Taken from the pages of Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel, Jurassic Park was another winner on Steven Spielberg’s impressive resume and kickstarted a best-selling movie franchise that continues to this day with the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a ‘Movies to Watch Before you Die’ without this iconic sci-fi thriller on it. As it goes, there’s a good reason for that – it really is that damn good.
Alas, the Jurassic Park franchise has had its ups and downs throughout the years. Some of the movies are good, others mediocre, some just plain unwatchable. But luckily for you, you can find out what those are in our movie ranking for this iconic franchise. So, sit back in your jeep as we ride through the history of one of cinema’s greatest franchises.
5) Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom(2018)
Ugh. Chris Pratt dons the iconic waistcoat of Owen Grady once again alongside Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire Dearing (who has wisely left her stilettos from the previous film at home). But Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom‘s charming co-stars can’t save this movie from being a disappointing follow-up to its predecessor.
Not only do Pratt and Howard’s chemistry seem mute this time around, but it’s clear the screenwriters are struggling to come up with intriguing stories centered around CGI dinosaurs. Following the film’s heroes, as they attempt to save dinosaurs from (re)extinction as a result of a volcano eruption, we eventually find out people they trusted had ulterior motives all along and plan to exploit the dinosaurs for their own evil ends. It’s like a Saturday morning cartoon plot, stripping the film of any real tension whatsoever. Hopefully, Jurassic World: Dominion turns out a better movie, but this film didn’t do those hopes any favors.
4) Jurassic Park III (2001)
Third time’s a charm, right? Not really. Spielberg cracked it the first time around and failed to emulate Jurassic Park‘s brilliance in the second film. Somehow, this third entry fails even harder, despite attempting to recapture the magic of JP1 by bringing Sam Neill’s Dr. Alan Grant back to the fold.
The problem with JP3 is that it lacks all of the tension that made the first one so spectacular. Indeed, while inferior to the original, The Lost World still had some cool setpieces (i.e. the raptors in the grass scene). Jurassic Park III is unremarkable even in this sense because its predecessors did everything it does better. It’s so forgettable I even forgot that a pre-Shameless William H. Macy stars as a man searching for his son on Isla Nublar.
3) The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Spielberg returns to direct the first sequel to his 1993 monster hit. While there are some fantastic set-pieces – the raptors offing humans in the tall grass comes to mind – the CGI is evidently more impressive than its human characters. While Jurassic Park was an achievement of CGI-live-action merging, it never did so at the expense of its compelling and likable characters. The Lost World, on the other hand, does.
The characters lack the depth of the film’s predecessor, becoming bland, uninspired stereotypes. Peter Postlethwaite’s big-game hunter, Roland Tembo, is predictably evil and boring. Julianne Moore’s Dr. Sarah Harding is a passionate behavioral paleontologist who harbors a deep love of the formerly-extinct Jurassic creatures – but is incredibly uninteresting. Even Jeff Goldblum, who reprises his role as Dr. Ian Malcolm, basically plays himself in the film, losing all the quirks that made his character unique and memorable in the first movie.
The Lost World loses much of what made its predecessor great, but the saving grace is that it’s at least better than many of the sequels that followed it. Goldblum’s sarcastic hero does give the film a few chuckle-worthy moments and the CGI dinosaurs do kind of hold up. But it’s not the best the franchise is capable of being.
2) Jurassic World (2015)
Reboots are an inevitability in today’s Hollywood, but the results are often mixed. The 2014 RoboCop reboot removed all the thoughtful satire of the original while ramping up the thoughtless action. Meanwhile, Batman Begins saved the ailing franchise from its 90’s doom with a more compelling, adult take on its title character.
Jurassic World isn’t the best movie reboot, but it is the best reboot for Jurassic Park. It takes the thrills, majesty, and themes of the first film and asks a compelling question – what would happen if John Hammond’s vision came to life? It’s from this question that Jurassic World begins and continuously entertains throughout its run-time.
There are great CGI set-pieces like the boys being trapped in an amusement-park ride while dodging the thoughtless stampede of dinosaurs. There’s also the scene where Owen Grady attempts to escape the wrath of a vengeful T-Rex. But the film also has some likable characters played by Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard – the former, interestingly, harboring the ability to tame Raptors. Jurassic World breathes new life into a previously extinct franchise – a shame that its follow-up wasn’t quite as good.
1) Jurassic Park (1993)
Jurassic Park doesn’t just rank amongst Stephen Spielberg’s best movies – it also ranks amongst cinema’s most incredible accomplishments. Boasting uncanny valley-challenging CGI dinosaurs (that hold up remarkably, even today), JP1 is instrumental in killing off stop-motion animation and making CGI a staple in science fiction movies. However, the animation would have been nothing without Spielberg’s talent for creating tension and fear in his scenes – the infamous ‘T-Rex Jeep’ scene is just as terrifying now as it was then.
Alas, the CGI is just one part of this impressive puzzle. You see, Jurassic Park still has some of the franchise’s most memorable characters (Jeff Goldblum’s Chaos Theorist Dr. Ian Malcolm, Sam Neill’s paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant) and has (if I’m being honest) all of the franchise’s most iconic lines (“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should” being of many fine examples). To put it bluntly, Jurassic Park is a film you must watch before you die. In fact, go watch it now. Go.
Well, there’s my opinion. But what about yourself? How would your ranking differ from mine? What do you think are the Jurassic Park franchise’s best movies and which are the worst? And, while you’re at it, what are you most looking forward to about the upcoming Jurassic World: Dominion? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!