Did Jurassic Park need to get remastered and rereleased in 3D? No. Is it worth it? Sort of. Let me crack into the case a little. We get a 3 disc offering, with the first disc being a Blu-ray of the 3D version of the film. Then we get a second Blu-ray disc featuring the older master of the 2D version of the film (which was part of the Jurassic Park Blu-ray trilogy set). The third disc is a DVD copy of the film. Why? At this point if you REALLY need a DVD copy of Jurassic Park, you more than likely have one. If you’re buying a 3D Blu-ray chances are you’re not watching many DVDs as it is and instead steadily upgrading to the newer high-definition format. Either way, it’s a pointless inclusion.
For this new version of the film, I find it interesting the 3D version actually looks less detailed than the regular 2D Blu-ray. Maybe it’s the 3D conversion, and most viewers won’t really notice it, but if you’re inclined to notice these things, you’ll certainly notice something is up here. However, the tradeoff seems to be a warmer overall visual tone. It’s hard to put my finger on it, and I wish I had two identical playback setups side by side. Neither Blu-ray version is perfect, and there are merits to both. The new 7.1 sound mix might have something to do with the perceived visuals, because this film really used sound effectively and the new mix makes sure you remember that.
A new special feature runs under 10 minutes and is on the 3D version of the film looks at the 3D conversion. It could (and should) have been longer and taken a look at the film over the years, 3D technology, the evolution of special effects, and a lot more. Sure, there’s some duplication that would occur with the previously released special features, but this is laughably short.
Other special features are present on the 2D Blu-ray disc that appeared on the disc a couple of years ago. This includes the first part of the 3 part retrospective looking at the series. The copyright on the disc is even from 2011. It’s simply a repressing of that Blu-ray disc.
Essentially, if you already have that trilogy Blu-ray release and don’t have 3D capabilities, don’t bother. if you have the film on DVD, don’t bother.
As for the film itself, well, it’s Jurassic Park. I don’t know why parent let little kids watch this. it’s not appropriate. Yes, it’s about dinosaurs, but that doesn’t mean the content is for kids. I’m at the point where I might let my (very soon to be) 10 year old son watch it. In 2D. On the computer. Then again, maybe not. That’s just sort of the line of appropriateness, and to have 5 year olds watching this is … I don’t know what to say. Jurassic Park isn’t a kid’s film. It wasn’t meant to be.
But it is a good film. I still like it. I liked it in 3D, too, which I didn’t expect to. Jurassic Park still packs a punch and the 3D version isn’t as good as if it had been filmed in that format natively, but for a 20 year old film, what we get is pretty darn good.