A Look Back at the “Jurassic Park” Trilogy
- Matt Palmer
- Jul 7, 2025
- 5 min read
The “Jurassic” franchise makes another return on the big screen with “Jurassic World: Rebirth,” which I plan on checking out for the July 16th edition. So, to get in the mood for more dinosaur fun, I wanted to go through the series - starting with the “Jurassic Park” trilogy.
In the 1993 classic “Jurassic Park,” paleontologists Alan Grant and Ellie Sattler and mathematician Ian Malcolm are among a select group chosen to tour an island theme park populated by dinosaurs created from prehistoric DNA.
While the park’s mastermind, billionaire John Hammond, assures everyone that the facility is safe, they find out otherwise when various ferocious predators break free and go on the hunt.
No matter how many times you watch it, “Jurassic Park” is still an amazing classic. The action scenes are still heart-pounding and the film’s CGI use of the dinosaurs are actually way better than some of the CGI that’s used today.
The 1993 film has many moments that are really memorable and/or intense, such as the now iconic “Welcome to Jurassic Park” scene, the heart-pounding T-Rex escape and the visually incredible dino stampede that Alan Grant and the children get caught in. And, I still feel that the scene where Grant, Settler and Malcolm see the Brachiosaurus for the first time is still truly awe-inspiring.
In the 1997 sequel “The Lost World,” John Hammon, the entrepreneur who genetically
engineered the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, has revealed that there are more cloned dinosaurs on another island location.
Researchers arrive to observe them in their natural habitat, but hot on their heels is a band of mercenaries intent on capturing the dinosaurs and transporting them to another habitat.
Even though “The Last World: Jurassic Park” does have some thrilling sequences, it’s not nearly as great as the first film. This sequel does increase the number of dinosaur scenes, which is great and also visually incredible to look at. There are also times that some scenes can be slightly darker than the original film, such as the memorable T-Rex attack on the trailer, that gives this sequel a slight edge to it.
There are some aspects of the film that do seem a little uneven and feels a little rushed, especially towards the conclusion. And the infamous San Diego sequence where the T-Rex is unleashed in San Diego can be fun to watch, yet it does feel out of place.
Now it’s time to talk about 2001s “Jurassic Park III,” which received a divisive reaction among fans and critics. After begging persuaded by a wealthy businessman to conduct an aerial tour of Isla Sorna, InGen’s second site for a failed Jurassic Park experiment, Dr. Alan Grant discovers the true reason for his invitation.
A tragic accident maroons the party of seven, and they must attempt to escape with their lives.
While the third entry of the “Jurassic Park” trilogy does have a few fun moments here and there, the quality of this installment isn’t nearly as great as the first two films. Some of the dinosaur action can be entertaining, yet the plot for “Jurassic Park III” just lacked the wonder and awe that the first film and a bit of the second film had.
Despite the lacking story, there are a few fun memorable moments, such as when the Spinosaurus attacks their plan as the main characters are getting to the island and when the same dinosaur attacks their boat later in the film. Another intense stand out scene is where the Spinosaurus attacks the T-Rex. Let’s just say the Spinosaurus wasn’t the one to mess with in this sequel.
In the next edition, I will be having a review for both the “Jurassic World” trilogy and the latest in the series, “Jurassic World: Rebirth.”
Interest in paleontology waned during the Atomic Age and Space Race, but according to Dr. Nate Smith of the Natural History Museum's Dinosaur Institute, "Jurassic Park coming out generated a bunch of interest amongst young people that wanted to become paleontologists and get into the field." As a result, numerous new dinosaur species have been discovered since then, at roughly the rate of 50 new discoveries per year, or about one per week.
When Hurricane Iniki hit, the cast and crew were all required to move into the ballroom of the hotel in which they were staying. Sir Richard Attenborough, however, stayed in his hotel room and slept through the entire event. When asked how he could possibly have done this, Attenborough replied, "My dear boy, I survived the blitz!"
The guests' encounter with the sick Triceratops ends without any clear explanation as to why the animal is sick. Michael Crichton's original novel and the screenplay, however, include an explanation: the Stegosaurus/Triceratops lacked suitable teeth for grinding food, and so, like birds, would swallow rocks and use them as gizzard stones. In the digestive tract, these rocks would grind the food to aid in digestion. After six weeks, the rocks would become too smooth to be useful, and the animal would regurgitate them. When finding and eating new rocks to use, the animal would also swallow West Indian Lilac berries. The fact that the berries and stones are regurgitated explains why Ellie never finds traces of them in the animal's excrement.
Universal Pictures paid Michael Crichton $2 million for the rights to his novel before it was even published.
The crew had to have safety meetings about the T. Rex. It weighed 12,000 pounds, and was extremely powerful. They used flashing lights to announce when it was about to come on, to alert the crew, because if you stood next to it and the head went by at speed, it felt like a bus going by.
The vocalizations for the juvenile tyrannosaurus were of a baby camel crying for its mother.
The title of the novel was simply "The Lost World", with the cover showing the familiar Jurassic Park logo to establish it as a sequel. However, the studio feared that the public might confuse it with the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle classic of the same title (the title and many plot elements were indeed deliberate references by Michael Crichton), and originally considered naming this movie "The Lost Island". In the end, the novel's title was kept, but "Jurassic Park" was appended to solidify the sequel connection.
After the twin hits of Jurassic Park (1993) and Schindler's List (1993), Steven Spielberg took a rare sabbatical, and didn't return to the director's chair until this movie.
Joe Johnston lobbied for the director's job, but schedule problems during the post-production of Jumanji (1995) forced him out. Steven Spielberg was also adamant to direct this sequel himself, promising Johnston the director's chair for the third movie, which he directed.
There is roughly fifty percent more dinosaur action in this movie than in Jurassic Park (1993).
A few of the action sequences are borrowed from left over ideas from the first two Jurassic Park movies, some of which were in the original scripts and made it as far as being storyboarded before they were scrapped due to time and budget constraints. These scenes include the pteranodon and river boat sequences.
Michael Crichton worked with the screenwriters several days to brainstorm about a story, but left after several days when he could not come up with a satisfactory idea.
Steven Spielberg initially devised a story idea which involved Dr. Alan Grant living on one of InGen's islands to study dinosaurs. Because he was not allowed in for research, he was living in a tree like Robinson Crusoe. However, Johnston rejected the idea because he couldn't imagine Dr. Grant returning to any island inhabited by dinosaurs after the events of the first movie.
Shooting began before the final script was completed.
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