The first dinosaur shown after the opening attack in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park is a Brachiosaurus.
Alan Grant, Ellie Sattler, and the others see the towering herbivore after arriving on Isla Nublar. Its appearance is designed as a moment of awe: the characters realize that John Hammond’s park has successfully brought dinosaurs back to life. The scene also establishes the film’s contrast between wonder and danger.
Brachiosaurus was a long-necked sauropod, and the movie presents it as one of the park’s most spectacular animals. The film’s computer-generated imagery and large practical effects made the dinosaur reveal a landmark in visual-effects history.
Viewers sometimes remember the Tyrannosaurus as the first dinosaur because it dominates the film’s most famous attack sequence. However, the Tyrannosaurus appears later, after the initial Brachiosaurus encounter and other dinosaur-related scenes.