We Ranked Every ‘Jurassic Park’ Movie, From All-Time Great to Extinction-Level Bad

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AT ITS CORE, Jurassic Park is such a good pitch for a movie that you almost forget how much extra talent, work, and effort it took to make it one of the very best blockbusters to ever be made in the 50 years they’ve been around.

On the surface, yes, it’s about a dinosaur theme park (good so far). But Steven Spielberg tapped into every interesting corner and contradiction of author Michael Crichton and co-writer David Koepp’s script. There’s a very human desire to witness and experience unknowable natural beauty, a satirical take on the commodification of wonder and science, and an old-fashioned adventure survival story baked into each of the seven Jurassic films, all of which is in service of the many, many dinosaurs–big, small, scary, quick, nasty, cute–that fill the franchise.

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The latest film, Jurassic World Rebirth, is candid about being a course-correct return to the simple, sparky formula of the 1993 classic–the project was only announced in January 2024, with blockbuster writing pro David Koepp returning to pen an installment that didn’t ignore the continuity of the recent Jurassic World trilogy, but did ignore everyone who appeared in it. With Gareth Edwards (Rogue One, Godzilla) in the director’s chair, Rebirth navigates the spotty legacy of the series, but how surprising is it, really, that no sequel has been as sharp, suspenseful, and heartfelt as the first film? Spielberg’s 1993 original is such a tough act to follow that every sequel and reboot has tried to strike a middle ground between replicating the original template and tweaking the tone, structure, and scope. Rebirth is the latest decent swing in a series that has, at varying times in its history, tried going darker, funnier, and more cynical–but is always, always loud.

To mark another blockbuster return to the dino island we just can’t leave well alone, here is every Jurassic Park movie, ranked.

Jurassic World Dominion (2022)

Our journey begins with the film that was so baffling and bloated that executives at Amblin (the production company behind the Jurassic series founded by Spielberg) panicked and greenlit a standalone sequel 18 months after it hit cinemas. Director Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) returns with his tail between his legs after being booted from Star Wars – Episode IX, and in his attempts to channel Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and ‘90s natural disaster movies, he made a 2.5 hour long Jurassic movie where the dinosaurs are largely incidental. This is an asinine choice for a film that begins with dinosaurs roaming freely among us after being set loose by a cloned girl at the end of the previous film (who, it turns out, is not actually a clone, but was immaculately conceived through genetic science). Even though the charisma-less pairing of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard is softened by the welcomed return of legacy characters–played by Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum–they have far more to do with a Tim Cook lookalike conspiring with super-locusts than any dinosaurs. Hands-down the least appealing or satisfying Jurassic Park film, but so strange and off-putting that it fascinates more than the other, better entries.

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Universal

Jurassic World (2015)

This nostalgia-baiting soft reboot ended the longest Jurassic drought since the series began (14 years!) and gave audiences the chance to see the dinosaur theme park finally open to the public–wouldn’t you know it, the dinosaurs don’t stay in their enclosures for very long. While a bunch of shareholders are probably off-screen scratching their heads, wondering why nobody warned them this was a bad idea, our ex-Navy Raptor wrangler Owen Grady (Pratt) jumps into action to stop a genetically altered Indominus Rex from killing his all-business crush Claire (Dallas Howard) and her two nephews (Ty Simpkins and Nick Robinson). Jurassic World correctly identifies all the supporting character types who belong in a jumbo-sized Jurassic reboot: an ambitious but short-sighted billionaire funder; a cartoonish warmonger plotting to sell dinos for profit; an overtalkative nerd in the control room. But Trevorrow, who before this had directed one 90 minute indie dramedy, doesn’t understand how to craft a suspenseful action film and too often his idea of macabre dino kills are just mean-spirited and violent. What felt like a flawed-but-fun romp through dino-dom on the big screen in 2015 deflates on rewatch–Jurassic World is a hollow upscaling of Jurassic Park that now feels purely smug and lame.

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Universal

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Almost the best of the Jurassic World trilogy by default—Spanish director J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage, The Impossible, A Monster Calls) has a sharper sense of making monsters dynamic and lends that to two big sequences in the film—the dino island decimated by a volcanic eruption and a blood-thirsty raptor let loose in a mansion filled with oligarchs. These moments bring some energy and panache to a trilogy sorely lacking in either. As much as it edges out the two Treverrow-directed films, Fallen Kingdom is also indicative of the core problems of the recent trilogy–the catchy premise (the dinosaur island will be destroyed by natural disaster) is pushed to the side for tired ethical discussions and ridiculous genetic meddling conspiracies. If nobody cares about making a throwback monster movie, why do they spend so much money on it? Fallen Kingdom and Dominion cost a combined total of $845 million–for that much, you could probably bring back dinosaurs for real.

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Universal

Jurassic World Rebirth (2025)

There was a lot riding on Rebirth being good, and in many respects it meets the brief: a Jurassic movie that is teeming with wild, ravenous dinosaurs, plenty of perilous mini-missions set in a range of biomes and locations, helmed by a director-for-hire who is, thankfully, obsessed with scale, effects, and monsters. We’ve got a bunch of likable actors–Scarlett Johansson, Mahershala Ali, Jonathan Bailey, a slimy Rupert Friend–who play desperate characters washed up on a new dino island shore alongside a stranded family who just want to get out of there in one piece. Even though the film comes alive during the action in a way that the World trilogy failed to achieve, the problem with Rebirth is how designed everything feels–the characterization is obligatory, the dialogue creaks with distracting snark, Spielbergian approval is drummed up with clear references to not just moments from Jurassic Park, but Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Rebirth doesn’t excite as a story, it doesn’t convince as a justification for keeping the franchise going, but it’s generous enough with dino danger that it’s worth an ill-advised visit back to the island.

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Universal

The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

If Jurassic Park came out a few years ago, they would not make a sequel as bleak and strange as The Lost World. Dr. Ian Malcolm (Goldblum) is the only returning cast member from the original (aside from cameos by Dr. Hammond and his grandkids), but he wants nothing to do with the big dinosaur island, only venturing out to Isla Sorna (aka “Site B”) because he wants to rescue his researcher ex-girlfriend (Julianne Moore) from dinosaur clutches. But a team of hunters, mercenaries and corporate developers are eager to disturb nature’s balance and capture prize specimens. The film is dark–the tone and the cinematography–and as hinted by the title, leans into the themes of classic monster and adventure stories like King Kong and 1960's The Lost World–namely, messing with nature is not just evil, it’s foolish too. The film is a lop-sided watch, committed to undermining the awe-inspiring fun of the first film before it ramps up the dinosaur action to a bizarre T-Rex rampage through San Diego. But these tonal and narrative swings only make Spielberg’s second and final Jurassic movie more interesting.

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Universal

Jurassic Park III (2001)

In a series with such an acclaimed and culturally dominant first entry, maybe the real victory is being the second best. That honor goes to Jurassic Park III, from director Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer, Captain America: The First Avenger), a lean, sharp, 90-minute monster movie that may look shabbier than Spielberg’s original, but the quick pace and economic storytelling makes it difficult to get bogged down in its weaker elements. This is the Alan Grant movie (this is also the “Alan Grant hallucinates a talking raptor” movie), where we learn the jaded and grouchy paleontologist (Neill) is not doing as well as his other Jurassic Park survivors–Ellie Sattler has a family of her own and Ian Malcolm has a successful book career–so he’s convinced to give an aerial tour to the wealthy Kirbys (William H. Macy, Téa Leoni) for a big paycheck. This, however, is a ruse to get Alan to help them find their 12-year-old son missing on Isla Sorna. Jurassic Park III has the vibe of a second-rate straight-to-DVD sequel, but in the hands of someone who knows nasty thrills, effects magic, and classic monster scares like Johnston–not to mention a haggard, bug-eyed thespian like Neill in front of the camera–the threequel soars.

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Universal

Jurassic Park (1993)

Is there any better proof of how terrific Jurassic Park is than the six sequels it’s received since 1993? Even as they try to define their own identity, they all honor the brilliance of the first film, whether it’s in dialogue or visual callbacks–not to mention the awestruck crescendo of the John Williams score. Spielberg’s film doesn’t thrill because of unearned spectacle (although the T-Rex breakout and the climactic raptor chase are still utterly delightful), but because it’s such a precisely engineered film: the moments of dumbfounded, childlike wonder are undercut by instant danger, and the most revealing dramatic moments are when characters have a split second to choose between saving their skin or protecting others. Everyone is at odds with one another, expressed in philosophical debates between scientists and capitalists, undervalued tech workers hating their superrich boss, or a guy who loves dinosaur bones getting riled up by the hot mathematician hitting on his dig partner. Jurassic Park is so good that it makes us want to keep going back to the park, even though the film tells us in no uncertain terms that we are idiots for wanting to do that.

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