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Still from Jurassic Park (1993)
Film 1 of 7 · by Callan Brooks

Jurassic Park 1993: Cast, Plot, Dinosaurs and Ending

Jurassic Park 1993 is the Steven Spielberg adventure that started the whole saga, opening in US theaters on June 11, 1993. Across 127 minutes it follows Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough through a dinosaur theme park on Isla Nublar, and it earned about $1.1 billion worldwide against a $63 million budget.

Image: TMDB
Jurassic Park (1993) theatrical poster
US release
June 11, 1993
Runtime
2h 7m
Rating
PG-13 / PG / PG
Budget
$63 million
Worldwide
$1.10 billion

Jurassic Park Trailer

3D Re-Release Trailer

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What Is Jurassic Park 1993 About?

Jurassic Park (1993), directed by Steven Spielberg, is about a billionaire who builds a theme park full of living dinosaurs on a remote island, and about the experts he invites to approve it. John Hammond has made the animals from recovered ancient DNA. After a worker is killed in an accident there, his investors send a lawyer to demand an expert inspection before the park can open.

Hammond answers by inviting paleontologist Alan Grant, paleobotanist Ellie Sattler and chaos theorist Ian Malcolm to tour the park and give it their approval. The lawyer joins them, and Hammond's two grandchildren come along too. The visitors are amazed by the first living dinosaurs they see, and that mix of wonder and unease is what the whole film is built on.

If you are new to the saga, this is where it starts, and every later film in the Jurassic Park movies in order list leads back to this island. Everything above happens in the first act, and the full plot follows in a spoiler section.

Who Is in the Jurassic Park 1993 Cast?

Jurassic Park cast

More of the cast: Jophery C. Brown (Worker in Raptor Pen).

Jurassic Park Stills

  • Still from Jurassic Park (1993)
    Jurassic Park (1993), still 1
  • Still from Jurassic Park (1993)
    Jurassic Park (1993), still 2
  • Still from Jurassic Park (1993)
    Jurassic Park (1993), still 3
  • Still from Jurassic Park (1993)
    Jurassic Park (1993), still 4
  • Still from Jurassic Park (1993)
    Jurassic Park (1993), still 5

Release Dates

MarketDateSource
USJune 11, 1993confirmedboxofficemojo.com
UKJuly 16, 1993reportedthemoviedb.org
AUSeptember 2, 1993reportedthemoviedb.org

Where to Watch Jurassic Park

MarketSubscriptionRent or buy
USPeacock Premium, Philo, YouTube TV, Starz Amazon Channel, Starz, Starz Apple TV channel, Peacock Premium PlusAmazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
UKAmazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney Plus, Sky Go, Now TV Cinema, Amazon Prime Video with AdsApple TV Store, Rakuten TV, Amazon Video, Sky Store, YouTube
AUAmazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney Plus, BINGE, Paramount Plus, Paramount+ Amazon Channel, Foxtel Now, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Basic with Ads, Amazon Prime Video with AdsApple TV Store, Amazon Video, YouTube, Fetch TV

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, checked 2026-11-03.

Who Directed and Wrote Jurassic Park 1993?

DirectorSteven Spielberg
WritersDavid Koepp, Michael Crichton
ProducersKathleen Kennedy, Gerald R. Molen
MusicJohn Williams
CinematographyDean Cundey

Box Office

Budget$63 million
Domestic (US and Canada)$407 million
International$696 million
Worldwide$1.10 billion
Worldwide, in September 2026 dollars$2.57 billion

Jurassic Park box office for every film.

Jurassic Park (1993) Soundtrack and Score

John Williams composed the score for Jurassic Park (1993), directed by Steven Spielberg, and the music was released as "Jurassic Park: Music From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" on MCA Records on May 25, 1993. The album runs to 16 tracks and is a score album, so it presents the orchestral music written for the film rather than a collection of pop songs.

That release came just over two weeks before the film opened in the US on June 11, 1993. Williams is the only composer credited, and the 16 track album is the only soundtrack release for the film.

No songs are credited to Jurassic Park (1993), so there is no track list of licensed or original songs to hunt for. If you are trying to find the music from a particular moment in the film, the score album is the place to look, because the film's music is Williams and his orchestra from start to finish.

For the composers behind the other films in the saga, and how the music changes from one entry to the next, see the Jurassic Park soundtrack page.

Jurassic Park: Music From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack album cover

Jurassic Park: Music From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack

Score album · MCA Records · May 25, 1993 · 16 tracks

Cover art via Apple Music

Full tracklist

  1. 1Opening Titles · John Williams0:33
  2. 2Theme From Jurassic Park · John Williams3:27
  3. 3Incident at Isla Nublar · John Williams5:20
  4. 4Journey to the Island · John Williams8:53
  5. 5The Raptor Attack · John Williams2:49
  6. 6Hatching Baby Raptor · John Williams3:20
  7. 7Welcome to Jurassic Park · John Williams7:55
  8. 8My Friend, the Brachiosaurus · John Williams4:16
  9. 9Dennis Steals the Embryo · John Williams4:56
  10. 10A Tree for My Bed · John Williams2:12
  11. 11High‐Wire Stunts · John Williams4:09
  12. 12Remembering Petticoat Lane · John Williams2:48
  13. 13Jurassic Park Gate · John Williams2:04
  14. 14Eye to Eye · John Williams6:32
  15. 15T‐Rex Rescue & Finale · John Williams7:40
  16. 16End Credits · John Williams3:28

Sources: musicbrainz.org, themoviedb.org

Jurassic Park soundtrack

Jurassic Park 1993 Full Plot: What Happens on the Island?Spoilers

The tour goes wrong because a single employee sabotages the park, and the rest of the film follows the fallout. Hammond's experts arrive on the island and see the dinosaurs for the first time. Grant and Sattler are awed, but Malcolm warns that a park built on controlling nature is bound to fail. The group learns that the animals were bred all female, yet they are still finding signs of breeding.

Meanwhile, a greedy programmer named Dennis Nedry has been paid to steal embryos from the park. He shuts down the security systems to cover his escape, and the power failure disables the electric fences just as the tour vehicles are stopped in the Tyrannosaurus paddock. The big predator breaks out and attacks the children and Malcolm, and the lawyer flees and is killed. Nedry does not get far either, because a spitting dinosaur kills him before he can leave the island.

Grant finds the children, and they survive a night in the park, during which Grant starts to feel protective of them. Meanwhile, Sattler and the game warden try to restore power, and the warden is killed by the raptors. The group then fights through the visitor center, where the raptors hunt them.

The climax comes when a Tyrannosaurus rex arrives and attacks the raptors, which lets everyone escape. Hammond accepts that the park cannot be saved, and the survivors fly off the island by helicopter.

When Was Jurassic Park 1993 Released, and Was It a Hit?

Jurassic Park (1993) had its premiere in Washington, D.C. on June 9, 1993, at the Uptown Theater, and it went on to gross about $1.1 billion worldwide. General release in US theaters came on June 11, 1993. UK audiences waited until July 16, 1993, and Australian audiences until September 2, 1993, based on the TMDB release listings.

Box Office Mojo puts the domestic total at $407 million and the international total at $696 million, against a $63 million budget. Set beside its two direct sequels, The Lost World: Jurassic Park took about $619 million worldwide and Jurassic Park III about $369 million. The Jurassic Park box office page lines up all seven films.

Classification is PG-13 in the US and PG in both the UK and Australia. The where to watch Jurassic Park page has the full country detail. JustWatch data via TMDB, checked on November 3, 2026, lists Peacock and Starz for streaming in the US. In the UK it lists Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney Plus, Sky Go and Now TV Cinema, and in Australia Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney Plus, BINGE, Paramount Plus and Foxtel Now. Rental and purchase are available on the main digital stores in all three countries.

Jurassic Park 1993 Ending ExplainedSpoilers

The ending of Jurassic Park (1993) is a rescue that nobody planned, followed by a quiet admission that the park was a mistake. The raptors corner the survivors in the main visitor center, and a Tyrannosaurus rex wanders in and fights them, giving the group time to flee. Hammond then admits the park was a mistake, and Grant agrees not to endorse it. The survivors leave the island by helicopter, and Grant watches the children sleep.

In my opinion, the Tyrannosaurus arrival works because the film has spent most of its length teaching you to fear that animal, from the paddock breakout to the attack on the children and Malcolm. It could be argued that the rescue is luck rather than design, and that is the point: Malcolm warned that a park built on controlling nature would fail, and the finale shows nature deciding the outcome without anyone's help. Grant's choice not to endorse the park is the human answer to the same warning.

The final shots show birds flying over the sea, which hints that dinosaurs live on. Perhaps that is the most important image in the saga, because the later films take it literally. By Jurassic World Dominion, dinosaurs live all over the world and breed in the wild, and by Jurassic World Rebirth they survive mainly in zones near the equator. So, the birds over the water hint at what the island could not contain.

The 1993 ending is modest next to a franchise that later goes global. It closes on exhaustion and a sleeping child, and I think that restraint is a big reason it still works. For how it sits against the others, see Jurassic Park movies ranked.

Where Was Jurassic Park 1993 Filmed?

Jurassic Park (1993) was filmed mainly on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, with additional work on Oahu and in California, between August and November 1992. Kauai supplied most of the Isla Nublar location work, including Olokele Canyon, Manawaiopuna Falls, Allerton Garden, Limahuli Garden and Hoopii Falls.

The Gallimimus stampede was shot at Kualoa Ranch on Oahu, after Hurricane Iniki hit Kauai. California provided the studio and remaining location filming.

The weather played a real part in the shoot. Iniki struck Kauai on September 11, 1992, while the crew were in their final days of location filming on the island. Footage of waves and heavy rain shot at Nawiliwili Bay as the hurricane approached appears in the film's storm scene, so some of the weather on screen was real.

The in story setting is covered under Isla Nublar, and the animals that live there are covered under Jurassic Park dinosaurs.

Jurassic Park 1993 Trivia

The best trivia about Jurassic Park (1993) comes from how it was made, because the shoot ran into a real hurricane and a rights deal worth millions.

  • Filming ran from August to November 1992 in California and Hawaii.
  • Hurricane Iniki hit Kauai on September 11, 1992, while the crew were in their final days of location filming there.
  • Footage of waves and heavy rain shot at Nawiliwili Bay as the hurricane approached appears in the storm scene.
  • The Gallimimus scene was shot at Kualoa Ranch on Oahu after Iniki hit Kauai.
  • Industrial Light and Magic created the computer generated dinosaurs, while Stan Winston's team built the animatronic dinosaurs.
  • Spielberg's side bought the film rights for $1.5 million, and Michael Crichton was paid a further $500,000 to adapt his novel.
  • Producer Gerald R. Molen has an on screen role as Harding.
  • Richard Attenborough, who plays John Hammond, returned to the role in The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

The film opened in the US only two days after its Washington, D.C. premiere, and it went on to gross about $1.1 billion worldwide. For the next chapter, read about The Lost World: Jurassic Park, or see the full Jurassic Park movies hub.

Facts

FAQs

Is Jurassic Park 1993 a masterpiece?

That is a matter of opinion, and there is no official verdict. What can be stated is that Steven Spielberg's film grossed about $1.1 billion worldwide on a $63 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo, and that it paired Industrial Light and Magic's computer generated dinosaurs with Stan Winston's animatronic ones. See Jurassic Park movies ranked for where it sits against the other six.

Was Jurassic Park 1993 a hit or a flop?

It was a hit. Jurassic Park (1993) grossed $407 million domestically and $696 million internationally, about $1.1 billion worldwide, on a $63 million budget, according to Box Office Mojo.

What is the scariest Jurassic Park film?

Scariness is subjective, so there is no official answer. In the 1993 film, the biggest scares are the Tyrannosaurus paddock breakout and the raptors hunting the survivors through the visitor center. It is rated PG-13 in the US and PG in the UK and Australia.

Is Jurassic Park 1993 for kids?

It is rated PG-13 in the US and PG in the UK and Australia. Two children, Tim and Lex, are central characters, but the film includes deaths and sustained dinosaur attacks, so parents may want to judge by the age and temperament of the viewer.

Which character did Richard Attenborough play in Jurassic Park?

Richard Attenborough played John Hammond, the billionaire who builds the dinosaur theme park. He also returned as Hammond in The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

Where can you watch Jurassic Park 1993 streaming?

As of November 3, 2026, JustWatch data via TMDB shows streaming in the US on Peacock and Starz, in the UK on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney Plus, Sky Go and Now TV Cinema, and in Australia on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney Plus, BINGE, Paramount Plus and Foxtel Now. Availability changes often.