The Jurassic Park/World Series

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

I believe the set of Westworld is where Crichton and Spielberg first met. At least I think it was Westworld. I know they met several years before he wrote Jurassic Park.

[John Pannozzi]

They first met in 1971 (IINM around the time the film version of Crichton's The Andromeda Strain was being made), a bit before Westworld was made.

[Tyrant_Lizard_King]

Ok. I knew it was one of those two.

[mikelcho]

Does anyone here realize that the Jurassic Park / Jurassic World storyline and the original Westworld storyline from the 1970s have the same basic premise; i.e., an amusement park that its creators claim to be perfectly safe and that absolutely nothing can go wrong, only to find out that it isn't and that it does after it's already too late to do anything about either one of these?

Not only that, both of these concepts were originally created by Michael Crichton!

I'd seen the name floating around, but didn't know what Westworld was until now. Having looked it up, you're right, it sounds like Crichton definitely reused his "failed overly ambitious amusement park" concept for Jurassic Park. Hey, there's nothing wrong with using a good idea twice. Especially when the second version involves dinosaurs.

Now that I'm aware of it, Westworld is definitely going on my watch list! Michael Crichton plus Yul Brynner as a killer robot cowboy? Yeah, that's a movie I need to see.

Yeah, and don't forget Futureworld and Beyond Westworld: The Complete Series.

You can only get the third one on DVD-R from Warner Archive, though. They still haven't released it on Blu-ray... yet.

[LegendZilla]

This guy gives a compelling case as to why this series (unfortunately) has the near-monopoly on Dinosaurs in mainstream media it does. Does he provide valid arguments and you think we deserve more? Because I sure as hell do.

Regardless, do you think its possible that someone creative and visionary enough could overcome the aforementioned obstacles and rejuvanate the subgenre? Do you have any ideas for what could be done from a storytelling perspective? One idea I have is have dinosaurs coming back via a malfunction in the time-space continium. Said malfunction would stem from an accident on board an orbiting sattelite in which scientists are trying to unlock the secrets of time itself, resulting in the craft crashing down to Earth.

[mikelcho]

This guy gives a compelling case as to why this series (unfortunately) has the near-monopoly on Dinosaurs in mainstream media it does. Does he provide valid arguments and you think we deserve more? Because I sure as hell do.

Regardless, do you think its possible that someone creative and visionary enough could overcome the aforementioned obstacles and rejuvanate the subgenre? Do you have any ideas for what could be done from a storytelling perspective? One idea I have is have dinosaurs coming back via a malfunction in the time-space continium. Said malfunction would stem from an accident on board an orbiting sattelite in which scientists are trying to unlock the secrets of time itself, resulting in the craft crashing down to Earth.

Your idea, to me, sounds a lot like the plot to the 1988 Topps trading card series Dinosaurs Attack! (which, btw, Tim Burton wanted to make into a film, but after seeing Jurassic Park, he made Mars Attacks! in 1996 instead).

Otherwise we, the fans, don't have anyone like Ray Harryhausen around anymore to prove him wrong.

[o.supreme]

Well there have been a few notable exceptions. PJ's King Kong in 2005 had a ton of dinosaurs. I kind of wish Skull Island (2017) did also, we see the remnants of them, but I understand they wanted a Kaiju level threat, for a Kaiju sized Kong. 65 was a good concept, just poorly executed. I'd love to see a modern take on the Cavemen/Dinosaur film, "scientific accuracy" aside. There's a certain charm to movies from the 30's through the 70's that had such plots. We've had some comedies like Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) and Land of the Lost, but I'd like to see a serious modern update to Jules Verne's classic novel.

There's also been no end to low budget CG disasters. But I think there's a lot of potential for good, even great Dinosaur films that aren't Jurassic Park/World. Anyone 30 and younger just has to be reminded that these films existed before that franchise, and they should be allowed to exist along with, and after it.

[edgaguirus]

I was also reminded of Dinosaurs Attack.

It's always possible someone could make a good dino movie, but the JP/JW franchise has a big shadow, top effects, and big name actors/actresses. Right now, this franchise is the main dino cinema, but once it ends, people may look at other films and projects with a more favor.

[MC_Lovecraft]

I would love to see a big budget version of Journey of the Center of the Earth or The Lost World made one of these days. Unfortunately, you'd need somebody willing to take a somewhat silly idea (non-avian dinosaurs surviving in numbers in remote location) seriously, and I just don't know if I see that willingness in modern Hollywood. Obviously, King Kong '05 is an exception, but nothing succeeds like success, and few people have succeeded like Early Aughts Peter Jackson.

[darthzilla99]

I was thinking maybe a mix of cavemen and the Lost World. The concept is a tribe of cave people are traveling and discover the Lost world and show them reacting to dinosaurs for the first time and learning to adapt.

[Spirit Ghidorah 2010]

Just came back from it. Overall, better than Fallen Kingdom and Dominion. Gareth really knows how to make dinosaurs look huge.

However, there's too much of the mutant hybrids in the second half of the move, and the film suffers for that. The climax almost feels like something from an Alien film instead of a JP/JW film. While it does have some gorgeous shots and wonderfully tense moments, the novelty of human and dinosaur interaction is ruined as a result. since they're essentially facing off against slightly scalier Xenomorphs.

All in all, a decent film. But goddamn, I wish it didn't lean so hard into monster movie territory.

[Dyrakro]

That film was the JP movie I have been waiting for since JP3. Always wondered why they never went the route of wilderer or people with a different intention than selling the dinosaurs themselves ever happened before in the franchise.

The overall look was gorgeous, the music absolute fantastic and that T-Rex an absolute delight! I am a huge fan of how this movie doesn't feel like a Marvel /James Bond movie, but is just a regular adventure flick with dinosaurs.

CG felt kinda off sometimes, they really should've used more animatronics. Also that one scene of the D-Rex taking down a vehicle was... weird, it was suddenly three times it's size only to shrink back later on.

The finale sure was a lil anticlimactic tho not really disappointing. By contrary it kinda feels even better to not have a huge final fight or anything with the people just trying to make it out alive.

Also one of the few times a dinosaur is actually killed on-screen by a human (aside of the Pterodactyl massacre in JW1).

[JAGzilla]

Just got back from seeing Rebirth in Big D. That's the way to do it: Gareth Edwards delivers on the visual front and Desplat's score was very solid, so you really do want to see this on a huge screen with room shaking sound.

I kept my expectations low and my hopes modest, and I walked out of the theater very happy. It kicks the shit out of Dominion, and it's much better than JW and FK in most respects. Do I personally enjoy it more than JW? I don't know yet, I'll need to give that some time. I was very glad to find that David Koepp was able to retain some solid dialogue and keep the human characters feeling fairly... human, as opposed to the cartoon characters of the JW trilogy.

Story and tone wise, it felt much more in line with TLW and JPIII than what we've been getting. It was a competent, straightforward adventure, not overly smart, but executed well in what it was going for. No forced comedy, no real twists or turns, just a by the numbers Jurassic Park story. The plot wasn't airtight, but the holes weren't too serious and I never found myself taken out of the movie or rolling my eyes at anything overly stupid.

The action was gripping and tense, with some very fun set pieces. The three boat attacks were some of the best sequences this franchise has ever done. The dinosaurs are massive and imposing again, and they rack up a pretty decent body count with some cool kills.

The hybrids were frustratingly unnecessary, but I knew about them going in and made peace with them months ago. Edwards and Koepp handled them about as tastefully as I could have asked. The finale was lesser for revolving around the hybrids, but I can live with it. The D-Rex actually isn't over hyped as some walking extinction event or anything. It's just a big, ugly frankenthing that seems stupid and confused, attacking things as it encounters them but without much agency or point. It shouldn't exist, and that's how it comes across, in a neutral sort of way. The Mutadons not just being Raptors was pointless.

I'll post more thoughts later, but I'll just reiterate that I'm pleasantly surprised and had a great time with it.

[Major sssspielberg!]

Like Jag I went in with low hopes. Unlike Jag I came out utterly disappointed.
It starts off bad, gets better once they get to the island, but then when the finale comes and the stupid hybrid mutant dinosaurs show up it just goes back to suck.
To disagree with Jag respectfully, the dialogue is abysmal. If you're like me and resented the stupid dialogue and cardboard characters from the other Jurassic World movies you'll not find much improvement here. Rebirth has a big big big problem telling not showing.
My issue is this: the first forty minutes and the last half hour feel like a Jurassic World movie. The middle portion, on the island with regular ass dinosaurs, feels like it's approaching a decent Jurassic Park movie.
The hybrids were totally unnecessary. I cannot believe I'm gonna say this but to Jurassic World and Fallen Kingdom's credit, the hybrids in those movies were actual needed by their scripts. This movie could have had them chased by any regular old dinosaur. Didn't need mutant doodoosaurus rex or the stupid neckbirds.
Ultimately it felt like the same slop we've been getting for a decade now with a much better coat of paint on top. There were some sequences that blew anything from the other World movies out of the water (really only the Spinosaurus and T-Rex water scenes imo.) The island they shot on was gorgeous. There are great actors doing their absolute best. But the script sucks, there's bad comedy, and honestly just like Fallen Kingdom I left the theater disappointed and frustrated that I spent money to see it.
Is it better than the World movies? Yes, though I think I'd rather watch those because they're glue-sniffing stupid and there's many opportunities to laugh at them. This movie is not glue-sniffing stupid, it's boring stupid.
All that being said, I'll probably give a sequel a chance, but likely not in theaters. They could make a better one next time.

Edit: ok, I should add the one thing that I actually loved about Rebirth: they actually get back to treating the dinosaurs like real animals again. The dinosaurs never feel like monsters (again until the stupid ones show up at the end.) but rather animals with emotions and behavior patterns. The T-Rex scene is a perfect example of this.

[DynomikeGojira]

Count me in among those who enjoyed this movie Gareth and team did an amazing job easily the best since the first Jurassic World and I'm someone who enjoys all of the films

[JAGzilla]

Major isn't alone in being disappointed. I'm seeing negative reviews from critics left and right. And I do see some of the arguments; it's not a flawless movie by any means. That said:

https://deadline.com/2025/07/box-office ... 236450399/

$312.5 million worldwide for the five day opening. The best 4th of July take post-Covid, though admittedly that's not a huge hurdle to get over. I'll be surprised if it clears a billion, but it's doing well and certainly going to make a nice profit.

I'm sure it'll move merch, too. I already bought a T-shirt, and I'm definitely going to grab a few toys. Probably a Spinosaurus, Titanosaurus, Quetzalcoatlus, and Mosasaurus.

[edgaguirus]

I've seen plenty of merch at Target, so it probably is selling well.

[Dyrakro]

Speaking of merch, I can highly recommend the Ania Jurassic World toys by Takara Tomy.

Line of rougly 2" figs, with great paint apps and some moveable parts (tails, legs, mouth)




They just now updated their TRex, Spino and Mosa sculpt for the new film, and all figs are now coming with collectable battle cards.

[cloverfan98]

Have they also done figures from prior Park and World films?

[Dyrakro]

Have they also done figures from prior Park and World films?

World so far and I think they got every dinosaur that appeared in the movies so far + some of the Netflix shows (Scorpius Rex for example)