Adam Driver’s 65 is the Perfect Jurassic Park Replacement

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Since the release of in 1993, dinosaurs have become a popular fixture in action movies. We’ve seen them in many forms, from fun, low-budget films like to big-budget hits like .

The 2023 film 65, directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and starring Adam Driver, didn’t perform well in theaters and received mixed reviews. However, it’s recently found a new audience on HBO Max, where it’s currently a top 10 hit. Viewers are now recognizing the film’s bold ideas and unique approach to a familiar story.

65 is a Prehistoric Action That Delivers on Everything It Promises

In the film 65, pilot Mills (Adam Driver) crash-lands on Earth… but it’s Earth from 65 million years ago! He joins forces with Koa, another survivor of the crash, and together they journey across the prehistoric landscape hoping to find a way home.

While 65 doesn’t break new ground – it uses familiar action and horror story elements like a central mission and desperate escape – it’s noteworthy for its science fiction aspects, especially those that are a bit different from what you usually see.

I’ve noticed a pattern in a lot of these kinds of movies – they usually involve creatures from the past suddenly showing up in our world. Think about Jurassic Park – it was amazing how they brought dinosaurs back using genetics, like they’d been asleep for millions of years! And then there’s Piranha, where these swarms just appear out of nowhere, rising up from the depths. It’s a really cool, and sometimes scary, idea!

The show takes a clever turn by sending its main characters back to the age of dinosaurs, adding the danger of a looming meteor impact. Since the audience already knows the meteor is coming, the suspense focuses on whether Mills and Koa can make it to an escape pod before it hits.

The movie ends with a stunning shot of the meteor hitting Earth, which feels like a perfect payoff after the buildup. A short scene after the credits shows Earth beginning to heal, offering a hopeful contrast to the destruction.

While meteors frequently appear in movies, surprisingly few films about prehistoric times show the destruction they can cause. is a notable exception, and The Land Before Time also explores how extinction events change the environment.

However, when it comes to large-scale action sequences featuring the meteor, there aren’t many. Regardless of whether audiences enjoyed the movie or not, most agree it takes a unique approach.

What really grabbed me about this movie was how it leaned into the future. Seeing Mills and Koa running around with energy weapons and these cool devices that detected movement was awesome. There were a few scenes where they were totally cornered and being hunted, and that pinging sound from the sensors just ratcheted up the tension – seriously, it was nail-biting stuff!

The movie features several action-packed scenes, including the pair battling dinosaurs on four legs, swift, raptor-like hunters, and even a young T. rex in a particularly thrilling sequence. Armed and ready, they face constant danger in a series of exciting encounters with these creatures.

The movie 65 advertised itself with the slogan “The past meets the future,” suggesting a unique and exciting dinosaur adventure. While it doesn’t quite revolutionize the genre, and it’s hard to imagine any movie doing so, 65 does deliver on its core promise. It successfully blends science fiction with classic dinosaurs and the iconic image of a meteor impact.

65 Deserved More Love at the Box Office and from Critics

Despite costing $45 million to make, the movie 65 only earned a little over $60 million, making it a major box office disappointment in 2023. It ranked 81st worldwide that year, performing worse than other critically panned films like The Boogeyman and The Nun II, both of which were also written by the same screenwriters.

Despite being a highly anticipated film, 65 received mixed reviews. Critics gave it a 36% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, often pointing out its slow start and unoriginal action sequences. Many also felt the movie dragged, revealing its central idea later than necessary, especially since the trailer already showed it. Audiences weren’t much more enthusiastic, giving it a 64% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 5.4 out of 10 on IMDb.

While ’65’ isn’t perfect and some criticism about its slow speed and predictable plot is understandable, the movie’s strengths weren’t fully appreciated when it first came out. This is due not only to its overall quality, but also to how accurately it portrays history.

The absence of big dinosaurs around 65 million years ago aligns with current scientific understanding. Paleontologist Caleb Brown of the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Canada explains that life on Earth then would have featured a blend of creatures we recognize and ones that are quite different.

According to Smithsonian magazine, you’d be much more likely to see smaller creatures like turtles, frogs, birds, and lizards than huge dinosaurs like ankylosaurs or tyrannosaurs. The movie reflects this reality; while the main character encounters some large dinosaurs, the world is mainly filled with smaller animals like insects, lizards, and birds.

As a movie buff who loves a little science with my action, I thought it was cool how 65 touched on the Alvarez hypothesis – you know, the leading theory about what wiped out the dinosaurs. Basically, it suggests a meteor hit Earth where Mexico is now, kicking up a ton of dust and causing massive tsunamis, especially in the Americas. And the movie visually showed that really well, with those huge forest fires near the end – it felt like a plausible consequence of such a massive impact.

Since its release three years ago, the movie 65 has become popular again, largely due to streaming platforms like Netflix and Prime Video. It recently reached number five on those platforms for the week of January 12th, and is currently ranked at number ten.

Though it hasn’t become a critically acclaimed hit, the movie 65 is quietly building a dedicated fanbase. Opinions have varied since its release, but recently, more and more viewers have been praising it as captivating, unique, and smartly written.

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2026-01-23 19:12