The following contains spoilers for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Come back after you've seen it.
Over 25 years later the original Jurassic Park is still a very well regarded film that's popularity has spawned an all-new series of films. The latest entry pays tribute to the one that started it all in a very subtle, but important way. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Director J.A. Bayona revealed that one of the final shots of the new movie, showing dinosaurs flying over California, is specifically designed to harken back to a moment at the end of Jurassic Park, and show the audience just how much has now changed in the world. According to Bayona...
One of the last shots of the movie, you see the characters Owen, Claire and Maisie in a car. And they look through a window and they see these pteranodons flying over the ocean. It's entirely the same shot that you see at the end of Jurassic Park. But in Jurassic Park it's not pteranodons, it's birds. It's like a way of telling, 'OK this is an emotional connection with that film.' We smile watching that shot, but the message is so different. It's not birds anymore, it's dinosaurs. So it's the world upside down.
If you've seen the movie or you've already had the film spoiled, then you know that the new movie really embraces the idea of the title Jurassic World at the end as dinosaurs are released into Northern California and are now running free. We see several shots of different dinosaurs who have entered familiar environments and made them feel much less familiar. This includes the shot that J.A. Bayona references to MTV, which includes pteranodons flying through the air above the Pacific Ocean.
The shot is meant to call back to a shot at the end of the original Jurassic Park. The surviving characters have made it on board a helicopter and are flying to safety. Sam Neill's Dr. Grant looks out the window to see birds flying together. It's an indication to him that they have left Jurassic Park and have reentered the world that the characters familiar with. They are safe now. Check out the shot in the clip below.
By contrast, in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Owen doesn't see the familiar sight of birds, he sees the strange sight of flying dinosaurs. The shot is an indication that the world has changed is a major way. The world you thought you understood is now something entirely different.
Jurassic World 3 is a complete mystery at this point, but based on how Fallen Kingdom came to a close, we know that it's going to open on a world unlike anything we've ever seen.
