7 Best T-Rex Scenes in the Jurassic Park Franchise

The Tyrannosaurus Rex has been a staple of the Jurassic Park franchise since the beginning, and frequently at the center of some of its best scenes (not to mention the center of the posters). Beginning with Michael Crichton’s eponymous 1990 novel, Jurassic Park has never been without the T-Rex, and with good reason. From the moment the T-Rex first arrived on-screen in 1993’s Jurassic Park, the fearsome dino has been the star of the franchise and one of the greatest movie monsters of all time. Because of its nature as a prehistoric animal, the T-Rex has been portrayed in a myriad of different ways in the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies, with the T-Rex going from villain to anti-hero and back and forth repeatedly.

This has also led to the T-Rex having a cornucopia of unforgettable moments throughout the Jurassic Park series. These are the 7 best T-Rex scenes in the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies.

The T-Rex Blood Transfusion – Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Medically attending to carnivorous dinosaurs is a task a surprising number of Jurassic Park characters have found themselves taking on, and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Temple (Bryce Dallas Howard) must do exactly that in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. In order to provide Grady’s Velociraptor friend Blue with a much-needed blood transfusion, Grady and Claire are forced to extract blood from a restrained and sedated T-Rex. Naturally, the T-Rex doesn’t stay sedated for long.

Of all of the great T-Rex scenes in the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies, the blood transfusion is the one without an active chasing component, but also one of the most terribly suspenseful. Within the tight confines of a truck, Grady and Claire have to up close and personal with one of the most terrifying predators to ever walk the Earth, and no scene like this would be complete without the T-Rex waking up. Even with the T-Rex lying down the whole time, its blood transfusion is still one of the best T-Rex moments in the Jurassic Park franchise.

The T-Rex Chase & Waterfall Scene – The Lost World: Jurassic Park

The Lost World: Jurassic Park tosses the electrified fences out the window and makes Isla Sorna a dino-populated island where anything goes, which sets up some of the best Tyrannosaurus Rex action of the whole franchise. In The Lost World, the surviving human scientists and InGen team try to make their way to a communications center on the island to call for help, but the movie’s T-Rex couple tracks them down with the female pursuing them in a truly terrifying chase sequence.

The chase also really emphasizes how far Steven Spielberg was inching The Lost World to near R-rated territory when InGen worker Carter (Thomas Rosales Jr.) meets a terrible end under the massive T-Rex’s heavy foot. The T-Rex also pursues its human prey into a cave behind a waterfall, with Dr. Robert Burke (Thomas F. Duffy) meeting his own unfortunate end. The waterfall sequence is one of several included in Michael Crichton’s original Jurassic Park novel that was subsequently reworked for the theatrical sequels, and both it and the chase preceding it are among the moments where Jurassic Park‘s T-Rex has been at its most terrifying.

The T-Rex & Blue vs. the Indominus Rex – Jurassic World

The T-Rex may have lost its dinosaur rumble to the Spinosaurus in 2001’s Jurassic Park III, but 2015’s Jurassic World brought the beloved dino out of retirement for a climactic showdown with the Indominus Rex. Jurassic World holds off on featuring the T-Rex on screen at all until the very end, adding to the anticipation of the dinosaur’s return, and even giving the T-Rex a not-so-subtle mic drop in smashing through a Spinosaurus skeleton when it arrives to fight the Indominus.

Adding to an already smashing dino smackdown is the addition of Blue, the intelligent main Velociraptor of the Jurassic World movies leaping in to lend the T-Rex a hand. The T-Rex and Blue’s triumph over the Indominus Rex, sending their enemy into the aquatic jaws of the Mososaurus, ends on a moment of mutual respect between Blue and the T-Rex. After a 14-year absence, the Tyrannosaurus Rex‘s return in Jurassic World delivered one of the dino’s all-time greatest moments in a fantastic fight scene, capped off with the T-Rex’s triumphant roar that closes out the movie.

The T-Rex vs. the Gigantosaurus – Jurassic World: Dominion

What’s a more challenging dinosaur antagonist than the Indominus Rex? Jurassic World: Dominion has the answer to that in the form of the fearsome Gigantosaurus, and once more the T-Rex is on hand to lead the charge to take down the formidable foe. With a little help from the Therizinosaurus, the Tyrannosaurus Rex once again emerges as the victor of a major dino smackdown, with Dominion‘s a far more brutal fight, and one with added the atmosphere of rain, fire, and lightning.

Despite Dominion‘s polarizing reception, it frankly has some of the most gripping dinosaur action scenes of the entire Jurassic Park franchise. The T-Rex’s battle with the Gigantosaurus also really highlights just how much fun T-Rex fight scenes are when pushed to their limits. The T-Rex is genuinely the bare-knuckle boxer of the Jurassic Park franchise, and Jurassic World: Dominion gives the dino his due with a phenomenal fight scene against the Gigantosaurus.

[RELATED: 10 Best Dinosaurs From the Jurassic World Movies (And How Realistic They Are)]

The T-Rexes Attack the Trailers – The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Remember the point earlier about the dangers of humans providing medical attention to dinosaurs? The Lost World: Jurassic Park really emphasizes that point when a mother and father Tyrannosaurus Rex pair attack the trailers being used by the team of human scientists to treat their infant’s broken leg (they, of course, do not know this). Steven Spielberg really pushes the suspense of the sequence to the max with the second trailer dangling over a cliffside as the humans hang on for dear life.

The efforts of field equipment expert Eddie Carr (Richard Schiff) to tow the trailer back up also end in him making the ultimate sacrifice when the two T-Rexes return. As in the original Jurassic Park, Spielberg holds off on bringing in the T-Rexes until almost exactly the midway point, adding another rainstorm in for good measure and delivering one of the highlights of The Lost World as well as another classic T-Rex action scenes of the Jurassic Park franchise.

The T-Rex Attacks San Diego – The Lost World: Jurassic Park

It had to happen sooner or later — a Tyrannosaurus Rex being brought back from InGen’s Site B and being unleashed in a large metropolitan city. The Lost World: Jurassic Park makes many significant changes from Michael Crichton’s eponymous novel, with the T-Rex’s rampage through San Diego not taking place in the text at all. However, with InGen’s plot to bring dinosaurs to the mainland United States and rebuild Jurassic Park there, there was no other alternative for Spielberg but to let the T-Rex run free.

The T-Rex’s San Diego attack fully delivers like a modern-day dinosaur B-movie with state-of-the-art visual effects. It also never shies away from just how terrifying a carnivorous dinosaur being let loose in the world of modern man would be, and pushes the intensity of The Lost World to its peak. There was simply no better way for The Lost World to end, and the movie thoroughly gives its audience their money’s worth in the T-Rex’s trip to San Diego.

The T-Rex Escapes the Pen – Jurassic Park

The one that started it all, the grand entry of the Tyrannosaurus Rex on modern cinema screens is still the scariest and most enthralling Jurassic Park set-piece to date. With the power throughout Isla Nublar out, the island’s electrified fences shut down, and the two tour cars having the misfortune to stop right in front of the T-Rex paddock, Spielberg delivers what is still the definitive T-Rex scene in the animal’s escape from captivity.

Keeping John Williams’ iconic score to the side, the T-Rex escape is the pure terror of a prehistoric creature sniffing out its prey and finding its first on-screen snack in InGen lawyer Donald Genarro (Martin Ferrero.) With the truly horrifying peril faced by Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), and Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joseph Mazzelo), the T-Rex’s escape is a monster movie set piece that has terrified countless moviegoers from 1993 on. Over three decades later, the T-Rex’s escape in Jurassic Park is still the greatest T-Rex’s personal crowning achievement in the Jurassic Park franchise that the king of the dinosaurs still wears with pride.

The Jurassic Park and Jurassic World movies are available to stream on Prime Video and Hulu.