Travel back to ‘Jurassic Park’ by revisiting these movies in the franchise

Before the MCU filled the box office with a new hours-long epic every few months, a truly jaw-dropping blockbuster for the whole family wasn’t as easy to come by in the 90s. However, something special happened in 1993 when Steven Spielberg made every little kid’s fantasy come true on screen when Jurassic Park tore through theaters like a raptor’s claw (more like a six-foot turkey!) through a cynical pre-teen’s belly.

To any 90s kid, Jurassic Park is sacred. Even before millennials saw the movie as kids, they’d see lunchboxes with the film’s iconic logo at the store, and hear chattering of the pee-your-pants scary dinos from kids who’d seen the flick on the playground. No one was surprised when sequels, theme park rides, and video games followed Jurassic Park as it turned into a full blown franchise. 

After Jurassic Park dropped, the first move for producers was putting out a Jurassic Park sequel. There are a bunch of Jurassic Park movies, and there’s a new one coming in 2022. Get ready for Jurassic World: Dominion by taking a prehistoric stroll down memory lane.

Jurassic Park

What can we say about 1993’s Jurassic Park which hasn’t already been said? The iconic movie proves its legendary status in its massive fandom, branded clothes, and comic books. 

One-liners have been burned into the brains of 90s kids & cinephiles alike as Jurassic Park fans stop channel surfing & finish the film in its entirety anytime it’s on, having to hold on to their butts with excitement in each viewing.

Spielberg defined the blockbuster in the 1990s and had an eye for the massive players holding the film together, with national treasure Laura Dern, icon Jeff Goldblum, and legend Sam Jackson on the roster. Not to mention the great script and groundbreaking effects (we mean, come on). Jurassic Park comes closer & closer to the definition of a fun movie the more & more it’s examined. 

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

“Wait, imagine if the T-Rex went to a city.” We imagine this statement was all writers needed to get the ball rolling on a Jurassic Park sequel. The Lost World: Jurassic Park is the first of the Jurassic Park movies to follow the original, and Steven Spielberg even came back to direct the Goldblum-starring blockbuster.

The Lost World gives the people what they want: more dinosaurs! For anyone whose brain blends the Jurassic Park movies together, The Lost World is the one with the pack of tiny dinos which devour their human enemies and a Tyrannosaurus raging through a populous downtown San Diego. Need we say more?

Jurassic Park III

Are we the only ones whose memory of Jurassic Park III is limited to knowing a kid lives on the dinosaur island, living on Crunch bars and using raptor pee to keep predators away?

2001’s Jurassic Park III is the first of the Jurassic Park movies that Spielberg took a break from directing. However, Jurassic Park III director Joe Johnston is not one to ignore – the man brought us Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Jumanji, and October Sky. 

However, Jurassic Park III relies too heavily on giving audiences a bigger, badder dinosaur than the T-Rex and generally falls flat in plot. How could the Jurassic Park franchise continue after III? Life finds a way.

Jurassic World

Jurassic World is one of the better Jurassic Park movies to follow The Lost World and revamped the franchise for the next generation. Jurassic World dropped in 2015, and when the film released gave audiences a Chris Pratt-starring vision of what a real Jurassic Park in the 2010s would look like (Starbucks & all). 

We don’t know if Jurassic World had to be 124 minutes, but the film brings the magic of Jurassic Park to our young comrades, and we can’t knock it for that.

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Are you a diehard Jurassic World fan or more of a Jurassic Park purist? Let us know your favorite Jurassic Park movie in the comments!