# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/21 "2004-05-24T14:18:45Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > [list]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. When I saw that scene in the theatre for the first time, I actually cried out for joy! I’ve wanted to crest a hill, & see a living dinosaur ever since I was a little boy. I cherish that moment. Thank you, Mr. Spielberg. \ \ ---
**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, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/22 "2004-05-24T14:49:19Z")
I know what you mean, **Bosda**. That is a beautiful scene. And the film gave us one of the best lines, ever: “Yeah, but when Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists.” ---
**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, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/23 "2004-05-24T15:05:16Z")
> [@Rabid Child](#): > > 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. He was in the same jeep as Grant and Ellie, so he’d seen the dinos before the tour begins, which is why I question the “King Kong” line. Apparently he knew what to expect (“he did it…the crazy sonofabitch did it”) but this was his first viewing. ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/24 "2004-05-24T15:12:50Z")
I won’t bother enumerating my list of flaws. Suffice it to say “the computer stuff” and “the genetics stuff”. IMHO all good movies have flaws, we’re just more willing to overlook them “Yes, but we know what he meant.” than in a bad movie. > [@Tiramisu](#): > > -If Velociraptors were so intelligent, why would one attack a T-Rex? Were they saying that they were not only intelligent but emotional? Wasn’t it trying to protect the other one? I’m not sure I remember it right, but if so, is that what you’re objecting to? Because if so, then that’s like, normal, isn’t it? Never seen a dog trying to protect its owner, or its puppies? ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/25 "2004-05-24T15:14:18Z")
Y’all haven’t even touched on the worst part of Jurassic Park—the total misrepresentation of Chaos Theory as told by Ian Malcom. He turns a theory that finds order in chaos into one that demands that everything turn into chaos, and seems to be saying that it’s impossible to have zoos. Not to mention the worst scene in the film (and one that I skip every time I watch it)—the debate over lunch between the main characters. The arguments the “scientists” use aren’t much past the Frankensteinian “there are things man wasn’t meant to know” and worse than that, they’re annoyingly stupid. Malcom brings up an argument, Hammond counters it and then Malcom committs the worst sort of offense one can do in such a debate…he abandons that argument and tries to attack from another angle. I HATE people who do that, it’s intellectually dishonest. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/26 "2004-05-24T15:16:32Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > When I saw that scene in the theatre for the first time, I actually cried out for joy! > > I’ve wanted to crest a hill, & see a living dinosaur ever since I was a little boy. Me too! (Except I wasn’t ever a little boy.) I cried my eyes out over that scene when I saw it in the theater, and tear up every single time I watch it. ---
**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, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/27 "2004-05-24T15:18:46Z")
There’s one tiny scene that I always felt sounded very weird. It’s the scene where Grant, Lex, and Tim are at the electric fence. Grant grabs hold of it and pretends to be shocked, while Lex and Tim are screaming their heads off. It cuts to Grant turning around and smiling and as that happens, you can clearly hear a man’s voice screaming. I always loved the part where Nedry squeals like a dolphin as he’s laughing (when he’s with Dodson). ---
**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, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/28 "2004-05-24T15:23:42Z")
> [@jinty](#): > > Erm, and _you_ missed the **r** , DF! Shows that anyone can make a speling misteak, I suppose 😃 Yeah, but I don’t have an editor or fact-checker on staff! ---
**Author:** ![TwoTrouts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9adbd/32.png) [@TwoTrouts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwoTrouts)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/29 "2004-05-24T15:36:33Z")
Wonderful mvie, even with the flaws. For this flick, and ones like “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, it’s best to put the mind in neutral and go with the ride. There is one touch that I love. The park Visitor Center had a banner that read: “When Dinsoaurs Ruled the Earth”. At the end, with T Rex roaring in triumph, the banner comes loose and flutters to the ground. For a brief moment it reads: “Dinosaurs Rule the Earth”. ---
**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, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/30 "2004-05-24T15:42:13Z")
> [@FlyingDragonFan](#): > > 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. Well that makes a little more sense. Another ‘flub’ that always bothered me was during the final chase scene. While the girl is booting up the computer system, (is that even the controll room? Can you boot up the entire system from any station?) any way there is a raptor at the door and finally after they get the door locked Grant is on the phone with Hammon and he has a shot gun in his hand. Ellie screams and over the phone we hear the gun go off four times. Now I’ve never actually heard a shot gun over the phone but I’ll say that was a pretty bad sound effect. Now we cut back to the door and the window has four single holes in the window. Now in case you don’t know a shotgun does not fire a bullet but a large group of small pellet like ‘shot’. Hence the name shotgun. Now there is now what the damage to the door was done by four blasts from that shotgun. Actually it’s hard to believe that he didn’t kill the raptor. ---
**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, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/31 "2004-05-24T16:04:29Z")
> [@TheOnlySaneOne](#): > > One of my absolute favorite movies. Saw it in first grade… First grade? :eek: How long before the nightmares stopped? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/32 "2004-05-24T16:16:39Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Y’all haven’t even touched on the worst part of Jurassic Park—the total misrepresentation of Chaos Theory as told by Ian Malcom. He turns a theory that finds order in chaos into one that demands that everything turn into chaos, and seems to be saying that it’s impossible to have zoos. Bingo! Zoos keep dangerous animals behind physical barriers, not just electric fences. Chaos Theory had nothing to do with the breakdown of the park, human incompetence (whether Hammond’s, Crichton’s or Speilberg’s) did. Malcom’s (per)version of Choas Theory had more to do with Luddism than with the mathematics of the same name. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/33 "2004-05-24T16:21:05Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Not to mention the worst scene in the film (and one that I skip every time I watch it)—the debate over lunch between the main characters. The arguments the “scientists” use aren’t much past the Frankensteinian “there are things man wasn’t meant to know” and worse than that, they’re annoyingly stupid. Malcom brings up an argument, Hammond counters it and then Malcom committs the worst sort of offense one can do in such a debate…he abandons that argument and tries to attack from another angle. I HATE people who do that, it’s intellectually dishonest. Hear hear. Malcolm’s entire argument is basically that creating dinos is stupid, because no matter how hard we try to prevent it, **they will invariably break free and eat us**. The movie really shows its 50s monster-movie roots in that moment; you expect to look around the scene and see John Agar sitting in Sam Neill’s place. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/34 "2004-05-24T16:35:37Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > He was in the same jeep as Grant and Ellie, so he’d seen the dinos before the tour begins, which is why I question the “King Kong” line. Apparently he knew what to expect (“he did it…the crazy sonofabitch did it”) but this was his first viewing. I don’t remember how Goldblum said it, but to me, it seems logical that someone might comment “what’s he got in there, King Kong?” when touring a park of wonders. (i.e. This park is so fantastical, I wouldn’t be surprised if King Kong were in here too) So, it makes sense in a script, but maybe the actor didn’t say it right? Also, lots of things are intentionally misspelled by marketing folks. Maybe they want their brand of dinosaurs to be Stegasaurs ™ [not to be confused with original Stegosaurs, all rights reserved, etc.]. If you look at a box of Froot Loops, it looks perfectly normal. But what the heck is a “Froot”? ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2004, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/35 "2004-05-24T17:01:50Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > 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. They did, in detail. After reading it that part of the story made a lot more sense to me. > [@](#): > > Now we cut back to the door and the window has four single holes in the window. Now in case you don’t know a shotgun does not fire a bullet but a large group of small pellet like ‘shot’. Hence the name shotgun. Now there is now what the damage to the door was done by four blasts from that shotgun. Actually it’s hard to believe that he didn’t kill the raptor. Four badly shot slugs? ---
**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, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/36 "2004-05-24T17:11:15Z")
> [@Nonsuch](#): > > The movie really shows its 50s monster-movie roots in that moment; you expect to look around the scene and see John Agar sitting in Sam Neill’s place. John Agar…hee hee… At least no one ever says “they tampered in God’s domain”. ---
**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, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/37 "2004-05-24T18:26:34Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Bingo! > > Zoos keep dangerous animals behind physical barriers, not just electric fences. Chaos Theory had nothing to do with the breakdown of the park, human incompetence (whether Hammond’s, Crichton’s or Speilberg’s) did. But it wasn’t just that the barriers didn’t hold; it was a combination of things. A crucial point in the book was that certain missing parts of the dinosaur DNA were replaced with frog DNA. The plan was to create only one gender so that they couldn’t reproduce, but since frogs can change gender… I don’t know anything about Chaos Theory, so I accept that Crichton completely misused the concept. But his idea was that the system they were trying to put in place was too complex, and was bound to break down. It wasn’t just that somebody did something stupid and let the dinos get out. Personally, I think the movie was a total hatchet-job. It completely glossed over the entire background of how and why the dinosaurs were created. The entire explanation, which Crichton spent a good portion of the book on, was reduced to a silly little filmstrip that ran in one scence, and couldn’t have lasted more than 30 seconds. There was a lot more to the book than, “Oh no, the dinosaurs are going to eat us.” The book was an interesting science-fiction story; the movie was just a horror-flick. ---
**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, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/38 "2004-05-24T18:29:45Z")
And by “scence”, I mean “scene”. My mistake can be explained by chaos theory. ---
**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, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/39 "2004-05-24T18:32:37Z")
> [@clayton\_e](#): > > They did, in detail. After reading it that part of the story made a lot more sense to me. > > Four badly shot slugs? Only if they make 22 slugs that fire from 30 guage shotguns. ---
**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, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715/40 "2004-05-24T18:39:08Z")
Another fun line (intentional or not?) comes from the lawyer Gennaro as they are on the automated tour of the hatchery: Gennaro: Are these characters auto…auto…erotica…? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jurassic-park-how-can-i-love-a-movie-with-so-many-flaws/246715.md?page=3)