Twenty-five years ago on June 11, Jurassic Park premiered in theaters and roared to a $357 million domestic gross. Director Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the book by Michael Crichton starred Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Samuel L. Jackson and more. Set on the fictional island of Isla Nubar, mankind dared to upset the balance of nature by cloning dinosaurs from fossilized DNA samples. Thanks to cutting edge animatronics and computer generated imagery audiences made it a hit and the film won three Academy Awards for Visual Effects, Sound and Sound Editing.

After two more sequels and a reboot in 2015 with Jurassic World, the cast past and present is back for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom to reckon with the plight of the dinosaurs and mankind once again.

“It’s crazy. We were kids watching Jurassic Park when it came out in the theater opening weekend 25 years ago. Biggest movie of my childhood and now we’re here,” says Bryce Dallas Howard, who returns as Claire Dearing.

“The only thing that is better than being an audience member and be excited about the new installment is to be part of it,” says Chris Pratt, who plays raptor wrangler Owen Grady. “So it feels really good. This is a film that defined my childhood. This is MY Star Wars. This is the thing that I loved. It had a major impact on my life at thirteen.”

“It started from the seed of the book by Michael Crichton, a spectacular man,” says Jeff Goldblum, who reprises his role from the original film, Dr. Ian Malcolm. “And Steven Spielberg took it into the cinema world. With Stan Winston and Dennis Muren pioneering the ways to bring dinosaurs onto our screens. And they’ve continued now with this new generation, iteration. Wow. What a knockout.”

Director J.A. Bayona took on the monumental task of putting a fresh coat of paint on a decades-old concept and is pleased with the results.

“After four movies wondering about whether we’d be able to make dinosaurs, this movie is more about our relation we have towards dinosaurs,” says Bayona. “In that sense I think it’s a pretty emotional take on the story. I think it’s a movie about empathy and how, somehow we need to accept what we don’t understand. It’s a movie that escapes from the island and takes that global. Takes the debate of the Jurassic World to the whole world.”

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is in theaters June 22.