As a ’90s kid of a certain age, “Jurassic Park” and “The Lost World” were forbidden movies. Amongst my social circle, the savage thrill of Steven Spielberg’s T-Rex attacks and waterfalls of blood were withheld from us, with parents anticipating the late nights that probably lay ahead. While now that level of caution seems silly, especially as I learned loads of kids my age were regularly allowed not just to see these movies but more depraved fare. But in fairness, that parental concern wasn’t entirely without merit; I remember a friend’s sleepover when we first snuck his older sister’s “The Lost World” VHS into his TV, and he became so frightened he had to turn it off.
When I finally saw Spielberg’s pair of “Jurassic” films a few years later, I was spellbound. It’s easy to think “what’s better than dinosaurs,“ but they were as much feats of cinematic awe and technical engineering as delivery systems for the triceratops or gallimimus. Even if I didn’t fully grasp it at the time, the “Jurassic” films were also about so much more: hubris, overreach, and abuse of the natural world. Meanwhile, Spielberg’s control of pace, mood, and action delivers the dino goods. That meant I could grow with the movies, my appreciation deepening with time, from junior high through high school, college, and now adulthood, something impossible with the frustrating and hollow “Jurassic Worlds.“
Like other major enterprises of Lucas, Spielberg, and Zemeckis, it’s tricky to untangle the “Jurassic Park“ movies from the nostalgia of their time. Growing up, I was surrounded by themed merch: if kids wore it or used it, there was probably a “Jurassic“ variant. Then, for years, a whole wall section at Blockbuster was just “Jurassic Park,“ as if it was reserved for kids begging their parents to let them watch it. As the pandemic waned and theaters offered old favorites to lure skeptical audiences back into their reclining seats, what offering would have been more persuasive than “Jurassic Park?“
It’s a series that’s defined pop-culture for more than 30 years now, and with Gareth Edwards’ spin-off “Jurassic World Rebirth“ hitting theaters, I ranked the series from the worst to the T-Rex roaring best:
7. Jurassic World: Dominion (2022)
The low point of writer-director Colin Trevorrow’s disappointing and wonky “Jurassic World“ trilogy, he decided to make the finale to his 2015 reboot about, well, bugs. Locusts. Lots and lots of locusts. It was a “you had one job“ situation, with critics and fans feeling burned after hoping to see a cool assortment of cool dinos doing some cool dino stuff (and who could blame them?). But instead, Trevorrow made “Dominion“ a confused and fan-serving mess of a movie, with an inexplicable farming subplot alongside the return of the original trio of Dr. Grant, Satler, and Malcolm. It’s one of those slogs where a lot is happening, but nothing is actually happening. It’s a shame, since it has a killer premise: dinosaurs are loose in the world. However, in practice, this is mostly depicted as a few shots of roaming dinosaurs and a black market for prehistoric goods, while the rest of society functions largely as normal. It’s a stunning lack of imagination, though the Bourne-esque chase through Malta, where dinosaurs rush after Chris Pratt on a motorcycle through narrow streets, is pretty good.
6. Jurassic World Rebirth (2025)
After three previous “Jurassic World“ movies with varying levels of success, “Rebirth“ seemed to have a lot going for it. “Jurassic Park“ screenwriter David Koepp returned to the franchise, and “Godzilla“ filmmaker Gareth Edwards, one of our most gifted directors at making things look real big, was chosen as director. There’s an island full of mutant dinosaurs, and a huge ensemble winds up there looking for dino blood to cure heart disease, or whatever. The latest excuse for dino-action isn’t as important as the filmmakers’ promise to return the horror roots of Spielberg’s originals, and to some extent, they pull that off. Namely, the Crichton-influenced sequence where a T Rex chases a raft through a river. But the cast (boasting Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, and Jonathan Bailey) is saddled with terrible dialogue, while Edwards’s sense of scale disappointingly shrinks down. Some may have fun here, but it’s hard to fight the sense that this was anything but a greedy studio project rushed for a Q3 2025 earnings call. As the 6th sequel in the franchise, it’s a compelling argument for why this series should have long gone extinct.
5. Jurassic World (2015)
As a soft reboot and legacy sequel, “Jurassic World” does a lot right to tempt us back. There’s a squad of tamed raptors charging alongside a speeding motorcycle, a fully functioning dino-park that modernizes the concerns of the first film, and one of those raptors and a T-Rex team up. My favorite beat is when Trevorrow goes full “Aliens” as a unit of geared-up security with machine guns get stomped, eaten, and tail-whipped to death while we watch through their fuzzy POV cameras. But then there’s everything else. Chris Pratt’s rough and tumble raptor trainer and Bryce Dallas Howard’s corporate shill who doesn’t want kids would’ve felt like dated archetypes twenty years ago, and the genetically engineered, camouflaging Indominus rex always feels silly. Then there’s a bizarre subplot about militarized dinosaurs that serves as sequel bait, ultimately going nowhere. Worse is how quickly “World” becomes an example of the same corporate greed it aims to satirize, with Trevorrow’s lackadaisical filmmaking and labored storytelling never finding the teeth to bite into anything substantial of its own.
4. Jurassic Park III (2001)
Joe Johnston’s original trilogy capper is mostly a series of deranged encounters where Alan Grant, lured to the island of Isla Sorna, watches as one idiot after another gets themselves nearly eaten by various dinosaurs. While “Jurassic World” is more ambitious and offers more original thrills, at a merciful 90 minutes, “Jurassic Park III” is short and to the point. It’s chock-full of dino-action. Grant has a dream where a raptor talks to him in a hilariously normal voice (“Alan”), and it’s as fast-paced as a hungry T Rex at full speed. That should tell you everything you need to know about how you’ll feel about “Jurassic Park III,” for better and worse. It’s not particularly deep, rich, or good, but I like it. It’s over before you get restless, William H Macy plays his bumbling divorced dad like another Jerry Lundegaard, and the storyline of searching for lost family members keeps the storytelling lean and focused. Modest ambitions then, but if you can evolve from holding the original on a pedestal of reverence, like Johnston’s “The Rocketeer” or “The First Avenger,” there’s a bit of old-school pulpy fun to be had here.
3. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
The only “Jurassic“ sequel since Spielberg to have an identity of its own, J.A. Bayona’s elegant filmmaking elevates another flawed Trevorrow screenplay into (at its best) a sublime gothic horror. “Fallen Kingdom“ is the closest the series has come to a 50s pulp B movie, beginning with a volcanic explosion that threatens the lives of the dinosaurs, only for a nefarious company to attempt to Noah’s Ark out those creatures so they can be sold as trophies and pets to the ultra-rich. It might seem like a big ask, but if you can ignore the tin-eared dialogue and more galaxy brained subplots (wait, that kid is a what?), you’re left with a rare blockbuster suffused with genuine visual poetry –– the fading silhouette of a brontosaurus in another extinction event, lava drips illuminating an angry dinosaur as it inches closer and closer, or a gen-engineered Indoraptor framed by a full moon atop a mansion roof. The last act has Bayona bring “Fallen Kingdom“ back to his roots as a Spanish haunted house movie, only with dinosaurs, and it’s easily the best extended “Jurassic“ sequence since Spielberg was behind the camera.Â
2. The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)Â 
It probably says something about Spielberg that when he felt pressured into returning for a “Jurassic Park” sequel, the result is the meanest, toothiest, bloodiest entry in the whole series. It begins with a little girl getting mauled by a herd of compsognathus (little raptor-like guys), and it’s probably only for preserving the PG-13 rating that she didn’t die. Some say Spielberg is phoning it in, but as the cliché goes, Spielberg’s worst day is still most filmmakers’ best. That opening gives one of his most memorable scene transitions, with an island scream matching-cutting into Jeff Goldblum’s yawn, and the trailer-over-the-cliff sequence is an all-timer. Yes, there’s cheesy gymnastics, and yes, the family drama between Goldblum, Julianne Moore, and Vanessa Lee Chester triggers the occasional cringe. But using dinosaurs as a metaphor for plundering the natural world lends it some bite, building up to the King Kong-inspired finale where an escaped T-Rex wreaks havoc on San Diego at night –a set piece that Spielberg clearly had a ball creating. And hey, Pete Postlethwaite plays a big game hunter. It remains one of the gnarliest sequels of all time.
1. Jurassic Park (1993)
It’s tough to imagine a more perfect blockbuster than “Jurassic Park.“ Steven Spielberg found an ideal marriage between his earlier family-friendly movies, such as “E.T.,” and his horror roots, creating a dinosaur action thriller that’s as full of genuine wonder as it is visceral terror. We begin with John Williams’ majestic score and Spielberg’s awe at the brachiosaurus reveal. Still, it’s not long before we have to cope with the frightening suspense of the T-Rex attack and Laura Dern holding Samuel L. Jackson’s severed arm. If there’s a secret strand of filmmaking DNA that helped make “Jurassic Park” a monster hit, it’s that watching it as a kid felt more daring and adult than other kids’ movies, whereas as an adult, you’re allowed to feel like a kid again. There’s also a personal touch, as Hammond can be read as a proxy for Spielberg himself, whose dangerous dreams threaten to run amok into reality. It’s also just a masterclass in raw filmmaking verve, where nearly every set-piece (you know the ones) is iconic to the point of constant imitation (including by Spielberg himself), though never surpassed. In a franchise all about evolution and survival of the fittest, it’s still “Jurassic Park“ that rules the Earth.Â
Have you seen “Jurassic World: Rebirth“ yet? What did you think of it? What is your “Jurassic Park“ ranking? Please let us know in the comments section below and on Next Best Picture’s X account.
