: 'company of death') and in the greatest indignity of all he's written out of the film's final act completely. And this is the film's best character! Yes, he's not painted as a one-dimensional villain but a) there's someone else in that role (make that two characters actually: Stormare's psychopath Fargo character shows up here) and b) it's hard to be the 'bad' guy when you're written to rescue 'good' guys who are actually hypocritical incompetents. I'd swear that Vaughn's character is actually supposed to be some kind of slander on animal rights activists but I don't give Koepp that much credit.

I defend TLW more than most on here but it really is a train wreck. FK just continues in that fine tradition. As bferr1972 said on the previous page, go into these with low expectations are you'll be much better for it. That approach certainly helped me when I re-watched JW recently, a film I dislike more than most on here it would seem.

As for music, I don't miss Williams here or in JW. There's no Spielberg magic in either so they don't merit Williams magic. I recall III ending with a full reprise of the original theme and it actually pissed me off that such a shitty film would have the balls to do that.

[Geoff D]

The "as for my fee, you can keep it!" speech has more heart and spirit than every single character in FK put together, the dearly departed Postlethwaite brings him alive.

As for the music, that bit in III when there's a triumphant sped-up blast of the main theme as the military arrive on the beach made me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

[Vangeli]

JPIII has some of my favorite JP music.

[Cherokee Jack]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

The "as for my fee, you can keep it!" speech has more heart and spirit than every single character in FK put together, the dearly departed Postlethwaite brings him alive.

As for the music, that bit in III when there's a triumphant sped-up blast of the main theme as the military arrive on the beach made me throw up in my mouth a little bit.

He wrings everything he can out of his character, no doubt about it. But it's hard to care about Ajay (or Tembo's relationship with him) when that character's introduction and

[Show spoiler]death

are cut. He might as well be Tembo's dog for all the characterization he's given. Just more character abuse from Koepp and Spielberg.

And there's simply nothing Postlethwaite can do to make 'company of death' land. It sounds more like a B-movie subtitle than something an actual human would say.

[imsounoriginal]

Rewatched it last night. The first half on the island is better than I remembered from theaters, honestly the movie's fine until they

[Show spoiler]get back to the mansion

. Then it all kinda goes to hell, but it's still at least watchable. Chris Pratt saves this thing, like pretty much anything he's in. And the Vudu stream I watched looked better than theaters somehow, so that helped. Definitely won't call it a "good" movie (and wtf is up with Cromwell's accent, it's embarassingly bad), but I'd still prefer to watch this over The Lost World and JPIII. So that puts it squarely in the middle of the pack for me. There are still only two good Jurassic movies: Park and World. On a side note, this is the best-looking movie in the franchise despite the switch to scope and digital.

[filmbuffTX]

JP III is a fun movie. The shortest film of the franchise by far and it doesn’t try to be more than it is. It has one of my favorite set pieces of any JP film: the Pterodactyl cage. I also like that they brought back Dr. Alan Grant, my favorite character and actor of the series. It would be nice to see him return in JW III.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Cherokee Jack

He wrings everything he can out of his character, no doubt about it. But it's hard to care about Ajay (or Tembo's relationship with him) when that character's introduction and

[Show spoiler]death

are cut. He might as well be Tembo's dog for all the characterization he's given. Just more character abuse from Koepp and Spielberg.

And there's simply nothing Postlethwaite can do to make 'company of death' land. It sounds more like a B-movie subtitle than something an actual human would say.

Why do you focus so much on his sidekick? I don't care about what a TV version does, I care about the final version and he's another walking lunch just like the rest of them (when you see Tommy Rosales get face time in a movie then you know he ain't gonna last long).

Pete Postlethwaite makes everything land. Fact.

[alexanderg823]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

And the Vudu stream I watched looked better than theaters somehow, so that helped.

Vudu UHD streams are pretty darn good. I haven't seen a single one that did not look better than the theater - SDR theatrical of course. The VUDU UHD of Jurassic World is absolutely fantastic and very impressive.

I happened to see this at the Cinebistro theater with the wife, as she really wanted to see it. Total damage after tickets, meal, and automatically added 20% gratuity = $120.

$120 for such a garbage movie. At least their screens are good and clean, despite not being Dolby. But man, don't mean to clog up this thread and I apologize in advance, but definitely not going to sink another dollar into this turd.

[imsounoriginal]

Well I was surprised because I was streaming in HDX lol. Looked damn good so I can only imagine how much better the actual UHD disc will be.

[Cherokee Jack]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Why do you focus so much on his sidekick? I don't care about what a TV does, I care about the final version and he's another walking lunch just like the rest of them (when you see Tommy Rosales get face time in a movie then you know he ain't gonna last long).

Pete Postlethwaite makes everything land. Fact.

Because Ajay's

[Show spoiler]death

is supposed be the motivation for Tembo's fury at Hammond's nephew at the end. The scene loses any punch if Ajay is just 'walking lunch' and you're right, he is. The movie clearly doesn't care about him so why should we? Or Tembo for that matter? It's clear that Spielberg could have paid off the Tembo/Ajay storyline properly but he seemingly got bored with that part of the film and decided to cut it down so he could have his incredibly silly (but still fun!) San Diego ending. Bizarrely, it's Stormare's throwaway character (again, complete with writing and acting recycled from another film) who gets significant screen time for what is by the far the best

[Show spoiler]death scene

in the film. The film really does feel haphazardly thrown together.

Btw, Ajay's intro is in the television version but his

[Show spoiler]death

is not. I don't think footage of it has been made available to us.

[jayman3]

Originally Posted by alexanderg823

I happened to see this at the Cinebistro theater with the wife, as she really wanted to see it. Total damage after tickets, meal, and automatically added 20% gratuity = $120.

Forgot about your opinion on the film, but who in their right mind would spend $120 for dinner and a movie

[alexanderg823]

Originally Posted by jayman3

Forgot about your opinion on the film, but who in their right mind would spend $120 for dinner and a movie

You'd be surprised how quickly it all adds up.

$35 for tickets
$10 for popcorn
$15 for two drinks (1 cocktail and a beer)
$40 for entrees
$20 automatic gratuity
=
$120

I mean I'm not trying to be a cheap ass, but I always end up feeling robbed after a date night. It's almost impossible to go out for a decent night for 2 without approaching or surpassing $100 these days. Made even worse when the movie is absolute trash.

[imsounoriginal]

That's ridiculous. Never been to a CineBistro but it sounds like an upscale Alamo Drafthouse. If you have an Alamo near you I'd highly recommend it.

[Cherokee Jack]

Just got shipping notice for my Target 4K exclusive. It's UPS rather than USPS so with any luck I should be able to get it before release day. Nice little surprise after seeing so many say that Target releases often arrive late.

[bferr1972]

Originally Posted by jayman3

Forgot about your opinion on the film, but who in their right mind would spend $120 for dinner and a movie

I once spent $195 to see Captain America: Civil War, including dinner and the babysitter. $195! Not to see a concert, a ballgame or something like that, but to see a Marvel movie.

[imsounoriginal]

One thing I forgot to mention about the movie that really made me laugh:

[Show spoiler]When Owen and Claire reunite and they're talking in the bar, one of the reasons they broke up was apparently that Owen would never let her drive his van. Then at the very end, when they're driving with Clone Girl in the backseat, OWEN IS STILL DRIVING THE VAN! None of the characters change one bit from start to finish of this movie, and that's hysterical. They're defiantly one-dimensional.

[Colson]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

They're defiantly one-dimensional. [/SPOILER]

How is that defiant?

[imsounoriginal]

Because

[Show spoiler]when the two kiss, the assumption is that they're back together. And given that, they could've had Claire driving the van as a sign that the relationship has matured to some extent. But nope, it's still Owen.

It's just funny.

[Colson]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

Because he could've let her drive and doesn't. It's just funny.

No no, I agree that they're one-dimensional. I just don't see how they're defiantly one-dimensional? Who/what are they defying?