Jurassic Park’s Dinosaurs Ranked From Best to Worst

‘Jurassic World’ star Chris Pratt says his favourite dinosaur is the velociraptor which is fine… they’re great, but we’re not sure they’re the best ‘Jurassic Park’ dinosaur overall.

Let’s count down the definitive ranking of best prehistoric beasts in the ‘Jurassic Park’ films because… DINOSAURS.

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12 - Parasaurolophus

This mid-sized dino appears in all three ‘Jurassic Park’ films but doesn’t get a lot to do other than looking like Elvis reincarnated for the dinosaur age. He’s just making up the numbers.

11 - Spinosaurus

The franchise’s scientific advisor Jack Horner decided to scrap T-rex as the “hero” dino for the third film in favour of this super-sized fin-backed predator much to the chagrin of fans. He even kills a T-rex, which is total sacrilege. Proof that size doesn’t always matter.

10 - Gallimimus

Notable mainly for the “they’re flocking” scene in 'JP 1’, they’re the reason the film-makers decided to employ CGI, but they’re the 'Jurassic Park’ equivalent of a field of geese.

9 - Stegosaurus

The dinner-plate spined dino’s full-blown debut in ‘The Lost World’ is fairly underwhelming, redeemed only by the cuteness overload that is the infant stegosaurus. Bless.

8 - Brachiosaurus

The mighty brachiosaur is the first dinosaur we see in 'Jurassic Park’, through the eyes of Drs Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm, it’s a breathtaking moment so incredible that Sam Neill’s Alan Grant loses the ability to remove his glasses like a normal human.

7 - Pachycephalosaurus

He’s not on-screen for long, but the dino dubbed “Friar Tuck” makes a big impact figuratively and literally. The chrome-domed dino can be seen head-butting a man clean through a jeep, thus cementing its place as a prehistoric beast to be reckoned with.

6 - Triceratops

The mighty tripled-horned beast earns its lofty place in this list for one simple scene in the original 1993 film. Alan Grant rests on the heaving chest of the sick creature, rising and falling as the animal breathes, forever planting the dream of hugging dinosaurs in everyone’s minds. Or was it just us?

5 - Compsognathus

The humble compys don’t have a big part to play in the first film, but they own the second one. First they dispatch a curious child in the film’s opening scene, then a tiny herd take down the nasty Dieter Stark (Peter Stormare) and his cattle-prod.

4 - Dilophosaurus

Although biologically incorrect (the multi-coloured ruff and poison-spitting are both fabrications) the brutal dispatching of roly-poly hacker Dennis Nedry by a perky little dilophosaur is so terrifying, it gave us nightmares as kids.

3 - Pteranodon

Is there anything more terrifying than a flying dinosaur? They may not have appeared in the first film, but their scene in the giant bird-cage in ‘III’ is unforgettable. The huge leathery-winged beasts appear out of fog to pick off the explorers one by one. They’re making a return in ‘Jurassic World’.

2 - Velociraptor

So, Chris Pratt thinks they’re the best dinosaurs, and if he’s going on door-opening and evil genius skills he’d be right. But while raptors provide some of the best scenes in the films (the kitchen, the tall grass etc), the top spot belongs to the true king of dino-jungle.

1 - T-Rex

Raptors may be hiss-worthy baddies, but it’s the threat of the T-rex that really propels the first two films along (lets not talk about 'III’), so if director Colin Trevorrow wants to make a good fist of ‘Jurassic World’, he’d be wise to build the fourth film around these bad boys.

‘Jurassic World’ is coming to cinemas on 11 June. Watch a trailer below.

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Image credits: Universal