Jurrasic Park Trilogy: The Extras Disc

Director: Steven Spielberg, Joe Johnston, ,
Starring: Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Laura Dern, Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn, William H. Macy, Tea Leoni, ,

Rate Jurrasic Park Trilogy: The Extras Disc DVD Release:

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

DVD Review

A note to readers that this review only refers to the fourth disc that comes with the Jurassic Park Trilogy. That fourth disc being the extras features disc for each of the original films. The words and verdict are a reflection of the extras only and not the entire box set.

First thing you have to do is select which one of the three Jurassic Park movies that you want to watch the extras for with a nice menu screen featuring the logos of all three. The menu screens are presented well, easily navigated and not full of rubbish sound effects or crappy dinosaur shaped icons.

As each of the films became more and more inferior to its predecessor, the extras do exactly the opposite with Jurassic Park 3 having the most, well presented and packaged features and The Lost World being the most informative. The extras for the original Jurassic Park are disappointing and worthless. It’s pretty safe to say that the Jurassic Park extras are a let down, as even the previously released 50 minute making of… has been replaced with a 5 minute version that is nothing more than haplessly butchering together some interviews and the trailer. By the way – no trailers either, for any movie. The Steven Spielberg directs feature show very little insight into the work of a director. The only things we learn here is that Spielberg has a beard, (duh) and where the camera was for selected scenes, which you can work out for yourself by looking at the shot in the movie.

The Lost World offers something a lot more interesting. Again, replacing the previously released longer Making of… with a 15 minute presentation that actually shows us, and talks about, character development, plots, stunts, sets and special effects. This is a lot more impressive. Also, a great treat from the author of the novels, Michael Crichton, with the 15 minute interview in which he talks about his own personal inspirations, history and development and thoughts on the movie industry.

If the computer effects are what wowed you about the Jurassic Park trilogy, then the Jurassic Park 3 offering is what you will want to see. There is a feature which takes you through the process of Sketches, Modeling, Puppetry, Hydraulics and touches on CGI. The 10 minute ILM Press Reel gives you a good idea of how the CGI changed the movie, showing you glorious development in how wire-frame, blue screen and animation all helped to paste together the layers that made up the final shot. There are similar presentations for all three movies but the Jurassic Park 3 is by far the superior one.

J.D. Lafrance

J.D. is a freelance writer who is currently doing research for a book on the films of Michael Mann. He likes reading anything written by Jack Kerouac, James Ellroy, J.D. Salinger, Harlan Ellison or Thomas Pynchon. J.D. is currently addicted to the T.V. series 24 and enjoys drinking a lot of Sprite. This is not a blatant plug for the beverage but if they ever decided to give him a lifetime supply he certainly wouldn’t turn them down.
view all DVD reviews by JD Lafrance

 

Rating: 56%

Website: