Credit: Universal PicturesHas Jurassic Park made its biggest blunder?
No film is without its fair share of continuity errors — not even the sci-fi masterpiece Jurassic Park (yes, a film plagued with such mistakes, or any for that matter, can still be considered a work of art — unless you can name a single film without any?).
In fact, Steven Spielberg’s iconic 1993 blockbuster might just have more mistakes than dinosaurs. From vanishing goat legs to inconsistent dinosaur paddocks, there are many overlooked things that make repeated viewings of Jurassic Park even more enjoyable.
The same can be said about all the sequels from The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) to Jurassic World Dominion (2022). And the upcoming Jurassic World Rebirth (2025) will be no exception. Avoiding mistakes in a huge film, especially continuity errors, is impossible.
But there’s another upcoming Jurassic Park sequel that has made a huge blunder even before its release. One can easily forgive the many mistakes of the original film, or in any of the films for that matter, but when it comes to characters, this can be harder to overlook.
Sure, Lewis Dodgson went from looking like Cameron Thor in the first film to Campbell Scott in the latest 2022 sequel, Dominion, but sometimes, recasting is out of the filmmakers’ hands (especially in that instance). But when it comes to dinosaur designs, there’s no excuse.
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There are many differences between the way the dinosaurs look in the Jurassic Park films and the Jurassic World films. For instance, in the Jurassic World trilogy, the raptors appear far too flexible and their overly-extendable snapping jaws are completely exaggerated.
Fortunately, this can be put down to two things: a) they’re not the same raptors and b) they may have been engineered differently. As for the Tyrannosaurus Rex — who also looks very different than in the 1993 film — it’s a bit more complicated, because she’s the same animal.
Dubbed “Rexy” by fans, the original Jurassic Park T-Rex boasts a rather thick trunk in the first film and her color pallet is reddish-brown, with stripes similar to that of a tiger adorning her spine from neck to tail. Her face is also menacing when looking at her head on; she has an almost-devilish look about her as her brow, head, and snout are visibly sharp.
Despite featuring different Tyrannosaurs, The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) maintains this design (although its Rexes’ color pallet is different and their skin’s a lot more “pebbly”).
In the Jurassic World films, however, which take place decades after the 1993 film, Rexy is thinner, battle-scarred, and paler in color. And her face — again, from the front — is softer, more roundish; perhaps an effort to make her less terrifying for younger viewers.
Watch the clip below from the original film in which the T-Rex gives chase to Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), and Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck) in the gas jeep and pause around the 1:13 mark and see just how “sharp”-looking the dinosaur’s face is:
Now look at Rexy’s face in Jurassic World when she’s smashing through the Spinosaurus skeleton on Main Street. Of course, she’s still pretty terrifying, but she looks a lot friendlier, for lack of a better word (although, in actual fact, she is friendlier in this film):
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Needless to say, Rexy has been through a lot. After being bred in captivity in Jurassic Park, she broke out, as seen in the 1993 film, was attacked by raptors, and then had to fend for herself for several years before being recaptured for Jurassic World.
Years later, as seen in the 2015 film of the same name, she was released by Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) to battle the brutal hybrid, the Indominus Rex, and then had to survive alone all over again on Isla Nublar for three years before being captured and transported to the mainland where she escaped for a third time (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), which forced her to live in the unfamiliar Sierra Nevada area before being captured for a third time and taken to Biosyn Valley in Jurassic World Dominion.
When you throw in three decades of aging, along with a bunch of incredibly violent dinosaur fights in there, sure, she’s going to look quite different.
With all that said, there’s no reason why the Jurassic World version of Rexy is set to appear in the upcoming first-person action-adventure video game “Jurassic Park: Survival.” The trailer is a mix of (mostly) cinematic footage and gameplay footage, both of which feature a version of the dinosaur much closer to her Jurassic World design rather than the 1993 one.
The problem with this? The game is set 24 hours after the first film…
Watch the trailer below and see for yourself:
Who knows why the developers at Saber Interactive have opted for the Jurassic World Rexy rather than the Jurassic Park one. While the upcoming sequel is making efforts to blend in with the aesthetics of Spielberg’s film, an inconsistency like this, though seemingly small, will probably have diehard fans frothing at the mouth like a hissing Dilophosaurus.
Per the official website, here’s the synopsis for “Jurassic Park: Survival”:
Return to Isla Nublar the day after the events of the beloved 1993 Jurassic Park film in an original adventure 65 million years in the making.
Survive thrilling first-person action as InGen scientist Dr. Maya Joshi, who was unable to evacuate Isla Nublar, in this single-player action-adventure game and discover a never-before-told story.
Through thrilling encounters, experience the wonder and danger of dinosaurs, each with their own distinct and adaptive behaviors brought to life by John Hammond’s vision.
When Is “Jurassic Park: Survival” Being Released?
“Jurassic Park: Survival” will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. There’s no release date for the game. Visit the official website for more information.
Jurassic World Rebirth is being directed by Gareth Edwards (2014’s Godzilla, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) with a screenplay written by David Koepp (Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park). Steven Spielberg also returns as executive producer.
It stars Scarlett Johansson (Avengers: Endgame), Jonathan Bailey (Bridgerton), Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (The Lincoln Lawyer), Rupert Friend (Obi-Wan Kenobi), Mahershala Ali (The Green Book), Luna Blaise (Manifest), David Iacono (Dead Boy Detectives), Audrina Miranda (Lopez vs Lopez), Philippine Velge (Station Eleven), Bechir Sylvain (BMF), and Ed Skrein (Deadpool). None of the actors from the previous films, such as Sam Neill (Alan Grant), Laura Dern (Ellie Sattler), Jeff Goldblum (Ian Malcolm), Chris Pratt (Owen Grady), and Bryce Dallas Howard (Claire Dearing), are expected to return.
The film will be released in theaters on July 2, 2025.
Are you excited about “Jurassic Park: Survival”? Does its Jurassic World-inspired T-Rex design bother you? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!