Universal PicturesJurassic World Rebirth is a reboot of the Jurassic franchise that features multiple references, jokes, and callbacks to the movie that started the series.
Jurassic Park hit screens in the summer of 1993, and quickly became a box office sensation, so-much-so that by the end of that summer it was the most successful movie of all-time.
Sequels inevitably followed, courtesy of The Lost World and Jurassic Park III, while more recently audiences flocked to the Jurassic World trilogy, which helped the franchise gross more than $5 billion worldwide.
Rebirth is a reboot that features all-new characters, but the film is written by original Jurassic Park scribe David Koepp, and he’s smuggled in multiple nods to the Jurassic past. SPOILERS ahead…
Objects in the rear-view mirror
Universal Pictures‘Objects in the Rearview Mirror May Appear Closer Than They Are’ isn’t just a song by Meat Loaf, it’s also a gag in the 1993 Jurassic Park movie.
When Ian Malcolm is speeding away from the Tyranosaurus rex in a Jeep, the gigantic T-rex can be glimpsed in the wing-mirror, above the words ‘objects in the rearview mirror are closer than they appear.’
In Jurassic World Rebirth, Martin Klebs (Rupert Friend) is introduced in much the same way, the shady businessman first glimpsed in a wing-mirror above that very same phrase.
Henry Loomis = Alan Grant
Dr. Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) is Rebirth’s version of Jurassic Park’s Dr. Alan Grant, being a charming paleontologist, who transforms into an absolute badass when required.
Over the course of the movie, we learn that Loomis studied under Grant, and in the film’s production notes, it’s revealed that he even uses Alan’s trowel.
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“To carry forward the baton of Alan Grant is special,” says Baliey. “And to play Henry, who embodies the love of nature and our best curiosities about it, was great fun.”
If you consider the Jurassic films to be horror, the name Loomis also has a long and storied history in the genre, popping up in Psycho and Scream, and most memorably being the name of the doctor that Donald Pleasance plays in Halloween.
Michael Crichton homage
Alfred A. KnopfMichael Crichton wrote the 1990 novel on which Jurassic Park was based, and he adapted the book for the screen alongside Jurassic World Rebirth writer David Koepp.
Crichton died in 2008, but there’s a nod to him in the new film, via words on the side of a school bus that read ‘Crichton Middle School.’
Titanosaurs instil same sense of wonder as Brachiosaurus
Universal PicturesIn Jurassic Park, Alan and Ellie can’t believe their eyes when they first see a Brachiosaurus in the wild, eating leaves from the very top of the tree.
Something similar happens in Rebirth when Loomis sees a pair of Titanosaurs indulging what appears to be a spot of foreplay, with John Williams’ iconic score striking up, as the paleontologist becomes visibly emotional.
Here’s how we described the similarities our Jurassic World Rebirth review: “There’s a sequence in Rebirth – where Loomis first puts his hand on a dinosaur in the wild – that harks back to a similarly stunning scene in Jurassic Park, as well as the charged ending of Edwards’ own Monsters. It’s a brief moment, but quite lovely.”
Duncan’s flare
Universal PicturesDuring the terrifying Tyranosaurus rex sequence in the original Jurassic Park, Lex and Tim are in danger of being eaten by the beast.
Chaos theory merchant Ian Malcolm won’t stand for that, so he selflessly attracts the dinosaur’s attention using a flare, and encourages the T-rex to chase him instead.
In Rebirth, Duncan Kincaid (Mahershala Ali) does exactly the same thing, using a flare to catch the eye of the Distortus rex, so the rest of his team have time to escape on a boat.
Nap Time
In one of the few quiet moments in Jurassic Park, Alan Grant rests in a tree, with kids Lex and Tim leaning on him, until the trio are woken by a hungry “Veggiesaurus.”
A similar scene plays out in Rebirth when Reuben Delgado’s kids rest their heads on their Dad, though Isabella is less interested in sleeping, and more keen to hang with her new prehistoric buddy, Dolores the Aquilops.
When dinosaurs ruled the earth!
Universal PicturesJurassic Park ends with the T-rex taking out a couple of Velociraptors, then roaring as a banner saying ‘When dinosaurs ruled the earth’ falls to the ground behind it.
That same sign is seen falling near the start of Rebirth, when Loomis is packing up the dinosaur exhibition at the museum where he works.
It’s a fun callback, but also representative of the fact that some 30 years on from their return, the public has lost interest in prehistoric creatures.
Lost scene returns
Universal PicturesMore T-rex action now, in the shape of a scene that was cut from Jurassic Park, but makes it into Jurassic World Rebirth.
In the 1993 movie, Alan and the kids were supposed to be in a raft on a river being chased by a Tyrannosaurus rex.
The scene was written but never shot, and some 32 years on, David Keopp found room for it in the new film, with the Delgado family now being pursued by the T-rex.
Gas station = kitchen
Universal PicturesOne of the most memorable scenes in Jurassic Park occurs when the Velociraptors chase Lex and Tim through a kitchen.
During the unbearably tense sequence, the dinosaurs slide around the room, tap their claws on the floor, crash into pots and pans, and become confused by a mirrored surface.
There’s a near-identical scene in Rebirth, when dinosaurs are chasing a kid around a convenience store at abandoned gas station. They’re Mutadons – a hybrid of raptors and Pterosaurs – and the scene finds them smashing into shelves, and once again becoming confused by their own reflection.
For more dinosaur action, here’s when to go for a bathroom break during Jurassic World Rebirth, plus everything we know about the Distortus rex. Alternatively, you can head here for more movies out this month, or here for our list of the best movies ever, which features the original Jurassic Park.
