Jurassic Park Collection [DVD]

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Previously DTS has been sampled and compared to Dolby Digital on the Japanese Superbit and the standard Region 2 version, and the difference is astounding. Easily my least favorite 4K transfer of the bunch, but the improvements in sharpness and film presence do outweigh the negatives. The discs are from previous releases but you're really getting this more for everything else that it comes with. Squeals, rattles, snarls, and heavy breaths from dinosaurs are incredibly natural and immersive, while subtler, less tension-focused bass response with their movements are clean and responsive to the surroundings. Understated elements from the track -- brushing debris away from fossils, drips and trickles of water, even the wobble of Jello -- have an impeccable degree of audibility to them, and John Williams' score sounds universally fantastic, sprawling along with specific atmospheric elements across the entire object-based stage.

A few new elements emerge in this track, though, such as the high-pitched ringing of a phone that plays a key, partly humorous role in what's happening and the flapping of dinosaur wings, both of which carry unique, more modern high-end crispness to ‘em and, once again, benefit from the object-based spatial design. The 4K Ultra HD visual transfers offered here range for reputable improvement to downright phenomenal, the DTS-X tracks are universally spectacular, and the extras made available on the prior Blu-ray discs offer a trove of goodies to unearth.The same comments I wrote for the Japanese DTS track still apply here though, just not to the same degree. Sound wiese, good stuff too, earth shattering in places, (and yes, I`ve had to say sorry to my neighbours, although they guessed I was watching Jurassic Park when I said! There was a time when the DTS version of the Collector's Edition was a sought-after commodity, and I can attest to the potency of that audio track, as the T-Rex paddock sequence was frequently used as demo material for whatever stage that my early evolving home-theater was in at a given time.

But they are all unaware that a rival expedition is on its way to the island with plans to capture the dinosaurs and take them back to the mainland. Gone is the thin sounding Dolby effect, entering stage left right centre and behind is deep bass which almost - but not quite - rivals the levels heard on the later Jurassic Park movie soundtracks. There's some numb-skulled decisions being made on the park's grounds, though, which take it down a few notches, and they never really stop staring down the audience throughout.In this edition, the jeeps lack detail (that “haze” again), and again it's surprising to note that on both the standard Region 2 and Japanese editions, the jeeps are crystal clear and contain detail as soon as we see them. This fragile balance will determine, once and for all, whether human beings are to remain the apex predators on a planet they now share with history's most fearsome creatures. All in all a solid affair, with excellent steering, good effects usage and a reasonable amount of LFE to shore up proceedings.