I was nine years old when I first saw Jurassic Park in 1993 at my local Odeon cinema, it’s one of my defining early-cinema memories sitting in there with my Dad. I walked in expecting a fun dinosaur adventure and walked out having witnessed something that felt genuinely impossible for the time. Even now, more than three decades later, I can still remember the sense of awe that came with seeing those creatures brought to life on the big screen. Something changed inside me from merely being a passive observer of films, to starting a life long love of film and the way it’s presented in the cinema.
The excuse to spend yet more money on the film, was the recent arrival of the American 4K Blu-ray release featuring Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. I already owned the earlier 4K edition without the upgraded presentation, so I wasn’t expecting a dramatic difference. After all, Jurassic Park has looked and sounded good on home video for years. But curiosity got the better of me, and I’m glad it did. This version is actually available as part of a trilogy boxset, but I’m really not fussed about any of the sequels… mehhhhhhh, maaaybe Lost World… kinda.
Revisiting the film itself for the millionth time, it’s remarkable how effortlessly it still works. Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Michael Crichton’s novel remains a masterclass in blockbuster filmmaking. If you’ve been living under a rock for 30 years I’ll give a quick plot breakdown: a group of scientists, investors, and experts are invited to an island theme park where genetically engineered dinosaurs have been brought back from extinction. Naturally, everything goes wrong.
The back of the slip case.
One of the things that strikes me every time I watch this film is the amazing pacing. Modern blockbusters often rush to get to the action, but Jurassic Park takes its time. Just like his early successes with Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Spielberg understands that anticipation is often more powerful than spectacle. We spend nearly an hour learning about the park and its inhabitants before chaos erupts, but it never feels slow. Every scene is building toward something, you’re taking the journey with the characters, you care about them.
The cast remains fantastic across the board. Sam Neill’s Alan Grant undergoes a believable transformation from reluctant father figure to determined protector. Laura Dern brings intelligence and warmth to Ellie Sattler, while Jeff Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm delivers many of the film’s most memorable lines with effortless humour and charisma.
It’s almost unbelievable that the visual effects are now over thirty years old. The combination of groundbreaking CGI from Industrial Light and Magic and Stan Winston’s incredible practical effects still holds up astonishingly well. In some ways, the dinosaurs feel more tangible than many modern digital dino creations (Jurassic World Rebirth, I’m looking at you) because Spielberg knew exactly when to use each technique. The T. rex road attack remains one of cinema’s greatest suspense sequences and one of home cinema’s greatest demo scenes. The Velociraptors stalking the kitchen still generates genuine tension for me and even scenes that should have lost their impact through repetition continue to work because they’re constructed so perfectly. The scene with Ellie and John Hammond sat eating ice cream and talking is a masterclass in acting, directing and cinematography… all reinforced by John Williams’ gentle score to really tug on your heartstrings.
Speaking of which, John Williams’ score deserves special mention as few soundtracks capture wonder as effectively as the main theme. The moment the park is first revealed remains one of the great cinematic introductions, almost like the island is a character itself and it doesn’t matter whether it’s your first viewing or 100th, that melody is iconic! As for the new disc itself, this is where the extra purchase became especially rewarding, but let’s talk video first.
Video:
The Dolby Vision presentation offers noticeable improvements over the standard HDR10 version I already owned. The image has greater depth and stability, with highlights appearing more natural and colours carrying a little more richness without ever looking artificial. The lush greens of Isla Nublar, the amber lighting inside the visitor centre, and the storm-soaked night sequences all benefit from the enhanced grading. Nothing is lost in the image, with the T. rex road attack once again being a great demo not just for sound, but for the incredible atmosphere that it conveys just with the image.
Perhaps more importantly, the film retains its natural filmic appearance. Grain remains intact, detail is excellent, and there’s no sense that the image has been aggressively processed or enhanced with AI. It simply feels like the best home presentation the film has received so far. For the first time in a long time, it truly feels like this version of the film is the closest you can get to reliving the way it looked on 35mm all those years ago.
Audio:
The new Dolby Atmos mix is equally impressive. Jurassic Park has always been an outstanding audio showcase. Infact it was Digital Theater Systems (DTS) who developed a system back in 1993 that stored the movie’s digital audio on external CD-ROMs, while a timecode printed on the film kept everything synchronised along with the film. With Universal’s support more than 1,000 cinemas had the DTS system installed prior to the film’s release and the laser disc version of this DTS soundtrack is still heralded as one of the best ways you can hear this film. The previous 1080p Blu-ray release and the 4K release both had DTS-HD and DTS:X tracks respectively.
But this version opted for a new Dolby Atmos mix, with tracks/information adding additional height immersion throughout and… WOW, is it worth it! Rain falls convincingly around the listening space during the T. rex sequence, helicopter flyovers have greater movement, and Williams’ iconic score fills the room beautifully. It’s not a revisionist remix that radically changes the film, but rather a respectful enhancement of an already excellent soundtrack.
Special Features:
The extras in this release are from the original Blu-ray release, like the documentary Return to Jurassic Park from 2011. And there’s all the original archival featurettes from the old DVD release. Nothing new for veteran owners of this film on disc, but still impressively comprehensive and about as much as you’d ever care to learn about this classic.
Would I recommend upgrading if you already own the previous 4K release? For casual viewers, perhaps not. The differences aren’t revolutionary unless you have the right gear for presentation. But for those who count Jurassic Park among their favourite films, the improvements are enough to make this feel like the definitive home-video version currently available. And if you’re coming from the previous 1080p Blu-ray release this is simply a MUST buy.
The dinosaurs still work.
The magic is still there.
And Jurassic Park is still one of the greatest blockbuster films ever made.
Author: Arron, Marketing Department.
