With Jurassic World: Rebirth now in theaters and expected to be the #1 hit at the box office for this Fourth of July weekend, what better time than to rank all six films in this franchise. While most fans and critics tend to agree of what movie is the very best of the series, the rest of the rankings usually tend to be all over the place. Some of these entries have their fans while others have their haters but overall, opinions tend to vary on the Jurassic Park/World franchise as a whole.
Now that another Jurassic movie is out, time to throw my hat in the ring with my ranking of the Jurassic Park and World movies from worst to best!
7.) Jurassic World: Dominion
After the disaster that was Fallen Kingdom, you would think the franchise couldn’t possibly get any worse. Well, apparently we were wrong because the (at least at the time) final entry of the Jurassic franchise was somehow able to be any worse. Aside from the novelty of seeing the returning cast of the original back in the game and the delightful presence of DeWanda Wise, there is very little of Dominion that works here.
The whole “dino among us” premise that the last movie set up is practically non-existent here with only a handful of nice, silent visual moments showing off the potential for it. Too much time is focused on research labs and having to rescue the little girl while too little time is focused on the actual dinosaurs themselves. The original and new cast don’t come together until way too late and by then, you will most likely be tuned out of the picture and just feeling numb. It made it’s billion dollars back in 2022 but this was a sign that it’s time to hang the coats up. (Spoiler Alert: They didn’t but…….that might actually be okay.)
6.) Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Talk about a sequel that is as bad as a sequel and possibly get. Fallen Kingdom is able to take everything that was wrong with all of the Jurassic Park/World sequels up to that point and put it all on steroids. Doubling down on all the stupidity and incompetence on display and leaving out all the smart and thoughtfulness in the hot sun to dry out (or in this case, get eaten by the dinosaurs!
While director J.A. Bayona does what he can to add some of his own unique directing style to the series, he is completely let down by a horrible screenplay filled with absurdly dumb characters, nonsensical motivations, baffling retcons, and some of the laughable plot twists imaginable. (Seriously, why make the girl a clone of the dinosaurs?) Unable to decide if it wants to be an over-the-top action thrill ride or some meaningful political themed exploration between humans and dinosaurs, Fallen Kingdom shows what happens when a franchise has long lost it’s way and only exists because of it’s profits. (Again, why was the girl a clone again?)
5.) Jurassic World
After 22 years, someone was finally dumb enough to open up the park of dinos and the result is nothing but chaos and stupidity. The first of the “World” trilogy certainly has some enjoyable parts scattered throughout. It’s fun to actually explore the park as it opens for business, the final 45 minutes includes probably the most enthralling action of the entire franchise (especially the last bit with the Indominous Rex), and seeing Chris Pratt riding alongside the dinosaurs is cool stuff. That can’t quite make up for everything else that the rest of the movie lacks.
The characters are all one-note cartoon cardboard cutouts, there’s hardly any logic at play, nearly every major plot beat wouldn’t happen if anyone would just behave like an actual human being, and man, do the CGI dinosaurs stick out like an absolute sore thumb. There’s enough entertaining bits that can make Jurassic World be seen as a guilty pleasure as compared to the next two sequels but once the credits roll, you can’t help but think of the number of missed opportunities hidden throughout the entire picture.
4.) The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Steven Spielberg deep down had to know that he was never gonna top the original when making this one and the fact he even tried to is admirable but very foolhardy. The Lost World sees Spielberg attempting to dive deeper into the dinosaur mythology by putting a bigger emphasis on animal rights along with more focus on family dynamics by making standout side character Jeff Goldblum the main protagonist this time out. The results are quite mixed.
While Spielberg has executed similar themes brilliantly in his other movies, here it comes across as half baked and at times, preachy. And with how action packed and tense the final 30 minutes is seeing the T. Rex causing rampage in the streets of San Diego, you can’t help but wonder if Steven would have been better off just making that kind of movie this time out. The Lost World, like with the other sequels, has it’s moments but you can clearly tell how even the king of blockbuster filmmaking really struggled to make this one the perfect companion piece to the original standout with the likes of Aliens and T2: Judgement Day.
3.) Jurassic World: Rebirth
Well, colored me shocked! For what is easily the most pointless and unnecessary entry in this franchise to date, Jurassic World Rebirth is able to stand as the closest this series has come to recapturing the spirit and tension of the original in this “World” era we are in right now.
This is largely because director Gareth Edwards is able to create iconic imagery of it’s own with standout dino sequences that have it’s fair share of tension, without the over-the-top stupidity of the humans involved, pandering nostalgia, and complete disregard of it’s central themes. The characters themselves are paper thin, with only the charismatic cast carrying their weight (ScarJo is as awesome as always!), and it doesn’t have the emotional anchor that the film itself really wants to convoy, but for the most part, Rebirth is able to stand out positively in a way that the last several films didn’t. Much like #2, it knows exactly what it’s trying to do and it doesn’t try to convince it’s doing anything else.
2.) Jurassic Park III
The first film not directed by Steven Spielberg also seems to be the first one that seemed to be aware of the impossible standards of the original that it could never meet. At this point, it was painfully obvious that any sequel to follow the original Jurassic Park was automatically gonna look bad by comparison and would at best, be taking home a silver medal for being in 2nd place. And with a franchise that has gone on for over 30 years, maybe a silver medal might just be worth it.
Director Joe Johnston basically takes what Spielberg did in the final half hour of the last minute and just makes that the whole movie. While Spielberg tried (and failed) to top the bar with The Lost World, Jurassic Park III simply embraces it’s own cheese and camp value to make for a fun B-movie. It never tries to pretend it’s overly smart and having something meaningful to say, it just wants to have some dumb, shlocky fun and for the most part it’s succeeds. It’s also nice to have Sam Neill back as Dr. Alan Grant in this as well. There’s plenty you can complain about in terms of the rushed script and ridiculous moments but Jurassic Park III has Johnston basically does what he can in the best of a clearly unwinnable situation.
1.) Jurassic Park
Was there ever any doubt? I don’t know how many times I have to say it but the original Jurassic Park main advantage it has than any of the sequels is how being the first of it’s kind was complete lightning in a bottle that could just never be replicated again. Seeing the amazement of an actual possible theme park of dinosaur creatures can never be done as good as it was the first time around.
The action sequences are all incredible, with the main highlights being the whole T Rex chase scene. The characters, while mostly simplistic, are all real likable and well developed throughout. The actors fit their roles like a glove. The dinosaur effects still hold up very well in 2025! And, who doesn’t get at least a little misty eyed when they hear that beyond beautiful theme by John Williams. There is just not a single part where Jurassic Park falters.
Sure, you can make an argument that it’s simply blockbuster popcorn entertainment but there has arguably not been blockbuster popcorn entertainment quite as impactful as this movie. The fact this was made by the same man who released this and Schindler’s List in the exact same year says it all what an absolute miracle the original Jurassic Park is. It became an instant classic when it came out in 1993 and still remains a classic over 32 years later!
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