It’s impossible to overstate the importance of the Jurassic Park series. The first movie revolutionized visual effects and influenced countless movies afterward. With Jurassic World: Rebirth playing in theaters, let’s take a look back on the series and rank the movies from greatest to least great.
1. Jurassic Park
The series never returned to the majesty that was the original movie. Characters like Ian Malcolm and Dr. John Hammond are iconic, and that moment when the characters first see the brachiosaurus will forever be one of the great moments in cinema. Most people who were around in 1993 remember how absolutely blown away they were by how amazing the dinosaurs looked. It’s unlikely that any future Jurassic movie will ever capture the original’s “wow” factor.
2. Jurassic World
This soft reboot was exactly what the series needed. It presented the audience with a fully functioning dinosaur park that is nothing short of amazing. It makes you want to visit the park – at least until the dinosaurs start eating the guests. In addition, Owen and Claire are appealing new characters with great chemistry and fun banter. This movie gave the franchise a much-needed breath of fresh air.
3. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
The first sequel failed to live up to the original, but that doesn’t make this a bad movie. For one thing, Ian Malcolm is the main character in this movie, and you can never have enough Jeff Goldblum. For another thing we get a mother T-rex storming the streets of San Diego looking for her baby, and that’s worth the price of admission on its own. Overall, it doesn’t capture the wonder of the original, but it’s still a fun romp in its own right.
4. Jurassic World: Dominion
This movie takes a look at dinosaurs and humans coexisting in the natural world. It also brings back favorite characters from the first Jurassic Park and gives them major roles. While the locust subplot is somewhat underwhelming, the movie makes up for that with intense action and interesting dinosaurs. This movie gives us a fond farewell to the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World characters we know and love – not to mention that it finally brings Alan and Ellie back together.
5. Jurassic World: Forbidden Kingdom
After the energy of the first Jurassic World, the sequel was underwhelming, though it still had its merits. It has fun action scenes as always, and the return of Ian Malcolm was of course welcome, even if he only had a small role. The subplot with the clone girl is interesting, though they retconned a good portion of it in Dominion. In addition, the scene where the island is destroyed is one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the franchise.
6. Jurassic World: Rebirth
Dominion would have made a fine ending to the series, but that would have meant the series couldn’t be milked for future profits. While Rebirth didn’t need to exist, it’s still an enjoyable film. The new characters are appealing, and the mutant dinosaurs are interesting to see, especially the ones with the snakelike tails. Speaking of which, the scene where the characters observe them mating manages to echo back to the first film’s wonder at seeing dinosaurs for the first time.
7. Jurassic Park 3
While not as bad as some people say it is, this movie is still pretty forgettable. Splitting up Alan and Ellie was a controversial decision that didn’t play well with audiences. In addition, the new characters simply aren’t very memorable. The dinosaurs also don’t look as stunning as they did in the previous films. Overall, the franchise was getting tired at this point. It needed Jurassic World to breathe new life into it.
Why is Jurassic Park so Good?
It gives us memorable characters, stunning visual effects, and well-directed action, but I think one of the main reasons why it connects with so many people is its sense of wonder. We all imagine what it would be like to see a living dinosaur, and the first Jurassic Park taps into that childlike wonder perfectly. No matter how many Jurassic movies they make, nothing will ever replace that first time we see a dinosaur.
