We recently got our first look at the Jurassic World trailer, the spot for Universal’s fourth installment in the blockbuster dinosauring-gone-awry franchise. And while I was listening to all of that crappy dialogue and looking at the pretty graphics, something felt weird. Kind of … familiar.
I couldn’t quite figure out where the déjà vu was coming from, but something made me want to watch the trailer for the first movie again.
As it turns out, Universal is recycling a lot of the same imagery from the older ad in hopes of making us excited about the movie in an almost subliminal way. Check it out:
Getting to the island
OK, this more than likely falls under “basic storytelling.” They have to get within nomming range of the dinos somehow. And the shots aren’t identical, but already, we’re looking at least similar.
The gate
The gate that lets people into the park is iconic; if it wasn’t there in the new trailer, we’d think something strange was going on. But here it is anyway so that you can remember thinking, “Hey, I know that thing they’re showing!”
Those Gallimimuses
Then we get to the obligatory, “Hey look, dinosaurs.” First, we see a bunch of people rolling along adjacent to some Gallimimuses.
Here’s the related shot in the Park trailer. Notice how the humans are still on the left, and the Gallis are on the right.
Oh hai, Brachiosaurus
The carefree sightseeing continues as our heroes meet a friendly, giant herbivore.
And 20 years ago:
Oh no, it’s the claw
Later on, things start to go wrong because how dare they play god, and people start looking less amazed and more “Don’t eat me; I’m stringy.” And in the middle of all that, this happens:
We get two steps from the Mystery Dino here, but look: The foot comes down and, we see it sink into the dirt and leaves. Sound familiar?
So of course we were going to see some of the same iconic stuff like the island and the gate, but Jurassic World is lifting entire shots to remind us that it’s related to that movie that made all of the money. And then, for good measure, they threw in a lot of. …
Shots of people looking at things offscreen
This is a staple in a lot of event-film trailers, but Steven Spielberg in particular is fond of shots of people looking up in awe. So just for fun, I’ve compiled every shot from both trailers of people looking in horror, amazement, or surprise at things that we, the audience, can’t see.
First, in Park:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOQQgWKTvj4
Now, in World:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJ40S8JTXk8
Eerie.
Evan Killham is a freelance writer who lives in Nebraska and isn’t interested in football, so he has plenty of time to play and think about video games. He has written for Bitmob and GamesBeat and sometimes, he even goes outside. But not too often because he’s heard there are bees out there. Occasionally, companies send free units for review. Evan subscribes to Cult of Mac’s Reviews Policy and also does not keep the items he receives for possible coverage.
21 responses to “See how the Jurassic World trailer shamelessly rehashes the original film”
More shocking to me, is why this is shocking you. Look at damn near any “re-boot” movie thats come out in the last 5+ years and by using moments that are LITERALLY shot for shot from the original movie is just what advertisers use to make our brains say “Hey remember that movie you loved in the 80’s-90’s, this ones gonna be just like it, you should line up and pay more money to see it in 3D, HD, IMAX.”
In the words of Hunter S. Thompson, “Buy the Ticket, Take the ride.”
I don’t remember saying I was shocked. I know it’s common, but I just thought that this was an especially obvious job of it.
Oh im not trying to troll or anything, Im just making the case that its no more obvious or common than ANYTHING else out there. Watch the Terminator; Genysis trailer and then get back to me.
Or follow this link and just imagine the trailer rehash fun that will be had:
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/remakes-and-reboots/26435/57-movie-remakes-and-reboots-currently-in-development
That link is terrifying.
When I was in college, my film professor gave us a worksheet with a bunch of movies listed on them and told us to circle the remakes. And of course, they were all remakes.
Also, the Genysis (hate that title) thing gets a bit of a pass from me because the entire movie is about a different take on the events of the first film. Not that it looks super awesome, either, but that seems slightly (SLIGHTLY) less transparently cynical to me.
Ahh, a quality Apple-related story we can all enjoy. Thanks, Evan!
Thanks for the polite and useful comment, Matthew!
Evan I’m not sure if you know this but someone had already shown what you are showing now (about late Nov. I think). It was a side by side video comparison from the original an this one. Director Collin T. stated this was done on purpose as an homage an the movie will be very different.
Oh, cool. I hadn’t seen that, but I’m glad I’m not grasping at straws.
And I have no doubt this movie will be very different. Specifically because I wanted to see the original, and this one’s not so much grabbing me so far.
While I see what you’re getting at the special effects and definition looks much better for world. And while the scenery looks similar it’s definitely different.
I hope the special effects look better now; they’ve had 20 years to improve them. :P
Church.
Better?!? Are you serious? Physical models and animatronics will always look worlds better than CGI. The limited CGI use in the original is one of the main reasons its held its age so damn well.
Hey “cultofmac.com”, go fuck yourselves. You fuckers are a miserable excuse for a website. You make it seem like the new Jurassic movie should be something completely different than the original, while it can’t be. I guess you wouldn’t understand.
Thanks for reading!
IDK but from the few quick scenes already shown, the CGI really doesn’t look too great. Almost like that from a low budget film. To be honest, it makes the CGI work from original Jurassic Park seem impressive.
Considering that the movie is in post production there is still plenty of time for the CGI to be polished. Early trailers often have this problem. But I agree the fact that the original movie’s CGI still holds up against today’s FX is a testament to those artists. The original trailer for Jurassic Park featured no dinosaurs at all, something that’s practically unheard of today.
Completely agreed. Models and animatronics of the original look way better than this CGI loaded deal. If hollywood only put more money into physical models instead of CGI, we’d have better quality films.
that’s not a brachiosaurus, it’s a brontosaurus, and also, THAT’S THE FUCKING POINT!!! the trailer is supposed to show you stuff you want, so therefore, stuff from the first movie, so that you would want to see the damn thing! this is the first time I’m hearing someone complaining that a movie ripped off another movie, even though those two movies are from the same franchise.
1.) The Brontosaurus never existed. It could maybe have been an Apatosaurus, but I couldn’t see its head in the trailers.
2.) If people just want to watch the first movie again, it’s readily available.
3.) I consider “ripping off” and rehashing to be different things. Ripping off is when an unrelated project steals something because it doesn’t have its own ideas. Rehashing is when someone just keeps doing the same thing over and over because they know people will keep paying for it.
Will u just shut up & enjoy the movie only when it actually shows!!!
Right because your movie is so much more original.