Jurassic Park is one of the most influential movies of the 1990s and the sci-fi genre, and a similar movie that was released before it was so bad that it made Steven Spielberg’s movie look even better. Steven Spielberg has explored various genres throughout his career, making some of the most notable films ever in different genres, and one of his most popular and beloved works is Jurassic Park. Based on Michael Crichton’s 1990 novel of the same name, Jurassic Park brings dinosaurs to the modern world, but not without terrifying consequences.

Jurassic Park takes viewers to Isla Nublar, where wealthy businessman John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), with the help of a team of scientists, opens a wildlife park of real dinosaurs. However, industrial sabotage leads to a general shutdown, putting all those in the park at great danger as the dinosaurs are let loose. Jurassic Park was a critical and commercial success, and it has been highly influential – and it only gets better when you another dinosaur movie released not long before.

Carnosaur Came Out A Month Before Jurassic Park (And It Was Not Good)

Carnosaur Was Released On May 14, 1993

Jurassic Park was released on June 11, 1993, to great success, but it wasn’t the only movie of its type released that year. The previous month, the sci-fi horror movie Carnosaur was released, directed by Adam Simon and loosely based on the novel of the same name by John Brosnan. Carnosaur follows Dr. Jane Tiptree (Diane Ladd), who has withdrawn from public life to work on very specific experiments and research for the Eunice Corporation. However, when one of her animal subjects hatches Deinonychus and a mysterious illness hits town, she becomes the prime suspect.

The purpose of this is to exterminate the human race so that dinosaurs can repopulate the Earth.

Activist Ann Thrush (Jennifer Runyon) and watchman Doc Smith (Raphael Sbarge) end up discovering Tiptree’s plan: the mysterious illness has been caused by infected chicken eggs, which contain a lethal airborne virus that impregnates women with dinosaur embryos. The purpose of this is to exterminate the human race so that dinosaurs can repopulate the Earth. Carnosaur was panned by critics, with many calling it one of the worst movies of all time, and it didn’t perform well at the box office, either.

Carnosaur has an 18% critic's score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics pointing out its “laughable” visual effects, its convoluted and nonsensical plot, and its pace as its biggest flaws.

According to AFI, Carnosaur was originally intended to be released on the same day as Jurassic Park, but it was moved to May to coincide with the new George S. Eccles Dinosaur Park in Utah. Carnosaur had a limited theatrical release, and by December, it was already available on VHS. Carnosaur has an 18% critic's score on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics pointing out its “laughable” visual effects, its convoluted and nonsensical plot, and its pace as its biggest flaws. Despite this, Carnosaur spawned a film series with two sequels and two spinoffs, and has gained a cult following over the years as a mockbuster.

The Book Carnosaur Is Based On Actually Predates Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park

Before Jurassic Park, There Was Carnosaur

To make the links between Carnosaur and Jurassic Park more interesting, the book on which the former was based was published way before the latter. The Carnosaur horror novel was published in 1984, and yes, it has many similarities to Jurassic Park, but it arrived six years before Crichton’s novel. The novel is different from the movie, but the overall idea is the same: dinosaurs brought to life through DNA fragments found in fossils, with the intention of letting them loose in areas where they can flourish and, eventually, spread in what the scientists behind it considered the Third World War.

Carnosaur was written by John Brosnan under the pseudonym Harry Adam Knight.

The Carnosaur novel has similarities to Jurassic Park, such as the origin of the dinosaurs’ DNA, humans having to escape from these creatures, and the overall intention of bringing dinosaurs back to life, though with completely different plans. However, there are enough differences between them to appeal to fans of this type of sci-fi story.

Carnosaur Is A Reminder Of How Remarkable Jurassic Park Was

There Are Many Reasons Why Jurassic Park Has Been So Influential

Carnosaur was intended to capitalize on Jurassic Park and thus be released after it, but that would have been a lot worse for it… and better for Spielberg’s movie. Carnosaur failed not just because of its story (it might have been better if it had stayed truer to the novel), but because of its visual effects. The dinosaurs weren't terrifying at all and looked very much like puppets, and the gore was too much even for a story like that. Jurassic Park, on the other hand, stood out for its incredible visual effects.

Jurassic Park's story is a lot better written than Carnosaur's, more coherent, and more exciting, while Carnosaur failed at all this.

Jurassic Park's use of CGI is considered to have paved the way for visual effects practices in modern cinema, and it won various awards for its different technical aspects. Of course, Jurassic Park's story is a lot better written than Carnosaur's, more coherent, and more exciting, while Carnosaur failed at all this. Carnosaur has won its own place in film history, but will always be overshadowed by the greatness of Jurassic Park.

Source: AFI.