ScreenCrush: The Podcast! - Jurassic Park: Why John Hammond Was Right

Episode Date: July 7, 2025

John Hammond is often seen as one of the villains as the Jurassic Park series. He's portrayed as a megalomaniac capitalist who plays god... which...fair. But Hammond actually displays the true theme of the film, which is adaptation and evolution. Unlike most movie villains, Hammond fully understands the error of his ways, and becomes a conservationist who lives in harmony with nature, rather than trying to control it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. These creatures require our absence to survive, not our help. Hey, welcome back to Screen Crush. I'm Colton Ogburn, and today we are going to tell you why John Hammond is the best character in Jurassic Park. You know, I've been thinking John Hammond was right. The original Jurassic Park was the perfect blend of natural one.

and monstrous horror, but it wasn't just a movie about dinosaurs getting loose and killing people. It was about how one man's dream and his childlike obsession led to hundreds of people dying. And that is why John Hammond, not the dinosaurs, is the true villain of this movie. But the film does show us how this man baby is a dynamic character who does grow up and embraces the movie's overarching theme that nature beats technology. Now, specifically I want to focus on the first movie, since it's a self-contained narrative, that highlights John Hammond's arc. The later movies are basically a consequence

of the events that unfold in this movie. John Hammond's dream, re-imagined will come true. No way, Nedry's the real bad guy. He let all those dinosaurs loose. I get that, Doug, and a lot of people feel the same way. Everyone thinks it was Dennis Nedry's greed that caused Jurassic Park to fail, but really, he was just a cog in the machine

that the real villain John Hammond built. I mean, think about it. Yeah, Nedry made a shady deal with rival biote, companies, but in his argument with Hammond, he says, I will not get drawn into another financial debate with you, Dennis. I really will not. He is underpaid, he's overworked, and he's clearly not valued. Now, this doesn't excuse what he did, not at all.

People died because of his actions. But you can see why he made the decisions that he made. Nedri was a coding genius who was able to completely freeze every system in Jurassic Park. And I'm sure whatever Hammond paid him was well below his value. If Hammond had actually listened to him and his other employees, if he wasn't so blinded by the magic of his own creation, then maybe none of this catastrophe would have happened. Now, everyone remembers Hammond as the soft-spoken, kind, funny old man

walking around with his amber mosquito cane and saying his classic line. Somehow Palpatine returned. Sorry, no, I admit this one. Welcome to Jurassic Park. But let's be honest, he was playing God and the scariest part is that he didn't know that he was. Peter, would you like a glass of... Oh my God!

I told you not to play God with those ants! Hammond wasn't just building another theme park. He was resurrecting animals and frankenstining their genes from an era that nature wiped out millions of years ago. As Malcolm says, Dinosaurs had their shot and nature selected them for extinction. Hammond calls the scientist his, The real miracle workers of Jersey mug. And when he watches a raptor, hatching from its egg, we hear angelic music,

emphasizing the absolute miracle that he has been able to create. Come on. Come on, Mr. One, come. He wasn't trying to restore ecosystems or trying to fight climate change, like actual de-extinction projects do, and we'll touch on that here in a second. He was trying to build a theme park, and he made animal hybrids and called them his. And guys, to celebrate our love for the entire, entire Jurassic Park series, we design these shirts for you at our merch store. We have a mosquito and amber, Life Finds Away, the clever girl available in men's and women's

sizes to make sure you get a great fit, and the Ila Nublar Fun Run shirt. Shopping our merch store is a huge and great way to support our channel, and we love designing these shirts for you guys, links are in the description below. But not even two minutes into the film, his creation, the Velociraptor kills a man. Rather than showing remorse or taking a step back, Hammond is just annoyed that his investors got skittish. There's a particular pebble in my shoe, represents my investors, says that they insist on outside opinion. So in order to get the okay from the money people to open the park, he cherry-picked scientists so that his park can open. But when they get a glimpse of the park and give valid criticisms on why this is a bad idea, he doesn't listen to him.

Even when everyone is on his case, he doubles down. I don't believe it. You're meant to come down here and defend me against these cats. characters and the only one I've got on my side is the blood-sucking lawyer. And on top of this, he brings his grandkids to this very dangerous island. And when he sees a tropical storm headed toward the island, he lets them go on his tour anyway. When he had the opportunity to shut down everything through that contingency... What about the lysine contingency? We could put that into effect.

What's that? That is absolutely out of the question. He refused, leading to even more people dying. Okay, we get it. Here's the villain. Yes, but I like that. lay all of this out because despite everything that Hammond did, Hammond isn't necessarily like a malicious park-owning tycoon. He's something arguably more dangerous, a child with a massive dream and no restraint.

A child with the money, the ego, and the determination to turn his fantasies into reality. Malcolm really put it best when he told Hammond, Genetic power is the most awesome force of the planet's ever seen, but you wield it like a kid that's found his dad's a gun. Hammond was genuinely excited for people to experience dinosaurs. He wanted everyone to see his dream come to life, no matter how rich or poor you were. This park was not built a cater only for the super rich. Everyone in the world has the right to enjoy these animals.

Disney World could honestly learn a thing or two from this guy. And please Disney, it is so fucking expensive to go to your park. I would like to go to Galaxy's Edge. I want the dull whip. Other person, are you okay? I'm cool, I'm cool. Anyway, Hammond's goal of Reservoir. directing extinct animals surprisingly isn't limited to science fiction. There have been very real and strenuous conservation efforts to bring back extinct animals

in our real world. For example, scientists working on the Woolly Mammoth Revival Project, led by Harvard geneticist George Church. This project aims to bring the species back using gene editing and ancient DNA extracted from preserved remains. Another one is the Tasmanian Tiger. In 2022, colossal biosciences partnered with the University of Melbourne to launch a full-blown de-extinction project. Their goal was to use preserved DNA and gene editing tech to recreate a thylacine-like creature using a closely related species.

Does this all sound familiar? We use the complete DNA of a frog to fill in the holes and complete the code. Well, why would anybody want to bring back a bunch of dead animals? Well, some researchers argue that de-extinct. could actually help restore damaged ecosystems. Reintroducing the woolly mammoth to the Arctic tundra could help combat climate change by restoring grasslands and slowing permafrost melt.

Tasmanian tigers would reintroduce a top predator to the Tasmanian ecosystem, potentially restoring order to the food chain. Now, while these projects are very controversial and ethically questionable, it does show that the efforts of John Hammond's dream goes beyond that of the silver screen. But the key difference is that today's scientific

scientists operate with layers of oversight and actual ecological goals and decades and decades of study before even thinking about stepping foot into the lab. Hammond wanted to open this park as soon as possible. Hammond hates inspections. They slow everything down. But for Hammond, it wasn't about science and it really wasn't even about rebuilding nature. It was about chasing his dream no matter the cost. Our history is to have diner pets? Not exactly. Let's back it up a little and look at how the film frames John's childlike wonder and obsession. That way we can better understand his overall dream. When we first meet Hammond in the beginning of Jurassic Park, he isn't some rich tycoon looking to maximize profit as much as possible.

Phase one, collect underpants. Phase two, phase three, profit. He brings absolute joy and excitement to Alan and Ellie when he first meets them, like a kid excited to show you a drawing that he made. We were saving that. But today, I got to see it. When he gets involved in a lawsuit, his first reaction is to irresponsibly leave the park to be with family. He had to leave early. He wants to be with his daughter. She's getting a divorce. He hates inspections like a kid who doesn't want to put his sunscreen on at the beach. Put your sunscreen on at the beach.

Anyway, he just wants to start playing in the water. He wants to start playing in his park. But when shit hits the fan, instead of sticking with the group and thinking about how he can get out of this mess, he sits alone by himself and eats tubs and tubs of ice cream. They were all melting. And notice his frustration when the park doesn't work. When the first tour doesn't go very well. So much for our first tour, two no shows and one sick tricelotops. And finally, when the storm reaches the island, he yells,

Like a kid who was just told no for the first time in his life. The film also frames his imagination and wonder through the little efforts that he puts into the park. Like filming himself giving the presentation, Hammond wants to interact with an on-screen version of himself and a cartoon, which is exactly what a little kid would want to do. I'll need a drop of blood. Your blood. Right. Oh, John, that hurts. The Mr. DNA animation isn't just for the audience to understand how the cloning works.

It's Hammond's way of making science fun and accessible to future park guests. On the first tour, he even narrates it like Walt Disney would on a Disneyland ride. The voice in our hearing is Richard Kiley. We spared no expense. Welcome. Disneyland is your land. But to really show Hammond's childlike wonder for the park, watch the first time we actually see a dinosaur in the movie.

This scene was... It was just magical, man. The slow tilt up to the reveal of that bronchiosaurus and John Williams' score highlighting the math of the moment. It's not terrifying, it's not chaos, it's miraculous and picture perfect. It's the ideal way to view these creatures because at this moment we are seeing the park exactly how Hammond saw it.

Look at the smile on this guy's face. He's so blinded by the vision of what the park could be that nothing else really matters. The naysayers, like the investors, the lawyers, and scientists. could never dilute his perfect vision for the park. Hammond was never chasing a prophet. He was chasing his dream. And that dream is to make people happy. And my dream is to have two bones.

Now, this is all what makes Hammond right. He was right to dream about sharing the wonders of science with the world and put smiles on people's faces. To want to educate people, poor and rich alike, about the prehistoric world. When we were kids, it felt like there was no limitations to what we could achieve. Anything was possible.

You could change the world, be an astronaut, be famous. But as we grow older, the dreams we had as children fade away and are replaced with realistic dreams that fit our life and what we need to do. Buying a house, affording rent, getting a bone for Doug. But Hammond, he never abandoned his childlike wonder and he had the money, resources, and ego to bring his dreams to life. He truly believed that if everyone saw what he saw, then maybe he could make people happy. You know the first attraction I ever built when they came down from Scotland?

It's a flea circus. People would say they could see the fleas. Oh, I could see the fleas, mommy, can't you see the fleas? Now, this scene strikes at the core of why Jurassic Park and Jurassic World came to life in the first place. Hammond is still that kid bringing around his flea circus, hoping that people would see what he sees. If he can make people happy, then it was worth spending all the money in the world to do so. It's clear that he didn't just want to show people. his park, he wanted to give them an experience. So we've made living biological attractions so astounding

that they'll capture the imagination of the entire planet. But this is ultimately what causes the park to fail. His dream was so big and he believed in it so much that he had no discipline to think of the consequences. He was so close to getting his dream off the ground that he didn't think about the satisfaction of his own employees, the safeguards, or a practical solution to the dinosaurs getting loose. All he cared about was getting people to see his animals and his park the way that he does.

Again, Malcolm puts it best when he says, Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't start to think if they should. Now, what's even more tragic is that when everything's gone to shit, people have died and his dinosaurs are loose, he still can't let go of his dream. When Ray offers a quick solution to put all of the dinosaurs down, Hammond says, That is absolutely out of the question.

He's in denial. He cannot bring himself to make the mature decision to destroy everything that he has worked so hard on. Even when Ellie confronts him about his park, he says, Harry Nedry was a mistake, that's obvious. We're over-dependent on automation. I can see that now. And you know what?

He wasn't completely wrong. Jurassic World opened 20-ish years later, and it was way better and very profitable. But when the Indominus Rex escaped instead of a few people dying, hundreds of people died. And now dinosaurs literally are roaming the earth. Life, uh, finds a way. And keep in mind that Hammond is planning Jurassic 2.0 while his grandchildren are still trapped in the park with Allen. He's not thinking about their safety or coming to terms with the abomination that he has created. He is thinking

about the next time and how it will work. So yes, Hammond was right to dream. But, His dream was too big, unrestricted, and undisciplined, which ultimately led to the deaths of so many people. Hammond's story is not one of greed or evil, it's a bit of a tragedy. A man who wholeheartedly believed in the good of his creation that he ultimately ignored everything and everyone that told him otherwise. Hammond was the villain, but he didn't want to hurt anyone. He realizes that when his art comes to a close in the first movie,

After careful consideration, I've decided not to endorse your park. So have I. He's even ousted in the second movie and comes to the realization that his dream was too big and he regrets everything. And just like many of us, he had given up on his childish dream. And this is why we think Hammond is the best character in the movie, but also the villain. He was a stalwart believer in his dream. It blinded him to the realities around him, like the Uber wealthy elites in our real world, his money blinded him to reality and he assumed that he could always get his way.

But Hammond, unlike the real world elites, is able to admit when he is wrong. In fact, in later movies, he actually becomes the voice of the franchise's main theme. These creatures require our absence to survive, not our help. But hey, those are just our thoughts. Let me know yours down in the comments below. Was Hammond the best character of Jurassic Park? Or was he a lunatic with a god complex that wanted to resurrect dinosaurs for the the hell of it, or hey, maybe he was both. Let me know down in the comments below

and a huge shout out to Randolph Nambrato who wrote this video. And if it is your first time here, welcome to the channel, please subscribe and smash that bell for alerts. For Screen Crush, I'm Colton Ogbrun.