Jurassic Punk Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Jurassic Punk Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 24, 2023

A fairly strong argument can be made that, over the past few decades, the biggest movie stars have not been the faces appearing on screens but rather the digital artists who have been making the characters and the worlds those faces interact with on the screen. While there have been very convincing creatures, worlds, space battles, and so on through the history of cinema, there is no denying that the digital revolution has changed the game, for better or for worse, and redefined the meaning not just of a movie spectacle but of movies themselves. What was once difficult to make or even just erroneously captured is now just fixed in post-production, and what was once impossible is now not only possible, but nowadays so commonplace that audiences have nearly become numb to the wizardry on the screen. What dazzled audiences just three decades ago in Jurassic Park looks quaint today, and the cutting edge visuals in Jurassic World are met not so much with awe but rather near emotionless expectation. Jurassic Punk tells the story of one of cinema's forgotten pioneers, a man whose digital work revolutionized the industry but whose lifestyle and rejection left him a broken outcast on the outside, looking in at a world-changing revolution largely of his own making.

Jurassic Punk introduces audiences to the real star of movies like The Abyss, Terminator 2, and Jurassic Park: Steve Williams, a computer whiz whose work made these movies possible and redefined the cinema landscape forever, but whose rebellious ways left him feeling betrayed, bitter, and broken. The film is something of a hybrid look at the making of a few of the industry’s CGI trailblazing films while also looking into Williams' life and how his work was embraced, but he was not.

Jurassic Punk excels in painting a portrait of Williams' revolutionary digital work but also his combative nature with the industry which, in large part, stems from a lack of proper recognition for his talents. He's the reason the films on which he worked went on to win Oscars for their visual effects, but the people higher up on the food chain got all the glory. He spearheaded the water effects for The Abyss and the liquid metal for T2 and he alone modeled the dinosaur for Jurassic Park, proving that digital, not stop-motion, animation was the way to go for what would become one of the most influential films of all time. Yet he was not properly recognized for his work. He was never promoted, he was never given a better title, and the film explores the man he has become in the decades since, still battling the after-effects of his work's success and his perceived lack of proper thanks for that work.

Jurassic Punk Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Gravitas Ventures brings Jurassic Punk to Blu-ray with a good, certainly not great, 1080p transfer. The bulk of the image is constructed of digitally shot interview snippets and footage around Williams' home. Such images are clear and offer good baseline definition appropriate to the resolution, but the lower grade equipment and significant postproduction work mean results that do not reach the maximum output potential. The footage is crisp enough, but it's not as precise as better HD images. Some significant noise is present as well, even in variously well-lit shots. Core facial, clothing, and environmental features fare well enough but leave much to be desired. Colors are fine, lacking nuance and subtlety but enjoying good, basic grading, natural contrast, and neutral temperature. Skin tones are fine, white balance is good enough, and black levels do not disappoint. Still, the essential qualities and characteristics suit the material well enough.

Jurassic Punk Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jurassic Punk doesn't exactly roar its way onto Blu-ray. Despite the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless encode, the presentation is rather straightforward and simple. Surrounds are barely used and certainly not with any prominent or prodigious impact. The same can be said of the subwoofer. The film would have managed just fine with a 2.0 track, but the 5.1 does offer good clarity to all elements, mostly dialogue but a few minor musical cues as well, which are nicely spaced across the front. Dialogue does dominate, however, and the spoken word comes across as clear and articulate with nicely balanced front and center positioning from start to finish.

Jurassic Punk Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Jurassic Punk contains no supplemental content. The main menu screen only offers options to "Play" the film and toggle "Subtitles" on and off. It's a static image screen with overlayed music. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Jurassic Punk Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jurassic Punk will appeal to audiences for both its human-interest story and for its mini documentation of the history of the modern CGI movie landscape. Williams was certainly instrumental in developing the process and revolutionizing the industry, and here is where the film shifts from Hollywood history to human hopelessness. The film explores his life in the years following Jurassic Park: a break from ILM, a broken marriage, and a broken self-image. It's compelling stuff, well made, solidly paced, and a film that every film fan needs to see for its raw look at one man's experience in the cutting edge of the digital cinema revolution. Gravitas Ventures' Blu-ray is featureless. Video and audio suffice. Recommended.