The Jurassic Park Saga - What We Have Learned...So Far...

Written by Scotty

With Jurassic World coming out in a few short hours, it is fun to look back at the series that ended fourteen years ago and see what we learned.  I love doing this because a lot of the time, you get to see what worked and what did not work in the story lines, along with how your favorite characters survived the dinosaur onslaught.  So, without further ado, let’s just dive on in to the series.

Would a paleontologist be the right choice?  This is a question I continue to ask myself since the first movie came out.  Dr. Alan Grant is a great character, but when he sees a living dinosaur for the first time, I am sure that he needed to do more than just sit down.  So when it comes to his craft, he might be able to give you some keen insights on what is believed about the dinosaurs, but overall, a paleontologist is not someone that is accustomed to running for their life all of the time, and even though the flight instinct takes over, most people would be frozen in fear and not make for a good traveling companion when it comes to trying to escape ancient predators. 

Does being a big game hunter help you in the park?  Well, according to these movies, the answer is no and that is something that I do not agree with.  Since these hunters, and even the hired mercenaries are taken out so quickly by an attack that they saw coming.  I am unsure where the hatred for these characters is coming from, since these are the people that have made a living with their firearms and have survived some of the toughest situations put in front of them.  I would rather follow a hunter than paleontologist in a survival situation, but hey that is just me and according to these movies if I do follow them, I will be in a huge pile of dino droppings.

Does basic knowledge help you survive?  Well yes, yes it does.  There are several things that people can do to survive any type of situations and I am sure this would apply to being stuck on an island of dinosaurs as well.  Keeping quiet would be a great one to start with.  Even if you are trying to track someone down, it might be better to keep yourself a bit hidden since it appears that dinosaurs have ears too and love to hunt.  Don’t approach or try to get near nesting areas.  This is a pretty common thing that I think a lot of people forget about after elementary school.  If you have ever approached a bird’s nest and the momma bird is there, what does it do?  It attacks you and tries to defend its baby.  This applies to so many other animals as well and it seems to transfer over to these movies in a big way.  Not being afraid to smell like your surroundings.  Who cares if you are dirty, every hunter out there knows that humans carry a different scent with them and if you are trying to track or hide from something, it is easier to be passed over if you are willing to get down and dirty.  Although the movies don’t really focus on this point, it is a good thing to know, just in case you are left alone in the mountains and a bear is looking to take a bite out of your camp.

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Can technology really help you if you are being chased by dinosaurs?  This one makes me laugh in the movies, since the answer is no.  It really does not matter to the dinosaurs what you have in your hands or what you are trying to run away in since they have never seen it before.  The overwhelming size of the ancient creatures should be an indicator about how afraid they could be of a standard human, and that is not at all.  Even firearms have little effect on the creatures, even though you never get to see one get shot.  I know a shotgun would be a bad idea since dinosaurs appear to be very thick skinned, but something with some massive stopping power might give you a chance, along with tranquilizers, that seemed to work out find for everyone that used one.  Jeeps, planes, gates, boats, even electricity seem to have little to no effect on trying to keep dinosaurs at bay, it might be a better practice to just stay on foot since you can control that outcome and never run out of gas.

Which is better, pack mentality or the lone wolf? What the movie showed us is that traveling in a pack is much safer than heading off one at a time.  The little Compys are the primary reason for that as they are scavengers, but if they have large enough numbers, they will be able to take down a human without any problem.  Traveling in a group seems to keep other predators at bay as well.  If you are in the mountains and a bear is looking to attack, having more people there to yell at it will make it run away most of the time.  Most predators try to single out the smaller, weaker of the herd, so make sure to keep the little ones in the middle and they should not be hurt, much less seen by the hunters.  If you are trying to lone wolf it, it would be wiser to keep to the higher ground so you can see your surroundings.  There are many hunters that are looking for the easy kill, but if it becomes too much effort for them to get it, they will back away and look for someone else.

Well, there are some of the things I have taken away from the Jurassic Park movies and hopefully it helps to prepare you for the next movie, or at least surviving a dinosaur attack.  You never know when you might need to be prepared for an event like this and with all of the cloning successes happening these days, this might become a reality.  I hope that they keep it on an island somewhere and away from the mountains since that is where I am gonna go when disaster strikes.  It is all about fun and I hope Jurassic World does not disappoint and that they follow some of the magical things that made Jurassic Park near and dear to our hearts.  And if it doesn’t, then I hope Chris Pratt gets to have another dance off. 

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