# Jurassic Park: how can I love a movie with so many flaws? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 24, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715 "2004-05-24T00:16:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/1 "2004-05-24T00:16:26Z")
Just saw JP for the umpteenth time, this time on NBC. I love this movie…but jeez, it is so full of holes (not even including the underlying science) and eye-rolling moments. [ul]Why is the annoying kid on the Montana dig? Was it Take Your Child to Work day?[/ul] [ul]“Virtual reality” as an aid to genetic research? :rolleyes: [/ul] [ul]I’ve never quite figured out how the park experience was supposed to work. I think tourists were supposed to arrive at the Visitor Center; see the film; then take the tour. But our heros kind of come in through the back door – so they can drive by the brachiosaur, and we get the Big Reveal. I have a feeling this was a Spielbergian afterthought, though (like Ben Gardner’s boat) and there’s a continuity problem. As the tour begins, Jeff Goldblum says “what’s he got in there - King Kong?”, when he knows full well what’s in there, having seen it already.[/ul] [ul]Dino-poop and dino-snot gags. Please.[/ul] [ul]The electric fence scene is just silly. Both kids could’ve squeezed through the fence, instead of going over. And if I was on an electric fence when the alarm went off, I think I would’ve let go rather quickly.[/ul] [ul]I can’t believe I never noticed this before last night…on the tour, the cars stop next to the T Rex paddock. On their right is a fence, a goat, the jungle. T Rex eats the goat and breaks out; and then pushes the car over the wall – and down a cliff into a tree? Where’d the cliff come from? The car hasn’t moved.[/ul] [ul]How did the T Rex get into the visitor center (much less, enter unnoticed)…I don’t think there were any doors big enough. Must’ve been lowered through the ceiling from a helicopter.[/ul] But I love it nonetheless – if just for the T Rex scene, which is the most intense & terrifying thing I’ve ever seen on film. Plus the brachiosaur reveal scene, for the John Williams music. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/2 "2004-05-24T00:42:42Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > But I love it nonetheless – if just for the T Rex scene, which is the most intense & terrifying thing I’ve ever seen on film. That scene alone pays for not just the flaws in this film, but in ALL Spielberg films. Maybe a few other films by other directors, too. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/3 "2004-05-24T01:02:33Z")
You know, I almost made this same thread last night after watching it on NBC, too. More plot holes: -Why would a huge facility with dangerous animals that coule escape if the power goes down, not have back-up generators for the electric fences? -Why do they have to go to a utility shed to reboot the power that is no where near the main building and requires going through areas that could potentially hold dangerous animals if their electric fences went down? Why not an underground passage to it, at least? -If Velociraptors were so intelligent, why would one attack a T-Rex? Were they saying that they were not only intelligent but emotional? Anyway, there’s a lot more, but I still liked it. Don’t get me started on the sequels though … dang I like watching them, too, but I really wanted to see Tea Leoni get eaten. Okay, I just really like dinosaurs. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/4 "2004-05-24T01:17:29Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > [ul]I’ve never quite figured out how the park experience was supposed to work. I think tourists were supposed to arrive at the Visitor Center; see the film; then take the tour. But our heros kind of come in through the back door – so they can drive by the brachiosaur, and we get the Big Reveal. I have a feeling this was a Spielbergian afterthought, though (like Ben Gardner’s boat) and there’s a continuity problem. As the tour begins, Jeff Goldblum says “what’s he got in there - King Kong?”, when he knows full well what’s in there, having seen it already.[/ul] Yes, but our heroes are different. It probably would have gone a bit different for the public. Hammond wanted to impress the scientists and lawyer, and the dinosaur tour was more for his grandchildren. Or as he calls them “the target audience”. Did Jeff Goldblum know exactly what was going on? I know he wasn’t as clueless about the park as Grant and Ellie, but he seemed pretty amazed by the dinosaurs. I thought the whole plot of Lex managing to upstart the system again was stupid. Hammond should have had more computer people employed than he did. How many did he have? I counted Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight, and maybe a third person. Shouldn’t there have been more? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/5 "2004-05-24T01:21:40Z")
Screamingly-obvious flaw - somehow the dinosaurs didn’t need half-a-century to grow to adult size, just a couple of years :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/6 "2004-05-24T01:31:19Z")
> [@Rabid Child](#): > > I thought the whole plot of Lex managing to upstart the system again was stupid. Hammond should have had more computer people employed than he did. How many did he have? I counted Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight, and maybe a third person. Shouldn’t there have been more? This, at least, can be explained by most of the workers on the island evacuating because of the storm. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/7 "2004-05-24T02:33:10Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Why is the annoying kid on the Montana dig? Was it Take Your Child to Work day? Living in a place where a dino dig is not even an hours drive away I can answer that. Sometimes, especially during the summer and depending on the dig people can pay to go out and join the others. They generally get to see how things work and dig in a spot where they aren’t gonna do any damage. They can go out for a day, or a weekend. So a kid could conceivably be at the dig. Also it is possible his parents didn’t know what else to do with him so took him with while they worked (it’s uncommon afaik, but does happen) ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/8 "2004-05-24T02:33:19Z")
My favorite scene is…heck, here be spoilers… When the Velociraptors and T-Rex mix it up in the big dome with the skeletons which break apart and spin around. Dang–I says, says I–that guy is a visual artist without peer; can’t write a plot or dialog to save his life, but the pictures he draws are GREAT! ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/9 "2004-05-24T02:47:48Z")
One of my absolute favorite movies. Saw it in first grade, read the book, wanted to be a paleontogist. However, one thing has really gotten to me on watching it again lately. In the animated scene with “Mr. DNA” they show what’s supposed to be a genetic sequence, full of A’s, G’s, T’s, and C’s. But there were also B’s in there. I have no idea what B stands for in the genetic code, but my hunch is its what made the dinos go crazy. _nods solemnly_ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/10 "2004-05-24T03:46:32Z")
> [@TheOnlySaneOne](#): > > One of my absolute favorite movies. Saw it in first grade, read the book, wanted to be a paleontogist. First grade! Oh dear, I feel old… ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/11 "2004-05-24T03:58:33Z")
Me too and I’m only a few years older than he is. I can’t believe it’s been around for that long. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/12 "2004-05-24T04:00:31Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > First grade! Oh dear, I feel old… Lesse, it came out in 1993, right? That would have made me in fifth grade. Feel any better now? ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/13 "2004-05-24T04:01:05Z")
I have a real love-hate relationship with this movie: I love the CGI dinosaurs. I hate everything else. I do own the DVD, nevertheless 😃 Well, OK, I don’t _hate_ **everything** else, but there is just so much that was lame, or made much lamer than how things played out in the book. What really astonishes me is how they can get a very basic fact, like the spelling of _Stegosaurus_ **wrong** in the movie! They spelled it _Stegasaurus_! Right there on the big screen! And they spelled _Tyannosaurus_ with only one “n”! How does that happen, when there are supposedly people on staff to point out this sort of thing? (This is all in the scene where Nedry is stealing the embryos, by the way). For those who want to see the extent of poor editing that this film has to offer, see [here](http://www.bigwaste.com/library/jurassicflubs/part1.shtml). And really, that is my biggest beef with the movie – the editing has got to be some of the worst ever put on the big screen. Well, that and some of the nonsense they try to spout of as “science” when it comes to the dinosaurs themselves… But the dinosaurs sure do look cool. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/14 "2004-05-24T04:59:17Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > That scene alone pays for not just the flaws in this film, but in ALL Spielberg films. Maybe a few other films by other directors, too. I agree. When I saw JP in the theaters on opening day and the T.rex came through the fence, you could almost feel the air being sucked in by hundreds of gasping moviegoers…and then some guy two rows behind me said, in a barely audible voice, “holy _shit_…” ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/15 "2004-05-24T08:22:35Z")
> [@Tiramisu](#): > > -Why would a huge facility with dangerous animals that coule escape if the power goes down, not have back-up generators for the electric fences? It’s been awhile, but IIRC, the computer guy (Newman from Seinfeld) is dead, and they try to reboot the system, but don’t know what they’re doing. There is a battery back-up, but they unwittingly place the back-up system in place and, thinking they have put the main system in place, drain the batteries. So they did have a backup, but they used it up. It may have been explained better in the book; I don’t remember. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eada6e/32.png) [@Go\_You\_Big\_Red\_Fire\_Engine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/16 "2004-05-24T11:43:53Z")
> [@Darwin's Finch](#): > > And they spelled _Tyannosaurus_ with only one “n”! 🆒 I must admit, loved the book wayyyy more than the movie. In the movie they mixed all of them around… and I’m not even going to go into how shit no. 3 was ☹ I love Michael Crichton. Most of the time the movies just let them down, esp. Rising Sun. ---
**Author:** ![jinty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dbc845/32.png) [@jinty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jinty)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/17 "2004-05-24T12:47:28Z")
> [@Darwin's Finch](#): > > And they spelled _Tyannosaurus_ with only one “n”! Erm, and _you_ missed the **r** , DF! Shows that anyone can make a speling misteak, I suppose 😃 > [@Darwin's Finch](#): > > But the dinosaurs sure do look cool. Yeah, they do. I love JP, warts and all. Haven’t ever seen a movie that benefited more from being on the big screen: life-size T-Rex and the sound system making the theatre shake, fantastic. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/18 "2004-05-24T13:36:18Z")
My favorite flub is a flubbed line. The lawyer is talking to Hammond before he sees the dinos. "Your investors, whom I represent have some very serious doubts about the park. This inspection is to verify (yada yada yada) If _they’re_ not happy, _I’m_ not happy. I’ll shut you down John. Should that be “If\* I’m \* not happy,\* they’re \* not happy.”? After all he will report back to the investors so basically it’s his opinion if all is well that the investors will take. But then 30 seconds later you see the first dino and you forget everything. The other big flub is the very idea of Laura Dern trying to act in a scene opposite Sir Richard Attenborough. He is really good and that scene and she is really bad. I also just think it’s stupid to have your park employees go back to the mainland for the weekend. They would all live on the island 365 days a year, but that’s a flaw from the book. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/19 "2004-05-24T13:58:27Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > The other big flub is the very idea of Laura Dern trying to act in a scene opposite Sir Richard Attenborough. He is really good and that scene and she is really bad. The Ice Cream scene! Richard Attenborough rules, which is why I can forgive a lot of things in the movie. I always felt so bad for Hammond, especially at the end where he stands there looking back at his failed park before Grant ushers him into the helicoptor. And thanks **Revtim** for pointing that out. I had forgotten that the crew left because of the storm. I haven’t seen this movie in a while despite ruining the video tape of it because of repeated viewings when I was twelve. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/20 "2004-05-24T13:59:51Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > My favorite flub is a flubbed line. > > The lawyer is talking to Hammond before he sees the dinos. > "Your investors, whom I represent have some very serious doubts about the park. This inspection is to verify (yada yada yada) > If _they’re_ not happy, _I’m_ not happy. I’ll shut you down John. Actually, a potential answer for that is provided on the page that **Darwin’s Finch** linked to. The “they” he’s referring to is the scientists who will or will not verify the park’s safety/acceptiblity. So he’s saying that if the scientists aren’t happy, he won’t be happy, and will report back to the investors. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715.md?page=2)