I highly recommend watching all sixJurassic Parkmovies in order, any time of year -there’s silly fun to be had, but also some surprisingly important lessons to be learned. Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel, on which the 1993 Steven Spielberg movie is based, is a short, sharp burst of a dinosaur thriller with a message. Spielberg’s movie captured this spectacularly. The subsequentJurassic ParkandJurassic Worldmovieswere in the same vein as the original, offering action, adventure, and dinosaurs.
Jurassic Parkis one ofthe highest-grossing movie franchisesever, and it’s not hard to see why.Adding these six movies to a movie marathon itinerary is a crowd-pleaserpar excellence, from the 1993 original movie through to theJurassic Worldera. Crichton followed his novel up with the sequelThe Lost Worldin 1995, which was number one on the New York Times Best Seller list for eight weeks. Spielberg’s movie sequelThe Lost World: Jurassic Parkwas loosely based on this, forming a solid foundation for the non-adaptation movies in the franchise to follow.
Every Deleted Scene From 1993’s Jurassic Park Explained
Jurassic Park is known for its heart-stopping suspense and impressive animatronics. However, not every scene from the classic made the final cut.
10It’s Just About Possible To Watch All Jurassic Park Movies In A Day
A Movie Marathon Could Take 12 Hours
It isn’t always advised to spend a full 12 hours straight watching TV, but sometimes it is just what the doctor ordered. TheJurassic Parkreferences dropped by movies and TV showsalone are enough to create the legendary status of this series. However,watching them all in a row may take some planning, as I discovered, starting this movie marathon quite late in the day.
2h 7m
2h 9m
4h 16m
1h 32m
5h 48m
2h 4m
7h 52m
2h 8m
10h
2h 27m
12h 27m
WiththeJurassic World 4moviecurrently being planned, it’s as good a time as any to start getting through the impressive day’s worth of drama to be received from theJurassic Parkmovies. While most movies have a respectable running time,you may want to split the whole marathon in two to make it more manageable. Or, start in the morning and work your way through.
9DNA Can Be Extracted From Fossils
We Can Access Very Old DNA
We are able to extract insect DNA from fossilized amber, which is something I wouldn’t know if it wasn’t for theJurassic Parkmovies. Dominican amber, in particular, provides exciting possibilities. Rewatching the movies in order gave me a revitalized curiosity about the science ofJurassic Park’spremise, precipitating an enjoyable rabbit hole into the world of genetics.
TheJurassic Parksequence showing the animated molecule informs us, correctly, that we can work carefully to extract DNA from ancient sources. For example, fossil eggshell fragments can be powdered and subsequently processed and heated to release DNA from the calcite substance.Paleontologists and archeologists working today use diverse techniques to recover DNAfrom different types of fossils.
8Frankenstein & Jurassic Park Are Horror For The Same Reason
Body Horror Speaks To Our Deepest Fears
I remember that I felt a bit sick the first time I watched the originalJurassic ParkDNA explainer demo scene, suffering some dawning realization that I struggled to voice at the tender age of 5. This scared me more than the dinosaurs, but the combined effect of both resulted in what I still see as one of the horror genre’s best and most unique entries. Maybe this was my first experience of one of my favorite genres, body horror.
The fear at the heart of body horror is the mutative possibility in biology, the fear of the unknown biology of the other and the known biology of the self, and the despicable reckoning of which is worse.
Jurassic Parkmay not be immediately obvious as body horror, but it strikes fear for the same reasons that Mary Shelley’sFrankensteindid, along with its movie and TV adaptations. In a way,Mary Shelley’sFrankensteinprecipitatedJurassic Parkby embodying the fear of the mutated self. The fear at the heart of body horror is the mutative possibility in biology, the fear of the unknown biology of the other and the known biology of the self, and the despicable reckoning of which is worse.
Proof That Jurassic World 4 Must Be More Horror Than Action
Jurassic World 4 should embrace the horror elements that have always existed in the series, taking cues from the animated franchise tie-ins.
7Dinosaurs Regulated Their Body Temperature
Dinosaur Homeostasis Was Intriguing
One of the scientific facts I gleaned from watching theJurassic Parkmovies was thatdinosaurs regulated their body temperature through their bodiesand behavior in interesting ways. Animals alive today, including humans, regulate their body temperature in a number of ways. But if it weren’t for theJurassic Parkmovies, I would be missing some particular tidbits of biological trivia about dinosaur homeostasis.
Scarlett Johansson is set to lead the nextJurassic Parkmovie,Jurassic World 4.
The movies go into the Brachiosaurus and how it could get rid of excess body heatthrough its long neck and tail. While we’re a long way off from being able to prove this conclusively, there is good evidence to suggest that this is true. Likewise, velociraptor may well have generated heat through their metabolism. Despite numerous scientific inaccuracies, exploringdinosaurs in the originalJurassic Parktrilogyand beyond is a good gateway to understanding dinosaurs.
6The Risk Of Playing God
Humans Have Terrifying Power
Part of my fear watching the originalJurassic ParkDNA demo scene was founded on the deep-seated understanding that we have a truly horrible power to create and destroy, and what can seem like creation may well not be so clear-cut.Jurassic Parkis a cautionary tale about playing God, riffing on social fears around emergent genetic technology. While these fears shouldn’t discourage vital medical research, they hold science accountable for meddling in affairs that are out of our depth.
Watching the movies back, of course, comes with its fair share of scientific clarity. I now understand that despite being able to extract DNA from fossilized amber,the chance of being able to recover full dinosaur DNA from amber is slim. So the playing God that happens inJurassic Park, while terrifying, is at least not a real threat - for now.
5Jurassic Park Has Untapped Potential
Recent Movies Haven’t Scratched The Surface
Not the most important, but perhaps the most glaring of my realizations rewatching theJurassic Parkmovies was the huge lack of other dinosaur movies in the mainstream. Unless you’re six - or 36 - and want to watchThe Land Before Timeover and over again,dinosaur nerds are fairly restricted in the realms of cinema.Fantasiamust get a special mention as the animated dreamscape containing Jurassic beasts.
Numerous low-budget to medium-budget action movies recreated theJurassic Parkatmosphere. However, cinematic accomplishments on the scale of theJurassic Parkfranchise, with meaningful contributions to any kind of dialogue, are few and far between.The dinosaur genre is untapped, there are modern parables to be investigated around AI and body horror, and theJurassic Parkfranchise could get the budget and approvals. I long for the day this franchise starts using its power correctly.
Where To Watch Every Jurassic Park Movie
The Jurassic Park Movies have become one of the most beloved movie franchises of all time, and here are the places to stream, rent, and buy each film.
4The Importance Of Ethics In Technology
Just Because You Can, Doesn’t Mean You Should
This is one of the coldest realities of theJurassic Parkmovie and, to a certain extent, its sequel -unethical technology can be fatal.Jurassic Worldcaptured this to a certain extent as well, especially in its nostalgic T-Rex reveal. Rexy was always central to the horror ofJurassic Parkand its sequels, so this iconic beast hammered home the message.
The ethical exploration of technological advancement remained a theme in the franchiseeven after the original trilogy, which I followed with enjoyment by watching all the movies again. This is particularly relevant nowadays, with the dangers of AI a hot topic on everyone’s lips. The same fear of our own power pervades the more recentJurassic Worldmovies, though not with as much power as the Steven Spielberg set.
3Hollywood Never Understood High Heels
Hollywood’s Serial Misuse Of The Shoe Still Astounds
Bryce Dallas Howard’s exasperating Claire running away from dinosaurs in high heels is inevitably one of the more memorable aspects of the silly side of this franchise. WhileSpielberg’s movies plumbed a depth that the more recent movies have been unable to reach, I still enjoy laughing at the misuse of the high-heeled shoe in this movie. While it isn’t one of thethings that happen in everyJurassic Parkmovie, it speaks to Hollywood’s wider misuse of the high heel.
Howard herself actually finalized the decision to keep the shoes on, rather than wear sneakers, according to her interview withUSA Today.Jurassic World’steam speculated on the decision for a while, and Howard’s choice to go with heels makes her scenes less realistic, but more entertaining.Hollywood never knew what footwear to give women, and sometimes laughing at a movie is as good as laughing with it.
2The Risk Of Privatizing Science
Profit And Science Hang In A Fragile Balance
I have always found one key message of Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel and the 1993 movie adaptation of the same name to be the risk of privatizing science. Spielberg’s 1993 movie was a groundbreaking genre surprise at its time and dealt with the conflict between capitalism and science.Profiteering resulted inJurassic ParkandJurassic Worldin the movies, without reducing the difficult subject matter. Crichton and Spielberg made it clear that, in their work, commodifying science could be dangerous.
I don’t think privatizing science is categorically bad, but medicine is just one industry that has been fraught with corruption and terrible profit-oriented choices over the years.Crichton was concerned about a shift away from research happening in universitiesand guided by academics. As Crichton saw funding for this research get taken away, he saw big business working on this research instead. This research happening in private labs was profit-orientated, sometimes to the detriment of the majority, and theJurassic Parkmovies challenge this trend.
1No Sequels Captured The Magic Of The 1993 Original
The Original Is The Best
TheJurassic Parkfranchise is full of action-adventure moments, butno sequels captured the spellbinding power of Steven Spielberg’s original1993 movie. This movie was formative for me as someone growing up in the ’90s, and I know I speak for many of my peers. While I’ve been followingtheJurassic Parktimelinefrom its inception to the modern day, I’ve not encountered any movie that’s been a match for the first.
While I am enjoying theJurassic Worldera, it’sJurassic Parkthat changed cinema and made paleontology cool.
In fact, after Spielberg stopped directing and the movies were no longer based on Crichton’s work -Jurassic Park IIIonward - I did notice a change in tone. I noticed a welcome improvement in CGI and animatronics, despite the pioneering work of the original, but also a rehashing of the same ideas. The absence of original stories made for bulked-out action sequences. While I am enjoying theJurassic Worldera, it’sJurassic Parkthat changed cinema and made paleontology cool, providing new visibility and opportunity to important research.
Jurassic Park
Cast
Jurassic Park is a science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on Michael Crichton’s novel. Released in 1993, it follows a wealthy entrepreneur who creates a theme park with living dinosaurs. When security systems fail, experts and visitors experience the perilous reality of the park.
