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In the T-Rex scene in Jurassic Park, our hero eats the goat and then she breaks the wires on the passenger side of the vehicles.

However, when Dr. Grant and Lex rappel off the edge of the cement in the breakthrough, they are still on the same passenger side of the paddock. They drop through the same broken wires. However, this is much, much higher than the T-Rex - not to mention the goat. Is this just a film blooper or am I visually missing something?

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    I always just told myself that it's probably the other side of the road whenever I wondered about this. But yeah, it's an interesting question and maybe someone can provide some more visual clues to show if it is the other side of the road.
    – Napoleon Wilson ♦
    Dec 15, 2016 at 1:28
  • @NapoleonWilson - yeah, well, by the curve of the paddock I assumed it was the same side until they are on the edge of a precipice suddenly. Maybe the cars were turned around and I missed that. I'm still able to enjoy the movie, just curious as it's my first time to watch the movie, and had to reverse a couple times.
    – Mikey
    Dec 15, 2016 at 1:31
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    Identical question over at Sci-Fi.SE.
    – Walt
    Dec 15, 2016 at 1:31

4 Answers 4

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As explained on the Jurassic Park Wikia, there is a hill side drop to the left of the cars:

Often incorrectly regarded as a goof is the fact that when the Tyrannosaurus exits her paddock from ground level with the road, there's the sudden appearance of a cliff when she pushes the car over it. In reality, there is in fact a cliff that acts as a natural barrier for the Tyrannosaurus, otherwise she would be able to exit her paddock through the gap between the fencing and the tunnel with ease. The diagram on the right illustrates what happens.

enter image description here

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  • +1 I very much appreciate the graphic and reference, but it still doesn't seem to make sense. The 0.0m level goat area is separated from a 15.0m drop by a moat. ?? I think if the moat were instead labeled as another fence (and wall) that would make more sense?
    – Mikey
    Dec 15, 2016 at 21:35
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    @mikey the important thing here is the concept. The drawing is not to scale from screen, but represents what the source material, the novel the movie came from, says about the scene.
    – cde
    Dec 15, 2016 at 21:39
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    The book was better. So much, much, much more better. And the heroes in the book were the Compys.
    – Mazura
    Dec 16, 2016 at 0:24
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    Can you explain the graphic more? I don't understand "the gap between the fencing and the tunnel". If the grey line is the fence, where is the gap? Is the fence lower next to the cliff, or what? Or does it mean that it cannot cross the moat because there is a cliff in there?
    – user28241
    Dec 16, 2016 at 8:02
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In cde's answer we can see a map from the Jurassic Park Wiki, but no source is given for that map, so it's unclear to me how "official" it is.

  • We see in the movie that the vegetation is pretty close to the fence.

    Fence [Image Source]

  • Because the attack happens at night, it's sometimes difficult to see, but in several shots we can see vegetation right behind the fence.

    T-Rex

    T-Rex 2 [Image Source]

  • which doesn't fit with these shots

    Gap

    Gap 2 [Image Source]

  • When the car falls down, the spot where the goat appeared should be just to the right, but ...

    Car

    Car 2 [Image Source]

I guess the explanation from the Jurassic Park Wiki (see cde's answer) is the best we can get, but given the shots where we see the vegetation close to fence I do think the filmmakers messed up a bit.

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    Actually the fifth picture supports my answer. Those trees in the background could only have been on a hill at the same level as the cars, or they are abnormally large.
    – cde
    Dec 16, 2016 at 2:17
  • @cde - Looking at the first picture, the trees on the left side of the moat must be rather tall. The tree line looks even with that of the right side of the moat. - Looking at that picture, would anyone expect there to be a large chasm right behind the fence?
    – Oliver_C
    Dec 16, 2016 at 17:53
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There are some continuity issues in the movie, and this is never explained. However, in the book it's explained that all the paddocks have moats surrounding them as an additional measure of security. Presumably, that drop is part of the moat.

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In the book, Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, the T-rex paddock is said to be near the "downslope of a hill." That spot where Rexy is pushing the car over the edge, is the down slope of the hill.

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