Revealing mistake: After the goat leg falls onto Explorer 4's roof, in the first shot of the T. Rex as she lifts her head to swallow the rest of the goat, when the camera tilts up the distinct outline of spray from the rain machine can be seen at the top of the screen.
Revealing mistake: After the T. Rex has flipped the Explorer upside down there's a closeup of Ian, and when it cuts to the T. Rex chomping away on the tire while the Explorer moves around, we can see that the acrylic glass roof is attached to the vehicle with thin cable wire - holes were drilled in the acrylic glass roof and sides of the vehicle.
Visible crew/equipment: After Alan, Ellie, Lex and Tim run into the control room Alan tells Ellie to boot up the door locks, and when the Raptor opens the door Alan drops his gun and we can see two distinct reflections on the glass - the Raptor's puppet head on someone's arm as it pushes on the door from outside the room, and also the reflection of a crew member (presumably standing in the camera area).
Revealing mistake: When Nedry is attacked by the Dilophosaurus, (the spitting dinosaur), the first spit supposedly lands on his shirt, BUT if you look closely, Nedry slaps it there himself with his hand - there's only a little bit on his shirt before he hits himself, then there's loads. (01:10:40)
Visible crew/equipment: While Alan and Ellie are trying to keep the Velociraptor out of the control room Lex is on the computer trying to find the file to restart the security systems, and after Tim shouts, "Come on Lex!" it cuts to a closeup of the Raptor's claws at the door and we can see the crew member's head.
Continuity mistake: At the badlands, when Hammond's chopper has landed and Grant goes to the trailer to open the door, if you watch the hinges of the door, they're on one side then it cuts to the inside of the trailer and the hinges are on the other side. (00:09:45)
Continuity mistake: While Lex and Tim are hiding in the kitchen, just as the Velociraptors come in Lex tells Tim to follow her, and when they turn into the aisle there's a stainless prep unit with no open shelves right beside them at the end of that aisle, but after the closeups of the Raptor's claws, when the kids continue to crawl away that prep unit has oddly vanished - the last unit in that aisle has shelves, and then it reappears when Tim sits under the utensils.
Continuity mistake: When both Explorer vehicles are parked at the paddock, in the shot of the goat being raised to lure the T. Rex, the "No! Feeding..." sign is permanently affixed to the front of the concrete wall, but in the previous and following shots that same sign is affixed to the angled top part of the wall. Later, when the power goes out, that sign is once again affixed to the front of the concrete wall.
Continuity mistake: When the baby dinosaur is born, one minute the robotic hand is there behind the egg as it's hatching, then in the reverse angle the hand's suddenly disappeared. (00:27:30)
Visible crew/equipment: After the T. Rex flips Explorer 4 upside down it continues to attack the vehicle with the kids inside, and when it cuts to the T. Rex chomping on the tire, as the vehicle moves around we can see the hanging bundle of wires leading up through the window and also what looks like a crew member or something else that shouldn't be there, outside the vehicle behind Lex. Even if the wires were to belong to the Explorer they shouldn't be leading up and outside the way they are.
Visible crew/equipment: When the T-Rex is knocking the car with Lex and Tim in it, he knocks it once, and then again making the Explorer flip over. If you watch carefully, you can see a big wooden pot containing one of the fake trees for the set and a stage light. This mistake has since been corrected on blu-ray. (01:03:40)
Continuity mistake: When the helicopter first lands on the island it is clearly not on the cross on the landing pad. Later in the scene it is. (00:17:25)
Revealing mistake: During the scene where Dr. Grant and the children are forced to climb a fence to flee from an unseen dino, there's a brief side view of the fence that clearly shows that it isn't continuous - it is probably only about 75 feet wide. (01:36:35)
Continuity mistake: In the scene with the T. Rex breaking through the glass roof, as the glass breaks one of the rex's front teeth breaks off and flies backward. On the next close-up of the dinosaur's mouth, the tooth is still missing, yet it is back in all shots after that.
Continuity mistake: The satchel of money Nedry receives as a down payment for getting the embryos off the island vanishes from his arms as he looks at the false container of shaving cream. It vanishes mid-sentence; he had no time to put it down. (00:14:00)
Revealing mistake: In the opening scene Jophery is being attacked by the velociraptor. As the camera pans along the outside of the cage, in between the flashes one can see his legs inside the cage and that nothing is actually attacking him. (00:03:05)
Continuity mistake: When the T. Rex escapes its paddock and then Tim tells Lex to turn the light off, in the interior shot after Tim closes the vehicle's door, the plastic piece (used for seat belts) anchored to the panel between the windows vanishes inexplicably leaving just a hole, and when the T. Rex roars Tim covers his ears and there's some kind of small plastic on that hole.
Continuity mistake: In the Badlands scene, when Dr. Grant enters the trailer there is a large overhead shade blocking out direct sunlight. On the inside light is streaming through the windows. On top of that, the first window is larger when seen inside the trailer than it is when seen from the outside. (00:09:50)
Continuity mistake: When Tim, Lex and Dr. Grant are hiding in a large tree, a large dinosaur appears. They pull some branches off the tree and feed the dinosaur. However, when they first climb the tree, there is no foliage in the area at all. (01:19:20)
Continuity mistake: When Nedry is trying to escape, and his jeep gets stuck on the mud bank, the camera shows the road below him, and there's an arrow pointing straight ahead. A bit later, the camera shows it again, and the arrow's now pointing left. (01:08:20)
Chosen 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.
Shannon Jackson