10 Sci-Fi Movies That Aren’t As Bad As Everyone Says

Okay, first thing's first.

The image of a smiling velociraptor sitting in an airplane seat, yelling "Alan"?

Genius. Possibly the finest moment in the Jurassic Park series.

But outside of a wild-eyed Sam Neill's infamous dream sequence, Jurassic Park III is often criticized for being a rollercoaster ride that lacks Spielberg's magic touch. It's a pretty rich criticism when the preceding film in the series, 1997's The Lost World, is a bloated and overlong mess with one or two standout sequences.

As such, it's not unfair to suggest that critics were more concerned with the names in this film's credits than the action onscreen.

This threequel from 2001 is step up from its predecessor, darker but also faster paced and filled with some stellar action sequences.

Are there plot holes galore? Of course, this is still a Jurassic Park instalment after all.

But the movie remains underrated thanks to Neill's intense and gruff performance, the thrilling chase scenes, an inspired sequence in a pterodactyl terrarium, and of course, that fantastic blink-and-you'll-miss-it bit where one of the flying dinos inexplicably nods at the camera.