Steven Spielberg’s groundbreaking Jurassic Park franchise has fans of all ages, including children, despite the movies featuring some brutal deaths. The Jurassic Park timeline begins before the age of smartphones, but as technology has moved forward, so have the movies. Some of the most powerful dinosaurs in the Jurassic Park franchise’s recent films are not based on real-life dinosaurs, but terrifying hybrid animals. There are now six Jurassic Park movies, with a seventh scheduled for July 2025. While the more recent movies have used CGI heavily, the next may return to the practical approach of the original Jurassic Park.
The first installment used CGI sparingly, with many of its dinosaurs being realistic animatronics. Unlike many movie franchises that began in the 1990s, many of Jurassic Park‘s special effects still hold up today, making them exciting (and occasionally terrifying) to any audience. The original Jurassic Park bridged the gap between the action-adventure and horror genres, giving audiences a compelling story that became very disturbing at times. While many of Jurassic Park‘s fan-favorite characters are still alive, some of the most iconic scenes in the franchise involve characters dying in ways that are hard to forget.
10
Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight)
Jurassic Park
Dennis Nedry’s horrific ending is one of the best deaths in the Jurassic Park franchise for several reasons. The first movie set the scene for the series that was to come, but upon first viewing, the story was completely unpredictable. Every moment of the scene introduces an unexpected element, from Dennis crashing his jeep to him trying to play fetch with the Dilophosaurus. Dennis’ cluelessness makes the scene surprisingly funny, until the dinosaur attacks.
Dennis’s bright yellow rain jacket and the Dilophosaurus’ appearance are both striking, and Dennis’s dying screams are haunting. That said, the scene is unforgettable for another reason. Most of the Jurassic Park movies tend to give their villainous characters a fitting ending, and Dennis’ actions are the catalyst for the movie’s events. As this includes all the subsequent deaths and dinosaur escapes in Jurassic Park, Dennis’ death is satisfying but horrifying.
9
Dieter Stark (Peter Stormare)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Dieter Stark is one of Jurassic Park‘s most callous villains, and he meets his end in true Jurassic Park style, at the hands of an unlikely dinosaur. While the T-Rex and Velociraptors have been responsible for some of the scariest death scenes in the franchise, the tiny pack-hunting Compsognathus (Compys) have their moment when taking down Dieter. Dieter was a part of the hunting party sent to capture dinosaurs on Isla Sorna, and he made the mistake of underestimating the smaller ones.
Dieter uses an electric cattle prod to try and herd the dinosaurs, including the Compys, but while he is easily able to take on one at a time, an entire pack quickly becomes deadly. When Dieter is separated from his group, the Compys hunt him down. Seeing the villainous Dieter gradually succumbing to the Compys’ venom before they tear him apart off-camera is an unforgettable spectacle and another fitting end for one of Jurassic Park‘s human villains.
8
Simon Masrani (Irrfan Khan)
Jurassic World
Simon Masrani’s death is one of the few memorable Jurassic Park franchise deaths not caused by a dinosaur. The Jurassic World founder appears to be a similar kind of person to John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), with more interest in the spectacle of the dinosaur attractions than the practical considerations. Still, although he begins to learn from his mistakes during his conversation with Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong), it is too little, too late, as Masrani dies while trying to make amends.
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Masrani has an unrealistically high opinion of his skills. Though he is a terrible helicopter pilot and has no military training, he volunteers to take a helicopter in an attempt to destroy the rogue Indominus Rex. When the Indominus Rex crashes into the aviary, the escaped Pteranodons hit the helicopter and Masrani loses control, hitting the ground and exploding. Though Masrani was flawed and idealistic, he is one of the Jurassic Park characters who did not deserve to die.
7
Ray Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson)
Jurassic Park
The Jurassic Park movies tend to imply the violence in a character’s death rather than show the full scene, which allows the franchise to retain its relatively young audience certificates. The computer engineer Ray Arnold’s fate is technically unknown, but Jurassic Park gives a clue as to his grim ending by showing his severed arm, implied to have been detached by Velociraptors. This is one of the goriest scenes in a movie with a young fanbase, and many fans will remember the moment forever.
Samuel L. Jackson played Mr. Arnold before Pulp Fiction made him a household name, and the role was supposed to be slightly larger, with an on-camera death scene. Instead, Mr. Arnold’s Jurassic Park death scene was cut. Though Mr. Arnold is confirmed to be dead, Samuel L. Jackson joked that his Jurassic Park character was alive. He told the Happy Sad Confused podcast: “He’s somewhere riding around on Velociraptors with one arm.“
6
Lewis Dodgson (Cameron Thor)
Jurassic World: Dominion
Dennis Nedry and Lewis Dodgson appear in just one scene together in Jurassic Park, but they share similar deaths. Dodgson is one of the main antagonists of the Jurassic Park franchise, though he only appears in person in Jurassic Park and Jurassic World: Dominion. His past is relatively mysterious, but when he returns to the franchise as the CEO of Biosyn, he is a powerful enemy. Dodgson’s lack of morality and accountability left viewers waiting for a satisfying death for him, which they got eventually.
The Dilophosaurus is one of the dinosaurs that are scarier than the Jurassic Park movies show. However, after Dennis is killed by one, they are not seen in real life again until Jurassic World: Dominion. After Dodgson’s genetically engineered locusts cause a forest fire, he stumbles into a nest of Dilophosaurus. As viewers now know what to expect from these dinosaurs, the death is even more memorable, with all three of them killing Dodgson.
5
Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero)
Jurassic Park
Some of Jurassic Park‘s most unforgettable deaths have a comedic streak. Dennis Nedry’s death is one; another is the ending of the cowardly and opportunistic Donald Gennaro. Gennaro is so distracted by the possibility of making a profit that he ignores the concerns of the dinosaur experts. This sets him up as an unsympathetic character, though not an antagonist. When Gennaro leaves the children in the car when the T-Rex attacks, it is clear that he is likely to die imminently.
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Jurassic Park‘s most ridiculous scene is when the T-Rex eats Gennaro while he is sitting on the toilet, having tried to hide in an outhouse. This bears a surprising similarity to his death in the novel, in which he dies of dysentery. The decision to change Gennaro from a responsible and intelligent character to a sleazy opportunist was controversial among fans of the original novel, but his movie death is undeniably memorable.
4
Eddie Carr (Richard Schiff)
The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Many of the most noteworthy deaths in the Jurassic Park franchise are those of the villainous characters, but Eddie’s ending is considerably different. Eddie Carr is the equipment specialist in Ian Malcolm’s (Jeff Goldblum) Isla Sorna team, and when the RV containing Ian, Sarah (Julianne Moore), and Nick (Vince Vaughn) is pushed off the cliff by the T-Rexes, Eddie rushes to help. Though he has the chance to escape his car when the T-Rexes return, he stays until his last moment.
Eddie’s death is one of the most gruesome in the Jurassic Park franchise, as the two T-Rexes pull him from his car and have a tug-of-war with his body, which results in Eddie being torn in half. Eddie’s attempt to save his team makes him one of the bravest characters in the Jurassic Park movies. Though many Jurassic Park deaths are quickly forgotten by the characters (if not by the viewers), Ian angrily defends Eddie’s memory when Roland (Pete Postlethwaite) makes a bad-taste joke about his death.
3
Zara Young (Katie McGrath)
Jurassic World
One of the most horrifying deaths in the Jurassic Park franchise is doubtlessly Zara Young’s in Jurassic World. The first three Jurassic Park movies mostly featured the same dinosaurs, though Jurassic Park III tried to bring in the new and more terrifying Spinosaurus. That said, Jurassic World brought several new creatures to the franchise, which made one of the otherwise forgettable minor characters into an icon when she is killed by two at the same time.
Zara is Claire’s (Bryce Dallas Howard) detached personal assistant, who is unable to effectively keep an eye on her nephews. Still, being disinterested is her worst crime, and she does not deserve her gruesome fate. Zara is picked up by a Pteranodon, which drops her into the lagoon, just as the Mosasaurus lunges out of the water, taking down the Pteranodon, with Zara in its jaws. This death is the most shocking in Jurassic World and is drawn out for an unusual amount of time.
2
The Brachiosaurus
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is a dramatic shift in tone from the original movies. While most movies in the Jurassic Park franchise focus on the human characters trying to escape rampaging dinosaurs, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom brings about a terrible ethical dilemma: The human characters must decide whether to save the technically extinct creatures when the island’s volcano begins to erupt. This dilemma results in the most tragic and unforgettable death in the movie, which is not a human character.
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Many of the dinosaurs in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom escape on the boat, but one of them is left behind, resulting in a heartbreaking scene. As some of the dinosaurs plunge into the sea in a futile attempt to escape the volcano, one is left standing on the jetty, partially hidden by smoke and backlit by the fires. This is a Brachiosaurus, and it has been confirmed that she is the same dinosaur that Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) first encountered in Jurassic Park.
1
Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck)
Jurassic Park
Though the original movie is still a beloved classic with a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, there are several missed opportunities in Jurassic Park. One of these is killing the game warden Robert Muldoon before he has the opportunity to show his strength and talents. Muldoon is a knowledgeable hunter, who spends most of the movie telling Hammond that the dinosaurs should be destroyed. Unfortunately, he lacks some information that would have saved his life.
Earlier in Jurassic Park, Dr. Grant graphically explains how Velociraptors hunt as a pack, attacking their prey from the side rather than from the front. Muldoon may be an expert hunter, but he does not know this, so when a Velociraptor bursts out of the brush when he is stalking another one, it takes him completely by surprise. Muldoon’s iconic line, “clever girl,” has made his death scene unforgettable, and one of the best in Jurassic Park.
Source: Happy Sad Confused podcast
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Jurassic Park
The Jurassic Park franchise is an action-adventure sci-fi series that began with Michael Crichton’s original novel. The series explores the dramatic repercussions of resurrecting dinosaurs through advanced genetic science. Set primarily in a disastrous theme park, Jurassic Park explores the profound ethical dilemmas about tinkering with the DNA of long ago extinct creatures and the manipulation of the natural world through science.
Movie(s)
Jurassic Park (1993)
, The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
, Jurassic Park 3 (2001)
, Jurassic World (2015)
, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)
, Jurassic World Dominion (2022)
Created by
Michael Crichton
, Steven Spielberg
First Film
Jurassic Park (1993)
Latest Film
Jurassic World: Dominion
Upcoming Films
Jurassic World Rebirth
First TV Show
Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous
Latest TV Show
Jurassic World: Chaos Theory
Cast
Sam Neill
, Laura Dern
, Jeff Goldblum
, Richard Attenborough
, Julianne Moore
, Pete Postlethwaite
, William H. Macy
, Tea Leoni
, Chris Pratt
, Bryce Dallas Howard
, Vincent D’Onofrio
, Irrfan Khan
, Rafe Spall
TV Show(s)
Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous (2020)
, Jurassic World: Chaos Theory (2024)
Character(s)
Dr. Alan Grant
, Dr. Ellie Sattler
, Dr. Ian Malcolm
, John Hammond
, Sarah Harding
, Roland Tembo
, Paul Kirby
, Amanda Kirby
, Owen Grady
, Claire Dearing
, Vic Hoskins
, Simon Masrani
, Eli Mills
Video Game(s)
Jurassic Park (1993)
, Jurassic Park: Rampage Edition (1994)
, The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
, Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis (2003)
, Jurassic Park: The Game (2011)
, Jurassic World: The Game (2015)
, LEGO Jurassic World (2015)
, Jurassic World Evolution (2018)
, Jurassic World Evolution 2 (2021)
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