Jurassic World Rebirth: 7 hidden callbacks to the 1993 Jurassic Park you might've missed

Indian Express

3 days ago

Jurassic World Rebirth, the seventh installment in the dino-loving universe that just hit theatres, marks a new chapter for the franchise with new island and new faces. While writer David Koepp tried to tone down the callbacks, director Gareth Edwards went all in, slipping in throwback clues, familiar lines, and even reworking scenes to fit the new setup starring Scarlett Johansson and Jonathan Bailey. Rebirth tips its hat to various chapters of the franchise, but there are a few blink-and-you-miss-it nods to the classic 1993 Jurassic Park.
In the original Jurassic Park, there's that unforgettable scene of the T-Rex chasing the jeep, with Laura Dern's Ellie Sattler, Jeff Goldblum's Ian Malcolm, and Bob Peck's Robert Muldoon scrambling to escape. Rebirth replays that moment with a twist, Rupert Friend's Martin Krebs gets the same 'objects in mirror are closer than they appear' shot in his car's side mirror. Edwards admitted he wanted to reuse the gag. Even though the scene didn't make the final cut, he snuck in the mirror close-up during the last New York shoot just to bring that hit of nostalgia. He told EW: 'I just said to the person who provides the vehicles, 'Is there any way you could just get the 'objects appear closer' on the wing mirror?''
Dr. Alan Grant, played by Sam Neill in the original trilogy, gets a nod during a convo between Zora and Henry. Jonathan Bailey's character mentions he studied under Grant. The director added subtle details props to back it up. Henry's bag has a patch from the Snakewater dig site (same one from Jurassic Park's opening), and there's a digging tool clipped to his belt, just like the one Grant used. 'It was as if it was a national park badge of that dig site, as if [Henry] had worked there as a kid,' Edwards said.
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In the original Jurassic Park, there is an iconic opening scene where Robert Muldoon and his crew try to transfer a Velociraptor into its pen. That's when the raptor attacks the handler and drags him inside the cage, the start that sets the tone of the entire film. Rebirth recreated the same energy but with a twist. The prologue, that goes back 17 years before the main story, shows how a candy wrapper causes malfunction at an InGen lab. The mistake, though tiny, gives D-Rex its chance to break free.
Another brilliant Easter egg was the chemistry between Bailey and Johansson, it had the same energy Alan and Ellie shared in the first film. The relationship never turns romantic, and maybe that's exactly the point. Throughout the film, there's tension, the will-they-won't-they tease, but in the end, the story seems to follow Spielberg's move from back then. He'd actually shot a scene where Ellie and Alan kiss at a dig site, but edited it out later, probably thinking, when dinosaurs are out to kill you, who's got time to flirt?
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Remember when Alan and Ellie saw their first Brachiosaurus, they looked at in awe, with John Williams theme song playing in the background to capture the essence. Rebirth recreates that same scene only this time with giant Titanosaurs mid-mating and with the same music.
In one of the scenes, Isabella wears a T-shirt with a pelican on it. It's a direct tribute to the ending of Jurassic Park, where Alan and the kids watch pelicans flying off. The shirt even reads 'Life finds a way' in Spanish. Rebirth also gives that iconic ending a twist, this time, replacing pelicans with dolphins. The film ends with the survivors looking out from a boat, watching dolphins jump peacefully, signaling a return to normal life.
Towards the end, Mutadons, the hybrids of raptors and Pteranodons, arrive to carry the legacy of raptors. Their attack scene plays out like a modern-day remix of the original raptor kitchen scene. But this time, it's not visitor center but an abandoned convenience store. There's even a chase sequence through underground tunnels, just like the air ducts from back in the day.