Ranking The Jurassic Park Films
Well, now that I've seen Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, this is as good a time as any to rank the entire series from best to worst. Will Jurassic Park get knocked out of the top spot? How does Fallen Kingdom stack up? Let's find out!
#1 Jurassic Park (1993)
Ok, so this one was pretty obvious. Nothing came close to beating the original film. Jurassic Park is pretty damn close to being a perfect move. It has easily the best characters and the best incarnations of both Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). Malcolm is a treat every time he is on screen and Grant has a fantastic character arc. Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joseph Mazzello) are easily the best kids in the series and the rest of the cast is great also. Everyone has a part to play and something to contribute to the story. Almost every scene is iconic in some way. It really is a masterpiece and one of my all-time favorite films. There is no doubt that Jurassic Park is the best in the series.
10/10: Amazing
#2 Jurassic World (2015)
Jurassic World takes second place on this list because it feels like the most necessary sequel. It tackles the question "What would happen if the park was open to the public when the dinosaurs broke out?" and it executes on this premise very well. It's awesome to see the park in action, with all the various attractions, and then when the animals get loose and chaos descends on the park, it gets even more exciting. Chris Pratt is a lot of fun. I was worried about his taming the velociraptors storyline, but it was pretty well done. The raptors still felt dangerous and not like pets. I know some people don't like Zara's (Katie McGrath) death scene, and, I will admit, it is mean spirited, but I still get a kick out of it. All-in-all, I enjoy Jurassic World and it was exactly what I hoped it would be, except for those two brothers...they could have gotten eaten at any time and I would have been fine with it.
8/10: Really Good
#3 The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
The Lost World actually jumped up a spot on my most recent rewatch of this series. The Lost World does have an argument for being a necessary movie asking "What happens if the dinosaurs get off the island?" It does not perfectly execute on it's premise, but the San Diego scene are amusing, if not particularly great. The Lost World also has a solid cast. Whoever had the idea of making Ian Malcolm the protagonist was a genius. He's not quite as amazing as he was in the first movie, but I will never turn down having Jeff Goldblum in a movie. The rest of the supporting cast is solid as well, for the most part (Roland and Ajay's friendship was poorly developed). The gymnastics scene is pretty awful, but on the flip side, Eddie's death is the saddest and also the best of the series in my opinion. I really can't get over how great that RV sequence is. Though flawed, The Lost World is a solid sequel that's a ton of fun to watch.
7/10: Good
#4 Jurassic Park III (2001)
I know a lot of people out there hate this movie, and while admit it's not a necessary movie and it doesn't really add anything to the series, I still enjoy it. It's great to have Sam Neill back and I'm always up for some William H. Macy, but the rest of the cast isn't very interesting and most of them die right away. In fact, all of the deaths in this movie happen in the first half, which I find interesting. JP III has a very simple story, but that doesn't bother me much. I like survival stories, so this hits a lot of the right buttons for me specifically. The action scenes are all pretty solid and I really liked the additions of the spinosaurus and the pteranodons. The cast is too small, there aren't enough deaths, and there are a few continuity errors that piss me off. This movie doesn't really have a point, and Dr. Grant doesn't really have an arc or change in any way, but I still enjoy watching it. I understand the complaints about this film, but for me, it's an inoffensive, entertaining sequel.
7/10: Good
#5 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Fallen Kingdom straight up sucks. The movie is filled with poor character decisions, overly cartoon-ish villains, paper thin characters, and flat humor. While the film does have a few cool action scenes and one very sad scene where a dinosaur is killed by a volcanic eruption, there are no other redeeming qualities in this mess of a film. The reason for the main characters going back to the island makes no sense, and maybe 25 percent of the film takes place on the island. That stuff is mostly fine, it's the off-island stuff that sucks. Once we got to the mansion setting, I just wanted the movie to end. I was so sick of the characters and their terrible choices that I wanted to walk out, which I've never done before. Add in the human-clone subplot and that dumb-ass ending, you've officially killed any excitement I had about a 6th film. I hated this movie and it's easily the worst of the series.
2/10: Horrendous
So, that's my ranking. What do you think? Am I right or am I an idiot? Any other Jurassic Park III defenders out there? I can't be the only one.
7/10: Good
#1 Jurassic Park (1993)
Ok, so this one was pretty obvious. Nothing came close to beating the original film. Jurassic Park is pretty damn close to being a perfect move. It has easily the best characters and the best incarnations of both Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). Malcolm is a treat every time he is on screen and Grant has a fantastic character arc. Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joseph Mazzello) are easily the best kids in the series and the rest of the cast is great also. Everyone has a part to play and something to contribute to the story. Almost every scene is iconic in some way. It really is a masterpiece and one of my all-time favorite films. There is no doubt that Jurassic Park is the best in the series.
10/10: Amazing
#2 Jurassic World (2015)
Jurassic World takes second place on this list because it feels like the most necessary sequel. It tackles the question "What would happen if the park was open to the public when the dinosaurs broke out?" and it executes on this premise very well. It's awesome to see the park in action, with all the various attractions, and then when the animals get loose and chaos descends on the park, it gets even more exciting. Chris Pratt is a lot of fun. I was worried about his taming the velociraptors storyline, but it was pretty well done. The raptors still felt dangerous and not like pets. I know some people don't like Zara's (Katie McGrath) death scene, and, I will admit, it is mean spirited, but I still get a kick out of it. All-in-all, I enjoy Jurassic World and it was exactly what I hoped it would be, except for those two brothers...they could have gotten eaten at any time and I would have been fine with it.
8/10: Really Good
#3 The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
The Lost World actually jumped up a spot on my most recent rewatch of this series. The Lost World does have an argument for being a necessary movie asking "What happens if the dinosaurs get off the island?" It does not perfectly execute on it's premise, but the San Diego scene are amusing, if not particularly great. The Lost World also has a solid cast. Whoever had the idea of making Ian Malcolm the protagonist was a genius. He's not quite as amazing as he was in the first movie, but I will never turn down having Jeff Goldblum in a movie. The rest of the supporting cast is solid as well, for the most part (Roland and Ajay's friendship was poorly developed). The gymnastics scene is pretty awful, but on the flip side, Eddie's death is the saddest and also the best of the series in my opinion. I really can't get over how great that RV sequence is. Though flawed, The Lost World is a solid sequel that's a ton of fun to watch.
7/10: Good
#4 Jurassic Park III (2001)
I know a lot of people out there hate this movie, and while admit it's not a necessary movie and it doesn't really add anything to the series, I still enjoy it. It's great to have Sam Neill back and I'm always up for some William H. Macy, but the rest of the cast isn't very interesting and most of them die right away. In fact, all of the deaths in this movie happen in the first half, which I find interesting. JP III has a very simple story, but that doesn't bother me much. I like survival stories, so this hits a lot of the right buttons for me specifically. The action scenes are all pretty solid and I really liked the additions of the spinosaurus and the pteranodons. The cast is too small, there aren't enough deaths, and there are a few continuity errors that piss me off. This movie doesn't really have a point, and Dr. Grant doesn't really have an arc or change in any way, but I still enjoy watching it. I understand the complaints about this film, but for me, it's an inoffensive, entertaining sequel.
7/10: Good
#5 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
Fallen Kingdom straight up sucks. The movie is filled with poor character decisions, overly cartoon-ish villains, paper thin characters, and flat humor. While the film does have a few cool action scenes and one very sad scene where a dinosaur is killed by a volcanic eruption, there are no other redeeming qualities in this mess of a film. The reason for the main characters going back to the island makes no sense, and maybe 25 percent of the film takes place on the island. That stuff is mostly fine, it's the off-island stuff that sucks. Once we got to the mansion setting, I just wanted the movie to end. I was so sick of the characters and their terrible choices that I wanted to walk out, which I've never done before. Add in the human-clone subplot and that dumb-ass ending, you've officially killed any excitement I had about a 6th film. I hated this movie and it's easily the worst of the series.
2/10: Horrendous
So, that's my ranking. What do you think? Am I right or am I an idiot? Any other Jurassic Park III defenders out there? I can't be the only one.
7/10: Good
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