The Big Picture
The Jurassic Park movies are responsible for a big chunk of our memories about the magnificent, gigantic, and rampaging prehistoric monsters known more scientifically as dinosaurs. These films are one of the reasons why there are so many dino-lovers among us today, and the franchise is still alive and well, much like the fictional beasts who were cloned back to life.
It all started with Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park, based on the novel of the same name written by Michael Crichton. The movie took the world by storm when it was first released in 1993, and is still considered one of the greatest movies of the 1990s. It was followed by two sequels, The Lost World: Jurassic Park in 1997 and Jurassic Park III in 2001. Though they failed to capture the magic of the first film, the sequels were quite successful in their own right, and as a result, the story continued with the introduction of Jurassic World in 2015. Jurassic World was followed by a sequel Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in 2018 and Jurassic World: Dominion in 2022.
So while you wait for the next trip to this poorly guarded theme park and the opportunity to watch your favorite dinos once again on the silver screen, we’ve lined up the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies in a systematic order so you can relish a hassle-free experience while enjoying a Cretaceous movie marathon!
Jurassic Park Movies in Order of Release Date
Jurassic Park – June 11, 1993 The Lost World: Jurassic Park – May 23, 1997 Jurassic Park III – July 18, 2001
Jurassic World Movies in Order of Release Date
Jurassic World – June 12, 2015 Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – June 22, 2018 Battle at Big Rock (Short Film) – September 15, 2019 Jurassic World Dominion — June 10, 2022
Jurassic Park and Jurassic World Movies in Chronological Order
There are no prequels yet, so the best way to watch the films is in the order of release. We have not included spin-offs like Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (2020 – 2022) as it did not make a major impact on the main storyline (you can read all about how Camp Cretaceous overlaps and calls back to the Jurassic movies here), but we did include the short film, Battle at Big Rock, because it has serious implications for the Jurassic World storyline.
1. ‘Jurassic Park’
Indisputably the best film in the franchise, Jurassic Park was released in 1993 and went on to become one of the highest-earning movies of all time. The film begins with the owner of Jurassic Park, John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), recruiting a team of scientists and specialists to evaluate his new ambitious theme park, situated on the fictional island of Isla Nublar, to ensure that it is truly safe before it is officially opened to the public.
The team includes archeologists Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). Jurassic Park won more than twenty awards, including three Oscars, and in 2018 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
2. ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’
The second film in the series, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, picks up four years after the first film and sees Hammond losing ownership of his company InGen. However, he managed to keep the existence of a second island, Isla Sorna, which was used for the breeding of the dinosaurs, a secret. It was part of a cover-up that stopped the entire world from knowing about the failure of Hammond’s previous project. Following an accident on the second island, Hammond recruits Ian Malcolm once again to visit it with a new team. They come into conflict with the new owners of InGen when they try to smuggle out dinos for a park of their own. The film was a box office success and also earned an Academy Award nomination.
3. ‘Jurassic Park III’
The final movie in the Jurassic Park trilogy, Jurassic Park III, sees Steven Spielberg being replaced by Joe Johnston (The Rocketeer). The story follows Dr. Alan Grant who is researching the intelligence of Velociraptors but unable to find funding for his new project. He meets Paul and Amanda Kirby (played by William H. Macy and Tea Leoni) who trick him into joining their expedition. The couple promises to fund Grant’s research if he gives them an aerial tour of Isla Sorna, the same island used in The Lost World. Though the film was a box office success, it is the lowest-grossing installment in the series.
4. ‘Jurassic World’
Jurassic World was supposed to start production in 2004, but delays kept the film in development hell for a decade. Directed by Colin Trevorrow, Jurassic World is the fourth film in the Jurassic Park franchise and the first in the Jurassic World trilogy. Set 22 years after the Jurassic Park trilogy, the story follows Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan), CEO of the Masrani Global Corporation, who bought InGen in 1997 to create his own theme park, Jurassic World, an improvement of Hammond’s Jurassic Park. Similar to the original film, a seemingly normal day goes haywire when the park’s newest attraction, a genetically engineered hybrid known as Indominus Rex, escapes from its enclosure and wreaks havoc. The film was highly successful at the box office, earning $1.6 billion worldwide, and was the third highest-grossing movie of its time.
5. ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is the fifth film in the Jurassic Park franchise and the sequel to Jurassic World. Directed by J.A. Bayona, the film sees the dinosaurs living peacefully for four years without human interference after escaping in Jurassic World, but reports of a volcanic eruption threaten the existence of these magnificent creatures and bring humans back to the island once again. Jeff Goldblum reprises his famous role of Ian Malcolm from the Jurassic Park trilogy in the film for the first time after The Lost World.
‘Battle at Big Rock’ (Short Film)
Battle at Big Rock is a short film set one year after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, and records the first major confrontation between humans and the dinosaurs. The film focuses on a small family camping at a fictional National Park known as Big Rock, which is approximately 32 km away from the site where dinosaurs from the Fallen Kingdom were let loose. The short sees the family stuck in the middle of a fierce battle between a Nasutoceratops and an Allosaurus.
6. ‘Jurassic World: Dominion’
The sixth film in the saga, Jurassic World: Dominion, is set four years after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Dinosaurs now roam the earth once again, living amongst humans all over the world. The original three — Dr. Ellie Sattler, Dr. Alan Grant, and Ian Malcolm — all return for this final installment in the Jurassic World series, joining Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) in the fight to save humanity.
The first three Jurassic Park movies are available to stream on Prime Video. Jurassic World is available to rent on Prime Video, and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World Dominion are available to stream on Peacock.
Watch on Prime Video
