How realistic are movie dinosaurs?

Titanosauruses in the movie "Jurassic World: Rebirth", directed by Gareth Edwards. Universal Studios hide caption

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Universal Studios

Titanosauruses in the movie "Jurassic World: Rebirth", directed by Gareth Edwards.

Universal Studios

Picture you're sitting in the plush seats of a movie theater. There's popcorn in your lap and a pack of Sour Patch Kids next to you. On screen you're staring at an enormous T-Rex chasing its prey.

That's part of the plot of many movies in the Jurassic Park franchise.

And while dinosaur paleontologist Matt Lamanna has loved dinosaurs — and the Jurassic Park franchise — his whole life, he says some of the movies are more accurate than others.

For example, in the original film, a major plot point is that the T-Rex can't see park-goers if they aren't moving. Lamanna says that is "extra problematic with T-Rex because it probably had...some of the best visual acuity in any dinosaur."

Lamanna works at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, which he recently gave Short Wave host Regina G. Barber a tour of. Along the way, they discussed the accuracy of the beloved giant creatures in the newest Jurassic World film, as well as some of the hits from the franchise's archive — like the dinosaur he was partially responsible for discovering, the Dreadnoughtus.

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This episode was produced by Rachel Carlson. It was edited by Rebecca Ramirez. Tyler Jones checked the facts. Kwesi Lee was the audio engineer.