Jurassic Park Collection 4K UHD (1993-2015)

[GutterMouth]

Originally Posted by bytor

Is $24.99 the cheapest this has been? I've steered clear based on everyone crapping on how JP1 looks but don't think I can resist for that price.

Got it last year for 19.99 during black Friday off Amazon.

[Johnzilla2179]

Originally Posted by MechaGodzilla

I've made enough "I like The Lost World" posts - on here and elsewhere - to last a lifetime. But since it's a topic of discussion on the last couple pages... I like The Lost World.

Does it have its problems? Absolutely, and they're chiefly related to the writing. But I genuinely do think it has enough merit to be considered a good film as well. It does enough things well enough to work for me, and maybe most importantly it does things that are right up my alley (I find the San Diego sequence delightful, it's Spielberg paying homage to the 1925 adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World, King Kong, Godzilla, etc.). Spielberg is too skilled a director to not do competent work at worst, and turn out a couple dazzling moments at his best; Janusz Kaminski's photography which lends so much visual atmosphere to the piece; and John Williams' tribal, percussion-intensive score which contributes greatly to the aural atmosphere. Isla Sorna has a dark, primordial, hostile feel to it that Nublar doesn't - and, of course, shouldn't; it's the theme park island.

And, of course, Stan Winston and ILM deliver maybe their strongest work in the entire franchise. The dinosaurs truly are beautifully realized here, and not even just on a visual level. Of all the films in the series, TLW is maybe the one that goes to the greatest length to depict the dinosaurs as animals, and explores that aspect in more depth. It's commonly criticized for unsympathetic characters, but that almost doesn't matter to me because the dinosaurs are characters unto themselves. I'm tempted to argue the T. rex family is the heart and soul of the film; papa T. rex even gets the cathartic "hero moment" at the end, feeding the main villain to his baby.

The prevailing "leave nature alone" message is also a positive one, I feel. Greed (business magnate Peter Ludlow and his goons) and trophy hunting (Roland Tembo) leads to the exploitation, mistreatment and unnecessary killing of animals, that much is obvious. But radical animal rights activists/eco-terrorists - even if they mean well - can also cause harm through their actions, as we see from Nick. Ultimately, the best thing we can do is to "step aside, and trust in nature."

I know not everyone agrees or cares about these aspects, though. For some, the characters ruin the film. Some don't care for the pro-animal rights/environmentalist message, either disagreeing with it outright or feeling that the film doesn't put it across well (I've seen it dismissed as "preachy" many a time over the years). For some, a T. rex rampaging through a city is just too goofy and out-of-place a concept in this series, or they're fine with the idea but not the execution. I'm a fan of Godzilla and giant monster films in general, and I love the strange kind of combination of a darker tone and goofy, tongue-in-cheek humor that TLW has, so it's pretty much tailored to my tastes. Childhood nostalgia may also play some part. Again, it's just a film that works for me, but I can acknowledge that it has its flaws, and understand why it isn't everyone's cup of tea. It's fine to have different opinions about things.

As for the last two sequels...

Jurassic World I dig quite a bit. Goofy and dumb in many ways, sure, but it owns that and is just a fun ride. It fulfilled a lifelong dream of seeing a fully realized theme park open to the public, something I'd always loved the idea of since childhood. After JPIII, it was a relief to see a JP sequel that was a an actual, proper movie, with a complete script that had some kind of ambition to be more and say more than the most basic "people run from dinosaurs, into the next dinosaur, from that dinosaur into the next" structure of the third film.

Fallen Kingdom is more of a mixed bag. I left the theater with very mixed feelings, even leaning more negative than positive. After a few rewatches, it has grown on me. Still deeply flawed, and has truly embraced over-the-top absurdity to the extent that the franchise can never recover, but it's got some entertainment value if you roll with it. The editing doesn't feel as messy as it did on my first viewing, which is a plus. On a strictly visual level, it improves on its predecessor; the cinematography is leap and bounds better, and the CGI much more consistent. Animatronics are much more prominently used, which is welcome after JW came close to discarding them entirely in favor of all-digital effects.

I'm looking forward to the next one, which should be a Jurassic Park film in the style of a Fast & Furious sequel from the looks of it. It'll be new for the franchise, and if you can accept the ridiculous nature of it, it could be a blast.

Originally Posted by MechaGodzilla

I like that aspect of the film, personally. The moral complexity of the characters. Roland for example is on the island for the sole purpose of killing a one-of-a-kind animal, but he has a good side to him as well, showing genuine concern for his fellow human beings - including Hammond's team, as much as they initially cause him grief. He also sees through Ludlow in the end.

Then you have Nick. At first he comes off as the dudebro type who's only pretending to care about the causes he fights for (the whole bit about joining Greenpeace mainly for the women), but once he's on the island he's more engaged than that, and his actions (setting the captive dinos free, helping the baby rex, removing the ammo from Roland's gun) are rooted in empathy for the animals. At the same time, he puts the lives of many people at risk due to those actions.

Ludlow is the only character of significance with no redeeming values to speak of, but then those kinds sociopaths who are motivated strictly by greed and take advantage of everyone and everything in their surroundings do exist, so I don't think the film is in the wrong for accurately representing that kind of person.

For a film that's often criticized for being morally black and white, I don't think that's entirely true. Most of these characters occupy the gray area of the moral spectrum; good guys have unlikable qualities, bad guys have sympathetic qualities. It's unusual for a Hollywood blockbuster to present characters in this way, and perhaps that plays a part in its enduring negative reputation.

I really, REALLY love The Lost World and it's nice to see such a thoughtful assessment of it from a fellow fan. I myself have argued its merits in this thread (under a former username) and even likened it to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom which... didn't go over too well, for some reason. But like that film, I think the main reason it wasn't received terribly well is because of how stark a departure it is from the first film. Malcolm is the lead, not Dr. Grant; the island is a dark and forbidding death trap, not a fantasy theme park; the music is more jungle-esque and only quotes the main JP theme once during the film and refrains from using it again until the credits. On and on. At face value, I think it just wasn't the "Jurassic Park 2" that people were expecting (or wanting) after the first film. Like Temple of Doom, it was much darker and more visceral an experience than most people thought they were going to get. And all of that is before one considers the numerous script issues. But The Lost World is a masterclass in mood and atmosphere, with an aesthetic that stands out from the other films in the franchise, which have all seen fit to imitate the original film and not much else. Spielberg may or may not have been all in, but he still turned out an interesting sequel to the then-biggest film of all-time. In this day and age of rebootquels that just imitate their forebears in a blatant attempt to cash in on nostalgia (such as the two Jurassic World films, for instance), I think a sequel that tries to do its own thing but stumbles a bit along the way is something to be treasured.

Plus, who knew that backlit dinosaurs could look so cool?

I especially like your bit about the T. Rex family being the heart and soul of the film. I myself have always loved the contrast of Malcolm (who is accused of being an absent father) leaving his daughter to save his friends in the high hide scene at the same time as two very devoted dinosaur parents are coming to get their infant. There's also the quoting of the song "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" in which the titular Roland character is betrayed by a man known as Van Owen. You know, like how Nick Van Owen betrays Roland in the film by taking the shells out of his gun before he can kill the T. Rex? The Lost World actually has some layers to it, ya know.

[Johnzilla2179]

Originally Posted by eledoremassis02

For me, it's kinda like the Lost World of the new franchise. I liked it when it was on the island but it becomes a homage to old horror movies when it leaves.

It's so weird to me that Fallen Kingdom openly apes The Lost World in terms of the overall plot (capturing the dinosaurs on an island and bringing them to the mainland) and also some visuals (the T. Rex is airlifted by the helicopter in more or less the exact same kind of carrier as in TLW; the dino breakout on the mainland; the vehicle going over a cliff; a certain character getting torn in half by two predators) but then also ignores its plot entirely. It's so strange to me that Trevorrow and his writing partners have enough regard to not completely overwrite the second and third films, but not enough regard to actually reference them onscreen in ways that are completely necessary for the plots of his movies to even function.

[1924]

Is The Lost World the only good looking of the set? And even that apparently could look better

[SuperFlyHighGuy]

Originally Posted by 1924

Is The Lost World the only good looking of the set? And even that apparently could look better

They all look better than the BD discs do, this is obvious if you pop in the BD to watch special features immediately after you watch the UHD disc. They all look nice but Jurassic World looked amazing, but I didn't get the set with Fallen Kingdom so I can't speak to that film.

[PuppetMasterBlu]

Originally Posted by 1924

Is The Lost World the only good looking of the set? And even that apparently could look better

https://caps-a-holic.com/index.php?s=jurassic

[nick4Knight]

The only one that is not good looking, not worthy of UHD playback is JP III. And Jurassic Park is just a disappointing/missed opportunity to be amazing. In the same way Apollo 13 was.

But the original is not bad, and certainly not argued to be not a demonstrable upgrade on the ancient BD master (given the usual HDR/WCG)

[Bluyoda]

Finally got around to watching Jurassic Park in UHD today.
See setup in my sig.

Film: I saw JP in the cinema, and I had no idea what to expect, as a friend's father treated him and me to it. I went in only having seen the poster.
Needless to say I was in absolute awe.
Now, taking the rose-coloured spectacles off, it becomes clear that this movie takes a lot of libertities, and is best seen without questioning too much.
Some instances include:
It's completely unrealistic to expect Mr. Hammond to actually be present each and every time visitors take the tour with all the explanations (where he takes a blood sample of himself), as well as being present when dinosaurs are hatching. That's just ludicrous.
Furthermore, the biggest convenience ever is when the T-Rex enclosure, which moments ago was pur jungle, suddenly turns into a cliff, so the jeep can drop down. That is just mind-boggingly lazy writing. Another case is the laddle dropping to the floor for no reason, other than causing the raptors' attention, as well as the ceiling lights throwing a DNA sequence onto the raptor for no reason, other than looking cool, which it does, but there is no logical explanation I could find. EDIT: Another shoddy one is the net over the phony tree, where Dr. Grant and the little ones spend the night. That's brutally awful. There are more, but those are probably the most egregious examples. That being said, it's still an unforgettable motion picture, which brought a whole new era of filmmaking upon us.
So, glasses on: 4,5/5, glasses off 3,75/5

PQ: I was very pleasantly surprised how this looks.
A plethora of close-ups are highly detailed and sharp, most medium and wide distance shots offer a lovely amount of detail and definition. Grain is practically never intrusive, and looks quite organic most of the time.
Black levels are spot on. Highlights are never eye-blindingly bright, but beautifully executed. Just check out 1:42:20, when Dr. Grant, and the kids are climbing up the fence, and you can actually see the sun behind the clouds. Now, that's just beautiful, as are all the spotlights, falshlights, etc., with sweet rays emitting from them. I love how highlights are handled here.
Colours are done equally impressively, the standout moments where the jeeps, with the super flashy green, yellow and red paint job. That was the perfect opportunity to show off some HDR goodness, and they succeeded. The jungle foliage is beautifully dealt with too, and it looks lush and vibrant, but never over the top. Faces looked fine to me too, as did all the brown tones, of which there are many. No complaints here.
Now, the bad: One scene is horribly DNR'd, and that's where Dogson meets Nedry for the first time. That is one fugly-looking mess, and I have no idea why it was applied. There seems to be no logic to it.
I guess they still used opticals for the titles, as the resolution also drops during shots with titles in them.
The saddest: The CG dinosaurs, aka the most iconic shots of the movie, REALLY show the limit in resolution. On the BD it was apparant, but not nearly as much as here, as it jumps from 4k to 1k? native resolution, which is very jarring. One of the most legendary shot ever put on screen, the first reveal of the Brontosaurs, is very fuzzy, has awfully limited dynamic range, as the clouds are blown out, and definition obviously suffers greatly here.
The second worst offender is perhaps the stampeding herd of Gallimimuses, which is quite appaling in appearance, but basically each time, the CG dinos are seen, especially the daylight scene, although the T-Rex emerging from the bushes to snatch one of those Gallimimuses looks the best, fortunately, as it's a really cool one, and the decrease in resolution seems to make it looks as if his body were covered in beads of sweat, which is neat.
My most likely unpopular opinion:
Let ILM re-render those shots at a higher resolution (not changing the models, etc., only resolution, if possible), and make it available via seamless branching. Problem solved, as it's SUCH a pity.
Those low-rez shots also look DNR'd, so perhaps laying off the DNR button could help a bit alternatively. It is what it is though, and every movie is a product of its time, well mostly.
All in all, I think this is about as good as JP can look, and while some shots do seem slightly processed, mainly some DNR, it's almost never distracting or frustrating.
EDIT: It's far better than the lackluster BD in every way.
4.25/5
AQ: Do I really need to say anything here? JP may have had a sketchy home video history in terms of visuals, but the sound has always been top-notch, and that hasn't changed here. The T-Trex roar is among the most frightening and simulteneously awesome sounds ever conceived, as are the raptor sounds, and many others. Surround acitivty is well, just that, very active, and beautifully so. Rain, wind, thunderclaps, water splashes, and dino roars are all around you. It's thunderous, yet precise. Dialogue is easily understood, etc..
Oh, and John Williams' score is a feast for the ears.
Lengendary!
5.5

I think this will remain the definitive version on a video format, until, and unless they decide to re-render and un-DNR the CG shots.

[BdoUK]

Thanks for the review, I definitely will be revisiting JP again in the near future now that I have my theater completed.

I'm old enough to remember the original DVD DTS release that had the undercooked bass and replacement program. That release along with Saving Private Ryan really drove my love for this great (and expensive) hobby.

[Mierzwiak]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

Let ILM re-render those shots at a higher resolution (not changing the models, etc., only resolution, if possible)[/b]

Do you really think it's that easy to read files (assuming they still exist) from 27 years ago?

And I'm sick and tired of all this "They need to redo VFX!", it's the same whining all over again everytime there's an UHD release of some older title with CGI. Just show some respect for work of people who were basically making movie history, OK?

[Evanos]

Didn't Denis Muren say he re-rendered some stuff for the 3D re-release?

[FilmFreakosaurus]

Originally Posted by BdoUK

Thanks for the review, I definitely will be revisiting JP again in the near future now that I have my theater completed.

I'm old enough to remember the original DVD DTS release that had the undercooked bass and replacement program. That release along with Saving Private Ryan really drove my love for this great (and expensive) hobby.

The DTS Laserdisc was probably the best Jurassic Park has ever sounded. It was notorious for blowing speakers and subs. An amazeball LFE bass channel and dynamics that would rip your ears to shreds!

[pbz06]

Originally Posted by Mierzwiak

Do you really think it's that easy to read files (assuming they still exist) from 27 years ago?

And I'm sick and tired of all this "They need to redo VFX!", it's the same whining all over again everytime there's an UHD release of some older title with CGI. Just show some respect for work of people who were basically making movie history, OK?

Yea, when I watch older movies it doesn't really bother me to see dated visuals. Tehy were a product of their time and I just accept it. I watched the Matrix the other day, and some of it hasn't aged well at all but it was still cool appreciating how ahead of its time it was in the visuals.

[BdoUK]

Originally Posted by FilmFreakosaurus

The DTS Laserdisc was probably the best Jurassic Park has ever sounded. It was notorious for blowing speakers and subs. An amazeball LFE bass channel and dynamics that would rip your ears to shreds!

I was never lucky enough to experience the DTS LD, but the theater experience in 1993 was much like you describe. That was probably the first blockbuster experience movie I experienced in the theater and the sound certainly left a major impression.

[Bluyoda]

Originally Posted by Mierzwiak

Do you really think it's that easy to read files (assuming they still exist) from 27 years ago?

And I'm sick and tired of all this "They need to redo VFX!", it's the same whining all over again everytime there's an UHD release of some older title with CGI. Just show some respect for work of people who were basically making movie history, OK?

Hence the original version should be available too. I don't see what the problem is. The makers are all still alive.
If I were a filmmaker, I'd keep coming back to it, until I am restlessly content, and provided I had the money, or be given the budget, etc..
That's not disrespectful at all, and I love the VFX of JP, but the resolution simply isn't enough at all, and makes for an uneven experience.
I really don't know how they are going to have 8k releases of older movies in the future. First of all, it's entirely unnecessary, and secondly, what's the point, when most movies contain opticals, rearscreen projection, matte paintings, bluescreen elements, CGI that was several generations below the rest of the film proper, and most movies in the last 20 years have 2k DIs only, but that's a different discussion.

[Bluyoda]

Just finished watching Jurassic Park: The Lost World

Film: I just feel like Steven Spielberg didn't have any love or passion for it.
I have hated this one, then warmed up to it, and now I am sort of in between, for the time being.
The only alright characters are Ian, Vince Vaughn's character, and Eddie.
And I really don't like that Ian, of all people, was the main character here.
Anyway, there is no way the three characters would have survived that RV scene, yet they didn't even get bruised when it magically fell down right around them. Wow! Isn't that lucky. The girl's acrobatics are equally eyebrow-raising.
I never understood why Hammond had to count either, but that's beside the point. The most ridiculous thing is that Mount Everest anectdote, which doesn't help or justify anything at all, but perhaps that's the point. I don't know.
Film: 3/5

PQ: It starts off nicely with that shot of the ocean, but then the sky is really noisy, and most daylight skies are like that, but that's pretty much where the bad ends and the good begins.
Grain is usually very fine and filmic, or nearly invisible. Detail and sharpness are terrific, and make the old BD look like junk. You can see all kinds of facial hair, skin pores, fabrics, foliage, etc.
Colours are really lovely too, the standout moment being the girl's attire when she first shows up. The red pullover and pink jacket look fantastic.
Another surprising detail for me was the colours on the Pachycephalosaurus (the head butter). I don't think I had ever noticed the green tones, as well as the Pteranadon with the coloured head, that I had never noticed, possibly due to the smaller 50inch screen, as opposed to the 65inch screen now, or the improved contrast and colour satuartion. Either way, it looks beautiful.
Black levels are great too, where the BD was quite crushed.
Check out my absolute favourite at 1:01:35, when the shot leads us from the back of the RV to the dangling characters. The yellow/orange lights along the floor look amazing, as does shadow detail, and detail in general. I'd never paid that shot any attention, but it's riveting here.
The only shot where black levels are slightly wanting is where the raptors are seen rapidly approaching the victims from above, but it has always been like this.
The colours on the BD look quite washed-out when directly compared to the UHD.
The drop in resolution during CGI shots is also much less noticable, and very much tolerable. Only dynamic range still takes a hit, most of all highlights, which are blown-out during some of those shots, particularly in San Diego.
Blues and reds are vividly rendered also, and noise/grain free.
It's such a delight. Much better grain structure than I anticipated, as this one was pretty much the beginning of the "special" blown-out look by his cinematographer K., which also introduces some artifacts, such as a ghosting image of Ian's jacket in the Hammond mansion, etc..
Speaking of highlights, this one has a significantly higher contrast than JP, yet the highlights are pretty much always perfectly maintained without clipping.
There is one instance of banding around the beam light of the helicopter just before the greedy bastard business guy gets eaten by the baby T-Rex, and perhaps a tiny bit of macroblocking in a brighter sky at one point.
4,5/5

AQ: The jungle sounds definitely stand out the most here. Such a rich and detailed surround experience. I still remember the experience in the cinema, when I first saw it, and this one really brings me back. No complaints here, although the T-Rexes didn't have the heft of the first one at reference levels.
It's a very smooth exerperience.
5/5

[Mierzwiak]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

If I were a filmmaker, I'd keep coming back to it, until I am restlessly content

Fortunately you aren't, one clown known as George Lucas is enough.

This is not what any type of art is about.

[Bluyoda]

Originally Posted by Mierzwiak

Fortunately you aren't, one clown known as George Lucas is enough.

This is not what any type of art is about.

Whatever, dude.
Fortunately you have no say in it, so...
I am an artist, and I have remastered my own works, and for the better, and artists can do what they want with their art. Regardless of how you feel about it. I don't always agree either, such as Steven Spielberg cowardly ignoring the SE after blacklash, or GL not going far enough with his SE changes, etc. but we definitely not on the same page here, which is fine.

[Mierzwiak]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

Whatever, dude.

If "whatever" then why bother to reply?

You also have wrong understanding of a remastering process / definition.

[Bluyoda]

Originally Posted by Mierzwiak

If "whatever" then why bother to reply?

You also have wrong understanding of a remastering process / definition.

Well, remastering means changing the sound and dynamics of the original, therefore changing it, but if it helps, I also re-recorded some stuff. Happy now?