Watched on 4K UHD Blu-Ray

"Jumanji" is based on the children's book of the same name by author Chris van Allsburg, which was published in 1981. At that time it was still unimaginable to bring the fantastic story as a real film to the screen in a credible and visually impressive way with animated animals. At the latest after Spielberg's animated dinosaurs in "Jurassic Park" (1993), there seemed to be no limits to the trick technique. The direction was therefore entrusted to a man who was familiar with visual effects, and who already used them successfully in his debut, "Honey, I shrunk the kids": Joe Johnston, who shot "Jurassic Park 3" and "Wolfman", among others in the following years. In the mid-90s, lead actor Robin Williams was at the height of commercial fame and success, thanks to box-office hits like "Hook" or "Mrs. Doubtfire" in previous years. And so "Jumanji" also developed into one of the most successful films of 1995 with a box-office takings of over 260 million dollars.

The focus of Joe Johnston's first "Jumanji" film is clearly on the visual impact and the high tension density achieved by ever new, fast-paced action scenes. Therefore, the film is still only suitable for the very youngest to a limited extent, also because it offers a gloomy atmosphere of constant threat and tension. The story is thin and can be summarized in three sentences, and the characters aren't deep, complex characters to which Johnston devotes a lot of attention or which he undergoes a transformation in the course of the plot. Only the character of the adult Alan, skilfully embodied with a lot of childlike, sympathetic charm by Robin Williams, is more than a superficial and interchangeable person in the figure cabinet of the film.

"Jumanji" scores on a different level and this so extraordinarily well that in 1995 the film caused millions of astonished spectator eyes in the cinemas - young and old. The reason for this was the CGI computer technology, which was spectacular for the mid-nineties, visually brilliant and extremely realistic. The high degree of reality with regard to movement and appearance of the animals had previously only been familiar in this form from the dinosaurs in Spielberg's blockbuster "Jurassic Park". Now Johnston and his team succeeded in chasing "real" animals such as wild rhinos through the small town, chasing lions through the house, rushing torrents down the stairs or letting huge river crocodiles escape from the game. Never before has the wild jungle made its way into the living room at home, and never before has it been conjured up so breathtakingly credibly on canvas. The many fast action scenes, of which one adventurous and impressive follows the next, also provide a few breaths.

The pacing is accordingly high, so for action fans the movie is more recommendable than for friends of poetic, romantic fantasy tales. They should rather go for Spielberg's "Hook", also starring Williams. Besides the effects, he is the movie's biggest gain and shows once again what a great loss his death 5 years ago represents.