Jurassic Park (1993) - 31 questions

Question: What exactly was Dennis Nedry's plan overall? The shutting down of the command building's doors makes sense but shutting down all the park fences always struck me as a really pointless risk, especially considering he then proceeds to drive through the very areas he just disabled. Was he trying to create a distraction to cover his abrupt departure (in which case are we to infer he was actually willing to leave his boss, his colleagues and several visitors stranded with the dinosaurs?) or did he simply not a safer means of smuggling the embryos off the island?

Answer: Twofold. He had to shut down the fences because they contained the exit gates so he could leave to get to the docks, presumably because he didn't have the time to override the individual doors as he happened upon them. Secondly, it also serves as a massive distraction so that he's highly unlikely to be chased by anyone from the park (Dinosaurs not withstanding!).

Question: In the scene where Robert Muldon is about to engage the raptor in the jungle, he puts down his hat and sets up the shotgun. Then a second raptor appears over his left shoulder. He spins to attack but is too slow and the raptor jumps on him and begins to eat him. My question is: In the theater version of this movie, this kill scene with Muldon in the jungle is different. In the theater version, Muldon spins towards the raptor. After being jumped on and attacked, Muldon is able to hold the raptor back with his shotgun. Then he kicks the raptor back and begins to run down a field. Moments later the raptor jumps on his back and kills him. Why did they change this scene? I only remember this from when I was younger and after seeing it only in theaters. But after looking all over the internet and YouTube for someone else to agree with me that this scene did happen, I came across someone saying that in the book this scene took place, so why film it and remove it later on DVD? Also, does anyone have any idea where this scene can be viewed again? I looked on Jurassic Park DVD Special Features, and still nothing. It's like it was never filmed, but I remember that it was! Please help.

Answer: I watched this movie 8 times in 6 weeks when it was released at the cinema. The cinematic version of the scene you just described never happened. IMO you have remembered the scene wrong.

Question: When Lex reboots the phones and Grant rings the bunker, how does Hammond immediately know it was Grant? Wouldn't it be more likely it was Ellie on the phone, or even Arnold?

Answer: He was hoping it was Grant. He didn't want it to be Arnold or Ellie, who went to reset the breakers. He wanted it to be Grant - the one who was taking care of his grandchildren. He wanted to know they were OK.

Question: Where are all the other staff members for Jurassic Park? I can understand most of them left on the boat before disaster struck, however the events also continue throughout the morning/afternoon. Its completely light, the weather is fine so the returning boat shouldn't have had a problem returning to the island. Also much of the final scenes of the film happen in or near the visitors centre. So surely there will be staff returning to the island that could have helped or even been involved with some of the escaped dinosaurs having arrived on the island in the morning.Yet we see no other Jurassic Park staff until the helicopter arrives. Surely we should have been able to see the rest of the staff returning to the park in the morning to continue their days work.

Answer: The inference I got was that people were sent away on the boat and told to stay away until the problems in the Park were resolved.

Question: In the book version the character Lex has short hair that's pushed under her cap. In the film version she has a longish plait. I know that the film makers change many things for many reasons, but does anyone know why they changed this?

Answer: Probably because there was no reason in the plot for Lex to have short hair. It simply did not matter whether it was long, medium, or short; if the actress playing Lex had longer hair, then the film makers must have felt that fit the character just as well as a shorter cut.

Question: In the scene where the T-Rex attacks, Lex takes a flashlight from the back seat and flashes it at the dinosaur! The T-Rex then attacks the kids in the car. Why did she take the flashlight out and get the dinosaur's attention?

Answer: She's just a kid, the eldest thinking shes doing the right thing. She hasn't grasped that the T-Rex will now home in on them until it's too late. She didn't deliberately try to get the T-Rex's attention.

Question: Where do the staff and crew of Jurassic Park go after the dinosaurs escape? I mean you see a staff member tending to the triceratops, there were many scientists in the dinosaur lab, and would assume that there would be many more people on the island but they are nowhere to be seen after the dinosaurs escape.

Answer: They all left on the same boat Nedry was trying to get on with the embryos. You can hear Samuel L Jackson's character announce that the boat will be leaving at a specific time and everyone had to be there or be left behind.

Question: Hammond gets Grant and Satler to go to Jurassic Park by saying he will fully fund their dig for 3 years. Since Grant says he isn't going to endorse the park, does he still get the grant money? In other words, was the grant dependent on Grant and Satler visiting the park, or on their endorsement?

Answer: Hammond's proposal appears to be that Grant only had to visit the park and render an honest opinion about it, although Hammond is confidant Grant will endorse it. It was never actually revealed whether or not Hammond continued funding Grant after his refusal to endorse the park (which was sarcasm). However, since Hammond agreed with him, it seems likely he would probably fund Grant's dig in appreciation for everything Grant did (saving his grandchildren) and also to compensate Grant for nearly getting him killed.

Question: Does anyone know what exactly what the meal was that was served in the conference room? The look on Ellie's face suggests something bad, but does anyone know for sure?

Answer: It was Chiliean sea bass, Ellie went a little green around the gills coz she had just watched veloceraptors tear a cow apart...I don't think I'd want to eat after that.

Question: Was there any truth to Hammond's comment that none of the rides at Disneyland worked when the park first opened? I just find that a little hard to believe.

Answer: No there is no truth to that statement. While there were some problems, there were in no way the catastrophic results he talks about.

Question: Wouldn't John Hammond be just a little bit worried at how animal rights activists may react to his park feeding live animals (like goats and cows) to the dinosaurs.and the damage it could do to the parks future?

Answer: There are several factors to consider. First, zoos do feed live food to some exhibit animals that will not otherwise eat, like feeding live mice to some types of reptiles. Also, Jurassic Park is still top secret and is not yet open to the public, and therefore Hammond and the staff are, at this point, unconcerned about that and may change their practices later. Another consideration is that the park is in a foreign country that may have less stringent rules and regulations regarding zoo and aquarium practices; Hammond is likely paying them well to establish his park there and is bringing in tourism dollars. Finally, Hammond simply may be unconcerned about it, convinced that his fantastic park will be such a huge success and public demand to see the dinosaurs so great that it will overrule objections by animal rights groups.

Question: Are the people present at the digging site when they're discussing new approaches to analyzing skeletons supposed to be paleontologists in dr. Grant's group? If so, why would they laugh at his musings of "how dinos learned how to fly"? And why would he have to explain it to them? Seemed to me like he is explaining very basic stuff to the people that would already know this (and of course, to the movie audience).

Answer: They are not paleontologists, just people interested in dinosaurs. It is common for museums and other scientific organizations to offer the general public an opportunity to participate in a real paleontology dig. For a fee, they become an exhibition team member for a period of time, learn about dinosaurs, help excavate fossils, and so on. This is likely how Dr. Grant (or his institution) supplements his research funding.

Question: Is Mr. Arnolds the man that was played by Samuel Jackson? If so, why was he at the power shed?

Answer: Yes he's the same character. He went to turn the power back on, but when he didn't return and the power didn't come back on, the others decided to go.

Question: In the beginning of the movie we have a Dinosaur. However, later the guys find the rock/sap with the mosquito in it and Hammond say they used the DNA from the mosquito to help with the creation of the dinosaurs. Then how did they have the dinosaur at the beginning of the movie?

Answer: The mining for amber to find dinosaur DNA was an ongoing project. They never created dinosaurs out of the ambered mosquito found in the movie... the dinosaurs in the movie were from other pieces of amber dug up sometime before the movie takes place.

Question: I am sure I've heard some of the T-Rex sound effects before, particularly the growling noise it makes when Tim shuts the door of the Ford Explorer in the first big T-Rex scene. I thought perhaps they were stock sound effects but was told they were all created for the movie. Can anyone tell me where else they might have been used? I get the feeling some might have been used in one of the Doom games.

Answer: The sound effects were created specifically for the movie and Spielberg has a very strict policy against letting his material be used for stock (because of an incident in which footage from his movie "Duel" was recycled into the Incredible Hulk TV show). Therefore, you could not have heard this particular growl anywhere else. Perhaps it was just very similar.

Question: What happens to the dinosaurs of this island (Isla Nublar) after the characters fly to safety? Are they killed? The hurricane that is mentioned in the sequel affects only the buildings of the other island (Isla Sorna), not the dinosaurs on this island.

Answer: In the book, the island is saturation bombed, killing all the dinosaurs. There's no mention of what happens in the notably different film version of the story.

Question: Is it true that a T-Rex's vision is based on movement?

Answer: According to noted paleontologist Jack Horner, who acted as a consultant on this film, it is not known whether or not a T-Rex's vision was based on movement. However, because some reptiles do have this trait, Horner said it's possible that a T-Rex could have it as well, and he didn't object to it being in the movie.

Question: How did Ellie get hurt running from the raptor in the powerhouse?

Answer: Ellie is not injured. When she's running out of the powerhouse, the cord to the portable lamp she was carrying gets wrapped around her leg and the lamp is now dragging behind her. It looks as though she's limping.

Question: What exactly are the types of frogs that can spontaneously change gender in a single-sex environment, that Grant was referring to?

Answer: To be exact. Grant is reffering to "amphibian DNA" most commonly found in species of West African frogs. It is the amphibian DNA that allows the frog to change gender. It is not specifically related to frogs only.

Question: When Ellie and Muldoon are going out to turn the power on, Muldoon sees that the raptors have escaped and says something to the effect of, "even Nedry knew better than to mess with the raptor venom." As a computer person, how would Nedry know much about dinos and as the electric wiring was obviously broken around the raptor cage Nedry must have turned off the raptor fences as well?

Answer: The point is that no, Nedry does not know much about dinosaurs (except what he would have picked up from working in the park). Muldoon thinks that even a non-too-intelligent layman like Nedry would have enough common sense to stay away fom the raptors. He was proven wrong since Nedry turned off ALL the fences, including the raptor cage.