Jurassic World 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Jurassic World 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 27, 2018

Universal has released 'Jurassic World' to the UHD format alongside 'Jurassic Park,' 'The Lost World,' and 'Jurassic Park III,' all available only in bundles, both a DigiBook and a Best Buy exclusive SteelBook set. This film's UHD video presentation soars and the audio roars. No new extras have been added. Read on for more details.

Jurassic Park has been reopened and rebranded as "Jurassic World." Fences are higher, walls are stronger, security is tighter, technology is smarter, and the park is packed with patrons eager to spectate and participate in all wonder. The attractions are a major hit and it's everything John Hammond could have envisioned, and more. Amongst the park's guests are Zach (Nick Robinson) and his younger brother Gray (Ty Simpkins), two children whose aunt Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) runs the park. They've been given all-access passes and are passed on to the care of a surrogate baby-sitter (Katie McGrath). Park owner Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) brings in a man named Owen (Chris Pratt), who has been training a pack of velociraptors, to inspect the holding cell of a new hybrid dinosaur, genetically built from the ground up, that promises to be the park's main attraction. But things go unexpectedly awry. The new hybrid escapes confinement, shutting down the park and leaving thousands of visitors vulnerable. Meanwhile, Zach and Gray find themselves caught out in the open and in the path of a fierce new dinosaur that knows only one thing: killing.

For a full film review, please click here; scores for movie, Blu-ray video, and supplements are carried over from that review.

Jurassic World 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.

The movie begins with a few close-ups of eggs, and the level of tangible complexity -- small ridges and tactile texturing on them -- is superb. Pause a moment to take a look at the corresponding scene on the Blu-ray, which is itself quite a stellar presentation, and there's no mistaking the UHD's superiority: clarity is greatly improved, the texturing is finer, and whites are more spectacular while the aqua/teal color that takes up about a quarter of the bottom of the frame and offsets the white and light background is much more throughly saturated and vibrant.

The movie was reportedly finished at 2.4k and primarily shot on 35mm film. The overall increase to detailing compared to the Blu-ray is more than marginal and less than extreme. That is not to say that the improvements are not obvious, even without comparing. There's a sharpness and crispness to the image that years of A/V scrutinization experience say are no match for even the best Blu-ray. Packed snow at the Mitchell house seen at departure and various grasses and structural details at the park -- even at distance -- are brilliantly defined. Clothing textures and skin details are remarkably dense and sharp, a solid upgrade over the Blu-ray to be sure. Grain enhances the image with a refined and evenly dispersed density that gives the image a very authentic and pleasing cinematic texturing. There is some visible aliasing on a train track at the 6:30 mark and a few other minor bugaboos that may draw the eye here and there, but it's difficult to knock the numerical score when the rest of it is so brilliant.

When it comes to the HDR colors, there's no mistaking the UHD's superiority. Take a look at a shot of a boat at the 4:30 mark. The whites are absurdly intense (in a good way) and offer some of the most purely brilliant coloring the UHD format has yet seen. Add in the ship's blue accents, the intensity of the water below, and a well defined sky, and the shot is a UHD joy. Pixel-peepers may spot very slight macroblocking in that sky, but when the rest of the shot is so gorgeous, it's hard to complain. The HDR-10 colors are vivid, well saturated, and intense throughout. Even when a color doesn't make a leap when compared to the Blu-ray, the added vitality and stability are always noticeable, and welcome. Black levels are superb and skin tones are flawless…this is a superb UHD release from Universal.

Jurassic World 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jurassic World's DTS:X Master Audio soundtrack delivers a well-rounded listening experience. Balance is key here. It can be prodigious, its can be reserved, but the track is always willing and able to present the full range sonic spectrum with ease. It's not much of a departure from the 7.1 lossless track that accompanied the companion Blu-ray. Various atmospheric details at the park when it's in full operation during the first act -- control room beeps, spectator din, splashing water -- are well integrated with precise placement as necessary and full stage saturation as the moment may require. Music plays with rich, seamless clarity and effortless width and depth. Dinosaur roars and footfalls are intensely deep with excellent dispersal. Low end impact is not overcooked, favoring balanced execution over raw power. Listeners will certainly feel the intensity as the track demands. Overheads enjoy a discrete effect here and there but are mostly used to compliment action, not overwhelm it. A great example comes as a vehicle is tossed about at the 38-minute mark. Dialogue is rich and detailed with excellent prioritization and center focused placement. The track sounds a little low volume at review-reference levels, but cranking it up a few notches alleviates the problem.

Jurassic World 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Jurassic World's UHD disc contains no extras, but the bundled Blu-ray, identical to that released in 2015, carries over all previously released extras. Below is a list of what's included. For a full review, please click here.

• Deleted Scenes
• Chris & Colin Take on the World
• Welcome to Jurassic World
• Dinosaurs Roam Once Again
• Jurassic World: All-Access Pass
• Innovation Center Tour with Chris Pratt
• Jurassic's Closest Shaves -- Presented by Barbasol

Jurassic World 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jurassic World is easily the best of the series since the original. It retains that same magic, that sense of scope and awe, that feeling of novelty and adventure, even as it's little more than that first film repurposed, jazzed up with better visual effects and a mild reworking of the core story. The movie never slows or sputters and only disappoints in a couple of areas, but the sum is a breathtaking, wild, fully engaging and exciting movie that's much closer to a true sequel to the original than either The Lost World or Jurassic Park III. Better, the UHD is terrific. Incredibly dynamic picture -- notably those bright, clean, gorgeous HDR colors -- coupled with dynamic DTS:X Master Audio sound and a few decent extras make this one of the better UHD releases out there and certainly the best of the (currently) four Jurassic Park films on UHD. Very highly recommended.