Jurassic Park Movies Ranked From Best to Worst

Plot: 32 years after modern-day scientists brought dinosaurs back from the dead, these prehistoric creatures are now facing a second extinction: The public is burned out on dino content, and dinos themselves are still struggling to find their place in the planet's ecosystem. That's the vibe we start with when a pharmaceutical company represented by Martin Krebs (Rupert Friend) decides to fund a expedition to one of the few islands where dinosaurs are thriving, in order to accumulate a few DNA samples that could lead to huge advances in heart disease treatment. Would you be shocked to learn that this expedition doesn't quite go according to plan?

Best Quote:

"Did you tell him about the zeroes?"
— Zora Bennett

This line comes from early in the film, as Krebs recruits slightly naive paleontologist Henry Loomis (Jonathan Bailey) for their mission. (Zora's already gotten Krebs's sales pitch, which featured the promise of a very hefty paycheck.) The expedition being a dangerous one, Henry's the only scientist invited to visit Ile Saint-Hubert, with Krebs otherwise hiring "retrieval specialists" (aka mercenaries) for it. Mercenaries are a proud part of the Jurassic franchise tradition, going back to The Lost World, but it's the first time they're the actual protagonists of a Jurassic movie.

And while there's a noble element to this mission — heart disease being an exceptionally common cause of death for humanity — the benefit of this choice by writer David Koepp is that it's explicitly clear why a bunch of presumably sane adults would willingly go to a dangerous dinosaur island. People will do a whole lot of things, for the right amount of zeroes.

Which Children Are In Danger? Zora and her team might be in it for the money/saving humanity, but they're not the only ones who find themselves on Ile Saint-Hubert, after nice dad Reuben (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), his two daughters Teresa (Luna Blaise) and Isabella (Audrina Miranda), and his eldest daughter's slacker boyfriend Xavier (David Iacono) get caught up by the team's mission. These characters don't exactly add too much to the movie's plot overall, but the presence of Isabella does satisfy the Jurassic need for juvenile terror. (And there's some very cute stuff involving her and a baby dino.)

Naviphobiacs, Beware: Boats play as significant a role in Rebirth as jeeps do in the first Jurassic Park — which is to say there are many of them, and at least one of them is responsible for inflicting some significant childhood trauma. One of the movie's best sequences, in fact, involves an inflatable life raft that thankfully holds up remarkably well under extreme circumstances. It's exciting to watch, without question, unless you're harboring a real fear of boats and other aquatic vehicles.

Who Most Deserves to Be Eaten By a Dinosaur? If you guessed that the guy who works for a big corporation and is willing to pay millions of dollars for a dino island expedition might also be the movie's primary villain, congrats on having seen more than one movie in your life. At first, Krebs seems like he might be a little morally bankrupt — and then he reveals himself to be a lot morally bankrupt, going so far as to let Teresa fall overboard into dino-infested waters to preserve the secrecy of the mission. Not a great guy! (Full points to Rupert Friend's performance, as he really understands the assignment.)

Does He Get Eaten by a Dinosaur? After that whole leaving-her-to-die business, Teresa is out for blood (and honestly, good for her). However, the movie's most horrific (or beautiful?) creation instead handles the movie's most horrific villain: The Distortus rex, ominously introduced in the movie's prologue, shows up at the end to swoop Krebs up and bite into him like a Snickers bar. (Can't imagine why that specific brand of candy came to mind.)

After that first big bite, of course, the case containing those hard-earned genetic samples crashes to the ground, still clenched in Krebs' hand — a fun visual gag, though it's a little disappointing that the movie pulled back on the gruesome opportunity to have the arm remain attached to the briefcase, via the handcuffs Krebs put on earlier... Okay, maybe that would have been a little much.

MVD (Most Valuable Dinosaur): Most of the other dinosaurs on this list get featured for their terrifying human-eating qualities. But the Titanosaurus herd encountered in Rebirth offers one of the movie's few moments of real awe. Also, they just look really cool, with their whip-like tails and long graceful bodies. Hopefully they weren't too bothered by the annoying humans taking samples while they were... necking. (Get it? Do you get it?)

Stupidest Human Decision: One of the qualities that earned Rebirth its spot on this list is the fact that the humans involved tend to make comparatively smart decisions (at least compared to the movies lower down). Really, the biggest one that comes to mind is sailing enthusiast Reuben's choice to bring his daughter's annoying boyfriend along on their epic sailing trip. It's nice that Reuben wanted to keep his daughter happy, but any sane person's first reaction to Xavier's introduction is "oh my god, throw him overboard already." And that's before any dinosaurs show up!

The Verdict: Rebirth frees itself from all the trappings of the past by deliberately eschewing all legacy characters (except for a casual namedrop of Alan Grant and the InGen logo). But while the fresh playing ground created by that decision does work to the movies's advantage, that's not the sole reason why it deserves its placement as the second-best Jurassic movie to date.

The credit for that really goes to writer David Koepp, who returns after having written the first two Jurassic movies, and manages to keep the stakes grounded and relatable, but still big enough to generate excitement. As mentioned in our review, Jurassic movies work best as survival tales, and while it takes a bit of time to get to the dinosaur island, once there the movie really starts to cook. It's not a Best Movies of 2025 contender, but the cast really comes to play, and Gareth Edwards does a nice job of bringing his love of flares to the dino action. In the franchise game, "solid" can be a real achievement.

Stream Jurassic World Rebirth now on Peacock or on VOD via Apple TV+ and and Amazon.

Plot: In the aftermath of his fateful trip to Isla Nublar years before, Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) is still working hard to keep his own, fossil-based research into dinosaurs going — which is the only reason why he agrees to take a supposedly rich couple (William H. Macy and Téa Leoni) for a flyover over Site B, a.k.a Isla Sorna, where dinosaurs still roam after the events of The Lost World.

Turns out the Kirbys were lying to Alan a whole bunch — instead of being rich tourists obsessed with extreme vacations, they're actually a divorced middle-class couple whose pre-teen son went missing on Isla Sorna two months ago, something Alan only learns after their plane lands on the island. From there, it's a game of survival as their small team simultaneously tries to find a way off the island (that plane doesn't last long) and also find the Kirbys' son, Erik. (Since they're already there and all.)

Best Quote:

"I read both of your books. I liked the first one more. Before you were on the island. You liked dinosaurs back then."
"Back then, they hadn't tried to eat me yet."
— Erik Kirby and Dr. Alan Grant

One of the strongest aspects of Jurassic Park III is how it's centered around Alan's experience as someone who knows full well how scary it is to be on a dinosaur island, which leads to him making common sense declarations like the above. Yes, it does change your perspective on dinosaurs, if at one point you nearly got eaten by them! Yeah, Alan initially agrees to help the Kirbys a little too easily given his previous declaration that "No force on earth or heaven could get me on that island." But at least he has a grounded perspective on this whole scenario.

"If I Could Talk to the Dinosaurs...": The big innovation that Jurassic Park 3 introduces to the canon (one which was perhaps aggressively mocked at the time of its release) was the idea that one could use a replica velociraptor larynx to replicate raptor vocalizations — and maybe even communicate with them? It's a kinda silly idea, though the whole concept of talking velociraptors did give us this dream sequence, which is... something.

Which Children Are In Danger? The entire plot of the film hinges on the rescue of Erik, who basically plays like a slightly older version of Tim from the first installment, the extra years enabling him to be smart and savvy enough in the ways of dinosaurs to avoid being eaten. The kid certainly isn't all that annoying (especially in comparison to other characters to come on this list), though he lacks much opportunity to be annoying, given his limited screen time.

Who Most Deserves to Be Eaten By a Dinosaur? The Kirbys are idiots who get a few people killed, but probably the biggest disappointment comes when Alan's research assistant Billy (Alessandro Nivola) decides to steal some raptor eggs. Billy, you study this shit for a living, you didn't think that the mama velociraptor would have a problem with that?

Does He Get Eaten by a Dinosaur? After deservedly getting shamed by Alan for stealing the eggs, Billy embarks on what looks like a suicide mission to save the kid — but at the very end, somehow survives to be rescued. (Perhaps so he might appear in another sequel? Alas, it was not to be.)

MVD (Most Valuable Dinosaur): The raptors have their moments in this film, and the Spinosaurus is central to the action as well, but really the pteranodons stand out as the most memorable. The concept of death from above really takes on a new dimension here.

Stupidest Human Decision: Look, if nothing else Jurassic Park 3 offers up a convincing argument that you should never bring amateurs along on a trip to a dinosaur island, but of all the boneheaded choices made by the Kirbys, here's the biggest — they got mixed up as to which of the two existing dinosaur islands Dr. Grant had been to! They literally targeted him because they thought he had gone to Isla Sorna, not Isla Nublar, but at this point in the franchise there are only two dinosaur islands, people! This shouldn't be hard!

The Verdict: There's a solid case to be made for Jurassic Park III being the closest in quality to the first film, and that's certainly a big factor in it receiving the number two slot here. But while it's certainly the tightest and most focused of the sequels, its comparative lack of scope doesn't help it feel as significant to the overall narrative. If all you look for from a Jurassic film is good dino action, III is exactly what you want. It's a shame that it feels a little too direct-to-video in its approach.

Stream Jurassic Park III now on Peacock or on VOD via Apple TV+ and and Amazon.

Plot: We're not going back to the island — we're heading to a whole different island! Specifically, this is the film that introduces Isla Sorna, A.K.A. Site B, which has become a place where dinos just roam free since the Isla Nublar incident. Going there doesn't sound like a great idea to Dr. Ian Malcolm, until John Hammond asks him to join an expedition meant to peacefully document this new dinosaur ecosystem — an expedition that just so happens to include Ian's paleontologist girlfriend Sarah (Julianne Moore).

As is the way with a Jurassic film, things start going wrong quickly once Ian is on the island, thanks to another expedition spearheaded by Hammond's nephew Ludlow (Arliss Howard) which has a different objective: Capture the dinosaurs and bring them back to the mainland.

After a lot of dying and screaming, eventually Ludlow does manage to bring a T. Rex back to San Diego.

It does not go well for him. Or for San Diego.

Best Quote:

"Now you're John Hammond."
— Dr. Ian Malcolm

After you watch all the Jurassic movies in a short period of time, it's easy to get nostalgic for Grandpa Genetics Wizard, but this line is a very necessary and pointed reminder that John Hammond, as cuddly as Attenborough might make him seem on screen, got a lot of people killed for his own purposes — perhaps altruistic purposes on some level, but probably not worth the murder and mayhem.

Oh Hi, Vince Vaughn: A relatively young and fresh future comedy star gets a lot more of the spotlight than you'd expect, given that theoretically Jeff Goldblum is this film's official lead. But you can see why Spielberg gave Vaughn such a showcase here, as the character adds some spice to the ensemble. Also, shout out to Moore, who holds her own as well as Laura Dern amongst all the dino-related chaos, and a beard-less Richard Schiff!

Which Children Are In Danger? Lex and Tim make a quick cameo at the beginning of the film to reconfirm their survival, but they're otherwise excused from the real dino peril experienced by Ian's stowaway daughter Kelly (Vanessa Lee Chester). Kelly's presence in this film serves largely to check off the "must put a child in serious peril" requirement of all Jurassic films, and honestly, given how poorly received her infamous gymnastics attack against a velociraptor was, perhaps this character would have been better off being left out of the mix.

Who Most Deserves to Be Eaten By a Dinosaur? The second team sent to Isla Sorna contains a few truly asshole-y assholes, and it's honestly a dead heat for worst between Roland Tembo (Pete Postlethwaite) and Dieter (Peter Stormare). But while Dieter does enjoy casually torturing the very cute Compys (who later get their revenge), Roland ultimately wins this award for his insistence on hunting not just any T. Rex, but a male T. Rex, "a buck." Ellie Sattler would have left him for the raptors with a song in her heart, after hearing him say that.

Does He Get Eaten by a Dinosaur? Actually, no! After his partner Ajay (Harvey Jason) gets killed by the velociraptors, Roland basically nopes out of the rest of the movie, saying that he's "spent enough time in the company of death." Really not sure what purpose his character served.

MVD (Most Valuable Dinosaur): While we gave the noble velociraptor this prize for Jurassic Park, the T. Rex really gets a chance to shine in this film. "Mommy's very angry," indeed.

Stupidest Human Decision: Oh jeez, just take every single thing that Ludlow does over the course of this movie and lump it all together here. But his decision to hold a late-night press conference on the San Diego docks without actually getting the T. Rex secured on land first probably reigns supreme.

The Verdict: It was a real battle for the number two slot on this list between Lost World and JP III, as some of the action set-pieces of Lost World rival the original film for their inventiveness (including the still-incredible sequence featuring a large trailer, a baby T. Rex, and a slowly cracking pane of glass). But there are massive tonal issues with the third act rampage through San Diego, and while the gymnastics scene isn't as bad as you might remember, it's still a pretty jarring misstep from a director like Spielberg. A bad Spielberg movie is still better than 90 percent of the movies out there. But that doesn't make it good.

Stream The Lost World: Jurassic Park now on Peacock or on VOD via Apple TV+ and Amazon.

Plot: Years after things went horribly awry with the first Jurassic Park, InGen is back at it, having opened a fully operational new park on Isla Nublar packed with dinosaurs. Making their first trip to the park are Zach (Nick Robinson) and Gray (Ty Simpkins), the nephews of operations manager Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), who's currently a bit distracted managing park operations. For one thing, there's InGen's newest creation to contend with — a massive new dinosaur known as Indominus rex. When the original genetic creation manages to escape from his compound, a cascading series of disasters end up killing a lot of people, leading to the eventual closing of Jurassic World.

Best Quote:

"Nothing in Jurassic World is natural. We have always filled gaps in the genome with the DNA of other animals. And if the genetic code was pure, many of them would look quite different. But you didn't ask for reality, you asked for more teeth."
— Dr. Henry Wu

This is a sentiment also echoed by Alan Grant in Jurassic Park III — the idea that these "genetically engineered theme park monsters" do not represent actual dinosaurs as they originally existed billions of years ago. It's a complicated existential question that all of these films grapple with to some degree, but Dr. Wu's observation also serves as a meta-commentary on the franchise as it exists today: Most people don't buy tickets for these films for a nuanced discussion of science and technology's role in shaping our world. They buy tickets because they want to see some damn dinos.

Burt Macklin, Dinosaur Wrangler: Google search that phrase and you'll find that it's been around for a while, riffing a bit created by Chris Pratt's character on Parks and Recreation, who would often switch into "Burt Macklin" mode whenever he wanted to unleash his inner action movie star. The problem with Pratt's performance here is that it's basically indistinguishable from the parody he himself originated; while his MCU work manages to lean into the parody aspect a bit more, it's just jarring to see him attempt to pull off the same persona with no sense of irony.

Which Children Are In Danger? Dear divorcing parents of the world, there are other things you can do with your kids besides ship them off to dangerous theme parks filled with dinosaurs! And yet, Gray and Zach's parents seem not to have gotten that memo. Zach kind of hard-core sucks, as so many on-screen teenagers often do, and Gray's character would be cute if the precocious dial wasn't dialed up to 11. This is their only appearance in the Jurassic films to date, and that is just fine.

Who Most Deserves to Be Eaten By a Dinosaur? While Vincent D'Onofrio in villain mode does have a blast chewing scenery and Zach embodies all the worst cliches of horny teenager-dom, the extreme hubris of Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan) proves to be as dangerous as it is misguided. Simon is a very recognizable breed of today's tech mogul: Supremely confident in his choices and abilities, and ultimately wrong to be that way, especially when it comes to one key issue — being able to pilot a helicopter.

Does He Get Eaten by a Dinosaur? Nope, it's the helicopter crash that kills him. Which is fitting in its own way.

MVD (Most Valuable Dinosaur): Jurassic World introduces us to Blue, the franchise's most intelligent dino to date and arguably the most sympathetic protagonist of the three World films. To quote a very different Vince Vaughn-starring franchise — you're our girl, Blue!

Stupidest Human Decision: Going to get meta with this one... why did Trevorrow cast genuinely funny people like Pratt, Jake Johnston, and Lauren Lapkus and then ensure that they were rarely ever actually funny on screen? All of the World films are relatively humorless, but for this one in particular, it feels like a massive missed opportunity.

The Verdict: For films that are in many ways so similar, there's something strange about how much more epic Jurassic Park feels in comparison to Jurassic World, even though both films take place within the same geographic confines and World does include plenty of dino action.

Maybe it comes down to the lack of John Hammond and his vision here — instead of wistful speeches about wanting to bring children some real joy, we have corporations buying the naming rights to genetically designed super-sauruses. It's not as cynical as at least one other film on this list, but in revealing the final product of Hammond's dream — a theme park devoted entirely to dinosaurs — it makes us realize what a dangerous and ultimately destructive dream this whole endeavor actually was.

Stream Jurassic World now on Peacock or on VOD via Apple TV+ and Amazon.

Plot: Meant to bring the Jurassic franchise full circle, Dominion spotlights the most notorious and feared creatures of the prehistoric era... locusts. Seriously, the movie's plot focuses on how newly emerging giant locusts (which are only interested in consuming crops not designed by the biotech firm Biosyn) could be about to start a global food crisis — something which Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) is determined to stop, with some help from her old friends Dr. Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) and Dr. Grant (Sam Neill).

While the original Park trio head to the Biosyn headquarters in the mountains of Italy, Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen (Chris Pratt) have their own reasons to go there, as their adopted daughter Maisie (the clone girl introduced in Fallen Kingdom) and Blue the velociraptor's baby Beta, have both been kidnapped by mercenaries working for Biosyn — specifically for the purposes of Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong), who hopes to use their DNA to secretly stop the locusts. Presuming, of course, anyone survives the dinos roaming in the BioSyn sanctuary, which like all attempts to contain dinosaurs is just one security breach away from breaking down...

Best Quote:

"Damn, that felt good."
— Dr. Ellie Sattler

Getting to watch Ellie get her ya-yas out? Perhaps the actual high point of the film.

Okay, The Kissing Was Also Good: The second Ellie tells Alan that she and her husband Mark have gotten divorced, you can guess where this is going to go, but that doesn't make it any less satisfying to finally see the two close friends (who were clearly fuckbuddies for a long time, pre-Ellie's marriage) reconnect.

Which Children Are In Danger? Maisie Lockwood, previously introduced in Fallen Kingdom, is now a proper teenager, aggravating in all the cliched ways of movie teenagers. More importantly, she can't beat Blue's baby for cuteness — Owen's mission to protect the dinosaur known as Beta at all costs is perhaps the most likable Pratt gets in these movies.

Who Most Deserves to Be Eaten By a Dinosaur? Campbell Scott is an actor capable of great nuance and wit, but as Dr. Dodgson, head of Biosyn (yes, we've got Dodgson here!), he's in pure evil billionaire mode. Not only is the character a clear baddie, but he's a shallow one, given no opportunity to explain his motivations beyond making money, let alone how he finally got his hands on that damn can of Barbasol. (Though the answer to that question apparently lies in the animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, should you care.)

Does He Get Eaten by a Dinosaur? He's practically the only one who does! Okay, there's the guy in the bazaar who gets his arms eaten off, but for a Jurassic movie that features perhaps the franchise's largest cast to date, Dodgson gets the most significant death, via the return of Nedry's least-favorite dinosaurs, the Dilophosaurus.

MVD (Most Valuable Dinosaur): Give the prize to the aforementioned Dilophosaurus, even though the film's final battle between a T. Rex and two other heavy-hitters does feature strong dino-focused action.

Stupidest Human Decision: Okay, this is a small thing, but it still proves annoying in retrospect — hey, Claire and Owen, if you don't want your adopted daughter leaving the safety of your cabin in the woods, why did you get her a bicycle?

The Verdict: Critics are currently feasting on the bones of this film, and it's definitely not great. But the sad truth of the matter is, Dominion is far more watchable than the last film on this list — if only by virtue of the original cast's involvement. Not saying that the whole movie is worth it just for the opportunity to see Laura Dern beat the shit out of a swarm of giant locusts... but not not saying that, either.

Stream Jurassic World: Dominion now on Peacock or on VOD via Apple TV+ and Amazon.

Plot: Following the events of Jurassic World, Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) has left InGen to start a new organization devoted to helping dinosaurs, but she gets asked to go back to Isla Nublar by Hammond's old partner Benjamin Lockwood (James Cromwell) and Lockwood's aide Eli (Rafe Spall) to help rescue those dinos still on the island from a looming volcanic eruption (as she's apparently the only one who can reactivate the island's tracking system). Guess what, though — while she brings along a few loyal friends, the mercenaries who also accompanied them on this mission have their own objective: to bring the dinos back to the Lockwood estate, to be sold off as weapons on the black market. It's so hard to find a non-evil mercenary these days!

Also, there's a little girl living at the Lockwood estate who turns out to be the cloned granddaughter of Lockwood. When Claire and Owen (Chris Pratt) face the decision to let all the captured dinosaurs be killed by a failsafe measure or release them into the wild, it's actually Maisie who hits the button, as she is Team Clones of all species. It's nice that most of the dinos live, though as we learn in Dominion, there are some pretty big repercussions.

Best Quote:

"Nervous flyer?"
"Would you ride a thousand-pound horse with big wheels on the sides?"
"I rode a motorcycle through the jungle with a pack of raptors."
"We're not compatible."
— Owen Grady and Franklin Webb

Yes, it's an excuse for Chris Pratt to remind us that he is the Biggest Baddest Boy, but bless Justice Smith for doing his best with the thankless role of Franklin. Franklin at least has a very sensible position on matters like going to an island filled with dinosaurs when the island also happens to be on fire.

That Poor Bronto: Fallen Kingdom's depiction of an abandoned brontosaurus on the beach of Isla Nublar, moaning in terror and pain as the sky rains down death, was controversial at the time of release, though has been commended in some circles for the way it doesn't pull punches and has a real emotional impact on the viewer.

Here's the problem with it: The movie wields it as a sledgehammer of emotion for really no point whatsoever, beyond establishing that evacuating all the dinosaurs off the island was a good idea. While staged very effectively by Bayona, it simply serves no narrative function — it's cruelty for the sake of cruelty, while also highlighting just how emotionally dead the rest of the film feels.

Which Children Are In Danger? For so much of this film, it seems like Fallen Kingdom will break with tradition and only scar adults for life — but then comes Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon) to run from the dinosaurs and also, ultimately, rescue them.

Who Most Deserves to Be Eaten By a Dinosaur? Oh lord, take your pick, as in the aforementioned grand tradition of Jurassic movies, there are a bunch of asshole mercenaries and some of them do get scarfed. That said, Eli's heel turn happens so abruptly that his characterization becomes complete nonsense — yet another rich asshole foiled by his desire to get even more rich.

Does He Get Eaten by a Dinosaur? Oh hell yeah he does. By a T. Rex, specifically.

MVD (Most Valuable Dinosaur): Going to give that poor brontosaurus this award, if only because its sacrifice could be said to be the darkest yet also most apt metaphor for this franchise: A once noble and majestic creature, suffocated to death.

Stupidest Human Decision: At this point, anyone in a Jurassic film should really know better than to go anywhere with mercenaries. But also, the decision to create super-dinos for combat in the first place? Oh, and the fact that Claire and Owen leave the button that will save the dinos unattended, allowing Maisie to ultimately rescue them despite the obvious dangers?

The Verdict: It's genuinely hard to find any redeeming value in Fallen Kingdom, a grim and mean and cynical entry that has some big interesting ideas (theoretically, the concept of a dino auction is an intriguing one) but has too many massive structural issues, logic issues, and character issues to prove engaging. None of the World movies are particularly great. But this was the nadir for the franchise. Dominion is getting beat up pretty good right now for its failings, but it's memories of Fallen Kingdom that make us grateful that the franchise has come to an end.

Though, of course, never say never ever — when it comes to long-extinct species, or billion-dollar box offices. Where the franchise goes after Rebirth is unclear, but it's a clear sign that these movies aren't going anywhere.

Stream Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom now on Peacock or on VOD via Apple TV+ and Amazon.