re: Jurassic Park - “We’ve spared no expense.”

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So like most CEOs Hammond was also full of hot air about the actual building of the park

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No that’s the thing though. He did a great job with the park. Just shorted himself on the IT work. Had he not done that the park is likely a success and a worldwide phenomenon.

Building on a tropical island in the path of hurricanes and no backup failsafe systems for power? Having no checks and balances on Nedry? Gross negligence. Overspent on screens and ride vehicles skimped on security. Ian Malcolm has a hell of a suit he could bring against InGen

Hammond was a salesman.

Yes I do remember. Sorry I should’ve clarified multiple backup systems or redundancies and not just for power. It’s no wonder the investors and insurance guys were skeptical. As an aside this movie is 31 years old and that hurts a lot.

Yeah, but, John, if The Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don't eat the tourists.

Have you read the book?

Hammond is not a nice man in the novel.

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The park was amazing and the trial tour would have likely gone off without a hitch if he hadn’t hired Dennis Nedry.

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he said he chose dennis out of pity even against the advice of his staff, because he was family and wanted to give him a chance.

he also said he came to regret that decision but they were stuck with each other

honestly he did a pretty good job until he got greedy. everything could be run from a single terminal which is no small achievement to say the least

i do agree there were zero redundancies anywhere so the definitely skimped a lot on safety to concentrate of aesthetics

But who's to say that those who bid higher would have turned down the money thrown at them? Maybe it was 5 times what they'd make in a lifetime.

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Can we take a minute to appreciate what John Hammond actually pulled off? The park was amazing and the trial tour would have likely gone off without a hitch if he hadn’t hired Dennis Nedry.

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No. It never would have gone off w/o a hitch b/c at the end of the day Hammond is still the cheap fly by night huckster he was when he was running a flea circus.

Hammond's constant claims of spared no expense are really just him lying to everyone about what he has done while trying to wish his claims into existence. It's clear corners were cut all over the place.

Why do you think he bought an island in Costa Rica? It was to avoid any kinds of regulations he was obviously flouting. Why do you think he refused to listen to reason and kept the Raptors alive? He isn't willing to eat the financial loss. Why do you think he hired Nedry? He didn't want to pay for a proper IT team b/c his arrogant arse thought it was just some nerd shite and wasn't worth the coin.

Also, it's not really obvious in the movie but in the book it's heavily implied Igen also lied to Nedry about the scope of project. When he balked they blackmailed him into staying by ruining his rep w/his other clients which was the source of his money problems. You kind of sort of get that when they argue about money but it's left more open ended since Hammond refuses to talk about it.

Hammond might come off as a nice old man just trying to do something incredible but he's actually a massive a-hole and completely deluded himself into thinking he's some sort of mastermind when he's just a dude who bought a company and is forcing unrealistic goals on everyone.

Also Lex is 5 years old which makes more sense rewatching the scene when Tim’s arse could have easily handed Ellie the shot gun instead of just watching Lex