Jurassic Park

The Lost World

Jurassic Park III

Jurassic World


Trivia - The Dinosaurs

- There are only 15 minutes of actual dinosaur footage in the film: nine minutes are Stan Winston's animatronics, six minutes of it is ILM's CGI. Scenes of the T-Rex attacking Grant and the kids while they ride down a river and through a running waterfall were cut before filming.

- Except for some very brief glimpses in the opening scene, the adult velociraptors - often cited as the most memorable dinosaurs in this film - don't make an on-screen appearance until over 103 minutes into the movie.

- Much of the behavior seen in the film is based on modern wild animals, since little is known of the actual behavior of dinosaurs. In the egg-hatching scene, a new-born baby triceratops was originally supposed to come out of the egg, but it was changed to a velociraptor.

- When Nedry is stealing the dinosaur embryos there is one labeled a Brontosaurus. Brontosaurus was not a real dinosaur but one named by a paleontologist that had the wrong skull on his specimen. The correct skull for the animal was found by a different scientist and it was then called the Apotasaurus.


- The real species called Velociraptor was much smaller (about turkey-sized) than the animals in the film and were believed to have been feathered. They were part of bipedal, bird-like predators of the family Dromaeosauridae, some of which were even larger than the "velociraptors" in the film.

- Steven Spielberg wanted the velociraptors to be about 10 feet tall, which was taller than they were known to be. During filming, paleontologists uncovered 10-foot-tall specimens of raptors called Utahraptors.

- Years after this film wrapped, it was discovered due to fossil impressions of velociraptor skin that they were feathered, implying that Grant was indeed right that they evolved into birds.

- Both the film and the book generated so much interest in dinosaurs that the study of paleontology has had a record increase in students, and interest in general has skyrocketed, and has been at an all-time high ever since.


- In the book, the sick animal is a Stegosaurus, said by Ian Malcolm to be sick because the Jurassic era air had more oxygen than the Holocene, part of the chaos theory.

- The guest's encounter with the sick Triceratops ends without any clear explanation as to why the animal is sick. Michael Crichton's original novel and the screenplay, however, includes an explanation: the Stegosaur/Triceratops lacked suitable teeth for grinding food and so, like birds, would swallow rocks and use them as gizzard stones.

In the digestive tract, these rocks would grind the food to aid in digestion. After six weeks, the rocks would become too smooth to be useful, and the animal would regurgitate them.

When finding and eating new rocks to use, the animal would also swallow West Indian Lilac berries. The fact that the berries and stones are regurgitated explains why Ellie never finds traces of them in the animal's excrement.


- The Dilophosaurus's venom-spitting and neck-frill became so iconic that almost every other appearance of the animal in popular media, as well as most of the Dilophosaurus children's toys advertise at least one or both of these aspects. Some even leave out the dinosaur's striking double-crests.

In reality, however, the spitting ability was only made up by Michael Crichton', while adding the frill was Steven Spielberg's idea. Real Dilophosaurus possessed neither of these traits, with the twin crests and its thin jaws (the latter of which isn't very evident in the movie's design) being its real discerning features.

- The film cut out many species of dinosaur that were featured in the novel for budgetary and technological reasons. One of these was a small, chicken-sized dinosaur called Procompsognathids, which later made an appearance in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997).

Dr. Wu explains their reason for having this creature: Dinosaur excrement, he presumes, would have been bio-degradable during the Cenozoic era. However, in the modern day, bacteria have evolved to the point that it is no longer able to break down dinosaur waste, and the larger dinosaurs produce quite a lot of it.

"Compys," as they are called, eat the other dinosaurs' waste and then excrete it themselves in smaller piles which are more easily broken down by present-day bacteria. The lack of compys in the film may explain the mountain of excrement that Ellie finds.


- This is the movie that inspired BBC's Tim Haines to produce the groundbreaking dinosaur documentary series Walking with Dinosaurs (1999) and its various follow-ups. But it also made his and the animators' job at Framestore harder, as people have already had an idea of what dinosaurs "should" look and move like.

- The movie marked the climax of the "Dinosaur Renaissance", a groundbreaking scientific revolution that lasted from the '60s 'till the early '90s, during which dinosaurs went from being seen as sluggish, dimwitted and cold-blooded reptiles to the agile, intelligent and warm-blooded animals depicted in the film.

It also presented a new kind of visual "design" of the dinosaurs to the public. Much of this can be traced back to the works of paleontologists John Ostrom (who first realized the uniqueness of "raptor" dinosaurs), Bob Bakker, Jack Horner (on whom the character of Dr. Alan Grant was based) and Gregory Paul.

In fact, modern day paleontologists often jokingly call the '90s and early 2000s the "Paulian Era", because the appearances of the dinosaurs in the movie and in virtually every other piece of work created at this time were based on reconstructions originally made by Greg Paul.

Newer scientific findings have, however, proven much of these to be incorrect, which has lead to the coining of the term "shrink-wrapped dinosaurs", as many of Paul's reconstructions (and by extension, the JP dinosaurs) look like dinosaur skeletons coated in muscle and skin, but virtually no other soft tissue.



Resources: Wikipedia.org, imdb.com,
jurassicpark.wikia.com








Jurassic Park - 1993 | Story and Screenshots


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The kids are amused watching Grant literally lay on the Triceratops, feeling it breath.


Ellie notices something, all professional curiosity now. The animal's tongue, dark purple, droops limply from its mouth. She scratches the tongue with her fingernail. A clear liquid leaks from the broken blisters. Micro vesicles.

Harding joins Ellie and hands her his penlight. Harding informs her of the animal's symptoms - imbalance, disorientation, labored breathing. Seems to happen about every six weeks or so. She takes the penlight from the veterinarian and shines it in the animal's eyes.

Ellie notices the animal's eyes are dilated. She turns and studies the surrounding landscape. Her mind's really at work, puzzling over each piece of foliage. She notices a plant, West Indian lilac, toxic. Harding insists the animals don't eat them, but she wants to be sure by checking the dinosaur's droppings. She walks way, Malcolm looks on.


In the Control Room, Hammond and Arnold are watching the video monitors, displeased about something. Arnold is looking at one that gives them a view from the beach, looking out at the ocean.


The clouds beyond are almost black with a tropical storm. The storm center hasn't dissipated or changed course, forcing them to cut the tour short and pick it up again the next day.


Hammond: Damn!


As the weather grows darker, Ellie, Grant, Harding, and Malcolm are grouped around an enormous spoor of triceratops excreta that stands at least waist high and is covered with buzzing flies.

Malcolm: That is one big pile of shit.

Ellie has plastic gloves on the reach up to her elbows, and is just withdrawing her hand from the middle of the dung. She finds no trace of lilac berries. She turns and walks out into the open field a few paces, thinking. Malcolm watches her, and looks back at the dung.

Malcolm: She's, uh... tenacious.

Grant: You have no idea.

Malcolm [to Ellie]: You will remember to wash your hands before you eat anything?

In the Control Room, Nedry is busily and surreptitiously typing a series of commands into his console. On his screen, a cartoon hand winds up a cartoon clock, moving its second hand up to the twelve. The clock rotates around to face us. It has a large green dollar sign in the middle. A big word appears on screen, an option surrounded by forbidding red box. "EXECUTE," it says.

The skies are really foreboding now, and there's a sense of growing urgency. Ellie is by the animal, a short distance away from the group. Grant is near her, thinking. Thunder rumbles as the storm overhead is about to bust loose. Gennaro, scared of more than one thing now, puts his foot down and insists they get moving.

Ellie decides to stay with Dr. Harding and finish with the trike. There is a lightning flash now, with a tooth-rattling thunderclap right on its heels. Grant turns and follows the others, Lex right in his tracks. Ellie and Harding go back to the triceratops, which is starting to come back to life. It's near dark now. The wind has whipped up, and the trees are swaying.


Nedry sweat forming on his upper lip now, is staring at his video monitor, watching the boat. He's on the phone with the mate, whose images he can see on the monitor. The supply boat is still docked on the island shore, but is now being buffeted by heavy waves.


Nedry whispers sharply into the phone, arguing with the mate of the ship again, who he can see on the video monitor. The mate is warning him they will have to leave soon, while Nedry pleads with him to wait. The mate offers him no promises, Nedry declares he will be there in ten minutes.

Arnold snaps a button on his console. Visitor vehicles are on their way back to the garage.

Hammond: So much for our first tour: two no-shows and one sick Triceratops.

Arnold: It could have been worse, John. A lot worse.


Arnold offers that it could have been a lot worse. Dennis Nedry stands up. He's shaking in his shoes, but trying like hell to be casual. Nedry tells him he's going to run up to the break room.


With an afterthought that is so rehearsed its almost obvious, he informs them he finished de-bugging the phones, but the system's compiling for eighteen minutes. Some minor systems may go on and off for a while. There's nothing to worry about.


Nedry turns, stretches one finger out to his screen, and selects an option. "EXECUTE." At the same time, he presses the start button on his digital stopwatch he holds in his hand. A digital clock on the computer screen starts to tick down from sixty seconds.

In the Explorers, night has completely fallen now, and the rain has started. It's a tropical storm, the rain falling in drenching sheets on the roofs and hoods of the Explorers, which are making their way slowly back to the visitor's center. Malcolm and Grant are alone. Grant is staring out the window, lost in his thoughts.

Grant: You got any kids?

Malcolm: Me? Oh, hell yeah, three. I love kids. Anything at all can and does happen. Same with wives, for that matter.

Grant: You were married?

He takes a flask from jacket pocket and unscrews the top. His expression darkens . . .

Malcolm: Occasionally. Yeah, I'm always on the lookout for a future ex-Mrs. Malcolm.


In the Fertilization Lab, Nedry waits outside the silver door marked "EMBRYONIC COLD STORAGE," staring at the digital stopwatch in his hand. On cue, the security lock panel goes dark and the door clunks ajar. In the Control Room, Arnold is staring at his terminal, puzzled. On the screen, glowing red signals are blinking off, in succession. The door security systems are shutting down. They shrug it off since Nedry told them a few systems would go off-line.

In the cooler, Nedry hurries in and flips open the hatch on the bottom of the shaving cream can, revealing slotted compartments inside. He goes to the rack of dozens of thin glass slides. A sign says "VIABLE EMBRYOS -- HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE!" He takes the slides out of the rack one by one. They're labeled - - "STEGOSAURUS", "APATOSAURUS", "TYRANNOSAURUS REX" - - and puts them into the can.


Grant and Malcolm still wait in their car. They don't notice, but the video screen in the middle of their front console suddenly goes black. Malcolm continues their conversation inquiring if Ellie is available which Grant gives a curt answer they are together.


The cars jerk to a stop. The lights in the vehicles and along the road go out, plunging them into blackness. Grant jerks his hands away from the steering column, immediately assuming it's his fault.

Grant: What did I touch?

Malcolm: Uh, you didn't touch anything. We stopped.

In the Control Room, Arnold stares at his terminal, aghast, as row upon row of colored lights crawls off on his screen. Fences are failing, all over the park. alarms start going off in the control room.

Arnold: Fences are failing all over the park.

Hammond [to staff member]: Find Nedry! Check the vending machines!

Nedry's jeep splashes up to the giant gates that lead into Jurassic Park. Nedry jumps out and hurries to the control panel on the side of the cement supports. He flicks a switch and gates click unlocked. He jumps back in the jeep and noses into the gates, shoving them open far enough to drive through. He roars into the park grounds.


In the Control Room, Arnold moves over to Nedry's master terminal.

Arnold: Look at this work station!

With one stroke of his arm, he brushes all the loose junk off Nedry's station - junk food, soda cans, torn out magazine pages - - and tries to work. Muldoon steps forward, growing alarmed.

Muldoon: The raptor fences aren't out, are they?

Arnold: No, no. They're still on.

Hammond: Why the hell would he turn the other ones off?

At the Park road, a wire mesh fence in front of us has a very clear sign: DANGER! ELECTRIFIED FENCE! This Door Cannot Be Opened When Fence is Armed! A hand reaches out, grabs the fence by the bare metal, and shoves the door open. No sparks fly. Nedry runs from the fence back to his jeep, drops it in gear, and tears off down the park road.

The rain is absolutely flowing down now, the road is rapidly turning to mud. Nedry can barely see through the windshield. He's driving as fast as possible, checking his watch every few seconds. He leans forward, squinting to see through the windshield, wiping off the condensation with his free hand. A fork in the road rushes into view. He jumps on the brakes - - too late.


The jeep careens into a signpost. He throws the door open and hurries to the fallen sign: "East Dock". He props it up - the directional arrow swings hopelessly on a nail. He clenches his jaws and growls. Soaked, Nedry stomps back to his car. Although he doesn't look too convinced, he drops the car in gear and speeds off to the left.

In the Control Room, Hammond still hovers over Arnold's shoulder while he works at Nedry's terminal. Arnold mutters to himself as he tries another command. He punches a button, but a buzzer sounds and a little cartoon image of Nedry appears on the screen and waves its little finger disapprovingly.

Arnold: Access main program. Access main security. Access main program grid.

Cartoon Nedry [on computer]: Uh uh uh! You didn't say the magic word! Uh uh uh! Uh uh uh!

Arnold screams at the computer in frustration. He smacks the top of the monitor, furious.

Arnold: Please! God damn it! I hate this hacker crap!

Hammond instructs him to call Nedry's people in Cambridge. Arnold whisks across the floor in his chair and snatches up the nearest phone. He punches for an outside line. Phones are out too.

At the Tyrannosaur Paddock, the goat that was brought up from the underground earlier is still tethered in the same place, bleating in the pouring rain. The two explorers sit still in the middle of the road. A man's form races back from the front car to the rear car. Grant, soaking wet, gets back into the car and closes the door behind him.

Grant: Their radio is out too. Gennarro said to stay put.

Malcolm: The kids OK?

Grant: I didn't ask. Why wouldn't they be?

Malcolm: Kids get scared.

Grant: What's to be scared about? It's just a little hiccup in the power.

Malcolm: I didn't say I was scared.

Grant: I didn't say you were scared.

Malcolm: I know.

Malcolm turns and looks out at the driving rain, and the fence that stands between them and the tyrannosaur paddock. He is scared.

In the front car, Gennaro, Lex, and Tim wait, bored. The rain drums on the roof monotonously. Tim finds something under the seat and sits up abruptly, holding a heavy-duty pair of safety goggles.

Gennaro: Hey, where'd you find that?

Tim: In a box under my seat.

Gennaro: Are they heavy?

Tim: Yeah.

Gennaro: Then they're expensive, put 'em back.

Gennaro leans back and closes his eyes.


Tim ignores him and puts on the goggles. Tim stares out the back window of the Explorer with Grant and Malcolm in it, behind them. The image is bright fluorescent green. Night vision. As Tim watches, the door of the rear Explorer opens, and a hand reaches out, holding an empty canteen out to catch some rain water.

In the rear car, Grant pulls the canteen back in, closes the door, and takes a drink. He and Malcolm wait. In the front car, Tim continues to stare out of the back window with the goggles.


He swings his legs - - but suddenly stops. He feels something. He pulls off the goggles and turns back. He moves into the back seat with Lex who is tapping her hat, and reaches forward to still her hand. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. She doesn't answer. Tim leans over to the front passenger seat and looks at the two plastic cups of water on the dashboard.


As he watches, the water in the glasses vibrates, making concentric circles - - then it stops - - and then it vibrates again. Rhythmically. Like from footsteps. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

Tim: You feel that?

Gennaro can hear it now, and sees the interior mirror in the tour car quiver with each rumble.

Gennaro: Maybe its the power trying to come back on?


Lex: What is that?

Tim jumps into the back seat and puts the goggles on again. Tim turns and looks out the side window. He can see the area where the goat is tethered. Or was tethered. The chain is still there, but the goat is gone.

Lex: Where's the goat?


BANG! They all jump, and Lex screams as something hits the Plexiglas sunroof of the Explorer, hard. They look up. It's a bloody, disembodied goat leg. Tim whips around to look out the side window again. His mouth pops open, but no sound comes out.


Through the goggles, he sees an animal claw, a huge one, gripping the cables of the "electrified" fence. Tim whips the goggles off and presses forward, against the window. He looks up, up, than cranes his head back further, to look out the sunroof.


Past the goat's leg, he can see - - Tyrannosaurus rex. It stands maybe twenty-five feet high, forty feet long from nose to tail, with an enormous, boxlike head that must be five feet long by itself. The remains of the goat hang out of the rex's mouth. It tilts its head back and swallows the animal in one big gulp.

Gennaro: Oh, Jesus! Oh, Jesus!

His hand claws for the door handle, he shoulders it open, and takes off, out of the car.

Lex: He left us! He left us!

Gennaro runs as fast as he can, right past the second car, towards an outhouse twenty or thirty yards away. He reaches it, ducks inside, and closes the door after him. Gennaro backs into a stall, frantic.

In the rear car, Grant and Malcolm turn in the direction Gennaro went.

Grant: Well, where does he think he's going?

Malcolm: When you gotta go, you gotta go.

Malcolm looks the other way, out the passenger window. As he watches, the fence begins to buckle, its post collapsing into themselves, the wires snapping free. Grant now turns and watches as, ahead of them, the "DANGER!" sign smacks down on the hood of the first Explorer.


Seeing the same, the terrified kids look back to the rear car, whimpering for Dr. Grant. The entire fence is coming down, the posts collapsing, the cables snapping as - - the T-rex chews its way through the barrier.


They watch in horror as the T-rex steps over the ruined barrier and into the middle of the park road. It just stands there for a moment, swinging its head from one vehicle to the other - - and then lets out a mighty roar.




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