JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION

[Rain]

So, does the extended cut make the movie more of a movie, and less Jurassic Jump Cut?

[Carnoking]

Skimming through articles, it's apparently the movie Tevorrow wanted people to see to begin with. Whether or not that makes it "better" is up to the viewer. Either way, having to take the scissors to his original vision was probably not a lot of fun for him so I'm glad Universal let his film see the light of day after telling him the theatrical cut had to be shaved down. As far as I know, this is the first time any Jurassic film has been released with the cut scenes included. I know FK and TLW had a bunch of interesting scenes get lost on the cutting room floor.

[Flaffy]

I thought the extended cut only added 13 minutes of new footage. I don't see how that's big enough of a difference to bring Colin's alleged "original vision" to life.

This is by no means a Snyder Cut scenario.

[Gwangi]

I thought the extended cut only added 13 minutes of new footage. I don't see how that's big enough of a difference to bring Colin's alleged "original vision" to life.

This is by no means a Snyder Cut scenario.

All the dinosaur screen time in Jurassic Park only equals 15 minutes of a 126 minute movie. So 15 minutes can add a lot. That said, I agree, I don't think it can be enough to drastically improve Dominion, but I'm eager to find out. I'll report back when I've seen the cut, I suppose. 

[dragon53]

JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION---although the sequel has earned almost $1 billion, co-star DeWanda Wise commented on its Rotten Tomatoes 30% rating, "From my perspective, I've always been pretty critic immune. We made a movie during a pandemic. Like, honestly, you can print this if you want: You can't tell me sh*t."

[Carnoking]

Certainly not a Snyder Cut situation, but since I'm not a big superhero fan I can't say I've seen either version and can't comment on what a difference an extra two hours of film can make or if it was all necessary. That being said, 13 minutes is still a lot in terms of film. In a properly formatted script, that could be 13 pages of additional character defining interactions, added subtext, setups/payoffs, etc.

Take Ludlow being the one to break the infant Rex's leg in TLW. That scene could have been a minute or so long (page, page and half if that) but that alone is enough to add an extra layer of poetic justice to Ludlow getting his leg broken by the Buck before the infant kills him. Is it "essential" to the film? Perhaps not, but even a brief addition like that can add some extra satisfaction to the experience.

[Carnoking]

An example closer to the topic at hand would be the inclusion of the Cretaceous Prologue. Even if I think it's dumb, the defeat of Rexy at the claws of the giga 65 million years ago does at least add something to their interactions and the final showdown. Without it, all we have is it bullying her off a carcass 20 minutes before the final showdown.

[Gwangi]

Certainly not a Snyder Cut situation, but since I'm not a big superhero fan I can't say I've seen either version and can't comment on what a difference an extra two hours of film can make or if it was all necessary. That being said, 13 minutes is still a lot in terms of film. In a properly formatted script, that could be 13 pages of additional character defining interactions, added subtext, setups/payoffs, etc.

Take Ludlow being the one to break the infant Rex's leg in TLW. That scene could have been a minute or so long (page, page and half if that) but that alone is enough to add an extra layer of poetic justice to Ludlow getting his leg broken by the Buck before the infant kills him. Is it "essential" to the film? Perhaps not, but even a brief addition like that can add some extra satisfaction to the experience.

Good point. I long wasn't aware that Ludlow was the one to break the infant's leg, I assumed it was Roland and it never sat well with me that he would do something like that. Despite him being a trophy hunter he still seemed like he had a code of ethics, breaking baby legs seemed out of character for Roland. That I now know that it wasn't him adds to the film in a positive way.

[Carnoking]

I too always assumed it was Roland or Ajay who (accidentally or on purpose) broke the infants leg while attempting to capture, transport, and pin it down for bait, and I'll agree it did somewhat color my perception of Roland in a more negative light as a result. Still, I'd bet my bottom dollar that's exactly how the edit was rationalized. The editors almost certainly knew they were losing important information regarding who broke the infant's leg and why/how but they figured the audience would put the pieces together and just assume it happened as a result of Roland's hunting (for better or for worse).

Yes, I think a lot of prime examples of cut scenes from the Jurassic series could all add something to their respective films, especially the likes of TLW or FK. How the Indoraptor learned to "smile" from a sadistic guard makes the goofy moment where it smiles before taking Wheatley's arm a more sinister action, one that would indicate that it associates smiling with causing harm. Likewise, the scene where Mills talks about how it broke a light and that's when they learned (the hard way) that it needs three tranquilizer darts to be fully sedated would have informed us that Wheatley's two darts weren't enough. And finally, Iris dying to protect Maisie would have added a great layer to a character that came across as merely a stern, uptight caretaker. None of these would have added a lot to the runtime of the film, or would have even made a bad film good but it does wonders at adding to the experience nonetheless.

Granted there are exceptions here. Do we really need to see the Lystrosaurus decapitate an Oviraptor? No, it doesn't really add anything to the story other than a gross out gag.

[dragon53]

Colin Trevorrow commented on the extended vs. theatrical versions of DOMINION:


"Friends don't let friends watch the theatrical cut."

[HD-man]

[dragon53]

What's added in the Extended version.


LINK: https://screenrant.com/jurassic-world-dominion-extended-version-differences/

[dragon53]

Here's a review of the bluray version of JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION.


LINK: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Jurassic-World-Dominion-Blu-ray/310940/#Review

[HD-man]

For those who don't know, Terrible Writing Advice is basically about how NOT to write & has a very sarcastic sense of humor. I've been meaning to share the "Writing Dinosaurs" episode (especially since at least some here like to write about dinos), but didn't wanna get accused of spoiling JWD. There are no direct JWD references, but said advice applies so well to the JW movies in general & JWD in particular (especially in the speech bubbles, so make sure to pause on them) that I decided to play it safe.

[stargatedalek]

Granted there are exceptions here. Do we really need to see the Lystrosaurus decapitate an Oviraptor? No, it doesn't really add anything to the story other than a gross out gag.

I feel like there was probably even more here that got cut, but wasn't made and ready to go. One of the first images we saw of pre-production was an Oviraptor animatronic which wasn't used in that scene, so I bet there was another Oviraptor scene as well. Perhaps something that set it up as a bit of a little menace and would have made the fight scene less egregiously gratuitous, such as attacking Maisie and Beta on the airplane.

[dragon53]

DOMINION special effects supervisor John Nolan discusses the special effects in the sequel.


LINK: https://screenrant.com/jurassic-world-dominion-john-nolan-interview/

[Carnoking]

Just finished the extended cut (2hrs and 40 minutes required being spread across two sit downs for me) and I think the added scenes by and large improve the experience. There's still a handful that could have been left out but scenes like Dodgson and Ramsey's argument and the Parasaurolophus poaching were strong additions, especially the former which helps define Dodgson's original intentions and mindset while effectively placing him at odds with Ramsey. Maybe "We don't apologize for our mistakes, we erase them" isn't the greatest line in the history of cinema but it sure hits here.

Speaking of writers discussing dinosaurs in film, Filmento is an informative channel that discusses the narrative strengths and weaknesses of all sorts of films, and I've been waiting for them to tackle Jurassic in some way or other. Don't let the thumbnails and titles scare you, these videos are almost always some of the most well-balanced narrative discussions I've seen, highlighting both the good ideas in bad films and the bad ideas that keep good films from being great, all while offering insightful commentary and solutions on how these mistakes could be improved, what to avoid if you're a writer in a similar storytelling situation, and what methods you should apply to your own stories to keep them from being a "failure".

They recently uploaded a video discussing the shortcomings of Dominion, specifically those involving the legacy character storyline. Even if I find enjoyment in what we got, I do think this video hits the nail on the head when discussing why it didn't all work and how it could have been improved, all while still acknowledging the film's positive aspects (something the more vitrolic YouTubers, reviewers, or casual viewers are unwilling to do but hey, negativity and outrage get the clicks).

[Faelrin]

Carnoking As someone who was largely disappointed with the film overall do you think the extended version would be worth my money and time? My biggest issues were the:

Spoiler

-Extensive plot armor (Pyroraptor and Giganotosaurus attack scenes the biggest offenders), and lack of tension (I only felt that with the Therizinosaurus scene).
-Way too many hand raises like this is HTTYD but that ties into the prior point. Still worth mentioning separately though.
-How everyone knew and recognized each other automatically which felt forced.
-How Dr. Wu had a heel face turn out of nowhere and was allowed to walk free, despite being behind everything from JW and earlier.
-The clone girl plotline, which retconned everything from the previous film, and also just felt unnecessary.
-The final battle felt pointless/Giganotosaurus deserved better. Even in the prologue the dude just wanted to chill.

[close]

From what I'm aware of (aside from the moments you mentioned earlier):

Spoiler

-Prologue scene added.
-Ellie see's the locust the kids trapped and gets its DNA.
-Expanded Alan and Ellie scene (original felt awkward, did this feel more natural?).
-Blue and Beta attacking hunters.
-Leonard the Lystrosaurus being an absolute savage. RIP Oviraptor.
-Rexy has that "flashback to 65 million years ago" or whatever.

[close]

I guess I could also probably try to find clips of the various scenes to see what exactly they bring to the table.

I'm also behind on watching Camp Cretaceous S5, so I'm wondering if that tied into the film at all, and helped cover some of the film's plot points.

[Mellow Stego]

Well, having finished the extended version I guess rate the movies again.

1. Jurassic Park
2. Fallen Kingdom
3. Jurassic World
4. Lost World
5. Dominion
6. Jurassic Park 3

[MLMjp]

Even though I haven't watched it again (because apparently the film doesn't hit home release in Europe until freakin' October), after reading reviews, watching videos and thinking wayyy too much about it my opinion on Dominion now is:

"A bunch of cool moments spread through a disappointment of a movie"

Now, I don't think the movie is horrible, trash, or whatever thing YouTube film critics will post on their clickbait-ish tittles, but its definitely not good. Filmento´s video really hits the mark on some of the films main problems and I also appreciate how he can find some positive stuff in the film (although for me the Atrociraptor chase scene wasn't that exciting). But I don't want to discuss that now, I prefer waiting until I watch it again.

Speaking about that, I'm also torn whether or not to watch the extended cut, (Just to check it out, I know it won't fix the film) specially considering that I probably won't watch the full film again after that, only the scenes that I enjoyed.

Also, should I bother getting the DVD just to complete the collection? I never got into blu-rays, and I´m planning to buy all JP films in digital form anyway, so those DVD are basically just part of my collection. But considering how frustrated I feel about it, I'm not sure if I need a physical representation of it...Maybe I should just hide the Fallen Kingdom DVD in the back...