From the Library ofThe Big Waste of SpaceWanna See More?

The Big Waste of Space Presents The Flubs of Jurassic Park
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Part 1 Part 2 Huh?
Part 1: In Chronological Order

If you've arrived on this page from a search engine or an outside link, please visit the home page for a thorough explanation of the flub classifications. Also, if you are kind enough to create a link to this site yourself, please link to said home page and not to this page.

Many additions were added with the help of visitors and I've tried to credit them where appropriate. If you sent one in some time ago and find it listed without your name or with someone else's, tough noogies. You'll just have to believe me when I say someone else sent it in first or it was on my notepad before you spotted it.

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Flub Legend
[Flub] = Flub
[Microflub] = Microflub
[Unflub] = Unflub
For a thorough explanation of the flub classifications, please visit the home page.

 

Click theScreen Shot  icon below a listing to view its screen shot.

[Unflub]
1.   I hate to start with an unflub, but I get this one too often. Shortly after Grant and Sattler (Sam Neill and Laura Dern) make their first appearance, Sattler wraps a bandanna around Grant's neck and they both begin walking down the hill. When we see them next, Grant does not have the bandanna. I do not see this as a flub, because in the time that we were seeing the experiment being prepared and in the time the doctors would have been walking down the hill, he could easily have removed it. Besides, just before we cut to the shotgun shell being loaded, Grant reaches up to his neck, probably to remove the bandanna.
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[Unflub]
2.   Prompted by a somewhat creepy-looking and rather smart-assed kid (Whitby Hertford), Grant describes the clever hunting practices of the Velociraptor. No, Grant couldn't possibly have known how Raptors hunt, but as a scientist, he would have his theories and would be quite good at describing them in detail - especially when he wants to scare the crap out of Pugsly. Anyway, it is a movie and this monologue helps set up the audience for action seen later in the film. I don't see a flub here.

[Microflub]
3.   Now, normally I don't count incongruous passages of time as flubs. Time is usually overlooked in film for esthetic or practical purposes. After all, we can't watch every second of action without being bored to death. However, I have a hard time buying this one: Shortly after Hammond's helicopter lands near Grant's dig, Hammond (Richard Attenborough) is down the hill, in the trailer, and digging through the fridge - all this before Grant can even reach the chopper. Maybe I'd have an easier time buying it if Hammond weren't walking through the desert - with a cane.

[Flub]
4.   And as for that trailer, it may not look like much, but it has some appealing features. The most interesting of which is the standard dimensionally transcendental front door. No matter if you're on the inside or the outside, the hinges are always on your right. (By the way, extra points if you caught the Dr. Who reference.)
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[Flub]
5.   If that's not magical enough for you, check out the towels they keep in the kitchen. More specifically, keep an eye on the one Hammond is using to clean those glasses. He must have been washing Kool-Aid out of them because just as he says, "Makes the one I've got down in Kenya look like a petting zoo," that thing turns instantly from white to pink. (Yes, he starts with a pink one and sets it down before picking up the white one, but keep watching and wait for that line.)
Screen Shot

-- With help from Rob Goald.

[Flub]
6.   The miracles don't stop there. Watch the dust on Grant's forehead. For one shot, after Hammond says he'll fund their dig for another three years, it disappears. (The rest of the time it just changes in size and shape.)
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[Microflub]
7.   I don't really consider this a flub, but I thought it was amusing, so I add it here as a microflub. Hammond earlier refused help from Sattler with a bottle of champagne and remarked “I know my way around a kitchen.” He then proceeded to pour his celebratory refreshment into tumblers rather than the more appropriate glasses perched atop the toaster oven in the background.
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[Flub]
8.   Cut to the mainland. According to the subtitle, we've arrived in San Jose, Costa Rica. It's obviously a beautiful and relaxing spot, where a fat man can enjoy a meal and plan corporate espionage with a nice view of the beach. The only problem is one can't be in San Jose and on the coast at the same time. San Jose is practically the geographic center of the country.

[Flub]
9.   Shortly, Nedry (Wayne Knight) finds himself exuberant at the idea of holding $750,000 in his greasy little hands. It seems, however, that he can't get rid of it fast enough; in the blink of an eye (or the cut of a camera angle) it's on the ground next to him, without his ever setting it down.
Screen Shot

[Microflub]
10.   And his nimble fingers don't stop there. Just after losing the bag, he begins cleaning his hands instantly with a napkin he never picked up - twice. And we questioned his cleanliness.
Screen Shot

[Microflub]
11.   Cut to the helicopter. Only one, right? Don't forget about the one holding the cameraman. Now, I'm sorry to say most of you will never see this, but for the first few frames, some part of the camera copter is visible in the upper left portion of the image. Unfortunately, your TV will cut off enough of the frame that you can't see it. However, if you have some video capture equipment or perhaps a video projector, you may be able to see the entire image. I caught this one by mere chance as I was picking out screen shots. Which reminds me, you could always save that projector rental and just check out the screen shot. It is a bit more obvious when you see it moving, however.
Screen Shot

[Unflub]
12.   Sattler and Grant are having a great weekend: 3 years of funding for their dig, a chance to meet Jeff Goldblum and - woo-hoo! - a ride in a helicopter! Now, in this scene, when Hammond spots the island out the window, it appears as though he's looking the wrong way. He peers out the right side of the chopper, a little toward the rear, when the island would have been directly behind him. Unfortunately for the list, however, he really would be peering down the coastline to the helicopter's right, and as far as we can tell, it may have curved out far enough for him to see. Close, but I have to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.

[Microflub]
13.   This one's kind of hard to notice, but watch the helicopter land. From above, it hits the pad well behind center. But, due to the pilot's extraordinary, on-ground flying skills, the chopper is dead center before the park attendant moons the camera and everyone jumps out.
Screen Shot

[Flub]
14.   Don't fast-forward too soon. Back it up a few seconds and get a load of the seating positions while everyone's still in the air. Then, note the order in which everyone gets out. Hammond, getting out first on the right side, has switched from left to right and Grant and Sattler have switched from right to left, as well as front to back.
Screen Shot

[Flub]
15.   Even more incredible than the helicopter pilot's skills are the driving abilities of the Jeep chauffeurs. Even though the vehicles are seen to be parked and backed up as far as can be, the drivers still manage to throw them in reverse and pull up for wing-to-wheel service.
Screen Shot

-- With help from Amargasaur.

[Unflub]
16.   This is the second most common unflub which I am reported. And you may not agree with my explanation, but it's pretty obvious to me. As Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) and Hammond ride together in the rear Jeep, Gennaro says the following: "This is not a weekend excursion. This is a serious investigation of the stability of the island. Your investors, whom I represent, are deeply concerned. Forty-eight hours from now, if they're not convinced, I'm not convinced."

This line has bugged me for a long time, but it is not incorrect, just unclear. When he refers to "they," it sounds like he means the investors. After all, we usually use a pronoun after introducing the subject. And that doesn't make sense. If the investors aren't convinced, Gennaro isn't convinced? That's backwards, right?

Yes, it would be, but when he says "they," he's referring not to his previous sentence, but to the scientists in the Jeep behind him. That's what they're there for. To vouch for the safety of the island and to convince Gennaro of that, who will, in turn, report back to the investors. "If [the scientists aren't] convinced, I'm not convinced." And watch his right hand as he says it. He makes a deliberate motion with his pen toward the scientists behind him, then to himself as he delivers the line.

Staged badly? Sure. Written poorly? Yeah. But, it's not a flub.

Screen Shot

[Unflub]
17.   This is another one I get quite a lot. Sattler, a paleobotanist (that's a person who studies extinct plants), has grabbed a leaf from a plant while riding in the Jeep and proclaims that it shouldn't be alive today. Now the report I get usually goes something like this:

"How did they recreate extinct plants? I know they got dinosaur blood from the mosquitos, but what, did the the mosquitos also drink plant blood? I don't think so!"

OK, brainiacs, there are insects that eat plants, too. My guess is they found some of those and extracted plant material from their stomachs. After all, plant DNA is a hell of a lot simpler than dinosaur DNA, and they grew the dinosaurs, didn't they?

[Microflub]
18.   This one's not a big deal, really. It used to be on the list, but I decided to let it go. However, it now bugs me every time I see it. Startled by the news that Hammond has a T-Rex, Grant becomes woozy. So woozy, in fact, that he jumps instantly from a position directly in Hammond's face to one three feet to the left. Now it will annoy you for eternity.
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[Microflub]
19.   Shortly after a turbulent helicopter flight, and an eventful spin in a Jeep, Hammond cordially grants his guests a ride in an exciting tram. Here we witness an incredible feat of strength. The three doctors, too impatient to wait for their field trip, band together to release themselves from the hydraulic, computer-operated safety rails with all the strength they can muster. But, that's not the incredible feat of strength. Watch Hammond: One hand.

Yeah, OK, so the safeties probably switched off after the front row was forced open. (Although, that really wouldn't make much sense - one row malfunctions so the rest just let go? Yeah, that's safe.) But, I still thought it was funny.

By the way, I know a lot of you hate him, but I think Mr. DNA rules.

[Flub]
20.   This, I personally find hysterical. Hammond, Gennaro, Grant, Sattler, and Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) have escaped the mobile bleachers. They enter the lab, where they meet Dr. Wu (B.D. Wong). Now, here they are in what could probably be called a “clean room.” Present are powerful computers, sterile laboratory equipment and hatching dino eggs. This is a relatively sensitive environment. Every employee is wearing white and dons rubber gloves before touching anything. Yet, without a second thought, Wu erases a mistake on his clipboard and casually brushes the shavings onto the floor. And what are they letting a couple of dirty, dusty bone-diggers in there in their day-old clothes for, anyway?

[Flub]
21.   Here's a biggie. This is what they overpay the continuity editor to prevent from happening. When that Raptor egg begins to hatch, the robotic arm grabs it to hold it steady. Keep an eye on it. It disappears entirely and never comes back! And if you can't see it, and many of you can't, which is quite apparent from the number of you're-an-idiot-because-it-just-turned-around e-mails I get, then you're looking in the wrong place. The scene cuts from a shot over Grant's left shoulder to a shot over Hammond's right shoulder and that's when it's gone.
Screen Shot

[Microflub]
22.   They've bred Raptors?? Yep, and for your viewing pleasure, they've housed them in Fort Knox and shrouded them in foliage. But the compound does look pretty cool, even though the viewing platform is a bit bare. That is, it's bare until Muldoon (Bob Peck) shows up. Now, I know he's important to the park and all, but I guess I just didn't realize how important. Just as he makes it up the stairs and begins talking to Grant, we can see that someone has rolled out the red carpet for him.
Screen Shot

-- With help from Lyndee and Seth Kinard.

[Flub]
23.   So, we may not get to see the Raptors, but at least we get to hear them eat a cow, painstakingly lowered in via harness and crane. Now, up to this point we've been lead to believe that Raptors are vicious, horrible creatures. That may be so, but their dining etiquette is impeccable; when that harness is lifted from the fortress, they've left not one drop of blood. They may be savage, but at least they clean their plates.

-- With help from Brendan Middleton.

[Microflub]
24.   You know, this one is minor enough that I hesitate even to include it as a microflub. As everyone sits down to a lovely meal, they engage in a heated debate. Well, let's say a lukewarm debate. (As the philosophical part of the film, it's one of my favorite scenes, although they did sterilize my favorite of Malcolm's monologues from the book.) Anyway, this only began to bother me after the 78th or 79th time through, but keep an eye on everyone's hands. They keep switching positions from cut to cut. It probably bugs me mostly because, as an actor, I know it's your responsibility to repeat your motions exactly from take to take, which I know is extremely difficult, but everybody seems to screw it up but Martin Ferrero.

[Flub]
25.   OK, so Malcolm isn't only smart, but he's quick, too. Everyone is deciding which car to ride in for the tour as Malcolm waits quietly outside Sattler's passenger-side door. However, just after Lex (Ariana Richards) says to Grant, "She said I should ride with you 'cause it'd be good for you," Malcolm has swiftly disappeared.
Screen Shot

-- With help from BlackSax.

[Flub]
26.   Now we're on the tour. Everyone is patiently awaiting the appearance of the T-Rex. They even tempt it with a hardy goat (Mr. Goat.) Now we know a storm is coming, but it hasn't hit quite yet. However, if you keep your eye on the vehicles - just after the goat sits down - they become wet for an instant, then dry again magically.
Screen Shot

[Unflub]
27.   I am often asked the question, "When Ellie gets out of the car to chase after Grant, you hear two car doors close. Who closed them?" Well, the fact is, you not only hear them close, but you see them close at the far edge of the screen. Of course, you will need the widescreen version and a TV which doesn't cut off too much of the edge to see it, but trust me, it's there. (And even if you don't, you can see the reflection of the antenna in the windshield swing back into place, and it was attached to the driver's door.) So, obviously someone closed them. And even if no one actually shut them manually, both doors probably swung closed on their own due to the movement of the Explorer.

[Unflub]
28.   And this is probably as good enough a place as any to address this matter: Nedry is seen working on a Macintosh platform, yet Lex is heard to remark later that she has found a Unix-based system. Now, some people have complained that there seems to be a conflict in what the park is actually run on. Well, to put it simply, you can run different platforms on the same network and it's likely that they would, as different machines would be better for different tasks. There's nothing wrong here. (And just to nip this in the bud: I don't care which operating system you think would be best for anything. As far as I'm concerned, the OS war is a futile misapplication of energy. To each his own, it's just a tool, blah blah blah...)

[Microflub]
29.   Back to the control room. Nedry is supposedly having a live conversation on his computer screen to a guy at the dock, the Mate (Dean Cundey) - yeah, I looked it up. Glance down to the bottom of that video window. Plain as day, you can see a little progress bar sliding along there, indicating the playback of a recorded video file.
Screen Shot

Incidentally, Dean Cundey was also the cinematographer.

[Flub]
30.   Here's a mistake I'm surprised someone made. When Nedry is in cold storage nabbing embryos, you get a real nice close-up of a couple of the labels. One of them reads Stegasaurus. Anyone who knows dinosaurs knows it's spelled Stegosaurus. And while we're at it, Tyranosaurus is Tyrannosaurus. For heaven's sake, it's a dinosaur movie! What's even more amazing is they got Metriacanthosaurus right.
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[Flub]
31.   Now, run the cold storage scene back again. Remember when we first met Nedry in San Jose? Dodgson (Cameron Thor) informs Nedry that he will receive a total of "One-point-five million dollars if [he] gets all 15 species off the island." Take a closer look at that test tube receptacle. By my best count, after plenty of pausing and slow-mo, I can see room for only 10, maybe 11 vials. They screwed up the spelling, then the math. (Incidentally, I had the pleasure of seeing this prop in person back when the Jurassic Park exhibit - a touring display of movie items and real dinosaur science - made a stop in Fort Worth. Unfortunately, this was pre-Flubs and I didn't get to count its capacity. If someone knows for sure where this prop is now, please let me know. I have a suspicion it may be displayed at Universal Studios' Jurassic Park: The Ride, which isn't too far from me.)
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[Microflub]
32.   You wouldn't think so many things could go wrong with such a simple scene - or even that someone would bother to list them like this - but run it back one more time. Now, count with me. Nedry grabs 2 tubes, then a close-up on numbers 3 and 4. There should still be room for about 6, if you want to argue that there were no jump cuts. (Short periods of action cut out to increase the feeling of haste.) Regardless, you can see at this point the storage unit has only 1 slot left. Even so, he still manages to fit in 4 more vials.
Screen Shot

By the way, if you still want to argue that there were no jump cuts, Nedry's total adds up to only 8, which is 7 short from the 15 he was supposed to get. Confused yet? Wait till we get to Sattler's power-shed dash...

[Flub]
33.   Meanwhile, Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson) has his own problems. While trying to gain entry into Nedry's system, he mutters to himself, and I quote, "Access main program. Access main security. Access main program grid." Meanwhile, as the screen attests, he's typing:

ACCESS SECURITY
ACCESS SECURITY GRID
ACCESS MAIN SECURITY GRID

Screen Shot

[Unflub]
34.   This one is the number one unflub sent to me. Many visitors to this site believe that it was a blatant mistake to have the Explorers pass back by the Tyrannosaur paddock facing the opposite direction than that which they were headed earlier, considering the fact that the vehicles ran along a track. Sometimes they add, "Was there a loop in the end or something?" Well, yes, there very well may have been. Or a kind of turntable like that which used to be employed in veering locomotives. Or perhaps something more clever. Since it was off-screen, we don't know, and therefore, it cannot be considered a flub.

[Unflub]
35.   Several people have also pointed out that, when Tim (Joseph Mazzello) looked back at the other vehicle's headlights with the night-vision goggles, he would have been blinded by them. Not true. Night vision works by using infrared-sensitive light receptors, which can see beyond the spectrum visible to humans, and displaying that image on a screen, most often in a green hue. Usually, there is an infrared light source on the night-vision device to provide ample IR light by which to see. There is a red diode in the center of Tim's goggles which represents this, although in reality, the diode would probably not also emit visible red light. It would be more like the one on the front of your TV remote. Or like the one behind the dark window on the front of any Sony Handycam with NightShot.

So to summarize, Tim is looking at LCD screens inside the goggles which are displaying an image no brighter than that of your TV.

[Microflub]
36.   However, something does go wrong if you watch carefully. Tim, apparently quite adept at figuring out cool toys, begins zooming in on the other vehicle. Behind him, Lex watches with mild interest - it's either watch him or watch the goat. Yet, when we cut outside the back window, Lex has instantly lost interest.
Screen Shot

[Flub]
37.   Here's another nice flub. The Rex makes its appearance. Gennaro freaks, and bolts for the bathroom. Watch the car door. Gennaro bolts and leaves it open. The T-Rex breaks through the fence: It's still open. A shot through Grant and Malcolm's windshield: It's closed! The T-Rex approaches the car and it's open once again. Timmy closes it to avoid further confusion.
Screen Shot

Continued in Part 2