While we all wait for the next official installment of the Jurassic franchise, fans are hard at work, bringing their own stories to life. With dinosaurs roaming rampant across the globe by the end of ‘Jurassic World: Dominion,’ there are endless possibilities and stories to tell of chance encounters with these wonderful, yet dangerous, animals. One such fan, Muzzammil Shaik, released his newest fan-film this morning.
‘AMBUSH’ follows an individual listening to a podcast that reports on incidents and news revolving around the prehistoric creatures now cohabiting on our planet. A few surprises lie in store for viewers as a few characters and creatures from Jurassic stories past make appearances. And be sure to stay during the credits!
“They have set up a Jurassic “World” of opportunities,” Muzzammil said when asked what prompted the short. With projects like ‘AMBUSH,’ he hopes to encourage fans of all kinds to tell their own stories. “I plan to write down whatever comes to me. This one was big for me because it’s an idea I had since ‘Battle at Big Rock.’ Also, anyone who’s seen the ‘Jurassic World’ Resort TV segments, I do plan to make more in the future especially to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 2015 film coming up. Ultimately, I encourage [other] fans to continue to share stories in any format you see fit. It’s inspiring and fun to see what you all come up with!”
Jurassic World 4 is stampeding its way into theaters next year on July 2, 2025! Gareth Edwards is directing, David Koepp is writing, Steven Spielberg and Frank Marshall are executive producing, Scarlett Johansson is in talks to star, but there are still some unknowns…
Who’s going to shoot this film? (Greig Fraser?)
Who will create the visual effects?
Who’s going to fill the rest of the cast?
Who’s going to be creating sound?
Who… will compose the music?
Music – both orchestral and otherwise – is an integral bone in the Jurassic skeleton, and an irreplaceable part of the art and filmmaking that go into creating all of the films we love. When it comes to the narrative mediums of film and television, fans of Jurassic have experienced scores from the greatest film composer of all time, John Williams, the amazing Double D Don Davis, the inimitable Michael Giacchino, and incredibly gifted newcomers like Amie Doherty and Leo Birenberg. Whoever is brought on board by Gareth Edwards and producers to create the musical world for the next Jurassic film will be joining some pretty fantastic dinosaur music company. Will it be someone familiar, or someone new? My hope and my bet is on some new blood, but… we shall see!
Let’s talk about who we think should be the composer for the next Jurassic movie!
John Williams
The obvious choice! And while we know the GOAT Johnny Williams coming back to Jurassic isn’t too likely to happen, we had to take the time to mention it and dream for a second about John Williams Jurassic music. Jurassic Park? The Lost World? Near the top of his most iconic scores! Imagine if he came back, even just to write a new theme or piece of music like he did exceptionally well for SOLO? He has returned to other franchises to continue his musical legacy before, so it wouldn’t be unheard of. The circumstances, timing, and story would all have to line up… Regardless, we’ll always have Malcolm’s Journey as the underscore to one of the best Jurassic moments.
Amie Doherty
The next choice on our list is the composer of Jurassic World short film Battle at Big Rock, which was a hit with pretty much every Jurassic fan – it was a great display of the awe and terror that comes with dinosaurs being loose in the world, solidified by Amie’s use of Jurassic musical themes both classic and new. Musically she goes from the Jurassic World theme, to utter terror, to the Jurassic Park and Lost World themes, all within about 10 minutes. Her Jurassic experience combined with her work since then on projects like Spirit Untamed, Undone, and She-Hulk demonstrate her command of the orchestra and thematic skills, making her a perfect choice for a future Jurassic movie.
Sarah Schachner
Composer of the Predator franchise film Prey Sarah Schachner is next on our list. She also created the scores for The Lazarus Effect, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare I & II, Assassins Creed: Valhalla, Anthem, and multiple other video games and series. She has experience adapting previous thematic material into new projects with Prey while simultaneously creating something fresh and new. On top of her experience in the science-fiction realm, her video game music is top-notch, emotional, and action-packed – she could be a great musical fit for the next Jurassic.
Leo Birenberg & Zach Robinson
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous composer Leo Birenberg would be a solid talent to call upon for the next Jurassic film. His work over 5 seasons and 50 episodes of the show contain some excellent Jurassic music, fitting in perfectly with the island settings and dinosaurs throughout. He and his scoring partner Zach Robinson have worked recently on Cobra Kai, Twisted Metal, and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Their modern style with familiar orchestral elements could work well with a modern Jurassic story, not to mention, having another composer with a bit of Jurassic experience would be great!
Hans Zimmer
The next composer finds himself on our list in part because he has experience working with director Gareth Edwards on his latest feature The Creator. No doubt you’ll recognize the name of legendary musician and film composer Hans Zimmer! He’s created countless iconic scores for films like Pirates of the Caribbean, The Lion King, The Dark Knight, Inception, Interstellar, Dune, and Gladiator (to name only a few). His music from Backdraft was used in an incredible trailer for The Lost World: Jurassic Park, so technically he has touched Jurassic before! His connection to Gareth and iconic, engrossing music are big upsides, and while his more modern style doesn’t really fit Jurassic at all in my opinion, his more orchestral music in the past would give me hope if he were chosen to score the next Jurassic.
James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard: composer for amazing films like Disney’s Dinosaur, Atlantis, The Hunger Games, Signs, and the 2005 King Kong remake – has a strong musical argument to score a Jurassic film. Howard’s music exudes adventure and suspense in its brass fanfares, sweeping strings, and the overall power he provides the orchestra with his writing. He’s written breathtaking music for dinosaurs more than once already, but is also clearly able to create chilling and exciting music for science fiction, fantasy, and adventure stories. Listening to his score for Dinosaur recently… I would be very excited at the prospect of his take on a Jurassic score.
Kara Talve and Anže Rozman
Composers Kara Talve and Anže Rozman are no strangers to creating music for dinosaurs in wild global habitats. Their score for the AppleTV+ series Prehistoric Planet is massive, grand, and majestic, and they even created their own dinosaur instruments to add to the orchestra! Outside of dinosaurs their work, both separately and together, ranges from The Simpsons to Faraway Downs to BBC’s The Planets. Kara and Anže enjoy creating excitement and wonder with their music, and the vast emotional and stylistic range in their Prehistoric Planet score alone provides an intriguing foundation should they ever get the opportunity to score a Jurassic project.
Natalie Holt
Another composer who has followed in John Williams’ footsteps while also paving a path of her own is Natalie Holt. She took on the Star Wars universe with her score for the Obi-Wan Kenobi series, and has also scored exciting projects like The Princess, Marvel’s Loki series, Knightfall, and a project unfortunately shelved by idiot execs at Warner Brothers, Batgirl. Regardless, she did a fantastic job carrying on John Williams’ styles and themes in Obi-Wan Kenobi. That and her engaging, mysterious style on Loki would have me very intrigued to hear her take on some Jurassic music.
Joe Kraemer
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation, Jack Reacher, and The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot all boast music by composer Joe Kraemer. While those titles may not sound too related to Jurassic, their music certainly is. Kraemer’s grasp of traditional orchestra and use of brassy motifs and rhythmic strings could be great for a Jurassic adventure. His somewhat old-school approach to huge action set pieces and more intimate moments of espionage in Mission Impossible followed by the danger and uncertainty his music aids in Jack Reacher could pair very well with a science fiction dinosaur story likely filled with international intrigue and suspense.
Alexandre Desplat
Last on our list, but certainly not least, is Alexandre Desplat – a solid orchestral composer who is extremely creative thematically and in his choice of instruments. Not to mention, he’s worked with the man, the myth, the Gareth on a reptile movie before! His score catalog speaks for itself with intense and bombastic action music for Godzilla, sweeping, emotional music for the final two Harry Potter film installments, and quirky, tunes for many Wes Anderson films. He also created suspenseful, yet poignant music for The Shape of Water, and engaging thriller music for Argo. My gut says the next Jurassic score has a good chance of coming from the mind of Desplat – his experience with director Gareth Edwards is valuable, and his ability to work an orchestra to create captivating, thematic music no matter the genre could make a flawless pairing with Jurassic.
So, that’s our list of the top composers we think could score the next Jurassic – Jurassic World 4. However, there are a few honorable mentions who may also find their way to a new Jurassic project in the future:
Jongnic Bontemps (affectionately know as JB), composer of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
Henry Jackman, Marvel and Jumanji composer.
Ludwig Goransson, known for his sweeping hybrid scores for Black Panther, The Mandalorian, and Oppenheimer.
Christophe Beck, composer of Marvel projects and other great orchestral works.
John Powell of How to Train Your Dragon, Bourne, and Solo: A Star Wars Story fame.
And of course, a name that could still happen for Jurassic, Michael Giacchino, whose bombastic, sweeping, and epic music left a large dinosaur footprint on the Jurassic World trilogy. Giacchino has been the Jurassic composer for three films in a row – would it make sense for him to simply continue? He started out in the world of Jurassic by scoring The Lost World and Warpath: Jurassic Park video games before making his way onto bigger things. Similarly, Amie Doherty and Leo Birenberg have composed music for smaller Jurassic projects, and it could be a perfect time for them to move onto bigger projects as well. While I’m hoping for some new blood in the Jurassic musical world, Giacchino’s experience with Jurassic and Gareth Edwards keeps him in the possible conversation going forward.
But, we’ll have to see which composer nature (or the producers and studio) chooses to create the music for the next Jurassic story.
Who do you think should be the composer for Jurassic World 4? Who did we miss on our list? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Since the announcement of a new Jurassic film in the works, fans have been wondering who will be tied to the project. Will we see the return of some familiar faces, or will we get all new characters to enter the fray? One such character many fans are wondering if will return is Claire Dearing. Since Claire’s growth and evolution have been a huge driving force behind a lot of the Jurassic World series, will we be seeing more of her?
The Bryce Dallas Howard Network tweeted a clip from a recent interview EXTRA did with the actress herself, along with her co-star Bryan Cranston, promoting their new film Argylle. In it, Howard was asked if she was coming back to the franchise for the 7th installment. While she states that she would like to return, her ultimate hope was that “{…] they continue with the story and the conceit that Michael Crichton has created, and invite new cast members and storytellers to be a part of it.”
Later in the interview Cranston chimes in, stating that he would “love to be a part of Jurassic World,” and that he loves the films. Bryan Cranston is a renowned actor, known for roles in films and shows such as Breaking Bad, Malcolm in the Middle, Godzilla (2014), Isle of Dogs, and many many more. He’s the kind of actor who would be an amazing addition to the franchise, adding to the already incredible list of talented performers who have been a part of this saga.
You can watch the entire interview below:
While the original announcement of a new film stated that it would be the start of a “new Era” for the franchise, it is unknown at this point if any characters (human or dinosaurs) from the first six films will be returning for the new movie. We also have had no further word on who else will be working behind the camera as well.
In the last several years Bryce Dallas Howard has found herself in the director’s chair for several projects, including the popular Star Wars series The Mandalorian, and TheBook of Boba Fett on Disney+. Proving to have great a passion for her projects, as well as a wonderful eye and directorial skill, perhaps the person best to take on the reigns of Jurassic 7’s director’s chair is someone close with the material already?
With the film’s initial announcement stating that Universal is currently aiming for a 2025 release, we suspect that if they intend to keep to that timetable more announcements could be just around the corner.
What do you think? Who would you like to see star in the next Jurassic film? Would you like to see familiar faces or all-new characters? Who would you like to see direct the film?
‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’ may not have the same cultural impact as ‘Jurassic Park,’ but it features one of composer John Williams’ most intense and exciting music scores. Loaded with percussive action, memorable jungle rhythms, and alluring atmosphere, this score holds a strong identity for the entire franchise. Now, over 25 years after it premiered, this incredible music score gets a definitive release in a brand-new 2-CD set from La-La Land Records. But how definitive is it, and what sets it apart? To find out, let’s embark to this “lost world” together!
In 1997, the soundtrack was released on CD in the form of a 69-minute album via MCA records (also available on audio cassette). John Williams assembled this 1-CD release himself, combining some cues together to form certain tracks, and arranging it all in his own personal sequence. While this album featured a large chunk of the score it did leave off several cues that were heard in the film. Some of these were favorites of those who had seen the film, expecting to find them on the album but ending up disappointed.
Interesting to note is that the CD version of this album featured a pop-up foldout display and housed the CD within its cardboard assembly. It was called, fittingly, a “3D Dinorama”. Collectors often criticized the packaging due to it falling apart easily, but worst of all, it would scratch the CD if not removed carefully. The cassette version had a 2D paper foldout-only version of the same scene as well. A Taiwan CD release also included a digital “Tamagotchi-styled” dinosaur pet. While the 1997 CD Album is now out of print, it can at least be bought for relatively cheap prices in the secondary market and is also easily available for digital purchase.
This same music program was replicated in the year 2000 for a CD re-release of the score. It was included in a neat “Collector’s Edition” set with the films and soundtracks for ‘Jurassic Park’ & ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park.’ It featured unique cover art that mimicked the DVD release at the time. Unlike the 1997 version, there is no 3D Dinorama and it is instead housed in a typical jewel case. For a long time, many collectors would seek this version of the album for this reason alone.
Finally, in 2016, La-La Land Records released a 2-CD expanded and remastered edition for the first time, as part of a 4-CD collection that had included John Williams’ score to ‘Jurassic Park’ (also expanded and remastered). Apart from the remastering, La-La Land Records also went back to the original elements and provided every cue of the score for the very first time. This was a godsend for fans after yearning for the missing cues for so long. This included “On The Glass”, when Sarah Harding is terrifyingly on the glass portion of the Mobile Lab as it hangs over a cliff; “Ripples”, when the T-Rex parents make their attack on the hunter’s camp; and the intense conclusion in the abandoned village as the raptors’ chase after our heroes in “High Bar and Ceiling Tiles”.
While many units of the 2016 set were produced, it did eventually go out of print. This led to second-hand sellers taking over the reins of offering this CD release to people online, often selling for well over $100. The perfect sound quality and the complete score presentation it contained was otherwise hard to find for fans of the score that wanted more than the 1997 or 2000 albums had to offer.
Now seven years later, La-La Land Recordsreturns with abrand-new 2023 re-release. Only this time, it is focusing on just ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park,’with some additional improvements to truly make this be the definitive release of this thrilling score:
La-La Land Records, Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Geffen Records present THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK, a limited 2-CD re-issue presentation of maestro John Williams’ (JAWS, E.T., JURASSIC PARK) original motion picture score to the 1997 blockbuster THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK, the first sequel in the legendary JURASSIC PARK franchise, starring Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore and Pete Postlethwaite and directed by Steven Spielberg. Maestro Williams’ sensational and powerful orchestral score thrills and awes, ranking as one of the composer’s most celebrated and unique works. Produced, edited and mastered by Mike Matessino, the 96k/24 bit master files utilized in our previous 2016 collection have been newly output and remastered, including minor sonic improvements throughout. Newly added to this 2-CD expanded reissue are never before released takes of “On The Glass,” “Rescuing Sarah” and “The Raptors Appear,” all featuring alternate instrumentation, plus the unique film version of “Ripples.” The 28-page CD booklet features liner notes by Matessino (adapted from our 2016 collection) and the new art design is by Jim Titus. This is a limited edition of 5000 Units.
This release’s additional new bonus tracks make or an appealing reason for super-fans of the score to seek it out! The first new track is a partial alternate (the second half) of “On The Glass.” It covers the section where Eddie is arriving and trying to figure out how to save the characters hanging over the cliff. It’s mostly just an alternate performance with some other unique touches. The alternate for “Rescuing Sarah,” the sequence where Eddie uses his car to pull the trailer as Sarah and the others attempt to climb the rope, is not only a quite different performance but also feels more subdued and eerie. The percussion feels less active, and features what the sheet music calls “a low animal moan” and “synth breaths” in prominent ways that add to this unique version.
The film version of “Ripples” is an interesting one. The middle of this cue is where the alterations happen, but not from an alternate performance. It was created editorially, using isolated elements of the orchestra and synths to create a unique version that removes most of the active percussion and instead builds on a rhythmic pulse-pounding escalation with strings into the T-Rex’s attack at the campsite. While John Williams apparently did not create this alternate version, it was memorable in the film for many people and was included this time since there is no viable way to re-create it without having access to isolated elements of the score. Lastly, the alternate for “The Raptors Appear” is a completely different performance and features unique mixing, the removal of certain elements (like the swelling gong when the first raptor attacks), but the additions of others (different wild percussion, slashing strings, and a different “crying sound”).
Overall, these new additions give fans of the score incredible new insight into the process of its creation! It is also noteworthy that some of these alternate versions have been featured at Universal Studios Islands Of Adventure theme park in Orlando! The overall sound quality of the entire release also sounds slightly better (although not as punched-up in the mastering, which may be a positive or a negative depending on how loud one likes the quieter moments of the score), and features some smoother transitional edits such as “To The Island” and the mid-section of “Rescuing Sarah.”
The booklet included in this release is very much the same as the one from the 2016 release, but only focuses on ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’ this time. The cover is of course different (with a striking cityscape against the Rex skeleton!), making it unique enough to stand on its own. There are some additional credits this time as well, including a special thanks to Jurassic Outpost friend Bernard A. Kyer!
By far the most important aspect of this release isn’t what is new, but simply the fact that it is available again. Generations of old and new film score fans, and even those who would like to study such a masterful score as this, should have a comprehensive presentation that is accessible. As good as the previous releases were for their time, having every single cue available, and now different variations of them, is integral for preserving this important milestone of music.
If you have never purchased the music score to ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’ before, this release is a massive no-brainer. It is a fantastic release, finally back in print and with some great new inclusions. If you only have the 1997 Album (on CD or digital), the additional music alone makes it worth the price. For those that have the 2016 CD set paired with ‘Jurassic Park’… I can understand skipping this, despite the improvements and some new alternate tracks. Those extra perks may not be enough to fully justify shelling out more money for it again, but that will just depend on who you are.
Since this is one of my favorite music scores of all time, from my favorite film franchise… the choice was pretty easy. This new edition is a must-have. And who knows, perhaps ‘Jurassic Park 3’ will similarly be revisited next? We can only hope!
17. Tranquilizer Dart and End Credits (Film Version) 4:53
Disc 2 Total Time: 66:00
Total Additional Music Time: 25:33
Total Two-Disc Time: 2:15:00
*previously unreleased
**contains previously unreleased material
Still available from La-La Land Records is their 2-CD remastered/expanded reissue of ‘Jurassic Park’! Don’t miss your chance to own the ultimate version of that score as well, and if you haven’t already: check out my review on that soundtrack & its release history!
NOTE: At the time of posting this article, the soundtrack is temporarily out of stock directly from La-La Land Records. They are awaiting for the next pressing of discs to arrive. If temporarily unavailable there, it can also be purchased from other reliable soundtrack CD venues, such as Screen Archives and The MovieMusic Store.
Are you going to get this new release of music from ‘The Lost World’? Would you like La-La Land Records to tackle ‘Jurassic Park 3’ next? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and as always stay tuned to Jurassic Outpost for the latest!
When Universal’s Islands of Adventure opened to the public in 1999, guests experienced fully immersive lands with unique characters, stories, and rides. Guests were literally thrown into unique and captivating adventures with many of their favorite characters and stories. An incredibly important part of the journey that the guests experience is the unique music for each land that could only be heard in the parks, or if you were lucky to snag a physical copy of the soundtracks (regular or the 2000 special edition.)
Until now, that is!
After teasing the release for several days, Universal officially released their Islands of Adventure soundtrack online for everyone to enjoy! Their playlist includes twenty songs, all of which serenade guests as they make their way through the various islands and attractions at the theme park. This includes specialty music written and composed for the Jurassic Park portion of the park!
The tracklist is as follows:
1. “The Call to Adventure / Main Theme” 2. “Confisco’s Grill” 3. “Ocean Trader Market” 4. “Welcome to Seuss Landing” 5. “The Cat in the Hat” 6. “Circus McGurkus Cafe Stoo-Pendous” 7. “The Lost City” 8. “Sinbad Bazaar” 9. “Merlin Woods Plaza” 10. “Jurassic Park Calypso” 11. “Camp Jurassic” 12. “Thunder Falls Terrace” 13. “Toon Walk” 14. “The Wacky World of Jay Ward” 15. “Popeye’s Sweethaven” 16. “The Funny Business” 2:00 17. “Marvel Super Hero Island Main Street” 2:47 18. “Doctor Doom” 2:31 19. “Banner’s Science Park” 2:07 20. “The Adventure Lives On” 3:39
While the digital album/playlist includes [most] of the original music that was made specifically for Islands of Adventure, it does not include licensed ambient music that is also present in the park. So, the music surrounding rides and lands like Reign of Kong, or the Wizarding World are absent, as well as all of the extended Jurassic Park and The Lost World tracks heard in and around the Jurassic area.
There is also no word, as of yet, if Universal plans on releasing the album on other digital outlets like iTunes or Spotify, or if they plan on having a physical copy re-release. We surely hope for all of the above! Especially with the very successful collectible Halloween Horror Nights vinyls that have been released over the last few years, a physical copy seems like a no-brainer!
Would you get a copy of the Islands of Adventure soundtrack if Universal released physical copies? Are you hoping that it comes to Spotify or iTunes? Let us know in the comments below!
Following its massive and gorgeous first outing last May, Prehistoric Planet is back for an expansive second season on AppleTV+! Creatures immense and small return to exhibit why they ruled the earth for so long, expertly narrated across sprawling landscapes and oceans by Sir David Attenborough. We were fortunate to be able to view the new season early – read our thoughts below.
*Mild species spoilers follow*
Prehistoric Planet 2 — A Five Night Event Beginning May 22nd on AppleTV+
Dinosaurs, Mosasaurs, Pterosaurs, Crocodyliforms, Ornithurans, Ammonites, and even Mammals rule the earth! Season 2 is Prehistoric Planet’s most species-diverse yet, and we already can’t help but hope there is more of this series to come. The series continues its ability to portray ancient creatures and environments on earth in stunningly realistic and accurate fashion. The lives and behaviors of over 30 species in 5 new environments are featured in these five new episodes, and it is a captivating experience.
Prehistoric Planet 2 — A Five Night Event Beginning May 22nd on AppleTV+
Following the first season’s Coasts, Deserts, Fresh Water, Ice Worlds, and Forests locations, season two adds Islands, Badlands, Swamps, Oceans, and North America to its growing catalog. This allows Prehistoric Planet to expand beyond the dinosaurs it is perhaps known for and into profiles of unique creatures like Simosuchus, Madtsoia, Styginetta, and Adalatherium. But that doesn’t mean that incredible species like Tyrannosaurus rex, Mosasaurus hoffmannii, and Velociraptor don’t make their presence known, among other fierce carnivores and predators.
Season 2’s most thrilling sequences are found in the lives of these carnivores: A mosasaur hunts an elasmosaur with rapid and precise skill, a Nanuqsaur pursues a herd of Ornithomimus to feed its young family, and a massive Hatzegopteryx demonstrates its ability to be an apex predator. Relatively smaller creatures like Zalmoxes and Prenocephale make an impact as well, though they are joined by giants like Isisaurus to demonstrate the wild range of creatures in this ancient period. The creatures on display throughout the season are fascinating, and perhaps some of the most extraordinary who have ever lived.
This season also boasts a new addendum on each episode: Prehistoric Planet Uncovered, an in-depth special showcasing paleontologists and experts answering specific questions about featured species. This provides more specific scientific information and partners nicely with the slightly more dramatic elements of the episodes themselves.
Season 2 is an excellent continuation of the beautiful story of ancient earth presented in season 1. Supported by a brilliant and majestic musical score (composed by Anže Rozman, Kara Talve, Hans Zimmer, and Andrew James Christie), Sir David Attenborough narrates the personal intricacies of the survival of each species with enthralling, entertaining, and heartwarming cadence. This paired with breathtaking visuals and scientific accuracy, especially considering the species and biome diversity in season 2, further cements it as one of the greatest paleontological documentary series ever produced.
Are you excited for season 2 of Prehistoric Planet? Let us know in the comments and don’t miss the five-night event on AppleTV+ beginning May 22nd!
Check out new promotional stills below and the trailer for Season 2 here.
The 30th anniversary celebration of ‘Jurassic Park’ is well underway with several products coming down the assembly line, catering to your desires! The Noble Collection’s new ‘Toyllectible Treasures Dioramas’ line is sure to delight fans of both ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Jurassic World’ with its premiere releases! Their ‘dino-ramas’ feature collectible figures with scenic backdrops depicting great moments from the series!
For ‘Jurassic Park’, “Life Finds A Way” with a hatching baby Velociraptor egg! As seen in the Visitor Center’s hatchery, this adorable but deadly addition to the park is sure to delight and concern all paleontologists! Dr. Wu can try to pacify the guests all he wants, but Malcolm will surely bring everyone back to the harsh, cold reality. This detailed model of the egg, with an appropriately gooey-looking baby raptor in tow, wonderfully recreates the moment when we’re present for the birth of every creature on this island! The scenic background of other eggs in the incubator is a nice touch, although the stand for some reason does not have any holes or mechanism to lock the figure in place. Some may prefer this approach, since it means you can position the egg any way you’d like on the titled-base. Just be careful not to forget it isn’t locked in place when redecorating. This set measures approximately 6″ high by 5.5″ wide.
‘Jurassic World’ fans are also treated with our favorite Velociraptor Blue in “Raptor Recon” mode! This figure represents the scene of Blue running in the jungle as it pursues the Indominus Rex with the rest of her pack! She even sports her camera-feed headgear (which is unfortunately not removeable). The figure is nicely detailed and painted, and even includes Owen’s motorcycle tire tracks in the “dirt”. A nice touch! The scenic background features a nice view of Isla Nublar’s jungle. Unlike the baby raptor, Blue does lock into place on the base, but in only one direction. Overall it’s a really nice figure of Blue for this scene, and measures approximately 4.75″ high by 6.75″ wide.
For those who like to keep their boxes, the ones for both of these figures are pretty impressive! The baby raptor’s box features the classic “sunset in the jungle” motif and proudly displays the ‘Jurassic Park 30th Anniversary’ logo. Blue’s box features a golden-tinted jungle setting and, let’s be honest, one of the MANY variations of the ‘Jurassic World’ logo in existence at this point.
While both figures are wonderful in their own right, it is surprising that the debut figures for this line are BOTH raptors. While these dinosaurs are obviously very popular to the franchise, one may have at least expected a Rex scene from any of the films. If they do continue this line for ‘Jurassic’, let’s hope they feature moments from the other films. More importantly: can we finally get scenic depictions of classic landmarks? Who wouldn’t want something like this proudly displaying the Visitor Center from ‘Jurassic Park’ or the Innovation Center from ‘Jurassic World’? These films had a lot more artistic integrity beyond just the dinosaurs themselves, and landmarks like those are equally iconic. I feel like this type of line is PERFECT for taking advantage of this kind of opportunity to present fans with something that can’t be found anywhere else. Because let’s face it: Mattel has already covered raptors and many other dinosaurs to death. We don’t need another line of collectibles going down the same path.
Despite my views, these ‘Toyllectible Treasures Dioramas’ are still a wonderful addition to any ‘Jurassic’ collection, especially if you are looking for something different than a standard toy figure. They are each currently priced at $29.95, with both the baby raptor and Blue available on Amazon!
Do you like this new line of ‘Jurassic’ collectibles? Would you be interested if they tackled landmarks more instead of just dinosaurs? Share your thoughts below, and as always stay tuned to Jurassic Outpost for the latest!
NONE of these prestigious film awards were possible for ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’, thanks to zero nominations. While fans of the film weren’t expecting any “Best Picture” nods from any of these venues, many will perhaps be surprised it didn’t even get nominated for the technical categories from the Academy Awards, such as “Visual Effects”. To be fair, it was a good year for visual effects ranging from the impressive aerial flights in ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ to the mind-blowing world of ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’. It’s just such a shame ‘Dominion’ won’t be recognized in any more awards venues from last year’s films, and—
—what’s that? Sorry, I am getting new information. Everything is fine. ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ is indeed nominated, but not for a prestigious award. No, instead the latest entry from our beloved franchise is being put on a rocky pedestal by none other than The Razzies. For those not in the know, The Razzies is a decades-old awards venue that showcases what they believe to be the worst films of the year.
Worst Screenplay: Screenplay by Emily Carmichael & Colin Trevorrow, Story by Colin Trevorrow & Derek Connolly
However, what’s even more damning is that The Razzies couldn’t even be bothered to spell “Trevorrow” correctly (which I have corrected for this article) and called the film ‘Jurassic Park: Dominion’ in one of the categories. Oops! Looks like The Razzies will be getting nominated for “Worst Website Editorial” from the “Me Awards”.
What are the chances ‘Dominion’ has at winning any of these three nominations? Here are the other contenders in these categories that you can judge for yourself:
This isn’t the first time a ‘Jurassic’ film has received Razzie nominations. ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’ received three, ‘Jurassic Park 3’ received one, and ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ also received one. Thankfully, none of them ever won. Hopefully ‘Dominion’ won’t as well (I personally believe there are far more deserving films to win, such as ‘Disney’s Pinocchio’ and ‘Morbius’).
Thankfully, ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ has already been recognized with nominations from better awards venues. These include the Annie Awards, CinEuphoria Awards, Motion Picture Sound Editors, Visual Effects Society Awards, People’s Choice Awards, and The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. While it didn’t win any of these nominations, it is still clear that the film isn’t some “dumpster fire” just because it is listed on the Razzies. The visual effects and production design were exceptionally done and stand as some of the best the franchise has ever seen.
‘Dominion’ is still a winner, even without any awards. It is one of the top 3 grossing films of 2022 that made over a billion dollars worldwide, outgrossed only by ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and ‘Avatar: The Way Of Water’. That’s right: none of the Marvel films managed to reach that milestone. So even if it does win a Razzie, ‘Dominion’ still won the only prize that actually matters in the filmmaking business: it made a lot of money. This was only achievable by having a film that people wanted to see, whether they ended up liking it or not. It is the “Filmgoer Award”, nominated by fans and general audiences with their money as the ballots. Fans of the film should be happy knowing they still managed to strike a win for it after all.
In related awards news regarding talent from the franchise, Steven Spielberg’s latest film ‘The Fabelmans‘ received several Academy Award Nominations, including “Best Picture”, “Best Director” by Steven Spielberg, “Best Production Design” by Rick Carter, and “Best Music Score” by John Williams. So if you still want to root for people related to the ‘Jurassic’ franchise this year, give this film the love it also deserves.
Do you think ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ deserved its Razzie nominations? Do you also think it got snubbed by the Academy Awards? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and as always, stick around with Jurassic Outpost for the latest.
Last year, ‘Jurassic Park’ fans were gifted with the “Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Visual History” book from Insight Editions. While it may not have entirely lived up to what die-hard fans were hoping for, it was overall a great summation of the behind-the-scenes stories for the original ‘Jurassic Park’ trilogy. The entire book was also illustrated with loads of pre-production artwork & rare photographs from all three films, making it a beautiful (but deadly?) addition to any fan’s collection. They also produced a very cool cookbook & children’s book that are also worth checking out.
Celebrate one of the most thrilling franchises of all time with this in-depth look at the making of the Jurassic World trilogy. Following the release of director Colin Trevorrow’s smash hit Jurassic World in 2015, the dinosaurs of Isla Nublar once again dominate the public imagination. Jurassic World: The Ultimate Visual History is the definitive account of the franchise – and a companion book to Jurassic Park: The Ultimate Visual History (released in 2021) – delivering a comprehensive look at the making of the first hit film as well as its thrilling sequels Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022). Through rare and never-before-seen imagery and exclusive interviews with key creatives, the deluxe volume explores the entire creative process, from the films’ stunning dinosaur designs to the epic location shoots and the creation of the films’ incredible visual effects.
The book also includes sections on the DreamWorks Animation animated series ‘Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous’, various games, toys, theme park attractions, and even the short film ‘Battle At Big Rock’. This is the first time any of the ‘Jurassic World’ films have received a behind-the-scenes book, which already makes it vital for this reason alone. But is it truly a “definitive account of the franchise” for this trilogy of films, or is it met with some the same (perhaps nitpicky) issues found in the previous book? Let’s have a look!
WHAT’S GOOD?
VISUAL & WRITING STYLE
Just like in the previous ‘Jurassic Park’ version, this book is visually pleasing. It’s filled with as much colorful artwork and photographs as possible. The text is neatly placed within it all, and nothing ever feels too crammed or out of place. The previous book had more going on with the borders around each page, whereas this ‘Jurassic World’ version has a more barren approach. It simply features gray tabs on the sides with gray/amber-tinged headlines for each new section. This simpler approach feels appropriate with the sleeker look of the films themselves, particularly the first ‘Jurassic World’ and its park’s design.
The writing itself is clear and precise, which is vital in stitching together different information from different sources. James Mottram, who also penned the previous book, weaves the information into a distinct fabric to tell its story.
EXCLUSIVE INTROS/OUTROS
This book includes a foreword by Bryce Dallas Howard (“Claire Dearing” in the trilogy), introduction by Colin Trevorrow (director of ‘Jurassic World’ & ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’, writer of the trilogy), preface by J.A. Bayona (director of ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’), & an afterword by Frank Marshall (producer of the trilogy). Mysteriously absent from this list is Chris Pratt, but I suppose he is too busy voicing Mario these days. These exclusive passages are great bookends for the entire presentation, with each person adding their own personal tribute. They even reveal fun information, like J.A. Bayona as he details Michael Giacchino‘s fantastic music score for ‘Fallen Kingdom’:
One of my most cherished memories from making Fallen Kingdom was working with composer Michael Giacchino. We spent hours talking about film music and listening to soundtracks. There was one specific piece of music we paid attention to: Bernard Herrmann’s work for Mysterious Island (Cy Endfield, 1962). Our common goal while venturing into the musical tapestry of our movie was expressing our love for this kind of film. When I listen to Michael’s music for Fallen Kingdom, I sense our mutual desire to travel back in time and bring back the same unparalleled fascination and heartwarming happiness that those movies gave us.
FANTASTIC COLLECTION OF IMAGES
While many of the book’s images have been revealed online over the years by various concept artists who worked on the films, it is still great to have them all cobbled together in one book as the trilogy’s history is told. Even better, there are some art and photographs that have never been seen before! Here is just a tease of what to expect!
NEW & OBSCURE INFORMATION
Making a book like this requires many sources for quotes, stories, and other information. Website articles, television interviews, Blu-Ray bonus features; everything was sifted through to collect the data. While some, maybe even a lot, of the details could be considered “old news” to people deeply invested in this trilogy’s history, it is all well-arranged while even including new details sprinkled throughout. [NOTE: I will be honest and admit I am not as familiar with the history of the ‘Jurassic World’ trilogy as I am with the ‘Jurassic Park’ trilogy, so forgive me if any of this is not truly “new”.]
For ‘Jurassic World’, some of these fun new details include Derek Connolly never having seen a ‘Jurassic Park’ movie before when he was tasked with co-writing the script with Colin Trevorrow; production designer Ed Verreaux had sent his art department team to the Universal Studios theme park in Hollywood to photograph everything (including signage) to see what they wanted their fictional park to resemble; and concept artist David Lowery came up with an unused idea for a “Pteranodon Terrace” where guests traveled in glass gondolas hanging from a huge cable that stretched across a vast expanse of jungle (and included “food Frisbees” that would be shot out of the gondolas and snapped up midair by the flying reptiles.). However, one of the most exciting new details for me was a little more about the script written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver right before Trevorrow & Connolly were brought in to pen their draft.
Spielberg also wanted to revisit the idea of a hero character capable of training and commanding dinosaurs. These ideas manifested in the character Vance who, in the Jaffa/Silver draft’s opening scene, is seen jumping out of a helicopter with a pack of trained raptors and landing in a compound belonging to a Colombian drug dealer. Although [John] Sayles used the bipedal Deinonychus in his draft, Spielberg felt that the physically similar Velociraptors, first seen in Jurassic Park, would be a better fit for the role. The story also focused on a Chinese paleontologist who visits the now-open Jurassic Park with her sons. The scientist has a secret agenda, believing that the park’s owners have stolen DNA from bones she unearthed of a previously undiscovered dinosaur—the Malusaurus. The corporate side of the park is run by Whitney, a female manager who views the dinosaurs as commodities and nothing more. Inevitably, the Malusaurus created using the stolen DNA escapes from its enclosure, and Vance must use his raptors to hunt it down.
‘Fallen Kingdom’ includes interesting tidbits, such as Benjamin Lockwood originally having very little connection to John Hammond and the past of ‘Jurassic Park’; in its original draft they went from Isla Nublar to England where a small village gets destroyed by dinosaurs (until Steven Spielberg told them there was no credible way to make that journey happen); and the film’s fantastic opening sequence was originally just over a single page in the script, with Bayona fleshing it out further with an extended climax on the helicopter ladder while also adding Jurassic staples (like the pouring rain and the yellow raincoat worn by the tech that resembles Nedry’s apparel from Jurassic Park). The film’s title itself (along with the next film’s) proves to also have its own unique history:
“I wanted to call [the first film] Jurassic World. And the second one was Jurassic Earth, and then the third Jurassic Kingdom. The studio was like, ‘You can’t keep changing the title of the movie. You already did it once.’” Taking Universal’s feedback into consideration, Trevorrow decided to combine the overall franchise name with a subtitle, taking the word kingdom from his proposed third film and adding it to fallen, suggesting the decline of the dinosaurs’ domain.
Even the small section on the short film ‘Battle At Big Rock’ gets a nice detail on its inspiration: a YouTube video titled “Battle at Kruger“, in which tourists witness a water buffalo being attacked by lions and an alligator.
The section on ‘Dominion’ reveals that a scene featuring Daniella Pineda (Zia Rodriguez) had to be recast with another actor, Varada Sethu, when COVID restrictions kept her from being able to leave another production she was on; production designer Kevin Jenkins ensured that the equipment seen in BioSyn’s abandoned amber mines displayed 1990s-style Biosyn logos, a detail reminiscent of the old rivalry between the company and InGen (although I suppose footage containing it must have been cut, because I can’t seem to spot it in either version of the film); and animatronic creature effects artist John Nolan took inspiration from Frontier Developments’ 2018 video game ‘Jurassic World: Evolution’to get a better sense of the Dilophosaurus’s locomotion for the film. In fact, Nolan’s team had created a device that would allow the animatronic version of the dinosaur to travel on a dolly track with eleven puppeteers following behind it using levers, rods, and cable controls to create the dinosaur’s walk. However, Trevorrow was not happy with the result. But perhaps one of the biggest pieces of interesting information involved our favorite clone girl, Maisie.
When it came to casting the role of Maisie’s mother, Charlotte Lockwood, Trevorrow considered using digital tools to graft Isabella Sermon’s face onto a body double and age her features appropriately. However, during a casting section for the body doubles, he made a remarkable find. “I had been given a set of faces whose bone structure was similar enough to Isabella Sermon’s,” says Trevorrow. Among those faces was Irish-born Elva Trill. As Trill began reciting lines with the director, he quickly came to realize that she would be perfect as Charlotte and abandoned the digital augmentation idea. “I’ve never seen an actor come in and just grab a role by being so good,” says Trevorrow.
The section near the end of the book that details ‘Camp Cretaceous’ scored some of its own interesting details, such as the showrunner’s original plan to feature Owen Grady and Claire Dearing; there was an early version of the story where Ben doesn’t survive past Season 1; and most interestingly how the originally intended final shot of the film trilogy was instead used as the final shot for this series:
Camp Cretaceous also brought Trevorrow full circle, back to his early meetings with Steven Spielberg when he pitched the arc of the Jurassic World franchise, which would ultimately lead to dinosaurs entering our everyday lives. Specifically, the image of a child looking out his window on a suburban street and seeing a traffic jam caused by a Brachiosaurus at an intersection. “We actually ended up making that the very last shot of the entire [Camp Cretaceous] series,” says Trevorrow. “After nine years, that idea found its way back into the story.”
THE INSERTS
As usual with Insight Edition’s Visual History books, there are numerous “inserts” on certain pages that feature unique items. While some are still applied with an adhesive per the previous book, many of the inserts this time are more technically “part of the book” and not meant to be removed entirely. Some are just meant to be unfolded beyond the confines of the book’s dimensions, while a few are even in the form of actual booklets to flip through. The only real negative is that it is focused more on the first film than the rest. Here is a complete list of what you will find:
From ‘Jurassic World’: Poster art advertises Jurassic World’s Gyrosphere ride; Storyboards by David Lowery from an early iteration of Jurassic World’s evolving storyline; A map of Isla Nublar showing the island’s topography and the location of Jurassic World; Dr. Wu’s Jurassic World security pass; Concept art by Glen McIntosh for Jurassic World’s petting zoo; The sketches that Steven Spielberg drew for Colin Trevorrow to illustrate his feedback on the Indominus rex breakout sequence; A tourist map of Jurassic World highlights the theme park’s attractions; & Storyboards by Glen McIntosh for the scene in which the raptors pursue a pig in the Raptor Research Arena.
From ‘Fallen Kingdom’: Raptor movement study by Glen McIntosh; A sticker sheet featuring production design art created for the Dinosaur Protection Group; & Production design art for the jacket of Dr. Ian Malcolm’s book, God Creates Dinosaurs (not actual size).
From ‘Battle At Big Rock’: Concept Art Booklet.
From ‘Dominion’: Storyboards by Glen McIntosh for Jurassic World Dominion’s prologue scene & Malta Concept Art Booklet.
From ‘Camp Cretaceous’: Concept Art Booklet.
WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER?
A fan wouldn’t be a fan without needing to nitpick, right? (Don’t answer that.) Despite being mostly pleased with this book, there are still a few areas that could have been improved upon (perhaps in a revised edition, which Insight Editions have done before).
WHAT ABOUT ‘JURASSIC PARK 4’?
The opening of the book does briefly go into ‘Jurassic Park 4’ (the obvious working title before it eventually was named ‘Jurassic World’), mostly delving into some details on the John Sayles script and then eventually a little more about Jaffa/Silver’s script before Trevorrow/Connolly did their own version. But what about the rest? There were numerous versions of the film, by other writers, that were tackled in the 14 years between ‘Jurassic Park 3’ and ‘Jurassic World’. Given that it was such a long range of time where the studio kept throwing ideas around to try to make things happen, most of it shrouded in secrecy, this had been one of my most anticipated sections. Instead, it was only a few pages, and generalized.
Also, while they mention the dinosaur/human hybrids, it’s a shame that none of the wild concept art (that has been online for many years) was included at all. Perhaps they couldn’t get the rights to feature them?
Speaking of art from this period: where was John Bell‘s art? Last year’s book featured loads of art by Bell for the original trilogy, plus a tease of two pieces of artwork he did for ‘Jurassic Park 4’. And yet, this book didn’t feature any of it. This is another case where the art has been online for years, on Bell’s very own site. And there is some fantastic stuff, including his concepts for gyrospheres and even a version of the park’s map that perhaps coincided with the Jaffa/Silver script. This book even mentions Bell in the “special thanks” section, making the exclusions even more mystifying.
OTHER OMISSIONS
Look, I get it: this book can’t be 1,000 pages long like all of us die-hard fans would like it to be. Putting the complex histories of three massive films into one book is a huge undertaking (just like it was in the previous book). Still, there were some things I wish had been mentioned or visually included in this book. Because when and where else would it be, apart from random online articles & videos that eventually get buried with the rest? Perhaps that’s why some of these details were possibly missed to begin with?
Seamus Blackley, the creator of the XBOX and the ‘Lost World’-related game ‘Trespasser‘, had pitched a video game that he titled ‘Jurassic World’ (before anyone else); which would later inspire several ideas for the new film trilogy. None of this important revelation is mentioned at all (although to be fair it wasn’t publicly known until very recently). Also for ‘Jurassic World’, there is no mention of the “Stegoceratops“: a second hybrid dinosaur that was originally planned to be in the film, and even had a toy made for it!
The previous book had spent a lot more time detailing most of the different scripts for the films. This book does this at times but to a lesser degree. While it was nice to learn a little more about the Jaffa/Silver script for example, it still just grazed the surface. And since this script can’t be found anywhere online currently, a more detailed summary would have been amazing. For example, was the concept art that was shown in one of the Blu-Ray bonus features (and not in this book) of the Indominus attacking a robotic T-Rex coming out of a waterfall (ala ‘Jurassic Park: The Ride’) something from this script?
MORE LOVE FOR THE SEQUELS
This is another reoccurring issue, but it just feels like more focus is given to the first film of the trilogy (despite me just complaining I wanted more from it!) with less invested in the sequels; ‘Fallen Kingdom’ and ‘Dominion’. More details about their different scripts, more inserts related to them (A pull-out Hammond painting from ‘Fallen Kingdom’ would have been awesome!), or even the mention of certain deleted scenes we know were filmed thanks to still images (that aren’t in this book): such as Iris’s death from the Indoraptor & a dead/decayed Stegosaur that Owen and his team come across as they search for Blue on Nublar.
According to more “hush-hush” behind-the-scenes stories, we also know that ‘Fallen Kingdom’ was going to originally involve Isla Sorna, a ‘Gene Ship’ for Wu’s experiments, and more of Ian Malcolm. He was going to try and sabotage the rescue mission on the Arcadia! ‘Dominion’ was originally going to be two films that would have been filmed at the same time. But again, none of these details are brought up.
In an ideal world, each film in the series would have gotten its own book. This would have allowed much more breathing room to fully explore all these things, and more. Perhaps that is just not economically feasible anymore, even for a big franchise? Especially when, let’s be honest, the sequels in each trilogy are not as popular or well-regarded as their first entries. While a slew of die-hard fans would have clamored for a ‘Fallen Kingdom’ making-of book, for example, is it really something that would sell well? Especially now? Sometimes these sorts of “package deals” are the only way to at least get what we are able to.
SO, SHOULD I GET IT?
I think‘Jurassic World’ fans shouldabsolutely get this book. My complaints, as you’ve read, only really dwell with what isn’t in it. While the omissions are disappointing, it isn’t so egregious that it takes away from what is included. There’s a wealth of information, concept art, photographs, and nice inserts (the “concept art booklets” being my favorite) that are all woven together wonderfully. In most ways it improves upon their ‘Jurassic Park’ book, and in retrospect I may have originally been a little too critical on it. But if being a little harsh helped make this book better, well, that’s why I still felt the need to point some things out this time, too.
What I didn’t expect to feel while reading and looking through this book was how much nostalgia it gave me. The first film in this trilogy is nearly a decade old, and it’s crazy how time flies. Books like Jurassic World: The Ultimate Visual History help preserve these films beyond the screen, along with all our memories that come with them.
The feelings we had in anticipation for these films, the news as details were revealed, the organized screenings every time they came out, and the events we attended where other people obsessed with this series finally felt like they belonged. Friendships made, perhaps even hearts broken, or miraculously the bond of marriage formed. We all have our stories. And when you go through these pages, I can almost guarantee that at least one image, maybe something obscure not literally in the film that you would never expect to elicit an emotion, reminds you of a time that once was. And you remember your place in that time, and perhaps realize just how different you are now; or the same.
This trilogy, and our time in it, is over. But like everything in nature, it will evolve. And so will you.
What are some of your favorite memories related to the ‘Jurassic World’ trilogy? Did you go to a fun event, see any of the films with someone you loved, or make new friends because of it? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and may the joy you have for these films never go away!
ADDENDUM: In celebration of the release of “Jurassic World: The Ultimate Visual History”, Insight Editions presents author James Mottram in conversation with Jurassic World Animation Director/Paleoartist Glen McIntosh. Discussion moderated by Derrick Davis, Writer at Jurassic Outpost & Creator of Jurassic Time! Intro/Outro by Insight Edition’s Marketing & Publicity Strategist Amanda Hariri. Live Book Release Event via Crowdcast (10/25/22).
The following review was submitted to us by Neelis/Dinosaur Habitat.
Dinosaurs rule the world once more in ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’. Is it epic? Is it the conclusion to the ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Jurassic World’ franchises, as promised by the tagline? Does Giganotosaurus truly want to watch the world burn? And what does a gig at BioSyn pay when you are a swashbuckling mathematician?
Originally slated for a June 2021 release, but postponed by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ has been making its way into cinemas across the globe ahead of the US premiere on June 10, 2022.
Reception by audiences and critics has been mixed so far, though the early release has been a financial success; however, monetary profits do not equal quality, so how does ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ hold up?
‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ – the story
Picking up four years after ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ (2018), Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) is still haunted by the past; trying to atone for her mistakes and feeling a deep sense of duty towards the dinosaurs, she has moved on from rallying the public and politicians to more radical measures, raiding illegal dinosaur breeding facilities to expose them and have authorities shut down the awful practices conducted there.
Despite their earlier romantic struggles, Claire and former Velociraptor-trainer Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) have made a pretty nice home for themselves and rebellious Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon), who they’ve taken under their wings after her grandfather’s death.
It isn’t long before their peaceful life is disturbed; Velociraptor Blue turns up at their cabin in the woods. And Blue is not alone; she has a baby, whose origins are a mystery.
Both the baby Velociraptor and Maisie are kidnapped by a bunch of nameless poachers, led by over-the-top bad guy Rainn Delacourt (Scott Haze).
Owen and Claire give chase; with the help of Franklin Webb (Justice Smith) they learn Maisie is headed to Malta, where illegal dinosaur fights are being held by more anonymous, unpleasant people, and dinosaurs are sold for excessive amounts of money, the trades conducted by delightfully devious, and criminally underused, Soyona Santos (Dichen Lachman).
Owen and Claire briefly reunite with Barry (Omar Sy) and find an unexpected ally in veteran pilot Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise), who agrees to fly them to Biosyn Valley, a sanctuary for recaptured dinosaurs and other resurrected prehistoric creatures.
Parallel to Claire and Owen’s story runs another tale; the one of Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) investigating the mysterious appearance of swarms of gigantic locusts, feeding on crops throughout the United States, destroying harvests as they swoop down and gorge on anything the farmlands offer.
Believing Biosyn is responsible, she asks her former love-interest and old friend Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) for help with her quest for evidence; invited by a familiar acquaintance, Sattler and Grant journey to the dinosaur sanctuary located deep in the Italian Dolomites.
Touring Biosyn’s facility under the guidance of Ramsay Cole (Mamoudou Athie), Grant and Sattler are welcomed by Dr. Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott), who seems more aloof than an evil genius. Alas, do not judge a book by its cover; as with ‘Jurassic World’ (2015) and ‘Fallen Kingdom’, shady stuff is going on right under everyone’s noses, including Dr. Ian Malcolm’s (Jeff Goldblum) who lectures at Biosyn for a handsome stipend, and who extended the invitation to Dr. Sattler.
Will the familiar trio manage to expose Dodgson before everything goes pear-shaped?
Through a series of high-adrenaline adventures, the two groups eventually come together in Biosyn Valley and must not only fight for their own survival, but for the chance to reveal the truth.
‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ – the verdict
The story of ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ begins, of course, in 1993; Steven Spielberg’s ‘Jurassic Park’, based on Michael Crichton’s novel of the same name, enthralled audiences of all ages and demographics. Never before had dinosaurs been so realistically and dynamically depicted on screen.
At the time, critics lauded the visual effects but quite a few were less complimentary when it came to the human characters; they were seen as somewhat two-dimensional, entirely in service of the spectacular animatronics and CGI.
‘Jurassic Park’’s success spawned two sequels; ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’ (1997), based on another Michael Crichton novel, and ‘Jurassic Park III’ (2001).
After the third film, the franchise seemed to have been given up on by Universal. Rumors about a possible fourth film, and even a few announcements of it having entered active pre-production, swirled, but it would take fourteen years before the dinosaurs made a successful return in ‘Jurassic World’ (2015) and ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ (2018).
What has endured most amongst fans, almost ironically, is a deeply rooted love for the original characters; Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler and Dr. Malcolm inspired generations to seek out careers in palaeontology and science.
Dr. Ian Malcolm in particular remains incredibly popular amongst film enthusiasts; and Jeff Goldblum delights in the character’s popularity, having reprised the role not just in sequel films, but a car commercial and the various ‘Jurassic World: Evolution‘ games.
This popularity only made it a matter of time before Grant, Sattler and Malcolm would return to the world of dinosaur escapades. But with five returning leading characters, three returning supporting characters (though two are really cameos), four newcomers, one renewed villain, and Maisie’s story continuing too, do they get a chance to truly shine?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ tries to squeeze in so much everyone’s individual stories are bogged down, even with the gargantuan runtime of two-and-a-half hours.
Most of the time it feels more as if the entire film’s a comedic approach rather than a serious continuation of the series and a re-introduction of beloved characters; Dr. Malcolm talks, but his words, unlike his dire warnings and razor-sharp analysis in both ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘The Lost World’, are hollow, meaningless; even his rivalry with Dodgson can’t reach the heights of the adversarial quips traded with Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard) in ‘The Lost World’.
And so it goes on; Dr. Sattler and Dr. Grant have surprisingly little to add, aside from their own little mystery-espionage adventure, and are written rather abysmally.
A completely ridiculous subplot is introduced, erasing things we learned (or thought we’d learned) in ‘Fallen Kingdom’ regarding Maisie’s origin story, which is now so muddled and contrived (the “Benjamin Lockwood – John Hammond fallout”-spiel makes no sense at all now), it defies any desire of exploring it further.
Claire and Owen, by comparison, have a more straightforward and slightly more serious arc, and given their history there is a surprisingly touching moment between Claire and Owen on Kayla’s aircraft. Owen, having taken on the role as surrogate dad, is far less goofy, a welcome approach. Both Kayla and Ramsay are appreciated additions to the story, though they get far too little screentime (Ramsay’s character especially suffers from the bloated cast of characters).
The dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, too, feel underused. Most of them only appear once, dutifully carry out their parts in the story, then are gone just as quickly as Delacourt and Santos.
With the exception of the (very effective) reveal of the Therizinosaurus, the introductions of the dinosaurs are distinctly underwhelming; they aren’t helped by some unimpressive CGI work and highly disappointing animatronics. Not once do they reach the greatness of Stan Winston and his team’s work on the original ‘Jurassic Park’ films.
And though it was heralded as the new big bad dinosaur, Giganotosaurus turns out to be the chillest theropod in the franchise. It lumbers around a bit, and even gives half-hearted chase to our heroes once, but it mainly being absent from the larger part of the film is what stands out most.
By comparison, the mystery of the locusts, admittedly and pleasantly, feels as if it came straight out of a Michael Crichton novel. And some of the humour in the film (“he slid into my DMs”) truly works and draws hearty laughs.
For all its flaws, and Colin Trevorrow’s insistence of them not featuring when ‘Jurassic World’ entered production sometime in 2013, ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ now introduces feathered dinosaurs, some of them first seen in ‘The Prologue‘ (2022); it’s a radical and deeply appreciated step forward for the franchise – the fierce Pyroraptor especially is a fabulously spectacular plunderer, echoing the memory of ‘Jurassic Park III’’s marvelous Velociraptors.
A tighter, more competently written story, shorter runtime and less filler-characters might have made for a better, more entertaining film. Even though the pace is high and everyone’s continuously horse-riding, driving, cycling, running and flying from set-piece to set-piece, I found myself bored at times because it was hard to keep up with the action, and also, about halfway, hard to care for what was going on.
The absence of any tension and playing it safe to please a very wide demographic (of fans) takes away any edge it otherwise might have had.
At times the film’s more ‘Bourne’ or ‘Mission: Impossible‘ than ‘Jurassic Park’ / ‘Jurassic World’. As a friend described it; the film feels very much as if you’re watching a string of excellent video game levels.
Is it epic? No. Is it the conclusion? Also no. The open end, unfortunately, hints at more to come. I’m hoping Trevorrow and Universal Studios will hand over the reins to other writers and directors; preferably filmmakers who aren’t hardcore fans of the original films and therefore capable of taking a step back, critically evaluating what does and does not work, only then to come up with engaging, intriguing stories and characters.
‘Jurassic World: Dominion’ has its heart in the right place, but the execution is dreadful. Though it will no doubt make an obscene amount of money over the coming summer, it’s not destined to become a classic. One thing is clear; dinosaurs will rule cinemas once again and they, unlike that tagline’s promise, are very much here to stay.
Do you agree with this fan review, or do you have a different view? Share your thoughts below, and as always stay tuned to Jurassic Outpost for the latest!
