I'm probably going to take a lot of flack for this post as there are many, many people in the Jurassic Park fandom who can be a little hostile when it comes to which films are good in the series. I'm going to say now that this is my personal opinion and it is not meant to persuade you to view my rankings in the same way that I did. That being said, i'm going to start off with #4 in the countdown, I was debating on whether or not I should give an honorable mention to the fanfilms that are out there, but since I've only seen one, I decided i'm going to skip out on that one.
#4. Jurassic Park III
This should ease some minds as it's heavily regarded as the worst in the franchise. Complaints of a bad script, bad writing, the Spinosaurus killing off a T-Rex (which, to this day there are people that STILL complain about this, and i'm here to tell you....IT'S TIME TO GET OVER IT). For all of it's faults, I felt the film was pretty good. I especially liked good ol Spiny as it was something different from the first 2 films where the T-Rex was the dominant one in terms of causing havoc and it's just simply badass. I do wish one of the Kirbys would of been killed off, neither Paul nor Amanda were really characters that you can sympathize with other than their kid was missing, due to them being annoying as all hell. The only real gripe I have with the film is where the Raptors don't attack the group at the end when they give the eggs back. I feel like SOMEBODY had to perish for that scene to honestly make sense. Oh yeah, and the dream sequence where the Raptor says "Alan"? Not that big of a deal to me.
#3. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
Since there's only 4 films in the franchise as of right now, it was really difficult to put them in the spot that I did, but regardless, I still love this movie. The Compys stalking Dieter after he had shocked one during the dino poaching of sorts, the Rex family coming to rip Eddie to shreds is one of my favorite scenes in any movie, I feel like it's the most violent death in any of the Jurassic Park movies. The only downside? No Dilophosaurus, that's a dino we havent seen since the first one and for some strange reason, they decided not to add it to this one. There's also a scene that didnt see the light of day where the Pteranodons attack a helicopter and that would of been amazing to see...but instead we're stuck with Kelly driving a Raptor through a boarded up window.
#2. Jurassic World
Oh man...this film. There's a time tested debate on whether or not Owen or Claire is the lead character and honestly, I think it's Owen. Had most of the marketing, was the guy that "saves the day" etc. Anyway this film is #2 for me solely based on hype. Dont get me wrong, I still feel like it's a fantastic movie, but there should of been more of the Mosasaurus, all we got for a Dilo was a hologram that spooked one of the Raptors, we never got to see any of the attractions that was being shown off in the trailer. I was hoping for an attack on the lazy river ride when the shit hit the fan but I guess it would of been a giant cluster[frick]. The Indominus, as much as people hated and ripped on, is actually badass. Any dino that can camoflauge, detect heat, and have the DNA of the Rex, Raptor and other species is awesome. I honestly hope there's no dino fight in Jurassic World 2, because the one at the end of this one...was kinda meh. Wasn't needed.
#1. Jurassic Park
My favorite movie of all time, this is the movie that got me hyped up for any sequels that may of came it's way, especially after the Barbasol can got covered in the mud. Poor Nedry. He just had to tell the Dilo he was going to run the thing when he came back down. Fun fact though, when I saw this movie in theaters for the first time, the T-Rex scared the every loving daylights out of me, I guess it was because of the volume of the roar. The Raptors in the kitchen will always be one of the most terrifying scenes in any dino movie. That glare man....that glare. Should of seen more of the Dilo, it should of shot it's venom at the cars as they rode past on the tour. Biggest pet peeve? Muldoon's death being hidden behind leaves. You see the act but you dont see what the Raptor is actually doing. I wanted blood in that scene, man.
Overall, I recommend any of these movies for marathon watching. For a franchise that was rated PG-13, some of the death scenes would be suited for a R rating, which wouldnt necessarily be a bad thing. One day we'll get a R rated Jurassic Park movie and that will be the day I do a happy dance.