Top 10 Jurassic Park Dinosaurs: CCC Issue #88

Top 10 Jurassic Park Dinosaurs: CCC Issue #88

 

After counting down the top ten dinosaurs in all of cinema, I realized it would be easy to count down ten dinosaurs from the Jurassic Park franchise alone…or would it be? Which ones are the best? I set out to rank the top ten terrible lizards from one of the most successful dinosaur-driven movie franchises in Hollywood history, and was surprised to discover the results. It’s always fun to make lists that match up with a new movie that’s coming out, which wasn’t something I was able to do for the past two years of the pandemic pretty much, so in preparation for the new Jurassic World Dominion, here are the top ten dinosaurs from the entire Jurassic franchise!

 

Honourable mentions: Pteranodon (Jurassic Park III), Mosasaurus (Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom). These two species aren’t dinosaurs, but they shouldn’t be neglected just because of that. 

The Pterandon of Isla Sorna were frightening winged demons that emerged from the fog and terrorized Alan Grant and company. Even though the real animal wouldn’t have had teeth in its beak or been so inclined to feed a whole person to its young, they are still well-designed, scary, cool, and impactful in the third film. Though they later appeared in Jurassic World (and one previously made a cameo in the final shot of The Lost World) they were at their frightening best in Jurassic Park III.  

I’m not a big fan of the new dinosaurs from the Jurassic World movies, but I have to give it to the Mosasaurus for being the one new creature I actually kind of enjoy watching. It isn’t overused and doesn’t do that many dumb things, so I actually get a kick out of seeing the colossal marine reptile when it pops up, whether it’s eating a great white shark, or a Pteranodon, or a person. The way it takes out the Indominous Rex at the end of Jurassic World is also very awesome and satisfying.  

10. Pachycephalosaurus (The Lost World: Jurassic Park) 

 

This bone-head has only a small part in the second Jurassic Park movie and a tiny cameo in Jurassic World, but I always enjoyed seeing the Thick-Headed Lizard and how much pizzazz it brings to the roundup sequence. The Pachy is part of the mixed herd the InGen team are chasing after, and paleontologist Robert Burke describes how it’s able to use its domed head like a battering ram–moments before it head-butts a guy right through a jeep. When the dinosaur is captured shortly after this, we get to see it closer up, and briefly glimpse the neat colouring on its face. The close-up shot is one of Stan Winston’s animatronics, and it’s pretty realistic looking, though maybe not the most realistic out of all the in-camera effects in the film. The Pachy is one of the more aggressive small herbivores in the franchise, and stands out for this reason—not to mention it’s used in a better way compared to the similar Stygimoloch from Jurassic Word: Fallen Kingdom. Don’t expect a lot of love for the Jurassic World dinosaurs throughout most of this list…   

 

9. Stegosaurus (The Lost World: Jurassic Park)

 

The most-requested dinosaur for the sequel was the plated lizard, which had often been inaccurately portrayed in the past as a stupid, tail-dragging brute, but the Stegosaurus herd of Isla Sorna is an awe-inspiring sight. The characters marvel at them as they graze, but when Sarah Harding gets too close to a baby, the parents charge and swing their deadly tail spikes at her. It’s a sequence that, like the best parts of the original movie, begins with a sense of wonder that quickly switches to one of danger, without stooping to cheesy monster movie mayhem. The Steg is a force to be reckoned with. Regrettably, its return in Jurassic World was a regression, showing it with less correct posture and the ability to gallop, which it would have been unable to do in real life.

 

8. Spinosaurus (Jurassic Park III)

 

Even though it acts more like, in the words of Dr. Grant himself, “a genetically-engineered theme park monster” than a real animal, the Spinosaurus is still a fan-favourite of many, despite also being responsible for the brutal murder of the star of the previous two films. The Spino was designed to be a replacement for the T. rex as the big bad meat-eater, and it suffers more from poor writing than anything else. Visually, it’s a fearsome creature, with a great sail on its back (from which its name is derived), long crocodile-like jaws, bigger arms and hands than T. rex, and a greater overall size. It dispatches a Rex in mere seconds, chases Dr. Grant and company all over Isla Sorna, and is adept at hunting on land or in the water. Spinosaurus isn’t as awesome or as scary as T. rex, but is still both of those things in its own right, and rose to the challenge of dethroning the Tyrant Lizard King.

 

7. Baby Rex (The Lost World: Jurassic Park)

 

In the original Jurassic Park the only infant dinosaur the characters meet is a freshly-hatched Velociraptor. Before we see a Tyrannosaurus rex in The Lost World, Sarah Harding theorizes the Rex was a caring parent, and she is proven right, when hunter Roland Tembo baits the male T. rex (the prize he’s after) with the infant, which he finds in the nest. The little Rex has a broken leg, though we don’t see how the broken leg occurs, and Sarah, along with Nick Van Owen, takes it upon herself to rescue the infant and set its broken leg. Not the brightest idea, but their hearts were in the right place. The baby Rex was a fully animatronic creature, with a whipping tail, biting jaws, and big, blinking eyes. Its pain-filled cry for help, which it utters over and over, builds the unease, until the inevitable happens: its parents show up to save it. The Baby Rex gets one more awesome moment at the end when its dad lets it make its first kill, and it pounces on Peter Ludlow, the villainous nephew of John Hammond.

 

6. Compies (The Lost World: Jurassic Park)

 

Steven Spielberg subverted everyone’s expectations with the opening scene of The Lost World. In the original film, the first dinosaur audiences were shown in full was the massive Brachiosaurus. In the sequel, a bush rustles, there’s a bird-like chirp—you wonder if maybe a Velociraptor might jump out—and then a tiny little thing that looks like a chicken crossed with a lizard leaps out. It’s as small as the baby Velociraptor, if not smaller! Identified as Procompsognathus in the novel, the film version is identified (incorrectly, mind you) as Compsognathus triassicus, and is easy enough to fend off alone, but when numerous Compies make a swarm, they become deadly despite their small size. Later in the film, Dieter Stark gets lost in the woods and is pursued by a swarm of Compies, which manage to overwhelm him and eat him. The Compies get a fun little cameo in Jurassic Park III, but the only thing that gets eaten by them is a mosquito, ironically enough. The creature that helped them come back to life through cloning is nothing more than a quick snack.

 

5. Spitter (Jurassic Park)

                         

Almost every dinosaur from the original film has come back in at least one of the sequels. Even though it became so famous, the Dilophosaurus has never been in another Jurassic film—that is, until Dominion, finally! Nicknamed “The Spitter” by Stan Winston’s team, the Dilophosaurus in Jurassic Park is one of the most fictionalized creatures, but that doesn’t stop it from being creepy, funny, and terrifying. It was specifically made to be smaller than the real animal so it wouldn’t be confused with the Velociraptors, but it was also given a huge frill that extends when it uses its venom glands to make it even more unique. In total, it’s only on-screen for maybe a minute at most, but the animatronics are extremely impressive, and its combination of features and behavior made it really stand out. Why, exactly, it decided to leap over Dennis Nedry after blinding him with its gooey-black venom, climb into his jeep, and wait on the passenger seat for Nedry to climb back in and close the door before killing him I’ll never know, but Nedry deserved it. I still think about that shaving cream can that fell from Nedry’s yellow rain jacket and wonder what happened to it, or what happened to the Dilophosaurus.   

 

4. Brachiosaurus (Jurassic Park, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom)

 

“It’s…it’s a dinosaur!” Dr. Grant exclaims, pointing up into the sky at the tiny head atop the thirty-foot neck of Brachiosaurus. One of the largest dinosaurs ever to walk the earth does so again for the first time since the Jurassic period, and its introduction is incredible. We get to see everyone’s individual reactions to it, which helps sell the realism of the creature. It was the first time audiences saw a fully computer generated animal that looked real, and in the later scene with it we get to see it up close, but the head interacting with Dr. Grant and the kids in the tree is one of Stan Winston’s animatronics. The Brach was given a little cameo in Jurassic Park III, but it really tugged at everyone’s heartstrings in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, when Isla Nublar erupted into a devastating volcano, wiping out all that remained of the old Jurassic Park and Jurassic World. The Brach didn’t make it onto the boat, and is last seen in silhouette among the volcanic ash cloud. Despite being one of the most peaceful dinos in the franchise, this Long-Neck evokes many reactions—awe, laughter, a little unease, and sympathy.

 

3. The Big One (Jurassic Park)

 

Game warden Robert Muldoon warns the first group of Jurassic Park visitors that the raptors are lethal, “especially the Big One.” In the first scene of the movie, the raptors are being put in their enclosure and attack and kill one of the workers, but we don’t get much of a look at them. Muldoon gives some background on these Cretaceous killers, explaining the Big One killed all but two other raptors when they introduced her, she had the others attacking the fences when feeders came. After a long stretch in the film with the T. rex having been the main threat, we see the twisted, broken fence of the raptor paddock, meaning they got out. The suspense built up to the big reveal in the compound will make you sit on the edge of your seat, and when the raptors attack it’s scream-worthy. Of all the raptors in the Jurassic franchise though, the Big One has always been my favourite. Forget the anti-hero antics of Blue in the Jurassic World films or the inner conflict of the Isla Sorna raptors from The Lost World, The Big One was the smartest and deadliest of the all raptors, even boldly taking on the T. rex, though she stood no chance against the Tyrant Lizard King.

 

2. Rexy (Jurassic Park, Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom)

 

You might have expected the Tyrannosaurus rex from the original Jurassic Park (and the Jurassic World films) to be in the number one spot, but it’s eked out by only one other individual. I’ve written plenty about the horror of the breakout scene, the amazing special effects, and the lasting legacy of the resurrected tyrant, but all the scenes from the original movie with her have become among the best T. rex moments in all of cinema. The jeep chase is one of the most exciting bits of action, with the classic Ian Malcolm line “must go faster” and the oh-so-Spielbergian shot of the Rex in the side view mirror. Later, after the Gallimimus herd nearly tramples Dr. Grant and the kids in the field, the Rex ambushes the herd and kills one, reminding us that “it doesn’t want to be fed, it wants to hunt.” And, of course, right in the final moments of the film, when it seems like our heroes might be eaten by the raptors, the Rex lunges in and kills one of them, inadvertently saving the humans from a grisly fate, and after it kills the final raptor, the banner “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth” falls from the ceiling as it roars in triumph. After returning to fight the Indominous Rex at the end of Jurassic World and making a few fun appearances throughout Fallen Kingdom, it seems dinosaurs finally do rule the earth again, in Jurassic World Dominion. So, what dinosaur from the franchise beats Rexy? One of her own kind.

 

1. The Buck (The Lost World: Jurassic Park)

 

The T. rex in Jurassic Park was incredible, but it also left audiences wanting more. Spielberg more than delivered just that for the sequel, introducing a mated pair of Rexes and their infant. The whole family makes the trailer scene tense, and both adults attack the camp later that night, making multiple kills in both instances, tearing Eddie Carr in half, stomping on Carter in a puddle, and devouring Robert Burke in the waterfall. But then, just when it seems the adventure is over, the characters leave Isla Sorna and return to the main land, where the male Rex breaks out from the ship and rampages through San Diego. He’s like a modern Godzilla, only without the atomic breath, and a little shorter, but no less awesome. Like the original movie, every scene in The Lost World with a T. rex in it is iconic, but there are even more scenes, and it isn’t just a mindless rampaging monster, it’s a pissed-off dad trying to get his kid back in a world completely foreign to him. Getting the dinosaurs off the island was something from the novels upon which Jurassic Park and The Lost World were based, and the Jurassic World movies have finally worked toward revisiting that premise, but thanks to Spielberg’s direction, David Keopp’s fun screenwriting (some of his best work), and Stan Winston’s/ILM’s even more ambitious special effects, The Buck gets top honours as the best dinosaur in the whole franchise.