Don Shanahan
The beloved Jurassic franchise, which has immersed audiences in a world of dinosaurs and adventure for over three decades, has grossed more than $6.7 billion dollars at the global box office. About $856 million of that came from the very strong run of Jurassic World Rebirth, which debuted in theaters worldwide this past Just. Daring to evolve in a new direction after two lackluster previous Jurassic World sequels, the franchise received its lucrative jumpstart. Now, here in September, the blockbuster hit arrives on store shelves in 4K-UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD formats. Film Obsessive was granted an advanced copy of the 4K-UHD Jurassic World Rebirth for another entry in our “Off the Shelf” series reviewing physical media releases.
THE MOVIE
Taking place several years after the fallout of 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion, Jurassic World Rebirth outlines a present-day where the majority of the roaming, free-range dinosaurs living amongst society have either died out due to disease or inhospitable climate change from their norm of 65 million years ago. The stout and strong have migrated or been relocated to lands and islands in the tropical equatorial regions of Earth, areas now restricted from travel. And, for what it’s worth, public interest in dinosaurs has waned with a societal yawn and dwindling museum admission numbers.
The target setting of Jurassic World Rebirth is InGen’s former R&D facility on an island off the coast of Suriname that specialized in exotic cross-breeding experiments with freakish results. The urgent need to go there comes from Martin Krebs (professional movie villain Rupert Friend), a Big Pharma rep with deep pockets, researching dinosaur heart tissue for a human drug for heart disease. He hires a motley crew of smart people (Wicked’s Jonathan Bailey) and tough operative escorts (led by the headlining Scarlett Johansson and two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali). The necessary blood samples must come from living specimens extracted from the largest goliath species of dinosaurs across land, sea, and air, namely the enormous herbivore Titanosaurus, the flying Quetzalcoatlus, and the oceanic alpha predator Mosasaurus.
It wouldn’t be a Jurassic Park or Jurassic World movie without a senseless Mary Sue kid or two in peril. The squad deviates from their clandestine mission for the maritime responsibility of answering a mayday distress call from a sailboat carrying a family crossing the Atlantic that was overturned by the mosasaurus they’re hunting. The rescued father (Manuel García-Rulfo), two daughters (Luna Blaise and Audrina Miranda), and tagalong boyfriend (David Iacono) become the intersecting B-plot on the new island when the parties are separated.
This is, honestly, quite a mess, but there are two sources of saving grace in Jurassic World Rebirth. The first matches the spirit of rebirth used in the title, which is the noble attempt to bring back awe and thrills to a Jurassic film. This was the clear goal in bringing back original Jurassic Park screenwriter David Koepp, a proven expert at plotting action suspense. Still, he rips off some of his own work with sequences that mirror—or flat-out ape—scenes from his two prior movies. On one hand, they worked then, and they admittedly still work now with a nostalgic aura lifted by Alexandre Desplat’s score, amalgamating the classic cues with new danger music. On the other hand, the lack of new ideas to fill a double narrative hopscotching between two survival parties is plain to see and borderline detrimental. Alas, it was entertaining enough to make a boatload of money.
THE DISC
Audiences and fans of Jurassic World Rebirth can now go even deeper with over one hour of exclusive content when you buy any of the three disc choices. Right off the top, the set includes the easy additions of an alternate opening, a gag reel, and a pair of deleted scenes, both featuring another dinosaur attack sequence with the top-lining stars that missed the action movie’s final cut.
With great appreciation from the filmmakers and Universal Pictures, Jurassic World Rebirth also includes two full-length commentary tracks. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Godzilla director Gareth Edwards leads both conversations. One track pairs him with production designer James Clyne and first assistant director Jack Ravenscroft (a nice get for a first AD). The second one partners Gareth Edwards with editor Jabez Olssen and visual effects supervisor David Vickery. Due to the heavy reliance on CGI-generated dinosaurs over the old school practical puppetry utilized by Steven Spielberg for the original, the chatter about bringing the ancient behemoths to life with Olssen’s department makes for a more geek-centered delight of a talk.
The main course of the Jurassic World Rebirth is a long-form “making-of” documentary detailing the film’s jaw-dropping visuals and sound design, and much more. The piece is called Jurassic World Rebirth: Hatching a New Era and is split into six chapters:
The World Evolves. Journey into a reimagined Jurassic World with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, Mahershala Ali and the rest of the cast and filmmakers.
Off the Deep End. Dive into the thrilling ocean sequence and learn about the challenges of shooting on open water, the one-of-a-kind gimbal used to toss around the Essex and Mariposa, and the VFX wizardry that brought the Mosasaurus and Spinosaurs to life.
Trekking Through Thailand. Follow the cast and crew’s footsteps as they navigate the challenges of shooting in exotic jungles, beaches, and tall grass fields that become home to the Titanosaurs.
Rex in Rapids. Brace for a T. rex encounter that’s different than anything experienced before with a nail-biting river chase recreated from Michael Crichton’s original Jurassic Park novel.
Don’t Look Down. Soar into the Quetzalcoatlus sequence with Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey, and Bechir Sylvain as they train for and shoot their cliff rappelling scenes.
Mini-Mart Mayhem. Go inside the heart-stopping third act of Jurassic World Rebirth and witness the process of crafting sets that allow the movie’s mutant dinosaurs to step out of nightmare-inspired designs and stop on an exhilarating rampage.
On the smaller, supplemental side, Jurassic World Rebirth also includes four additional featurettes. None of them are very long, but they highlight and toot their own horn about some of the cuter aspects of the film. Those slices are as follows:
Meet Delores. Meet the animatronic Aquilops with an extraordinarily lifelike personality.
Munched: Becoming Dino Food. Get a victim’s firsthand view inside the frightening jaws of deadly dinosaurs that munch, chomp, and chew their way into creating unforgettable death sequences.
A Day at Skywalker Sound. Actress Audrina Miranda guides a personal tour of Skywalker Sound in California to meet the audio editors, foley artists, and mixers who design the movie’s wide array of sounds.
Hunting for Easter Eggs. Find out where to look for cleverly hidden Easter eggs that pay homage to everything from the first Jurassic Park film to other Steven Spielberg classics.
Made with all the bells and whistles granted a big studio tentpole, the technical aspects of Jurassic World Rebirth come through as expected. The video is a full-bodied HDR 10, and the audio outputs cover both Dolby Atmos for the main feature and the Dolby Digital 2.0 for the nicely crafted bonus content. Thanks to this one going over well with worldwide audiences, this franchise is far from dead. Expect another Jurassic World with the same glossy and pixelated treatment within a few years.
