There aren't many problems with Jurassic Park. The movie is a flawless piece of modern cinema for all intents and purposes. It delivers on everything Michael Crichton's original story set out to tell and then some, but there's one glaring issue with the theatrical version.
In the original Jurassic Park film, Lex (Ariana Richards) and Tim (Joseph Mazello) wind up in a bind when velociraptors rampage across the facility. They unwittingly find themselves face-to-face with snarling dinosaurs during an apparent reprieve, except it's short-lived. Lex and Tim run after they notice the predators stalking them, finding safety in the kitchen. They close the door behind them, assuming they're secure, only to find out the raptors can turn door handles.
The kids quietly traverse the room once the raptors enter, eventually attracting their attention. It becomes an intense moment of survival where two children have to evade hungry predators with razor-sharp teeth and claws. They barely manage to escape, trapping one dinosaur in the walk-in freezer.
What's intriguing is why Lex and Tim don't hide in the refrigeration unit themselves. The pair know where they're at when they enter the kitchen, so it begs to ask: why didn't they hide inside the freezer? The answer is more complex than once thought.
While the idea of running into the freezer and closing the door behind them sounds intelligent, it's the opposite. People aren't typically aware of the hazards of being locked inside one, and that can be more dangerous than a physical clash with velociraptors. The kids in The Quarry learn this firsthand.
In the horror-based video game, the player has a choice at one point to either run from a werewolf or hide in a freezer. Choosing the latter means the character inside will freeze to death—unless other conditions allow an ally to find them before it's too late.
The kids from Jurassic Park, Lex and Tim, presumably know that they'd freeze to death while hiding. As such, they choose to crouch in an unprotected place instead of the refrigeration unit. One might ask how two children would be aware of the dangers surrounding freezers, and the answer relates to their socioeconomic class.
Tim and Lex come from a wealthy family, which means they've been around pristine facilities more than once. And they've probably seen professional kitchens with walk-in freezers. They may have never walked inside one, but any professional who's attending to children in a busy kitchen would advise them to not play in the walk-in because of its dangers. Granted, while not every chef would be that caring, someone probably told them of freezer hazards—explaining why Tim and Lex don't run into a seemingly secure safe haven.
Jurassic Park is currently available to stream on Hulu, Starz, and Amazon Prime.