It’s one of the ultimate summer movie blockbusters of the past two decades, a fantastic rollercoaster ride packed with thrills and wonders that brought dinosaurs into the modern age in a big way. It’s Jurassic Park and today, Universal Studios Home Entertainment has released the film and its two sequels in Blu-Ray and DVD Ultimate Trilogy box sets, as well as in a limited edition Blu-ray Gift Set, the latter of which comes with a custom T-rex dinosaur statue.

Both box sets include Jurassic Park and its two sequels, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III, in a trilogy box set that includes updated picture and sound quality and hours of bonus features. Among these features is “Return to Jurassic Park,” an all-new six-part documentary about the series, along with digital copies of all three Jurassic Park movies and exclusive Blu-Ray content.

The new release also contains bonus features that have been previously released on DVD with the movies, such as documentaries, commentaries (not with Spielberg unfortunately; he still hasn’t reversed his “no commentaries” position), deleted scenes, still galleries, and theatrical trailers. You can check out a trailer for the release along with a synopsis of each film and a complete list of bonus features here below.

The original Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg‘s adaptation of the 1990 novel by Michael Crichton, became the highest-grossing movie of 1993 and one of the biggest successes of that decade, an achievement only eclipsed by the 1997 release of James Cameron’s Titanic. The movie became a pop culture touchstone, won three Academy Awards, took computer-generated visual effects light years beyond what they had previously achieved, and spawned a merchandising empire and two financially-successful sequels.

Following up the blockbuster success of Jurassic Park, Steven Spielberg returned in 1997 to helm the sequel The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which had also been based on a novel by Michael Crichton. The Lost World delivered another small fortune into Universal’s coffers that summer, but it couldn’t match the critical and commercial success of its predecessor.

Four years later, visual effects artist-turned director Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, Captain America: The First Avenger) directed Jurassic Park III from a screenplay that had been co-written by Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, best known for writing movies such as Sideways and About Schmidt among others (which were also directed by Payne). Jurassic Park III was better received by critics and audiences than The Lost World, but its box office gross couldn’t match that of either of the first two movies.

Despite the dwindling interest in the franchise Universal and the producers proceeded with development of a fourth film. Over the years a large number of writers, directors, and actors have been attached to the as-yet-unmade Jurassic Park IV; several of the original movie’s stars have expressed interest in reprising their roles and Johnston is looking to direct the film after Captain America. At one point back in 2004, William Monahan (Kingdom of Heaven, The Departed) had written a script which was subsequently rewritten by independent filmmaker (and writer of Pirahna, Battle Beyond the Stars, and The Howling) John Sayles and involved a corporation creating their own breed of dinosaur soldiers for mercenary missions. There’s no word on whether or not any elements of that script will be used in the new Jurassic Park sequel, but that’s a movie I would certainly like to see in my lifetime.

I have very fond memories of seeing the original Jurassic Park on the big screen four times during the summer of 1993 (it’s the only movie I’ve seen more than twice on the theater). After I first saw the movie I purchased a copy of the Michael Crichton novel and read in voraciously over the course of two weeks, mostly during study hall at school. I bought a cassette of the magnificent John Williams orchestral score the following March with money my grandmother had given me for my 15th birthday. Memory escapes me as to how many times I played that tape until I was given my first CD player on my 18th birthday, but the soundtrack, in particular the main theme, became one of my favorite pieces of music in the world and the music still retains the power to transport me to that island off the coast of Costa Rica where dinosaurs created by science dwell with dreams of escaping their bonds and returning to the days before extinction took them all off the face of the Earth and into the history books. My favorite piece of Jurassic Park merchandising were Spitters, a brand of fruit-flavored hard candy that I used to pick up almost every day from the 7-11 down the street from the apartment my family and I lived in.

When the two sequels hit theaters I never went to see them. Instead I waited for both to hit video and DVD before I watched them for the first time. Personally, I prefer the third film to The Lost World simply because Joe Johnston has no illusions about the fact that he’s making a cheesy B-monster movie with laughs and thrills and for that it works beautifully, and Sam Neill makes a more likable lead character in the third movie than Jeff Goldblum did in the second. The Lost World, on the other hand despite having some goofy moments that made me laugh the first time I watched it, is awash with annoying characters, ham-fisted action scenes, and moments that push the film into the realm of pure idiocy, but I’m sure there are plenty of folks out there who would gladly disagree with me.

The Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy Box Sets were released today, October 25, 2011, for the first time together on Blu-ray.

Official Synopsis
From Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg, the Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy is one of the most successful film franchises in worldwide box-office history. On a remote tropical island, an amazing living theme park becomes a game of survival for humans foolhardy enough to set foot on it. Meticulously recreated dinosaurs spring to astonishing life as the film’s breathtaking special effects and thrilling action sequences keep audiences on the edge of their seats. Each chapter of the history-making saga delivers even more action and spectacular visual effects than its predecessor, as nature’s ultimate killing machines once again rule the earth. Almost 20 years after its inception, the Jurassic Park Trilogy remains an unmatched cinematic experience.

Jurassic Park
A multimillionaire (Richard Attenborough) unveils a new theme park where visitors can observe dinosaurs cloned using advanced DNA technology. But when an employee tampers with the security system, the dinosaurs escape, forcing the visitors to fight for their survival. Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern star in this thrilling, action-packed blockbuster from acclaimed director Steven Spielberg and based on the novel by Michael Crichton.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Four years after Jurassic Park’s genetically bred dinosaurs ran amok, multimillionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) shocks chaos theorist Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) by revealing that Hammond has been breeding more beasties at a secret location. Malcolm, his paleontologist ladylove (Julianne Moore) and a wildlife videographer (Vince Vaughn) join an expedition to document the lethal lizards’ natural behavior in this action-packed thriller.

Jurassic Park III
In need of funds for research, Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) accepts a large sum of money to accompany Paul and Amanda Kirby (William H. Macy and Tea Leoni) on an aerial tour of the infamous Isla Sorna. It isn’t long before all hell breaks loose and the stranded wayfarers must fight for survival as a host of new — and even more deadly — dinosaurs try to make snacks of them. Laura Dern, Michael Jeter, Alessandro Nivola and Trevor Morgan co-star.

Bonus Features

ALL-NEW BONUS FEATURES ON BLU-RAYâ„¢ & DVD
“Return to Jurassic Park” – this six-part documentary features all-new interviews with the many of the cast members from all three films, the filmmakers and Steven Spielberg.
o Dawn of a New Era
o Making Pre-history
o The Next Step in Evolution
o Finding The Lost World
o Something Survived
o The Third Adventure

ADDITIONAL FEATURES EXCLUSIVE TO BLU-RAYâ„¢

· BD-LIVEâ„¢ – Access the BD-Liveâ„¢ Center through your Internet-connected player to watch exclusive content, the latest trailers, and more!
MY SCENES: Bookmark your favorite scenes from the film.
pocket BLUâ„¢: The groundbreaking pocket BLUâ„¢ app uses iPad®, iPhone®, iPod® touch, Androidâ„¢, PC and Mac® to work seamlessly with a network-connected Blu-rayâ„¢ player. Plus iPad® owners can enjoy a new, enhanced edition of pocket BLUâ„¢ made especially to take advantage of the tablet’s larger screen and high resolution display. Consumers will be able to browse through a library of Blu-rayâ„¢ content and watch entertaining extras on-the-go in a way that’s bigger and better than ever before. pocket BLUâ„¢ offers advanced features such as:
o ADVANCED REMOTE CONTROL: A sleek, elegant new way to operate your Blu-rayâ„¢ player. Users can navigate through menus, playback and BD-Liveâ„¢ functions with ease.

o VIDEO TIMELINE: Users can easily bring up the video timeline, allowing them to instantly access any point in the film.

o MOBILE-TO-GO: Users can unlock a selection of bonus content with their Blu-rayâ„¢ discs to save to their device or to stream from anywhere there is a Wi-Fi network, enabling them to enjoy content on the go, anytime, anywhere.

o BROWSE TITLES: Users will have access to a complete list of pocket BLUâ„¢-enabled titles available and coming to Blu-rayâ„¢. They can view free previews and see what additional content is available to unlock on their device.

o KEYBOARD: Entering data is fast and easy with your device’s intuitive keyboard.

The following bonus features also appear on the both the Blu-rayâ„¢ and DVD:
– The Making of Jurassic Park
– The Making of The Lost World: Jurassic Park
– The Making of Jurassic Park III
– Steven Spielberg Directs Jurassic Park
– Early Pre-Production Meetings
– The World of Jurassic Park
– The Magic of Industrial Light & Magic
– Location Scouting
– Phil Tippett Animatics: Raptors In The Kitchen
– The Jurassic Park Phenomenon: A Discussion with Author Michael Crichton
– Industrial Light & Magic and Jurassic Park: Before and After The – – – – Visual Effects
– Industrial Light & Magic and The Lost World: Jurassic Park Before & After
– The Industrial Light & Magic Press Reel
– A Visit to Industrial Light & Magic
– Hurricane in Kauai Featurette
– Dinosaur Turntables
– The Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park III
– Montana: Finding New Dinosaurs
– Animatics: T-Rex Attack
– The Special Effects of Jurassic Park III
– The Sounds of Jurassic Park III
– The Art of Jurassic Park III
– Tour of Stan Winston Studio
– Feature Commentary with Special Effects Team
– Production Archives: Storyboards, Models, Photographs, Design Sketches and Conceptual Drawings
– Deleted Scenes
– Theatrical Trailers

Trailer