The Perfect Sci-Fi Movie For Fans Who Didn't Like Jurassic Park

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In terms of beloved science fiction movies, it's hard to find one more roundly beloved than "Jurassic Park." Directed by the legendary Steven Spielberg, every dinosaur movie that has come since has had to live in its shadow, which is probably why there are so few studio-produced dinosaur movies outside of this franchise. To put my cards on the table, it's literally my favorite movie of all time. I love it more than most anything else mankind has ever created, even outside the confines of film.

Spielberg's "Jurassic Park" was a box office smash that changed movies forever. More than 30 years removed, for most people, it stands the test of time. This is all a very long way of saying that it's difficult to imagine someone not liking this movie. That said, nothing in the realm of cinema is universal. So, let's imagine for a second that someone queued up this much-hailed cinematic classic in the hopes of watching a movie filled with dinosaurs that they would like as much as everyone else.

Unfortunately, once the credits roll, said individual, such as you, dear reader, was not impressed. You didn't like "Jurassic Park." What then? Surely the realm of sci-fi has something to offer viewers who want something cut from this cloth to scratch a similar itch. Indeed it does, and that thing is "Primitive War," the greatest non-"Jurassic Park" dinosaur movie ever made.

Directed by Luke Sparke and released in 2025, the movie is nothing like "JP" aside from the fact that it has dinosaurs in it. My assumption is that anyone who watched Spielberg's 1993 classic wanted to enjoy a blockbuster with prehistoric creatures involved. If that didn't do it, Sparke's absolutely bonkers bit of popcorn cinema may well do the trick.

Based on the novel of the same name by Ethan Pettus, "Primitive War" takes place during the Vietnam War in 1968. It centers on a recon unit known as Vulture Squad, sent to an isolated jungle valley to uncover the fate of a missing platoon. They soon discover they are not alone and must face the most terrifying creatures to ever walk the Earth. Somehow, deadly dinosaurs arrived in 1960s Vietnam.

Luke Sparke managed to pack an awful lot of action and chaos into this movie. It's got a hulking runtime north of two hours and isn't lacking for spectacle for the vast majority of that time. Perhaps most importantly, for those who wanted a movie that simply had more dinosaurs in it, boy does this deliver. It's downright overflowing with dinos.

That's even more surprising when one understands that Sparke made "Primitive War" for a shockingly low budget of less than $10 million. But please, don't let that deter you or lead you to believe this is a wacky, made-for-TV mockbuster or something along those lines. On the contrary, what Sparke accomplished for less than the catering budget of most blockbusters is downright staggering. By the time the movie's absolutely bananas third-act rolls around, any thoughts that this insane, action-packed motion picture may have suffered for a lack of financial resources will have been thrown out the window.

In many ways, "Primitive War" is everything "Jurassic Park" couldn't be. Even though author Michael Crichton didn't write the script used for the "Jurassic Park" movie, he wrote the novel that inspired it. It's a science-based human tale centered around dinosaurs.

Luke Sparke's movie is incredibly dino-forward and understands the assignment. It's here to entertain the viewer unapologetically and with far less of a tether to reality. It's pure popcorn entertainment with zero restraint. Just when one thinks "Primitive War" can't possibly get any crazier, it gets crazier.

"Jurassic Park" is the product of a Hollywood titan at a time of true cinematic innovation. "Primitive War," meanwhile, was rejected by Hollywood and Sparke made it anyway. That came with certain restrictions, but it allowed for a far more deranged (complimentary) final product that didn't have to contend with the too-many-cooks issue that would result from major studio intervention. This is the true indie filmmaking spirit trapped inside the body of a would-be blockbuster, albeit a demented one.

The fact of the matter is that, while there are some good dinosaur movies outside of "Jurassic Park" or the franchise it spawned, they're relatively few and far between. I would argue even some of the later entries in Spielberg's franchise, including 2015's "Jurassic World," might play better to more modern viewers who might have a hard time with some of the original's special effects or focus on the human story; it still feels like a stretch to recommend continuing with a franchise that a viewer simply didn't vibe with.

If you happen to be a sci-fi fan that wants a dinosaur movie but, for whatever reason, didn't buy what Spielberg was selling, this is the answer to that call. Even better? If this does scratch the itch, "Primitive War" has multiple potential sequels in the works, so this could be the franchise that "Jurassic" wasn't for sci-fi fans.

You can grab "Primitive War" on 4K, Blu-ray, or DVD from Amazon.