Steven Spielberg’s dinosaur thrillerJurassic Parkwas groundbreaking when it hit the theaters, and while the story and visual effects still hold up today, there have been some missed opportunities in the original movie and its sequels.Jurassic Parksparked a six-movie franchise, which includes the original three movies and theJurassic Worldreboot, with aseventhJurassic Worldmoviedue out in 2025. EachJurassic Parkmovie has introduced at least one new dinosaur or prehistoric creature to the franchise, but many species have, so far, been left out and might appear in a later movie.
Although many ofJurassic Park’s original charactersbecame franchise icons, they were not always given the screen time they deserved in the sequels.Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdomends with the dinosaurs fleeing into the wider world, teasing a more expansive storyline and potential new locations. Still, the franchise took an unexpected and unpopular direction inJurassic World: Dominion,missing the opportunity to give viewers something different.Jurassic World: Dominionreceived a 29% positive rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but it is not the onlyJurassic Parkmovie that misses opportunities.
10The Indoraptor Has Virtually No Screen Time
Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom Barely Showed Its Newest And Scariest Dinosaur
Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom’s main storyline centered on teasing the eventual reveal of theIndoraptor - a weaponized hybrid dinosaurthat was designed for biological warfare.The Indoraptor was created using a mix ofJurassic Park’s two most terrifying dinosaurs: the Velociraptor and the T-Rex, and it looked like a sleeker, faster T-Rex with long arms. However, despite the Indoraptor’s potential for destruction and its role in the terrifying mansion scene, it was barely seen.
The scene where the Indoraptor stalks Maisie through the mansion looks straight out of a horror movierather than the dinosaur action of the originalJurassic Parkmovies. This scene sets the Indoraptor apart, making use of its fear factor and intelligence, but it is killed by Blue shortly afterward. The Indoraptor could have been shown much more, with this horror movie style as its signature in the same way that the T-Rex’s signature is its heavy footfall.
The Mosasaurus Was Cut From Jurassic Park III
The Seaworld-inspired scene in which the Mosasaurus breaches to take a great white shark as a meal was heavily featured in theJurassic Worldpromotional material, and is one of the most memorable scenes in the movie. Thoughthe Mosasaurus is technically a marine reptile, it has still been called one ofJurassic Park’s best dinosaurs. Its impact suggests that perhaps that the franchise shouldn’t have waited until after the original trilogy to bring the monster into the picture.
Jurassic Park IIIwas originally going to feature a Mosasaurus, and the concept art featured a breeding tank, while the original script had mentioned the formidable animal. However, the Mosasaurus was later cut from the draft, which was a missed opportunity to explore more of the creations living on Isla Sorna. If the tank had been connected to the sea, the Navy and Marines who arrived to rescue the characters could have mentioned seeing something bizarre, hinting at its survival.
8Including Few Other Prehistoric Animals
Smilodons Could Have Been Great Jurassic Park Candidates
Similar to the Mosasaurus, several ofJurassic Park’s prehistoric creatures weren’t really dinosaursbut marine reptiles, hybrids, and other prehistoric animals.Jurassic Park IIIintroduced Pteranodons, andJurassic Worldhad a Mosasaurus, but these are just two of many other prehistoric animals that could have been shown.Jurassic Park: Dominion’s Leonard the Lystrosaurus had a small role in a memorable scene, showing that even the smaller and less dangerous animals in theJurassic Parkfranchise could be interesting to watch.
A great candidate could be the Smilodon (sabre-toothed tiger,) as it is such a recognizable prehistoric creature, with the potential to be extremely dangerous. As cats move and hunt differently from most ofJurassic Park’s dinosaurs, there was an opportunity for a new kind ofchase or hunting scene involving characters trying to escape a Smilodon, perhaps using their knowledge of domestic cats to help them, if the scene called for a funny moment.
7Lex & Tim Did Not Return For Jurassic World: Dominion
The Fan Favorites Could Have Played Key Roles
Lex and Tim each had significant roles in helping the characters escape Jurassic Parkand leaving them out ofJurassic World: Dominionwas a missed opportunity to find out what they did next. Tim’s dinosaur knowledge could have led to him becoming a paleontologist or researcher. Lex single-handedly hacked into Jurassic Park’s cybersecurity system, allowing them to regain control of the park, and this interest could have taken her character in some interesting directions.
Jurassic World Dominion Totally Misunderstood What Made The Original Main Characters So Great
The third film in the Jurassic World trilogy reunited the main characters of the first Jurassic Park movie. However, it got one major thing wrong.
Lex could have pursued a career in cybersecurity, allowing her to either destroy the Biosyn system or strengthen it if she was also working for Biosyn. Most characters would not know that Dodgson was behind Dennis Nedry’s betrayal, so this could be plausible.Lex could have become a more dangerous hacker, which would be an interesting angle to explore. Of all theJurassic Parkcharacters thatJurassic World: Dominionignored, Lex and Tim had the most potential.
6Dodgson’s Sinister Backstory Was Not Explored
Dennis’s “Nobody Cares” Line Could Have Been Wrong
Jurassic Parkimmediately established Dodgson as being paranoid about his identity being revealed. This is played for comedy whenDennis Nedry yells to the entire restaurant that “we’ve got Dodgson here,” tells him that nobody cares, and asks him if he’s trying to look like a secret agent in his hat. IfJurassic World: Dominionhad established Dodgson as a very dangerous and wanted character, this could have been a throwback to that line, revealing it to be wrong.
Dodgson is an unethical scientist and genetic engineerand is willing to test on humans (including children) as well as the dinosaurs. He is killed by the baby T-Rex in the original novel but survives in theJurassic Parkmovies, withDodgson reappearing as the Biosyn CEO inJurassic World: Dominion.However, the movies miss the opportunity to explore his sinister backstory and business practices in more detail.
5Leaving Out One Of The Jurassic Park Novel’s Most Foreboding Scenes
This Scene Showed The Cover-Up At Isla Nublar
Early in theJurassic Parknovel, a character arrives in a hospital as his boss claims he had an accident with building machinery. However, he has deep claw marks, defensive wounds, and whispers what the doctor hears as “lo sa raptor.” Nobody in the book would guess that he is trying to tell the staff that a Velociraptor attacked him. However, for the reader,the chilling scene hints at the horrendous potential danger of Jurassic Park.
While the earlyJurassic Parkmovie has scary and disturbing scenes, thebook’s focus on the cover-ups involved inJurassic Park’s creation is left out. ThoughtheJurassic Parkmovie and novel are very different, with Steven Spielberg’s adaptation changing many key scenes from the novel, the scene in the hospital is so creepy that it could have been an opportunity to build tension before the dinosaurs appeared.
4Muldoon Having No Opportunity To Show His Strength
The Game Warden Was Killed In Jurassic Park
Most of the originalJurassic Parkcharacters had the chance to demonstrate their areas of expertise at some point in the movie. However, whileRobert Muldoon had the potential to be a formidableJurassic Parkcharacterwhen the dinosaurs broke out, the game warden was underused despite many moments that appeared to build up to Muldoon having a key action scene. Muldoon’s death by Velociraptor might beJurassic Park’s best death scene, but the movie could have done more with his character.
Jurassic Park’s Sequels Proved The Human Characters Were Always More Important Than The Dinosaurs
Each Jurassic Park movie made less money and was less acclaimed than the last, and that was a result of splitting up the original’s group dynamic.
Muldoon spends most of Jurassic Park telling Hammond that the dinosaurs should be destroyed, and as this is his area of expertise, it was a missed opportunity not to show him hunting. As a former professional hunter who understands the danger posed by the dinosaurs,Muldoon could have taken on and shot down a dinosaur by himself. This could have been an iconic moment inJurassic Park, even if Muldoon eventually met the same end.
3Claire Was A Tired “Career Woman” Stereotype
Claire Never Lived Up To Her Iconic Jurassic World Potential
Claire, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, spent the entirety ofJurassic Worldwearing a pair of skyscraper heels, which was heavily criticized. However,Howard defended herJurassic Worldcharacter’s heels, saying they fit Claire’s personality and made her feel “empowered”.Claire had the potential to be completely different from any ofJurassic Park’s previous female characters, but she was portrayed as cold and shallow, while her disinterest in becoming a mother was shamed.
Claire becomes a more sympathetic character throughout the movie. However, likability and professionalism are not mutually exclusive traits, andJurassic Worldcould have made Claire an ethical and caring but efficient businesswomanin the first place. Claire’s detachment towards children was clichéd, unnecessary to the plot, and undermined later when she becomes Maisie’s adoptive mother. More interesting character development could have made Claire one ofJurassic Park’s best characters.
2Few Scientifically Accurate Dinosaurs Were Included
The Modern Twist Could Have Related Back To Earlier Movies
At the time it was released, Jurassic Park was groundbreaking, with the movie sparking an extra interest in paleontology. However, whileJurassic Parkportrayed some details more accuratelythan other dinosaur-themed movies, many otherJurassic Parkdinosaurs were wildly inaccuratecompared to real life. The movies even addressed these errors, explaining that the dinosaurs had been engineered to appeal more to the park’s visitors, who cared more about teeth and scare factor than accuracy.
One Jurassic Park Dinosaur Was Way Scarier In Real Life Than The Movie Showed
Jurassic Park’s Dilophosaurus was less scary in Jurassic Park than in real life, even though the movie gave it an additional, dangerous attribute.
As scientists have more insight into the way dinosaurs looked and behaved, there was room for the Jurassic World reboot to address the mistakes in the originalJurassic Parkmovies. This could have been done obviously, with rival geneticists promoting scientific accuracy by recreating dinosaurs as they would have appeared, or by using Easter eggs.AJurassic Worldmovie could have shown plans for new dinosaurs, with sketches of the real-life versions onscreen as “inspiration.”
1Dominion Did Not Explore Enough Of The Wider World
Jurassic Park: Dominion’s dinosaurswere set up to thrive while clashing with humans, but the movie made the mistake of returning most of the action to a laboratory and casting locusts as the most threatening species. The movie’s biggest missed opportunity was wasting its global premise, where it could have introduced interesting characters, cultures, and visuals.Jurassic Park: Dominioncould have shown humans hunting dinosaurs for food, trying to domesticate them, or escaping them in falling cities.
Characters likeJurassic Park’s Muldoon would likely have thrived in an environment where dinosaurs were plentifuland threatening enough for people to need hunters. Introducing a group of hunters like Muldoon would have been the perfect opportunity to give audiences the fight he should have had. Seeing how people in different cultures and environments across the world reacted and adapted to the presence of dinosaurs would likely have revived the Jurassic Park franchise.
