The Flubs of Jurassic Park | The Big Waste of Space

Part 2: In Chronological Order

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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

= Microflub

= Unflub

For a thorough explanation of the flub classifications, please visit the home page.

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38.   By the way, why would there even be a restroom on the trail of an automated car tour? Sure, OK, so park personnel probably need a place to go while out in the park, but why then would it be publicly marked? And even so, you would think it would be camouflaged or at least located somewhere away from the tour. And three stalls might be a bit much for an emergency staff bathroom. All right, I think I've made my point.

39.   Throughout the film, Hammond has made it clear that they spared no expense anywhere in the park. And nowhere is it more evident than with the all-electric, custom-painted and self-healing Ford Explorers. Just watch: When the T-Rex breaks through the Plexiglas roof - to get to the chewy center - it snaps in two pieces. However, a few seconds later, it's back together.

-- With help from Denna Wehrle.

40.   OK. First of all, I can't believe this made it onto film, and second of all, I can't believe someone saw this. Rex decides that if she can't yank those pesky kids out, she'll shake them out. After a couple of friendly nudges, that hip, yellow Explorer rolls right over. Just as it does, the background reveals not only a big wooden pot that one of the trees is planted in, but right next to it, a stage light. Not only that, but if you watch closely, you can see a cable snap taut which, apparently, prevents the stunt vehicle from rolling over too far. (At first, there appeared to be a second cable which kept it from pivoting, but after running that clip back and forth several times in succession, I realized it was just a passenger-side antenna which sprang into place and bowed again as the vehicle rocked back onto its roof.)

-- With help from MuldoonJP and John Wells.

41.   A little later, the car already upside down, Grant covers the mouth of a screaming Lex That Rex gets right in his face and - SNUFF! - blows his hat off. Now, I'll admit I thought this was a great shot, but rewind it a couple times. You'll notice that blast of air comes not from the Tyrannosaur's enormous nostrils, but from off-screen, bottom left.

42.   And if you'll notice, Grant and Lex, trying to remain still, were kneeling motionless in the mud. But, they must have learned a thing or two from the wing-footed Ian Malcolm, because before the Rex can begin spinning the car around, they're on their feet and ready to move.

-- With help from LadyLara Croft.

43.   All right, someone explain this one to me! Please! I haven't spoken with a soul who can justify it yet. The cars are parked next to a concrete wall, a couple feet high, on which was mounted a large electrified fence. You with me? Now on the other side of that wall, we saw earlier a goat, bushes, trees and GROUND. The T-Rex herself walked on that ground before she broke through that fence, on that wall, next to that ground. Later, in an attempt to escape a hungry dino (Remember the one? She was walking on that ground?), Grant and Lex jump over the other side of that wall and rappel DOWN A CLIFF.

44.   Many have said that as Grant and Lex are rappelling down the cable and are trying to swing out of the path of the falling Explorer, the Explorer actually falls through Grant's leg. Now, understand when I say this that I have been capturing these segments on my computer and jogging back and forth with frame-accurate controls, so I have been able to scrutinize action that is difficult to see on a VCR. The truth is, you can't tell how close the vehicle comes to his leg. Between the headlights flaring in the screen, the dark shadow cast by the vehicle itself and the pouring rain dampening our visibility, you can't see much of anything once the Explorer reaches Grant's leg. However, once it has pretty much passed him, it looks to me like it had plummeted just over his leg, missing him by centimeters, which is what it was supposed to look like.

45.   Meanwhile, Nedry is still trying to find the dock. And as luck would have it, he spots another sign. He doesn't hit this one, of course. He just runs the Jeep halfway down a cliff. It wouldn't have done him any good anyway, because the sign keeps changing its mind. First it's pointing up, then it's pointing to the left.

-- With help from Ben Kroll.

46.   Remember how I said those Explorers were self-healing? Well, you can see it happen again. In the scene where the vehicle is chasing Grant and Tim down the tree, the driver-side headlight keeps fixing itself. The first time the vehicle moves, it stops just short of Grant's head and the headlight smashes against a limb. In the next shot, it's back on again. As the car begins to move again, the light is back out, then back on. Then out again, then on again. And just before it comes to a stop, it's back out again. Then, the other one is smashed. Considering all the damage this vehicle has gone through, it'll take weeks for it recover.

-- With help from Randy Langer.

47.   OK, let's take a breath and move on to the scene in which Muldoon, Sattler, and Malcolm are trying desperately to escape an angry T-Rex. (You'd figure she would be exhausted after rappelling down after Grant with those little arms.) They're racing along in a gas-powered Jeep. Muldoon glances over at his mirror. You know, the one with the T-Rex “closer than it may appear.” Funny, yes, but I don't see any reason one would have that type of mirror on the driver's side.

48.   Once they've evaded the Rex and arrived back at the visitor's center, Sattler decides to have a few words with Hammond in the dining room. During this time, we can clearly see two ceiling fans running. A lot of people have written me and said that they shouldn't be running because all the power is out. However, at no time has anyone up to this point said all the power is out. The fences are out around the park, the phones are out, and evidently some power is out, at least in the kitchen, because Hammond said all the ice cream was melting. If you'll remember, Nedry's sabotage is the reason systems were going out, and the failures seemed to be random. The whole park didn't just shut down. The entire power system doesn't go out until the next scene, when Arnold shuts down the control systems. So, although some of the center's power seems to be out at the moment, it's arguable that the fans were running on a circuit that was not shut off.

49.   At the end of this same scene, Sattler reaches down the table to grab a spoonful of ice cream. And several visitors have pointed out that it would have been too far away for her to reach. Now, for the longest time, I considered this an unflub. From the most prominent angle, the closest tub of ice cream doesn't look that far. It certainly looked within reach to me. But, I guess it was just the way the angle was shot, because as I was writing this entry and scanning through the scene, I discovered evidence that it really was too far away. When Sattler first sits down, we see the table on profile. And before she seats herself, she stretches out toward Hammond's end of the table, coming nowhere near the ice cream.

Unfortunately, I can't be positive who the first person was to send this one in, so I can't credit it fairly. Therefore, thanks to all who wrote it in.

50.   Back in the control room. Arnold assents to rebooting the entire system, despite his better judgement. He hits four breakers: C-3, C-2, C-1, and Main. He waits. He turns Main back on. When did those first three reset themselves?

51.   Down in the emergency bunker, Hammond still defends his creation. "All major theme parks have delays. When they opened Disneyland in 1956, nothing worked." That's all well and good, but according to the Disneyland Web site, they opened in 1955, not 1956. In the film's defense, however, this could be justified as the character John Hammond making the mistake. I mean, I wouldn't have known precisely what year Disneyland opened. But, I'm a little surprised the screenwriter didn't get it right.

52.   While everyone is waiting, Arnold has gone to reset the breakers in the power shed. When he fails to return, Muldoon and Sattler take on the job. They make it to a position only a short distance from the shed's entrance when Muldoon realizes they are being hunted. He tells Sattler to run. Now, there are clearly three fallen trees lying across her path. We even get a couple of nice establishing shots of them. Watch this sequence a couple times. She bumps into the first one and jumps over the second one twice, yet never gets over that last one at all before reaching the shed.
After being rudely challenged on this one, I naturally felt obligated to break it down.

53.   Sattler succeeds in reactivating the park systems, unwittingly grilling a young boy in the process. Some say, however, that Tim would not have been shocked because he was not touching the ground. They often cite the example of a bird perched on a power line. It isn't shocked because it isn't in contact with the ground. They are only half right.
The bird would be shocked if it completed the circuit. As it only touches one line, it doesn't complete the circuit and the power does not flow through it. If it were able to touch the line and the ground at the same time, the circuit would be complete. The power would seek its source by flowing through the ground, and through the bird in the process. This is what's called, unsurprisingly, grounding. The same goes if the bird could touch both lines at the same time. By touching both lines, the bird would complete the circuit and would be fried by the power flowing through it from one line to another. Apply the same principle to Tim on the fence. If he were touching only one line, he would be fine. If he were touching one line and the ground, he would close the circuit. If he were touching two lines — and in this case, he was — he would also close the circuit.
Also, it usually holds true that the muscles of a person who comes in contact with an object carrying a high voltage will seize and make it virtually impossible for him to let go. However, the same sort of contact, especially with a sudden charge, has been known to throw victims quite a distance. So, contrary to what a few visitors have contested, Tim would not necessarily have stayed on the fence to cook.

54.   And while we're on the subject of little children flying through the air, I caught this another small one while letting the above sequence run in slow motion. Tim (or rather, Tim's stunt double) soars backward in a vertical position, just as he was on the fence. Yet, somehow, Grant catches him sideways. Again, another one of those I would normally let go, but I have to be thorough.

55.   Meanwhile, Sattler is having problems of her own. It seems a Raptor has made its way into the shed with her. And since the beast has had one arm short of a full meal, it decides to finish off with a nice paleobotanist. Sattler barely escapes, despite the large flashlight attached to her belt. Now, I've gone back and forth on this one, but I've decided to classify it as an unflub. It seems that once out of the shed, Sattler has lost that flashlight. But, it seems to me that it could have come unplugged from the power pack on her belt as she rounded the corner or started up the stairs.

56.   Muldoon, it seems, is having his own Raptor difficulties. Now, we know Muldoon is an excellent hunter, but we just didn't know how good. As he spots the Raptor in the distance, he brings the shotgun up to aim not only once, but twice. And it still didn't do him any good.

57.   A little later, Grant and the kids reach the visitor's center safely. Grant tells them he'll be back soon and leaves. What Tim spots next is unbelievable. Really. What's all that food doing sitting out like that? Who was it for? A storm was coming; everyone was leaving! Arnold had been making announcements telling everyone to get on the boat since the doctors arrived. You would think the chefs would have put that stuff away.

58.   Big Tim, the human piece of toast. I sure wish I had this kid's hair. No matter how many volts you run through him, no matter how many dinosaurs you send after him, his coif will automatically self-correct. Check it out - as soon as he makes it from the dining hall to the kitchen, that frazzled 'do has combed itself.

59.   One of the most common errors that occurs in cinema is a reflection of the crew caught on film. And I have scanned this entire movie looking for such a blunder, but to no avail. However, one visitor gets the award for the sharpest flub eye for spotting a mistake that even took me a while to find after she wrote it in. After the kids hide out in the kitchen, the scene closes in on the door. Just before the Raptor peeks into the window, you can see a crewman's hand move as though he were making a camera adjustment. You'll have to watch it on tape to get the full effect, but I have still included a screen shot to point out where you should look.

-- With help from Amy (Oddgirl).

60.   Here's another nit-picky little thing. Just something to notice really. After the Raptor chases the kids into the kitchen, she peeks through the little glass window. The second time she fogs the window with her breath, you clearly see that blast come from below.

61.   Not only do we get to see a reflection of a crew member, but this time we get to see an actual crew member. Well, at least his hand. As the Raptor enters the room, you can see someone reach up and grasp the Raptor's tail, pulling down. You would think that the Raptor would just swing around and have at the tasty treat behind her, but I hear FX guys can be a little gristly.

62.   For the first time in the film, we get a nice, clear look at that dreaded Raptor claw we've been hearing so much about, as one of the Raptors taps it on the kitchen floor as if she's humming a little ditty to herself. If you'll notice, that claw is on each inner toe of her feet. "So what?" you ask. Well, at the beginning of the film, as Grant is trying to frighten the demon child, he delivers the line, "He slashes at you with this. A six-inch retractable claw. On the middle toe." The middle toe? Come on, Grant, you're supposed to be an expert at this stuff.

-- With help from RaptorTeen.

63.   This is a fun one. Scurrying from the Raptors, Timmy backs into a rack of spoons and ladles. Now, each time I watch this, I pray it won't happen just this once. But, it's inevitable - one of the utensils falls to the floor with a deafening clang. But, keep your eye on that crack from whence the ladle falls. Run it back a few dozen times. Is that a finger? Maybe not, but there's something moving in there that makes that ladle fall. (A screen shot doesn't do much good here; you have to watch it a few times on a good-size TV.)

64.   A few moments later, Tim spots an open door to a walk-in fridge. After some slow moving, but some quick thinking, he traps the Raptor inside. Now, I can understand how so many people can misinterpret this: It looks like Lex runs past the door, but is then seen locking it. However, Lex does not run past the door, only past the camera. The camera pans over so that you can see the back of her head for a brief instant, as she helps Tim shut the door.

Incidentally, I'm not sure what the purpose of having a locking pin on the outside of a walk-in fridge would be. That would actually be quite dangerous. There's a handle on the inside of every walk-in I've seen so that no one can get trapped in there. The ability to lock it from the outside would defeat that purpose. But, just because I've never seen one doesn't mean they don't exist.

65.   OK, not a flub, but funny nonetheless: Lex is "hacking" away at the security console, Grant is fighting with the Velociraptor, Sattler is helping hold the door shut, and Tim is...hopping up and down like a little girl. Uh, hey, Tim? Yeah. Mind handing us that shotgun over there?
-- Pointed out by Mike McCray.

66.   Lex, on the other hand, is doing everything she can to help. She spots a terminal and proclaims, "It's a Unix system!" This, many people claim, is a flub. She is looking at a graphical interface, they say, and Unix is operated by command line. This will surprise a lot of you, but you can run programs with graphical interfaces on top of Unix. Hell, there's a Unix version of Adobe Photoshop. Incidentally, Lex is sitting down at a Silicon Graphics workstation running a program called 3D File System Navigator, which runs on top of Irix, an implementation of Unix.

67.   But, just when you thought everything was OK, it turns out Raptors can break glass. (Big surprise.) So, Grant has no choice but to fire his shotgun. A few e-mails have contained complaints that a shotgun would not have created defined holes in the window, but several small holes - or would have shattered the glass. Some have included a detailed description of what is in a shotgun shell. (Hey, there's shot in a shotgun shell - another big surprise.) My explanation is simple: He was firing slugs.

68.   So what's the best way to escape? Why, through the ceiling, of course. Too bad there are desks everywhere for the Raptor to climb on. Or are there? We can never be sure because after Grant kicks the Raptor in the head, the desk disappears, dropping the Raptor to the floor.
-- With help from Jordan Mallon.

69.   You also might notice that, when everyone climbs into the duct to make a run for it, Grant goes in last. But when they reach the end, Grant comes out first. As far as I'm concerned, we didn't need to see the whole climbing-through-the-duct sequence, so it was compressed for time. And in that time, Grant could have easily scurried to the front, seeing as there was enough room to do so.

70.   Boy, those Raptors are pesky. Just as the group thinks they're safe, there's another waiting for them in the lobby. The only means of escape: The skeletons. Unfortunately, not even replica dinosaurs can be trusted. The weight of the entire party, including the Raptor, causes the whole display to fracture into several pieces. And then the ceiling anchors give way, dropping everyone to the floor. At one point, if you watch closely, you can catch Lex actually letting go of her piece of the skeleton as it begins to fall. Then, in the next shot, she's still hanging on. Apparently, stunt people can't be trusted, either.

-- With help from Justin Laughland.

71.   And naturally we couldn't end the movie without seeing that T-Rex once more. But, this time she's the good guy and saves everyone from a chewy demise by eating the Raptors. Now, this is a really strange flub and, unfortunately, not everyone will be able to see this one at home. If you have Jurassic Park on laserdisc, or if you own a good enough VCR, you can frame-advance through the moment the T-Rex is gnawing on the first Raptor. Inexplicably, for one frame only, the Raptor disappears!

72.   Well, after 4 deaths and billions in lost capital, everyone has made it off the island. But, the film is still paying off in flubs. Hammond is the only person wearing white, right? And he's sitting next to the window on the left side of the helicopter, correct? And Malcolm is sitting on the right side, in black. Then, who's that guy, in white, sitting on the right side as the chopper flies into the sunset? Incidentally, you might remember that that's the position from which Hammond got out of the helicopter at the beginning of the film.
Oh, and if you run it back a couple times, you might notice that just after the cut from the bird to the helicopter, two of the stand-ins in the helicopter look like they're giving a polite wave to the cameraman.

73.   All right, all right. There are only a few seconds left in the film, and I'm sure you're dying for just one more. Well, here it is. The movie ends with a traditional shot of the heroes flying off into the sunset. Only one problem: At the beginning of the film, a subtitle informs us that Isla Nublar is 120 miles west of Costa Rica. That means that Costa Rica is east. And the sun sets in the west. They're going the wrong way!
-- With help from Amargasaur.

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