Jurassic Park Films Worst To Best
The Jurassic Park Franchise is one of the most fascinating long-running series, but some of the sequels can be a hit or miss. Although, you’d be hard to find a dinosaur movie that even comes close to touching any part of this franchise. And since I just covered a video going through every dinosaur compared to their real-world counterparts from the original film, let's get to the rankings from worst to best of every Jurassic Park and World movie! And remember this is just my opinion, we're bound to disagree, so I'd love to see your ranking of the series in the comments below.
6. Jurassic World: Dominion (2022)
Starting in last place is gonna be the latest Jurassic Park film, Jurassic World: Dominion. I had high hopes for this movie before seeing it. They had the original cast coming back from the first movie, the dinosaurs looked a little closer to what they probably actually looked like, there was that amazing prologue scene from actual “Dinosaur Time” they put online, and they shared bonus scenes of dinosaurs rampaging the world to YouTube. But then I saw the film and basically, none of that was in it. Sure the original 3 stars were back, but so poorly shoehorned in that it was just sad. And there would be no way that Ian Malcolm would ever work for another Dinosaur engineering company after how he was almost killed multiple times in the first two movies. That’s insanity! The prologue scene was nowhere to be found, and the dinosaurs attacking people in the real world were extremely glossed over, instead, they focused on telling a story about the evils of man and Bio-Syn engineering giant locusts. First of all, locusts that size never existed, and within the film would no one in the world wonder where a giant prehistoric locust came from and why it doesn’t seem to eat Bio-Syn crops? It’s absurd. There’s a lot more to say about this film but let’s move on to the next.
5. Jurassic World (2015)
Some people are going to definitely not like where I rank this next film but I’m just going to do it. In 5th place is Jurassic World. I remember enjoying this film somewhat when I first saw it in theatres, but since then I’ve just gotten pretty tired of these remakes masquerading as sequels. It started with The Force Awakens, and Hollywood has been sucking the idea dry for almost a decade now. Just call this what it is, a beat-for-beat remake of the original that is inferior in almost every way. Now I say almost because clearly the CGI is better, but somehow it is showcased in such a way that it feels less real within the environment. I will give this props for being somewhat meta with the inclusion of fans of the original park, although I have no idea how that park could have fans since it never opened and only caused death and destruction whenever they tried to do anything with it. It’s also a bit of a mean-spirited movie. Why does the secretary get eaten alive in such a violent fashion? Those deaths are often saved for the horrible villains, not the prissy secretaries. But nonetheless, this movie isn’t as actively awful as Dominion, mainly because it uses the first film as the template so closely. But it doesn’t do enough new with the material to warrant many re-watches.
4. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
So this is where things get a little better for me. Coming in 4th place is Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. I think this film gets too much hate, but I understand why some people don’t like it. To me it has a good movie and a bad movie happening concurrently. The good movie is the haunted house with spooky dinosaurs. The bad movie is the secret dinosaur auction and the cloning junk happening. When the film is trying to scare you, it does it super well. There are a lot of cool shot compositions and the Indo-Raptor is a nice addition to the franchise, even though I’m not a huge fan of the whole spliced-gene dinosaur thing. It just seems redundant, like people would not get tired of seeing real dinosaurs. Come on, there’s like thousands of breeds of dinosaurs. Just make more real dinosaurs. I also like the opening with the fast-paced rescue of the dinosaurs on the island. That’s some of the best action set pieces the series has given in years, and I get a little sad when I see the dinosaurs left behind. All in all, the film is clunky but has some new ideas that I appreciate, and the direction is pretty on point.
3. Jurassic Park 3 (2001)
Now coming into the Top 3 is probably my most re-watched Jurassic Park film, Jurassic Park III. I don’t know what it was, but for some reason, I was obsessed with this one when I was younger. I must’ve had it on repeat so many times. It was the only one that I had on DVD and it must’ve been the first one I saw in theatres. I would’ve been about 10 years old when it first came out so I think it just hit right at that perfect moment in every guy’s life when his interest in dinosaurs begins to peak. Now later on in my teenage years, I would babysit a younger kid and I made the mistake of popping this movie on to keep him entertained. He too got obsessed with it and then I had to watch it every time I babysat this child, and that’s when I started to dislike this movie a little bit. Since then I’ve seen it a few more times and I’ve come back around on it, but it’s far from my favourite or most re-watchable of the franchise anymore. What helps it is the runtime is super short, only just above 90 minutes, so it’s a tight film and there’s a lot of action. It doesn’t always make perfect sense but it’s fun. Plus, the story is simple. It’s basically the Spinosaurus is out for revenge on these people on the island because they clipped his sail on their plane. So it’s like watching a PG-13 slasher movie with dinosaurs. It’s fun and I don’t really get bored watching it. So for those reasons alone, it’s in my top 3.
2. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
Coming in second place is gonna be the second film, The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Now this film has a lot going against it. Laura Dern and Sam Neill both didn’t want to come back so we get Jeff Goldblum who can no longer be the funny wise-cracking sidekick, but instead the stern no-nonsense leading man, which makes for a boring protagonist. Also, the rest of the cast feels like poor imitations of what came in the first movie. But this film is directed by Steven Spielberg, and the guy knows how to direct a scene to make it both tense and still have a sense of whimsy. Obviously, some of the magic of the first film can no longer exist. We’ve seen dinosaurs already, but some of the new scenes, like the two T-Rex attacking the trailer, and the Velociraptors in the fields, work extremely well. Not to mention we basically get a Steven Spielberg Godzilla movie at the end when the T-Rex reaches land, and that’s really the chef’s kiss to this movie. Sure it’s not the best film but it’s a fun ride, and if every Jurassic film since this one kept this level of filmmaking, this franchise would be even more loved than it is today.
1. Jurassic Park (1993)
But it goes without saying that Jurassic Park (1993) takes the cake here. It’s not only a visually cinematic masterpiece, but it’s also just a good film with characters that grow and change as the movie goes forward. The animatronic work and CGI still hold up until this day. The casting of every character is perfect, including the memorable side characters like Nedry, Mr. Muldoon, and Rey Arnold. Every scene shows us something about the island, the characters, or the story. It really doesn’t feel like there’s anything that should be cut and that’s a testament to a well-paced movie. Does some of the CGI in the daylight look a little off now? Sure, but the way the shots are showcased and how the characters react to the dinosaurs sells everything. Not to mention, the amazing sound effects work done to create the dinosaur voices. Sure, we know now that dinosaurs can’t really roar as they do in this film, but that T-Rex roar or Velociraptor sounds are iconic, as well as the Dilophosaurus. This is just a director and writer, Michael Crichton who were both at the top of their game when the film and novel came out, and this movie will hold up until the rest of time as far as I’m concerned.
So what did you guys think of my ranking? Do you agree or do you have your own opinions about the franchise? Feel free to leave your thoughts down below. Also, check out my animation showcasing the differences between the dinosaurs and real-life dinosaurs on Tell It Animated. And until next time, I’ve been Aaron, and I’ll tell you something later!