“Jurassic World Dominion” Extended Edition Blu-ray Review & Digital Code Giveaway!

One of the major reasons fans might be interested in buying the home release of Jurassic World Dominion is due to the Extended Edition. So, are the 14-minutes of extra footage worth the price? Let’s find out.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment provided me with a free physical copy of the Jurassic World Dominion Blu-ray for review. The opinions I have shared are my own.

Warning! This review contains spoilers! Tread carefully!

Let me begin by saying that I didn’t love Jurassic World Dominion. However, that’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy watching certain sequences. I think the biggest issue for me was the dissonance between the title of the movie and what was actually shown. Picking up four years after JW Fallen Kingdom, one would assume that the name Jurassic World Dominion would entail numerous instances of dinosaurs causing chaos for human society and everyone trying to come up with universal laws for how to deal with such prehistoric creatures. Instead, the major threat ended up being a swarm of crop-consuming locusts and capitalism.

I get that the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World franchises fall in the sci-fi genre. Having scientists think of ways to clone humans, cure diseases, control the food chain, etc., are how things would naturally progress if someone was able to crack the code to bring back dinosaurs through highly complex genetic engineering. But in the world of entertainment, you have to give the audience what they want. And what they want from JP and JW are dinosaurs. Not pesky bugs or a little cloned girl dealing with an existential crisis.

Anyway, with all of that out of the way, JW Dominion did have a bunch of scenes I enjoyed. The return of the OG trio was definitely a highlight. I liked how the writers gave doctors Alan, Ellie, and Ian actual roles instead of simply having them be part of the story as glorified cameos. In a sense, what Ellie, Alan, and Ian were up to dealt more with saving the entire world from Biosyn. In comparison, Owen and Claire got involved in the drama because they wanted to save Maisie.

I’m not sure if it was intentional or not, but having the OG trio be proactive while keeping Owen and Claire reactive instantly placed those two in the backseat. Frankly, I’m not complaining. I would have watched an entire movie focusing on the OG trio. Ellie and Alan even found Maisie before Owen and Claire. Ha!

The creative team also did a good job when it came to sprinkling nostalgia in JW Dominion without it coming across as cringe-worthy. The handful of moments that called back to the previous installments made me smile instead of roll my eyes.

New character Kayla Watts (DeWanda Wise) also fit right into the franchise. The way Wise portrayed the character made me wish she had been introduced sooner. And for those wondering, yes, Kayla’s supposed to be a queer character. But her queerness was showcased through a single line of dialogue when she told Owen she liked redheads too. Could JW Dominion have done better to make her queerness more obvious? Of course. But it is what it is. Kayla now joins Dr. Zia Rodriguez (Daniella Pineda) from JW Fallen Kingdom as “queer” women from the JW franchise (there are still no “queer” men, though). Zia also had a small role in JW Dominion.

As for how the film concluded, even though I realize this is a fictional world, I highly doubt any government in their right mind would allow dinos to continue roaming around unchecked. Also, a whole lot of people around the world have weapons. These dinos would have been killed a long time ago. Seriously, ain’t no one “co-existing” with no dinosaurs. Anyway, there’s definitely room for another installment. So, let’s see how Universal decides to continue this multi-billion dollar franchise.

Coming to footage shown in the Extended Version, I would say that it won’t do much to make you love JW Dominion if you didn’t love it already. However, if you’re a fan of the franchise, the Extended Version is definitely an enjoyable treat that helps to streamline certain narrative beats.

For example, the Extended Version includes a 5-minutes long prologue set 65 million years ago that features the battle between Giganotosaurus and the T-rex, with that fight laying the groundwork for the beginning of JP and the end of JW Dominion. You also get to see how the T-rex was caught in the present and transported to the Biosyn island.

There are extra scenes elongating the conversations between Alan and Ellie as well as Ramsay and Dodgson. I also liked the scene where Ellie explained her profession as a renowned paleobotanist to the two kids that were able to capture one of the genetically altered locusts. Maisie also got extra scenes which, meh! I still don’t know why Maisie holds onto a British accent, though.

Other than the Extended footage, the additional content includes:

• BATTLE AT BIG ROCK** – Directed by Colin Trevorrow, the short film takes place one year after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in Big Rock National Park. You can watch my reaction video to the short on The Geekiary’s YouTube channel.
• A NEW BREED OF VFX – VFX supervisor David Vickery and the magicians at ILM discuss the visual effects work featured in the film.
• DINOSAURS AMONG US: INSIDE JURASSIC WORLD DOMINION
  • TOGETHER FOR THE FIRST TIME – The cast and filmmakers discuss the evolution of the franchise and the special union of characters from JP and JW. (approx. 5 minutes)
  • UNDERGROUND DINO MARKET – Join the filmmakers for a tour of the dino market set and discover how they brought it to life. (approx. 5 minutes)
  • MAYHEM IN MALTA – A behind-the-scenes look at the Atrociraptor rooftop chase and Owen’s motorcycle ride through the narrow streets and alleyways of Malta. (approx. 5 minutes)
  • SCARY REAL
    • SPIT TAKE: THE RETURN OF THE DILOPHOSAURUS – Live-action dinosaurs supervisor John Nolan and his team reveal how they created the Dilophosaurus animatronic. (approx. 5 minutes)
    • INSIDE THE DIMETRODON – Learn how the filmmaking team operated the Dimetrodon animatronic and hear from Laura Dern and Sam Neill about what it was like working with it. (approx. 5 minutes)
    • CREATING A PLAGUE – Laura Dern and Bryce Dallas Howard discuss the enormous locusts featured in JP Dominion and the creature effects team reveals how they were created and deployed. (approx. 5 minutes)
    • PASSING THE BATA..N – Discover the craftsmanship behind the realistic-looking Beta animatronic and hear from Chris Pratt and Isabella Sermon on why they enjoyed working with it. (approx. 4 minutes)
    • GIGA-BITE – Go behind the scenes with the cast of JP Dominion as they are introduced to the Giganotosaurus, for the very first time. (approx. 6 minutes)
  • FINAL NIGHT – You get to witness the emotional final night of filming with the cast and crew. I really enjoyed this one. (approx. 7 minutes)

All in all, I would say that the home release of the Jurassic World Dominion (made available on August 16, 2022) is definitely worth the cost for fans because of all the extra stuff that accompanies it. Of course, everything looked amazing on the Blu-ray. It’s a good thing JW Dominion used a lot of animatronics. It really made a difference. 

If you want to own the Extended and the Theatrical Versions of Jurassic World Dominion, well, you’re in luck. Courtesy of Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, we are giving away two Digital Codes over on The Geekiary’s YouTube channel.

The giveaway is currently open. TWO winners will be selected at random at around 12 midnight or 12 am MT on Thursday, August 25, 2022. 

So, go and enter!

Good luck!

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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