Tragic ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ Death Has Links to Original Jurassic Park

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom had a moment that scarred viewers, as a majestic brachiosaur met a horrible end, engulfed in lava and smoke as Isla Nublar was engulfed by an erupting volcano. Fans had a serious reaction to the brachiosaur’s death, but that grief is about to get even worse, when they read how Fallen Kingdom director J.A. Bayona included the scene as a big knife-twist in the hearts of those who loved the original Jurassic Park.

Talking to Empire recently, Bayona had the following to say:

“That’s the brachiosaurus that Alan Grant saw for the first time in Jurassic Park,” Bayona confirms, adding that it uses the exact same animation from the 1993 original. “I think it’s a beautiful moment – it’s sad but it’s beautiful, and it’s so relevant.”

Hearing that will only pain viewers like myself, who grew up on the milestone that was Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. The scene with Alan Grant (Sam Neil) first spotting the brachiosaur when touring Jurassic Park, was an iconic moment that expressed the wonder that the audience simultaneously felt, seeing dinosaurs come to life onscreen, thanks to Speilberg and the technical wizards at ILM.

It’s for that very same reason that now seeing the same brachiosaur meet such a horrible end, truly feels like an embodiment of the perennial criticism that rebooted movie franchises “kill childhoods.” Usually, the statement is just hyperbole from overly passionate fans – but in this case…

Before you go sending any hate mail or therapy bills to J.A. Bayona, it’s important to note that the director wasn’t the one who came up with this horrific trauma. That honor goes to Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow. As Trevorrow explained to Empire:

“For that to be the last dinosaur we see on the island, I found to be emotionally effective. But then the way that J.A. executed it – the colours, the very spiritual way that he shot it and finished it… It was actually the last shot that we finished on the whole movie, everyone had been up all night. He’s so meticulous, especially with his color and his composition. He worked on that shot until he had seconds left.”

In case you missed that last bit: the makers of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom worked especially hard, right up until the last moment, to make that painful moment happen for you. Be sure to thank them!

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is now in theaters. Jurassic World 3 is already set to be released on June 11, 2021.