Montana's Scene In Jurassic Park

Last weekend I dove into my movie watchlist. There are so many classic movies I either haven't seen or I need to rewatch, so I created a watchlist.

There are over 50 movies on my watchlist and continuously growing. In case you're wondering, which I'm sure you're not, here are my top 10 watchlist movies.

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Blade Runner
The Iron Claw
Young Frankenstein
Little Miss Sunshine
Rocky III
Jojo Rabbit
Spectre (James Bond)
21 Jump Street
The Last Waltz

As you can see, my watchlist is a lot like my brain: All over the place. I scratched one off the list last weekend when I watched Jurassic Park (1993) starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough and directed by the legend Steven Spielberg.

It wasn't my maiden voyage with Jurassic Park, but it was the first time I watched it after my move to Montana. Only a few minutes into the movie, I was reminded Montana appeared in Jurassic Park. It's less than ten minutes into the movie. It's the dig site scene. I couldn't find the complete scene but this is part of it.

The scene opens with a caption of "BADLANDS Near Snakewater, Montana." After further investigation, it is NOT a real town. I hadn't heard of it, but had to double-check and it is FICTIONAL. Although Jurassic-Pedia gave it a description.

"Snakewater is located in the U.S. state of Montana... Snakewater is situated near the badlands in the state's central region, close enough to reach the city of Choteau via helicopter, this suggests that it is located in Teton County, east of the Rocky Mountains."

Credit: Google Maps

Grant and Ellie were somewhere east of Flathead Lake digging for dinosaur bones in the fictional Jurassic Park universe. It was something pretty cool that I noticed and pointed at my TV saying "Hey I know that place."

via GIPHY

Jurassic Park isn't the only film set in Montana. Arrival and A River Runs Through It comes to mind along with TV shows Yellowstone and Big Sky.