Ultra HD Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Jurassic World: Rebirth takes place five years after the events seen in 2022's Jurassic World: Dominion. The story follows high stakes security operative Zora Bennett, who is hired by a representative of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies to lead a team to the most dangerous place on Earth, an island research facility for the original Jurassic Park, which was abandoned after a horrific accident 17 years earlier.

Their mission: collect DNA from three colossal creatures to unlock a drug that can potentially provide life-saving benefits to mankind. As the top-secret expedition begins to unravel in the face of deadly encounters with the island's prehistoric inhabitants, they soon make a sinister, shocking discovery, that's been hidden from the world for decades.

After the film's box office success, I must admit to looking forward to checking it out at home. Unfortunately, it is a bit of a mixed bag. The plot is almost completely derivative, borrowing heavily from other films in the series. The setup of the primary storyline is too brief, the characters aren't well drawn, and the narrative leaves potentially interesting subplots to flounder. The idea of including a family in the adventure feels wedged in, especially given how they are integrated. The attempts at using that aspect to derive meaningful drama fails miserably.

The new mutated dinosaur (D-REX), the premise behind its creation, as well as the other new species on the island, lack originality. I didn't mind the suspense, although when it came to perilous situations, it was simple to predict who would survive, and who would get eaten. The villain is a cardboard cutout of past Jurassic Park bad guys, and the ending is painfully trite.

With all of that said, my wife and I found Jurassic World: Rebirth mildly entertaining. The production elements, and action, are fair, and in keeping with what we've seen in past JP films. At the end of the day, it's sci-fi action/adventure, involving dinosaurs, I can find a way to enjoy it.

Jurassic World: Rebirth was shot on film, and finished on a 4K Digital Intermediate. This sci-fi action/adventure presentation benefits from Ultra HD's higher resolution, and emboldened contrast. I found that the Earth toned colors seen in the film were tonally rich, and vibrant. The exterior shots of New York City, and the sun-splashed sequences on the island, were rendered beautifully.

Fine detail can be seen in wide-angle, and close-up perspectives, imparting an appreciable boost to perceived depth/dimension. The extensive use of CGI causes some innate softening, which isn't compromising, but I wouldn't describe the overall nature of the video to be consistently razor sharp.

The application of HDR drives the story's use of visual cues that offset the varying stages of light that illuminate dark environs, such as those that take place in the bird's nest, or during the encounters with the flying raptor species, and D-Rex, during the finale. White and black levels are excellent, which allows sequences containing bright highlights to reveal ample gradations, and inky blacks, that give the images onscreen visual pop.

The Dolby Atmos soundtrack has good dynamic range, detail rich clarity, and makes ample use of the entire surround platform to drive the film's elements. I was pleased with the blend of sounds emanating from the height and bed channels, which elevated proportional correlation, while opening up the soundstage.

The detection of subtle background ambience within the room's acoustic environment was noteworthy. The track's overall balance is quite good, providing an enriching level of immersion which is punctuated by palpable bass. Dialog is cleanly rendered, and distinct, even during effects heavy moments. This mix capably handles the various elements contained in this soundtrack, which augmented my enjoyment of this film.

Bonus features are comprised of six featurettes that go behind-the-scenes with the cast to explore the sets, visual effects, and shooting locations, used in the film. There are additional production featurettes that look at the animatronics, and sound design, that brought the story to life. Two filmmaker audio commentaries, deleted/alternate scenes, and a gag reel, complete the package. A Blu-ray disc and Digital Code are included.

Jurassic World: Rebirth is the seventh film in the Jurassic Park film franchise. It favors more of a style over substance essence that leaves it feeling like a poor cousin to the better films in the series. Be that as it may, it had enough Dino stomping/munching to keep me mildly entertained for two hours. This was aided by a high quality 4K/Dolby Atmos presentation on Ultra HD Blu-ray.

Ralph Potts