Ranking Jurassic Park Movies
It’s hard to believe that there have been seven Jurassic Park movies. Not because they’re not profitable…the franchise just prints money at this point. Because there’s only been one legitimately great one. There may be only one legitimately good one…but opinions may vary. It speaks to how incredible Steven Spielberg’s original film is. People love it so much…they’ll still return to the franchise over three decades later after watching miss after miss after miss.
That’s a spoiler for what sits atop our Jurassic Park rankings…but if you ever see anything else sitting in that place you can dismiss that person’s list as clickbait. A lot of franchise’s first films stand as their best. Most don’t see the separation that Jurassic Park does from the rest of its pack. Every sequel isn’t bad, mind you. But one stone cold masterpiece followed by a six-sequel peak of “I kind of liked that one” isn’t an impressive feat.
So, we know how this ranking from worst to best will end up. How we get there is where the real debate about the franchise will always be. I’m of the opinion that even the bad Jurassic movies are watchable messes. But only a few moments across three decades of six sequels have come close to recapturing the magic of the original.
Let’s not put it off any longer. Our rankings of the Jurassic Park franchise…from worst to Jurassic Park.
7. Jurassic World: Dominion
Hijinks and Low Interest
Jurassic World Dominion had what people wanted on paper. It brought back the original trio of Jurassic Park actors and combined them with the new stars of the Jurassic World movies. The opportunity to catch up with Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler and Ian Malcolm (for more than a cameo) seemed like a can’t miss. They missed. Instead of digging into any interesting character work…the characters are sent on nonsensical hijinks akin to a Scooby Doo movie. Not even a good Scooby Doo movie.
I defy anyone to remember the plot of Jurassic World Dominion. I’m sure you remember that it ended with the world having to learn to live alongside the dinosaurs…but that’s not the plot of this sixth movie in the franchise. You only remember it because they’ve been teasing that movie since the original trilogy and still refuse to deliver it. Going so far as to name the follow up movies Jurassic WORLD and still refusing to get into the concept is one of the most infuriating aspects of the series. Rebirth would put a quick end to any hope of that just three years after the only thing anyone can remember about Dominion happened anyway. Easily the most disposable entry in the franchise.
It’s also the installment that wastes its talent the most. How did they convince Neil, Dern and Goldblum to return and then not give them anything remotely interesting to do? It’s also far too long given it’s just a series of fetch quests. None of this prevented it from making a boatload of money. Dominion took home over a billion dollars…proving that people are so interested in reanimated dinosaurs…it doesn’t even matter if they’re getting anything good.
6. Jurassic World III
No Wonder Spielberg Left the Chair
Jurassic Park III stood as the low point of the franchise for a solid twenty years. Steven Spielberg took off his director’s hat…which should have been the first sign of trouble. Sam Neil returned after sitting out the second film. Laura Dern pops in for a cameo. A raptor speaks English during a dream sequence. That last bit is a funny thing. In 2001 it was a running joke about how dumb Jurassic Park III was. Looking back at it a quarter of a century later…it would be a much more entertaining movie had the raptors been able to speak English.
What keeps this long running punching bag of the series out of last place? It’s so delightfully…short. Dominion is a slog that feels like it never ends. Jurassic Park III is a bad movie that wraps itself up mercifully quickly. That’s obviously not a ringing endorsement for this installment. Should you find yourself doing a franchise rewatch, however, you’ll be much happier 90 minutes into Jurassic Park III when you’re in the middle of the credits than you will be two hours into Dominion when you’ll be begging for them.
It’s not the only thing Dominion does to push this movie up the list. After seeing Alan Grant running around Dominion trying to figure out if a relationship with a now in her mid-50s Ellie Sattler is appropriate…you’ll long for the days of his also but not equally wasted turn in Jurassic Park III. At least this movie gives him something sciency to do. Even if it’s stupid.
5. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
We’re All Dumb Here
Some might bristle at the idea of putting Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom over even the worst movie from the original trilogy…and there are plenty of reasons to agree with that. This movie may boast the dumbest characters in the franchise. Prepare yourself for two hours of people making the dumbest decisions you’ll ever see. So, how does it manage to land this high on the ranking of Jurassic Park movies? Because, unlike the two behind it, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom manages to make you feel something. Not from the human characters who are total rubbish…from the dinosaurs.
While Dominion and III are completely forgettable entries in the series…you remember Fallen Kingdom. Sure…you may remember it for bad reasons. Chris Pratt rolling away from lava haunts my nightmares to this day. But you’ll also remember it for having a couple of the darkest, saddest moments in the franchise. That horrible lava sequence ends with, arguably, the most emotional scene in the entire series. Had Pratt’s Owen Grady been consumed by the lava…it would have been hilarious. When a brachiosaurus fails to make it off the doomed island in time…it puts a lump in your throat. Seriously…I could put that screenshot right here and you’ll be sad. I won’t do that because then I’ll be sad. But I could.
That’s why Fallen Kingdom has earned the honor of the least terrible bad Jurassic Park movie. Getting viewers to feel something other than boredom or contempt is a feat that Dominion and Jurassic Park III could only dream of. It’s a bad movie…but it at least it can also make you completely miserable. Yeah…that’s good enough to land here.
4. Jurassic World Rebirth
Good Enough, I Guess
We’ve reached the part of the rankings where the movies are no longer bad in a traditional sense. I’m not convinced they’re “good”…but they have more redeeming qualities than what sits behind them. Jurassic World Rebirth has a solid plot for the first time in…I don’t even know. At least it gives its characters a legitimate reason to put themselves into dino-related danger. Those characters are all-new…lead by Scarlett Johansson, Johnathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali. They raise things above the Chris Pratt/Bryce Dallas Howard era without having to try that hard.
There are, of course, plenty of problems here too. The first act of Rebirth is a slog. They could have cut the first half hour of this movie out, had the characters parachuting onto the island while one of them says “remember…we need the living DNA of three of the biggest mutated dinosaurs in the world” and they’d have had a movie twice as good. The film sets up character arcs for Johanson and Ali that it completely forgets to payoff. And, most egregiously, it puts the final fork into ever getting the story of humans living alongside dinosaurs right in its opening moments.
That’s a lot of complaints about a movie sitting in the middle of a franchise ranking, isn’t it? In a nutshell…that’s the problem with the Jurassic Park movies. I’m not convinced there has ever been two good ones. You can argue that you like more than one…I like more than one. But are they good? Or do people just really like watching fake dinosaurs chase people? Rebirth has enough of that (with mutated versions!) to elevate it above a few others. It’s slightly smarter characters and stronger concept land it here. Even if it takes too long to get where it’s going and forgets to payoff what it has built. This franchise, man.
Read our non-spoiler review
3. Jurassic World
A Whole New World… … Actually, It’s Pretty Much the Same World
There’s a strange nostalgia thing going on with Jurassic World. It arrived after the longest hiatus in the franchise…14 years after Jurassic Park III left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. It’s the closest to the original film plot wise. In some ways…it feels like the sequel you’d have expected The Lost World to be. Do the same thing…but bigger. This park is operational…which makes the stakes higher. Those pesky scientists couldn’t leave bad enough alone and designed themselves an even bigger predator. And…it’s pretty fun. That’s more than enough to land it in the top half of this franchise.
Everything that works about it, however, comes from redoing the first movie again. We already have that movie. That’s not a great reason to recommend a worse version of the same thing. A miscast Chris Pratt stars as raptor-wrangler Owen Grady. The entire domesticated raptor plotline from this series is equal parts dumb and…kind of fine. Having a raptor buddy to root for is a new twist inside a movie that isn’t taking a lot of other risks, at least. It doesn’t make any sense within the context of the original message of the series…but it could have worked in the context of its later idea of living beside the restored beasts. Of course, they dropped that altogether.
In the end Jurassic World is probably the closest the sequels ever came to giving people something they actually wanted. An active Jurassic Park where the dinosaurs run amok. Some of them being on our side is a wrinkle that probably wasn’t a part of that equation for people who wanted to see it…but the series would get so silly from here maybe the nostalgia is ok.
2. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
A Step Back That’s Still Better Than the Rest
The wild success of the original movie made a sequel inevitable. Steven Spielberg returned, fresh off his Schindler’s List Oscar win, to steward the future of the franchise his hit has created. Sam Neil and Laura Dern sit this one out…but Jeff Goldblum sticks around to lead a serviceable cast. The Lost World is a very different movie than its predecessor. Surprising for the second stop in a multi-billion dollar Hollywood franchise…but not when you consider that a director of Spielberg’s caliber isn’t going to rehash the same material just to cash in at the box office.
The Lost World feels darker and scarier than the first movie. While the original was a pure thrill ride…the sequel aims for more scenes of suspense and quieter peaks. The action is near franchise-best when it comes, however. Goldblum carries the picture better than any of the leads that came after him. And…look…there’s a floor to a Steven Spielberg monster movie. The Lost World may be that floor…but that’s still better than most.
The biggest issue that The Lost World faced upon its release was direct comparison to Jurassic Park. It’s nowhere near as good a movie. Most movies aren’t. In 1997…we had nothing else to compare it too. With Jurassic Park III being the only other release until 2015…we had some time to reassess it. It’s not as fun as Jurassic World…the only movie behind it that can really challenge it for silver…but it is a better, more original picture. One of a shocking few sequels that can even be argued qualifies as good. Maybe.
1. Jurassic Park
Unparalleled
If Jaws created the summer blockbuster…you could argue that Jurassic Park perfected it. I’d argue that Jaws perfected it…but you can argue whatever you want. Either way, Steven Spielberg had done it again. His return to creature/monster cinema was an unbridled success. Jurassic Park is so good that people are still lining up in hopes of seeing someone recapture an ounce of its feeling thirty plus years later. Given the bottom half of this ranking…and how much money they’ve made…Jurassic Park is so good that people will watch literally anything with its name on it.
Based on the novel by Michael Chrichton, Jurassic Park was a game changer. Sam Neil, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum are perfectly cast. The sight of the dinosaurs evokes genuine wonder. Another classic John Williams score elevates every action. The suspenseful parts are peak Spielberg suspense. It’s basically a perfect movie…should such a thing exist. There was never any question that it would find itself on top of this (or any) ranking of the Jurassic Park movies. What’s surprising is how far superior it is to everything else. Even Spielberg himself couldn’t figure out how to rekindle its magic.
There probably isn’t a lot to say about Jurassic Park that hasn’t already been said a thousand times. It’s a masterpiece. One of a few that Spielberg helmed. With all due to respect to Jaws and Indiana Jones…it’s probably his most enduring one. Those franchises were derailed by their inferior sequels (in the latter’s case…one by Spielberg, himself). Nothing seems capable of derailing Jurassic Park. It’s had more bad movies than good ones…and people will still line up for whatever comes next. Maybe they just like watching fake dinosaurs chase people. It’s more likely that they’re hoping to experience just a little bit of that original magic one more time.
