The water vibrating in the cup on the dashboard. The velociraptor peering through the kitchen window. Jeff Goldblum's bare chest. Jurassic Park is chock-full of memorable moments that have been burned in cinema-goers' minds since its 1993 release – but according to one fan, one super important line has been overlooked over the years.
After a recent rewatch of the Steven Spielberg flick, Reddit user Dlph_311 took to the platform to gush about the bit where a construction worker reveals to lawyer Donald Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) that the titular park's owner John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) famously hates inspections. "They slow everything down," the foreman says flippantly, shocking Gennaro, who's been sent to Isla Nublar to check the attraction's viability and safety.
"I've seen this movie dozens of times and it's the first time I realized that Hammond's hatred of inspections is one of the major reasons the park failed," Dlph_311 admitted. "It's a subtle bit of foreshadowing that's easy to miss."
While we'd argue it's a major theme of the film and not as easy to miss as they claim, the original post certainly sparked conversation, prompting others to share similar examples, as well as point out differences between Michael Crichton's 1990 novel and Spielberg's take on the source material.
"The dirty secret of the narrative which doesn't often go acknowledged enough is that the park's rapid failure was inevitable, because Hammond is nothing but a cheap-skating showboat," said a fellow fan. "Another under-referenced line is when Dennis Nedry utters, 'Don't get cheap on me, Dodgson. That was Hammond's mistake.' This directly contradicts Hammond's continual utterance of, 'Spared no expense.' He says it mostly as a theatrical cover.
"The character is played endearingly by Richard Attenborough, so it's easy to casually overlook, but John Hammond is a very flawed and irresponsible human, and no one like him should ever have been in charge of a project like JP."
Another wrote: "He's very much a villainous character in the original book; the cheap, profit-driven billionaire who cuts corners and sees science as an avenue to further wealth and power.
"Dude, Hammond is the worst. Always cutting corners, expects his scientists to do everything regarding the dinosaurs, but still has to be present at each hatch," said a third. "Hates inspections, because he knows he's cheap and cut corners. Spared no expense, my ass. Also I don't trust a guy who just lets his grandchildren get into these literal life threatening situations, and basically does bare minimum to get them to safety - ie, expecting Dr. Grant and Dr. Statler to go out and save their asses."
Elsewhere, someone else highlighted an unspoken nod to Hammond's love of shortcuts and need for immediate satisfaction: "He also puts champagne in a rocks glass when there are champagne flutes right behind him. I always like this detail because it shows his lack of attention to detail."
"Had he taken the time to do things right, things would've been a lot better," replied another user.
"Things like this are why Jurassic Park is such a perfect screenplay. Every line has a purpose. No scene is wasted. Many scenes are doing multiple things at once," praised one more.
For more, check out our ranking of the best sci-fi movies of all time. (Spoiler alert: Jurassic Park comes in at #6).
