A new dinosaur movie that stomped into theaters this summer is already offering the Jurassic Park franchise some stiff competition. Steven Spielberg’s original 1993 Jurassic Park movie revolutionized the film industry through its groundbreaking use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) and practical animatronics to bring the massive and terrifying dinosaurs to life. The movie remains one of the greatest summer blockbusters of all time and launched one of the highest-grossing movie franchises, but a new 2025 release is already outpacing most of the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World films on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Director Luke Sparke’s Primitive War debuted this August with a fresh Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score. Based on Ethan Pettus’s 2017 novel of the same name and starring Ryan Kwanten, Tricia Helfer, Nick Wechsler, and Jeremy Piven, the movie is set in a Vietnam jungle valley during 1968 and follows a group of American soldiers who come under attack by prehistoric dinosaurs while on a rescue mission for a US Army Special Forces platoon. The movie currently holds a 90% audience score, a number that surpasses all of the Jurassic Park movies other than the original 1993 film.
Primitive War’s 90% rating puts it far ahead of the lowest-rated Jurassic Park movie, 2001’s Jurassic Park III, which only holds a 37% audience score. It also puts it above the franchise’s most recent installment, Jurassic World Rebirth. The Scarlett Johansson-starring movie released in theaters in July and snagged a 71% audience score.
However, Primitive War’s critics’ score of 50% only puts it above three Jurassic Park films — Jurassic Park III (49%), 2018’s Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (47%), and 2022’s Jurassic World Dominion (29%).
Primitive War hit theaters on August 21, 2025, so it’s still pretty early into its theatrical run. That means that there’s still time for its Rotten Tomatoes scores to change, which could shift its ranking with the Jurassic Park and World movies.
What Does Primitive War Get Right?
Jurassic Park is the most iconic and groundbreaking of dinosaur films, and although Primitive War hasn’t had quite the same impact on cinema just yet, it does a lot of things right. The movie is about more than just dinosaurs and instead combines the terror brought by the giant prehistoric predators with the intense warfare of the Vietnam War. This mashup provides a more brutal and terrifying narrative and a tense and action-packed movie from beginning to end. Primitive War is also being praised for its impressive visual effects and realistic dinosaur designs.
All in all, Primitive War is a solid movie for anyone looking for an alternative to the Jurassic Park films. The film is now in theaters. What do you think about Primitive War’s current success? We love responding to our readers, so share your opinion in the comments below.
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