The first of the Jurassic Park movies was released 25 years ago in 1993. It was a very good movie in spite of the annoying children actors. But before Jurassic Park, there were lots of movies that featured dinosaurs. Many of these movies were rather bad, but here are my ten favorites, listed by the year in which they were released.

1. King Kong (1933) – Amazing special effects, for the time, by Willis O’Brien. Filmmaker Carl Denham and adventurer Jack Driscoll run into a Stegosaurus, Brontosaurus, Elasmosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, and a Pteranodon.

2. The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953) – An atomic bomb test releases a (fictional) Rhedosaurus from the Arctic and it makes its way to New York. The beast is eventually killed by a sharpshooter with radium projectiles on a roller-coaster. Special effects by Ray Harryhausen, an O’Brien protege.

3. Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1956) – The 1956 version is a highly edited version of the 1954 Japanese “Godzilla”. It’s fashionable to critique that the original Japanese version is best, but I’ve seen both versions and I prefer the Americanized version. Both versions were heavily influenced by “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms”.

4. The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956) – The story idea came from special effects pioneer Willis O’Brien, but the effects were done by team led by Jack Rabin. A cowboy, played by actor Guy Madison, finds that his cattle are being eaten by a dinosaur.

5. The Land Unknown (1957) – An expedition in Antarctica find themselves deep underground, underneath a volcano. Pretty bad movie, but it has a certain charm in its cheesiness. The Tyrannosaurus is obviously a guy in a rubber suit but the Elasmosaurus isn’t too bad.

6. The Giant Behemoth (1959) – This is almost a remake of “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms” except this beast is a (fictional) Paleosaurus and it wanders through London instead of New York. The beast is killed by a radium-filled torpedo fired from a mini submarine. This movie is not highly regarded but I like it.

7. Gorgo (1961) – A volcanic eruption releases a 65-foot tall dinosaur (Gorgo), which is put on display in London. This is a bad idea because Gorgo’s mom, Ogra, is 200 feet tall — and angry. Happily, both mother and son dinosaurs survive.

8. One Million Years B.C. (1966) – Raquel Welch as a cavegirl, wearing a fur bikini. That’s really all you need to know. Special effects by the famous Ray Harryhausen — on the dinosaurs that is, not Raquel Welch.

9. The Valley of Gwanji (1969) – Cowboys in Mexico find diosaurs. Gwanji is an Allosaurus. Gwanji is captured and put on display. As you might guesss, this does not turn out well. Special effects by Ray Harryhausen again.

10. The Land That Time Forgot (1975) – During World War I, a British merchant ship is sunk by a German U-boat but some survivors manage to take control of the sub. The combined crews discover a sub-continent where evolution has stopped and dinosaurs still exist. The dinosaurs were puppets and not too badly done in my opinion, and I loved the U-boat model.

Extras

Dinosaurus! (1960) – I usually enjoy B movies but this one isn’t good enough to be good or bad enough to be good.

Turok comic books featured excellent artwork and pretty good stories.