Continuity mistake: In the badlands segment of the film, after Ellie, Alan, and Hammond enter the trailer. Hammond decides to open the bottle of champagne that Ellie, and Allen were saving. Hammond begins to buff a couple of glasses with a towel that magically changes to a pink towel in the next shot. (00:10:45)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Grant and the two kids start running from the Gallimimus you see a shot of them running toward the camera with the dinosaurs running around and ahead of them. In the next shot they are running away from the camera and there are no dinosaurs in front of them. There were a lot of dinosaurs in front of them, where did they all go? (01:31:05)
Continuity mistake: In the T-Rex attack, once the car has flipped and the T-Rex is turning it round, it pushes it a full 180 degrees to end up beside the wall, then next shot and the T-Rex pushes it more to end up in the same place. (01:05:45)
Continuity mistake: When the T-Rex is approaching, the lawyer runs into the bathroom stall and the roll of toilet paper is mounted horizontally. After Ian runs towards the bathroom away from the T-rex, in the shot of the panicked lawyer as he shuts the door the toilet paper is now mounted vertically, but when the T-Rex knocks down the stall walls, leaving the lawyer sitting out in the open, it is again mounted horizontally. (01:00:50 - 01:04:45)
Continuity mistake: When Nedry is trying out the shaving foam can, he puts some on his right hand. When the camera pans back after he's wiped most of it off on the pie, his hand is suddenly completely clean. He then pretends to wipe it off with a napkin anyway. (00:14:15)
Continuity mistake: When the baby dinosaur is breaking the egg, the eggshell is almost open on one shot, and starting to break with a different shape, in the next shot. (00:27:35)
Continuity mistake: During the close-up shots of Jophery being attacked by the velociraptor, he has been lifted high up but in an intermediate wide shot he can be seen back down on the floor. (00:02:55)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where the park ranger is about to shoot the raptor with his shotgun, we see him unfolding the butt of the gun. As he does this he places the butt under his arm. As the camera angle changes, he has the butt pressed fully against his shoulder. (01:40:50)
Continuity mistake: Towards the beginning of the movie when John Hammond is in the trailer, he opens the refrigerator, takes out the champagne and opens it. The amount in bottle stays the same before and after he pours three glasses. (00:09:50)
Continuity mistake: The dinosaur fossil the paleontologists are excavating in the overhead shot (when "Badlands, Montana" appears) has a different head than the one they were digging up in the shot right before. (00:05:30)
Continuity mistake: Before the vehicles leave the compound Lex says to Grant, "She said I should ride with you cuz it'll be good for you." In this shot, Ellie's door on the second car is open with Malcolm talking to her. In the next close-up shot of her, the door is closed with Malcolm gone. (00:38:40)
Continuity mistake: Just after Gennaro suggests a coupon day at Lunch the camera goes to Hammond then back to Gennaro.In the change from Hammond back to Gennaro,Malcolm's head changes directions from facing left to right. (00:33:20)
Continuity mistake: At the start of the Badlands sequence, the palaeontologists are brushing-out a dinosaur skeleton. In the close-up shot, they are working on the head (someone 'picks its nose') and one of them has a red-handled brush. When we cut to a wide shot, there is only one person working on the head (the nose is still being brushed) and there is no red-handled brush in sight. (00:05:30)
Continuity mistake: When the T-Rex has come and nearly destroyed the car, Grant is trying to get Tim and Lex out of the car. Lex then screams and this causes Grant to turn around and cover her mouth. They are sitting on one side of a tyre on the car when Grant has his hat on. In the next shot (when the T-Rex has blown Grant's hat off) they are on the other side of the tyre. (01:05:30)
Continuity mistake: Hammond pours champagne into his glass and it's full of foam. After Grant says his line, when Hammond says, "...for the next three years." the foam is all gone. Foam from champagne takes longer to disappear. (00:12:25)
Continuity mistake: In the opening scene, when Jophery falls from the cage, he lands on his front. The shot changes to a wide view and he is now on his back and rolls over to get up. (00:02:40)
Continuity mistake: When we first meet the dinosaurs Alan is sitting in front of a lake. Ellie is standing right in front of him. After the cut Ellie comes to Alan from behind and puts her hands on his shoulders. (00:21:25)
Continuity mistake: When the explorers break down outside the T-Rex paddock, Grant can be seen filling a flask with rainwater out of the door. When the angle changes the door is closed, then the angle changes again and he is still collecting rainwater with the door open (fixed in the VHS Widescreen and "Ultimate Collection" DVD box set versions). (00:59:00)
Continuity mistake: When Hammond watches the vehicles leaving the visitor center the first car is passed the main steps. In the next shot of the car, they are just moving past the steps. (00:39:30)
Continuity mistake: When the T-rex breaks out, on the first car, the one with the kids in it, only the regular headlights are on. When it goes over the "cliff" all the headlights are on. (01:03:20 - 01:09:10)
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.
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