Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 8, 2018

If there’s one lesson to be learned from what is now more than two decades of Jurassic Park unwritten rules and regulations, it’s to never return to the park, no matter the reason, no matter the possibilities for profits, no matter the stakes, no matter the morality of the action. “How many times must the point be made?” Ian Malcolm asks at film’s end. Until revenues begin to dry up, Ian. True for the profiteers in the movies and true in the board room at movie studios. Indeed, the franchise, which began with Steven Spielberg’s groundbreaking Jurassic Park, was rebooted in 2015, and is now on the fifth film in the series, the second in the World trilogy, and has never been shy about telling stories featuring characters making relatively poor decisions, albeit usually with good intensions, that lead to disastrous results. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is every bit the spectacle it should be, but whether it’s a worthwhile film is another matter entirely. The film explores good ideas on life and death and the existence of the species -- man and dinosaur alike -- but the red meat within the movie rings a bit hollow, playing with familiar beats that most closely resemble the storyline from the first sequel, The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

An unstable volcano is threatening to destroy everything on Isla Nublar, including the last remnants of dinosaur life, leaving them once again extinct. But a political firestorm has erupted alongside the volcano, with some claiming the dinosaurs should be saved while others, including Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), argue for their extinction, for man to accept nature’s course correction and again free the world of their presence, as it had been for millions of years. Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard), who is fighting to save the endangered creatures, is introduced to a plan to transplant the dinosaurs to a safe, isolated sanctuary with “no fences, no cages, no tourists.” It’s an illegal and risky venture, but Claire agrees to return to the derelict park in the name of saving several of the creatures, including Blue, widely believed to be the most intelligent of the dinosaurs. But Claire will need help. She recruits Owen (Chris Pratt) to assist in capturing Blue, and brings two of her co-workers, Zia (Daniella Pineda) and Franklin (Justice Smith), for their expertise. Little do they know that treachery abounds and some will risk everything in hopes of profiting from the dinosaurs one last time.

It’s impossible to watch Fallen Kingdom, especially from the outset and through its first half, and not feel a little like the movie is headed down the same well-beaten Jurassic path. It must be difficult to innovate the same basic concept: dinosaurs run wild, humans run for their lives, chaos ensues. Admittedly there are some new twists -- the addition of an erupting volcano adds a fair bit of drama and a newfound source of intensity missing from the previous films -- but it’s not until the second half, which blends the stuff of dinosaur nightmares with some more heady ideas and concepts that the movie finally finds a distinction from the others in the pack. Perhaps most interestingly, the film offers a unique peek into the earliest history of Jurassic Park and introduces some of the braintrust behind the original idea, those who were very close to, but previously unseen with, the old guard face of the franchise, John Hammond. The movie delves fairly deep, albeit with action still the main driving force alongside, into some interesting and dangerous ideas that concern both hard science and hard profiteering, neither of which, admittedly, are necessarily new to the series but that are presented in a way that advances the understanding of the world within the series while still allowing for plenty of bread-and-butter dinosaur action scenes and scares, the latter in particular in the film's final act.

Indeed, there is some impressively realized horrific imagery throughout the film which yields some of the most intense, and scariest, moments in what is now a five-film franchise. The visuals bring an immediacy and sense of dread to the film and franchise, which has always used perspective and portending terror to frighten characters and audiences, but it's a little more amped up here. The general dinosaur visual effects are first-rate, as viewers have come to expect, and there’s a complete seamlessness between man, dinosaur, and environment, and whatever demarcations between real and digital there may be in any given scene are nearly impossible to see. The cast is fine, including a few newcomers such as Toby Jones and James Cromwell, neither of whom will likely go down in franchise lore as amongst the best developed characters but who, in this film, add their own necessary qualities into the narrative, which does help propel it down a thematically darker road in its second half.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom's 1080p transfer is about as good as one can expect from the Blu-ray format. Clarity is tight and textures are incredibly detailed. Not only do faces and clothes dazzle with intimate, intricate complexity, but so too does the rough-edged and decrepit environment that once was Jurassic World: the ruined tourist attractions, the derelict vehicles, the various types of terrain, all of the foliage. The level of intricate detailing visible across the spectrum, whether characters or places, natural or manmade, practical or digital, it's all seamless and perfectly blended into a harmoniously clean, rich, and lifelike presentation. Not a single texture disappoints, down to individual leaves or blades of grass or smudges of dirt or drops of sweat on characters. Colors are likewise bold and intense. Natural greens dazzle on the island, the volcanic lava delivers endlessly intense shades of burning-hot red and orange. Secondary colors dazzle with vibrant shades across the board, but never with contrast overextended or the palette pushing in the opposite direction, either. Black levels are impressively dense and intense. Skin tones appear natural. Noise is barely an issue even as the picture was digitally photographed. There is some underwater banding at the four-minute mark, a small price to pay for an otherwise top-class transfer from Universal.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom chomps onto Blu-ray with a prodigious DTS:X soundtrack. The film begins with an underwater sequence that produces some impressive sounds of intense depth, including an overhead component, that puts the aquatic pressure right in the middle of the home theater. Large and heavy doors push open through the stage, which transitions to a raging surface storm that punishes the listening area with sonic intensity, and sonic bliss, from all directions. As the action shifts to the dry but dangerous land, volcanic eruptions spew not only hot lava but intense bass and stage-saturating goodness. Helicopter rotors slice through, and above, in some scenes. Dinosaur vocalizations range from shrieking to intensely deep and dominant. Action scenes are never wanting for more perfectly harmonious stage chaos, with every speaker and the low end engaged for the duration. On the other end of the spectrum, Claire's introduction is met with bustling office space din, which is very clearly defined and very prominent, but balanced, throughout the stage. Buzzing flies in chapter 10 encircle the listener. Every example of small environmental support effects present with perfectly tuned positioning and sonic detail. Music is triumphantly large and fully enveloping, supported by expert low end accompaniments. Dialogue is clear, center-focused, and well prioritized throughout.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom's Blu-ray release contains a number of featurettes. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital code are included with purchase. The release ships with an embossed slipcover.

• On Set with Chris & Bryce (1080p, 3:05): A look at the chemistry between the film's leads, and their performances.
• The Kingdom Evolves (1080p, 4:33): A look at Fallen Kingdom within the context of the new trilogy. It also explores J. A. Bayona's direction and the vision he brings to the movie.
• Return to Hawaii (1080p, 2:41): A quick look at shooting in Hawaii.
• Island Action (1080p, 6:01): Crafting some of the key action scenes in Hawaii (and elsewhere around the world).
• Aboard the Arcadia (1080p, 5:53): Shooting various scenes onboard the ship on a soundstage, including crafting a key scene that J. A. Bayona believes to be the heart of the movie. It also looks at dinosaur animatronics.
• Birth of the Indoraptor (1080p, 4:09): A closer look at the movie's newest dinosaur addition.
• Start the Bidding! (1080p, 3:18): Crafting a key action scene from late in the film.
• Death by Dino (1080p, 1:33): One of the film's unlikable characters bites the dust, er, gets bit. Gruesomely.
• Monster in a Mansion (1080p, 3:06): Bayona crafts a key scene based on influences from the first Jurassic Park as well as 1979's Dracula.
• Rooftop Showdown (1080p, 3:48): Making a climactic confrontation at film's end.
• Malcolm's Return (1080p, 3:07): A favorite character appears to bookend this film.
• VFX Evolved (1080p, 7:08): A detailed exploration of honoring the dinosaurs of past Jurassic Park films while using cutting-edge technology to make them more realistic.
• Fallen Kingdom: The Conversation (1080p, 10:16): Bryce Dallas Howard, J. A. Bayona, Colin Trevorrow, Chris Pratt, and Jeff Goldblum chat about all things Jurassic.
• A Song for the Kingdom (1080p, 1:26): Actor Justice Smith performs on-set.
• Chriss Pratt's Jurassic Journals (1080p, 12:08 total runtime): Pratt introduces audiences to various individuals who make the movie work. Included are Vivian Baker, Makeup Artist; Mary Master, Hair Stylist; Chris Murphy, 1st Assistant Sound; Dean Bailey, Stunt Edge Car Driver; Peter Harcourt, Diver; Daniella Pineda and Justice Smith, Actors; Jody Wiltshire, Set PA; Kelly Krieg, Assistant Script Supervisor; J.A. Bayona, Director; James Cox, Stunt Performer; Rachelle Beinart, Stunt Double; and Bryce Dallas Howard Chris Pratt, Actor.
• Jurassic Then and Now - Presented by Barbasol (1080p, 3:06): A montage of categorized moments from the franchise.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom sees the franchise teetering on fatigue, though this film's ending does at least show the promise for what might in store for the coming 2021 sequel. Fallen Kingdom is the most idea-driven film since the original. The trade-off is that it's not as purely fun as Jurassic World. The first half delivers classic franchise thrills while the second half takes on a darker tone as characters wrestle with a number of ethical questions and surprise revelations, of course still with the trademark dinosaur violence and action scenes in full bloom, not to mention a fairly healthy dose of horror cues mixed in as well. Universal's Blu-ray is unsurprisingly top-rate. Video is pristine, the DTS:X soundtrack is terrific, and the disc is packed with featurettes. Highly recommended.