Jurassic Park: 10 Most Heartbreaking Moments

Friday, April 9, 2021

Audiences may flock to Jurassic Park movies to see blockbuster dinosaur action, but these Steven Spielberg movies are packed with emotion, too.

The Jurassic Park series is best known for the theatrical quality it brings with the big-budget effects and larger-than-life scenarios. However, Steven Spielberg also injected this series with an emotional punch that has gone severely underrated, of which there have been plenty of moments that deserve to be pointed out.

These are the scenes that combined the action with poignant sentiment or carried a tragic tone overall. Meanwhile, series mainstays like Alan Grant and other supporting characters may be known for their role as part of the action or simply to be killed off, but they've actually been part of moments that should make viewers feel genuine sympathy for them. Even certain dinosaurs have had moments where viewers feel for them.

10 - Tim's Near-Fatal Electrocution (Jurassic Park)

Things took a very real turn when Tim’s attempt to scale the fence didn’t work out as planned. Having panicked when he was told to jump before the fence was turned on, Tim was a second too late and got the blast of it.

For several seconds, it seemed as if Tim may have lost his life as Alan desperately attempted to resuscitate him while Tim’s sister Lex wept helplessly. Despite the children being in lethal scenarios earlier, this was a realistic way of portraying how an innocent life could have been lost.

9 - Eddie's Demise After Heroically Saving His Friends (The Lost World: Jurassic Park)

Eddie knew he was walking into danger at the hands of the pair of T-rex, but he put on a heroic front by saving the lives of his friends. However, there’s no denying that the poor guy had to pay for it with a brutal death.

Eddie was ripped apart by the dinosaurs for his efforts, and his death was made all the sadder when only Ian Malcolm mourned his fate while others simply brushed it off. For someone so loyal and brave, watching Eddie's demise was hard to stomach.

8 - The Kirbys Thinking Paul Sacrificed Himself (Jurassic Park III)

The Spinosaurus was established as the most dangerous dinosaur after its defeat of the T-rex, making Paul Kirby’s stand against it a truly brave move. After he was able to distract the Spinosaurus, while Alan Grant’s flare gun worked in making the dinosaur retreat. Paul fell into the river and it appeared as if he had perished.

Amanda and Eric's reactions were gutwrenching, as Eric was heartbroken at having potentially lost his father while Amanda rued over the fact that she had only just regained her love for him and didn’t get to tell him. While it turned out he was alive, the Kirbys’ momentary sorrow was heartbreaking.

7 - Billy's Reaction To Alan's Rebuking (Jurassic Park III)

Billy saw Alan as his idol and wanted to impress him by saving their research. He figured he could steal raptor eggs to take on the mainland and use the goodwill to fund the research that was about to be closed down.

Unfortunately for Billy, Alan was beside himself in anger when he found out and claimed that Billy was no better than the men who played God by building Jurassic Park. Billy had no response and was left feeling ashamed as his hoero left him with these upsetting words.

6 - The Agonizing Death Of The Velociraptor Knocked Down By Kelly (The Lost World: Jurassic Park)

At the end of the day, the dinosaurs are just following their natural instincts when they attempt to eat the humans. They can’t really be considered malicious or villainous.

Ian’s daughter Kelly dispatched a predator — in what is far from the best scene featuring a velociraptor — by using her gymnastic skills to launch it out the barn. The creature fell on a spike and writhed in pain as it slowly died. While it was trying to kill Ian, it’s still sad to see an animal that was only following its instinct meet such a painful end.

5 - Cooper's Begging To Get Rescued (Jurassic Park)

While the Jurassic Park sequels are criticized for not living up to the original, they did get some things right as far as emotional reactions are concerned. Cooper was left to fend for himself against the Spinosaurus and swung his arms wildly for the departing plane to stop for him.

Despite it being clear that it wouldn’t, Cooper openly begged and wept for his friends to rescue him. Sadly, the Spinosaurus arrived the next moment to devour him but not before audiences saw Cooper's look of sheer petrification.

4 - Lex & Tim's Trauma After Facing The T-Rex (Jurassic Park)

Not for nothing was Jurassic Park such a huge hit back in the day as the movie portrayed thrills in both children and adults. Lex and Tim, being the kids in the cast, displayed their trauma in two different but equally heartbreaking ways.

Lex was shown wide-eyed and screaming when she saw the T-rex up close, while Tim went completely mute as his trauma caused him to freeze. The children arrived only wanting to enjoy the park with their grandfather but left with memories of the T-rex’s monstrous attempts to kill them.

3 - Roland's Realization That Nothing Was Worth Dying For (The Lost World: Jurassic Park)

Roland remained an absolute badass throughout the second movie and accomplished his task of catching a T-rex. However, he was left with feelings of regret after he found out his friend Ajay had died at the hands of the dinosaurs.

At this moment, the big hunter realized nothing had been worth it and he was now left friendless with the realization that his mission had been for naught. His parting words of not wanting to spend time “in the company of death” were enough to confirm that Roland was now in the midst of an identity crisis.

2 - Alan's Desperate Plea To Ellie To Send Help (Jurassic Park III)

Alan and Ellie had been a romantic pair in the first movie but the latter had married someone else by Jurassic Park III. Still, she had Alan’s back when she alerted the navy and the marines to save him and his group.

Before that, the group was about to drown as the Spinosaurus caused their boat to capsize. Here, Alan desperately called Ellie and could only yell “The River! Site B!” before being overwhelmed by the water. At that moment, it appeared as if the protagonist may have tragically uttered his final words in vain.

1 - John Hammond's Realization That His Vision Has Failed (Jurassic Park)

For all his talk of “sparing no expense” for Jurassic Park, John Hammond ultimately failed to make his vision come alive. In the final scene of the first movie, he was shown sadly contemplating what could have been while in the escape helicopter. 

He looked forlornly at the amber cane containing the mosquito with the dinosaur DNA and remembered how his dream had started and how he was forced to flee. Despite Hammond clearly having lived in self-delusion, it was still a shame how his good intentions to create a spectacle for people to enjoy ended in such disaster.

Source: https://screenrant.com/