Jurassic Park, finally on Blu-ray

In this age of internet downloads and YouTube and media screenings and leaks and spoilers it's really difficult to get excited about the release of something on a physical format like a DVD or Blu-ray. But believe me, I used to.

Case and point: the Alien movies.

I brought the Alien Trilogy on VHS not once, but twice in the ‘90s. One was the green-packaged normal version, and the second was the blue wide-screen edition. Then I bought all the films on individual DVD, and a trilogy DVD pack, and another package when Alien: Resurrection entered the mix making it a quadrilogy. Then the Blu-ray came out of the four films... and I got that, too. Special Edition. Came with an alien egg that glowed.

Case and point #2: The X-Files.

I bought these religiously as they came out each season in beautiful cardboard packaging. $230 a pop. Nine seasons, plus two movies. Then the two movies on Blu-ray. Now, you can get the whole lot for $300 in a giant X-Files megapack. No wonder I don't own a house yet.

Those are standout cases where a physical release has got me really, really excited.

Now there's a new one coming up: The Jurassic Park Blu-ray collection.

I'm excited because Jurassic Park is my favourite movie of all time. That's right, my absolute number one.

I went to the cinema to see it in Whangarei (where I grew up) with my entire family, and I was completely blown away. It's the best cinema experience I've ever had, and I've never had it topped. Spielberg is a genius, and this film proves it. He took the action-reality mash-up of Michael Crichton's book and brought it to life with a mixture of CG and real-life models that still hold up to this very day. Watching Laura Dern lay her head on that sick triceratops still looks as real today as it did then, as do the raptors in the kitchen (one of the best horror scenes I've seen).

The first reveal of the dinosaurs in the park, as Dr Alan Grant whips off his sunnies, still gives me goosebumps. Suddenly Seinfeld's Newman was no longer Newman to me, but Dennis Nedry, the asshole who stole the embryos. It was cinema magic, and that feeling returns whenever I watch it. Sure, part if it has to do with the fact I was 10.... but I reckon if I'd watched it as an adult I'd still get the same kick.

Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World followed. I'd devoured the book numerous times by then, and to be honest apart from the rampaging scenes of dinosaurs on city streets, I enjoyed it. It didn't have the magic of the original, but it did have lots of Jeff Goldblum. The yawning reveal of Goldblum on a subway is pure gold. The scene with the raptors in the long grass sticks in my head as another favourite movie moment.

Jurassic Park 3 was disappointing. It had no source material to work from - Crichton had stopped at book two, and perhaps this franchise should have looked at stopping also. Even the return of Sam Neil couldn't save this from being a bit of a stinker - and the concept of introducing a dinosaur to outsize the t-rex was just pointless. It should have worked, but it didn't. It pains me to write this.

But the fact remains, Jurassic Park was movie-making genius. The thing is, it was never really given a satisfying release on DVD. I got the films individually on DVD, then got the Adventure Pack. They all had OK special features, but it never felt like the whole thing, somehow. The concept of having Jurassic Park (and the second and third movies) in 7.1 surround sound, with remastered pictures and a host of special hi-def features (namely the new interviews with cast-members) has my head in a spin.

The actual packaging (and in this age of downloads, this matters!) also looks like it could be on a par with the Alien blu-ray egg. It’s a diorama of a T-Rex breaking through the JP gates.

I can't wait for this. I’ve never been so excited!