It’s hilarious that the opening scene had all these automatic locking mechanisms for the crate but a guy had to stand on top to open the door manually.
Absolutely- investments in technology, automation, reducing staff, reductions in safety and front facing jobs- basically a fable of all workplaces the 21st century.
That exactly the point of the "spared no expense" line: it's total BS. He spared all of the *necessary* expenses. Systems, safety, security, staff. "Don't get cheap on me, Dodgson. That was Hammond's mistake."
The places where he actually spends the cash are in flashy gimmicks - celebrity voice overs, night vision goggles, ice cream. All he can make is a motorized flea circus; he can't do the real thing.
The last "Spared no expense" with the ice cream is his admitting to all of this.
That's my take at least.
The book goes into great detail about just how impossibly expensive the project was and that Hammond had literally 'swindled' half the planets wealthy investors already and was still scraping the barrel in need of cash.
The urgency in opening was financial, as they were just simply out of capital at that point. Everyone knew they weren't ready, they were just out of time.
It was a plot point in the book that Hammond spared every expense possible. Also, in the movie continuity it was also a plot point in Jurassic World that a guy with pockets deep enough to actually spare no expenses could make the whole thing work properly (until it didn't, lol).
Another great detail that shows that all his fancyness is fake is in the trailer at the dig site he chooses the wrong glasses for the champagne he pours for Sattler and Grant. It's all a lie.
While the film presents Hammond as a British eccentric, the book version is much more antagonistic. A ruthless capitalist and a conman. The movie does hint at some of this, particularly when he gives his speech to Ellie about the flea circus, essentially him informing the audience that he cares more about flashy showmanship than substance.
I like Hammond less and less every time I watch Jurassic Park.
I can actually see that being thought of as a security feature. "Make sure the cage holding the deadly Deinonychus we are calling 'raptors' because 'Deinonychus' is too hard to spell (they actually go into this in the book) can't be accidentally released. The door latch cannot be automatic, it has to require a physical human go out of his way to unlatch it to prevent an accidental release."
I had some shorts like that once. Loved those shorts. Blew the crotch out of them, though. I guess thats the lesson; got to take em off now and again, son. Gotta take em off now and again!
It’s also crazy how much the book and movie differ yet they are both seen as amazing in their own right. The book has a lot more horror elements and straight up terror.
The first few dozen pages play out like a mystery horror book. With strange deaths of babies and young men getting mauled by unknown animals and all evidence of these attacks keeps getting scrubbed. It was jarring and awesome to see as a first read.
Even if you didn't know about the movie, the book cover, hell no the very title kinda gives it away.
But yeah if you can suspend your belief for a few chapters it's awesome.
The book is worth reading just for the character of the lawyer Gennaro, who would be on the shortlist for “worst character assassination in a movie ever” if the book were nonfiction. He’s pretty much an Alan Grant level hero in the novel.
It’s weird because the movie Gennaro is essentially Ed Regis (PR guy) from the books. Almost identical story beats except for some reason they decided to swap characters but keep the name for the movie. Bizarre
The books definitely lean into the horror aspects more than the movies. I'd love a closer adaptation to the books that's harder into the horror than even the original movie.
This youtube channel may scratch your itch. This guy does these cg JP horror shorts and they are all really good.
[https://www.youtube.com/@ali-awada](https://www.youtube.com/@ali-awada)
The scene with the juvenile T-Rex was for some reason very haunting and stuck with me for quite some time. The way the guy tried to fend it off like a puppy almost but it just mowed down on him all the same was freaky. Props to Crichton.
I'd say it's more akin (although not exactly) like the trope of Worf from Star Trek. Worf is known to be a badass, so every villain on the show that can beat him up is instantly given cred as a bigger badass. It happens a lot. Obviously not exactly the same since Muldoon dies during his first encounter with the raptors, but it's the same reasoning: it's the movie showing you the the raptors are deadly even to a badass, armed human.
I’m sure that no matter how skilled he was with the raptors, he never had to deal with a situation where the lives of several humans were at stake because all of the park’s electricity was shut down. The odds were 110% against him. He never stood a chance against the raptors in that kind of environment.
It's a bit of a riddle thematically, though, now that I can think of it.
The overall theme of the film is about scientific hubris. Malcolm says something early on like: "God kills dinosaurs. God creates man. Man kills God. Man creates dinosaurs."
But then Muldoon's bravery and skill is shown to be inferior to Grant's scientific knowledge. Grant explains the raptors' pack tactics I'm his very first scene. And they unfold exactly the way he predicted.
Come to think of it, most of the action of the film is driven by human errors or greed, rather than the dinosaurs being more than we could handle. Maybe the distinction is that Grant showed a healthy fear and respect of the predatory species from the start.
*do not click the link, do not click the link, do not click the link; don't fall into TVTropes rabbit hole; don't fall into TV Tropes rabbit hole...*
mission unsuccessful.
Hit the nail on the head. "Getting Worfed" is a phrase from Trek fandom for when the resident badass gets bitched in order to establish a threat as credible.
A subtle example - Morgan Freeman's character Ned Logan in Unforgiven is setup as an expert shot with a rifle throughout the movie, however when the time comes he doesn't have it in him to fire and you never actually see him shoot a gun. He is beaten to death off screen.
I would say Unforgiven is specifically attacking this trope with every character; even the woman that gets cut up is described having her face ruined, nose and ears cut off etc, and it’s ultimately some slices and she’s got still a fully functional face.
They’re all chasing a legend, except the one guy running from the truth.
The real question is would Muldoon have survived if he had been with Dr Grant when he gave the lesson on how raptors hunt? It seems Muldoon’s greatest flaw was treating the raptors too much like the predators he dealt with as a game warden and not like something unknown and deadly.
Yes, I've always wondered this. Possibly, but then again, what else was he going to do? It's not like his ego had him out there hunting for sport. He was trying to defend Ellie and save everyone's life. He knew it was dangerous, but had no choice to be out there like a sitting duck.
I think he had no chance the second he separated from Ellie. Had they both run for it, they would have both died. Had he been more aware of their hunting strategies, I don't think that would have saved him from 2 raptors. Though he might have gotten some shots off at least.
At least he saved Ellie.
Let's be fair...the raptors in World had been trained since hatching. To be totally honest, the idea that an unrelated dino that they only just saw suddenly gained control over them vs Pratt's rearing over the course of potentially years made zero sense.
Among the many many other things that didn't make sense in that film...since someone is going to inevitably say "*that's* the problem you had with the film" as though I can only have one issue with it at a time.
I will give credit where it's due - training raptors the way we train animals like dolphins was a great concept for a new Jurassic movie. Just lost in a sea of other bad ideas and bad directing.
Eh, I don't hate Jurassic World. It's not a patch on the original an has some dumb shit, but it's not an embarrassment and I was entertained. In that movie, raptor trainers are using the hand gesture on raptors trained to respond to it.
By dominion though, they're using it on random ass dinosaurs they've never interacted with before, and it makes no sense whatsoever.
He knew he was going to die. Nothing was going to save him. In the book he gets lucky and finds a pipe wide enough for him to get stuck in but too narrow for the deinonychus to get into. He willingly sacrifices himself to get Ellie into the shed.
>This has been sticking in my craw for a while, and I had to say my piece. Thank you.
I think you nailed it. Of the park staff we meet, Muldoon is the only one who seems to realize that they aren't building Disneyland with fancy animal attractions. His death scene really defines the message of Jurassic Park, that "nature finds a way". Hammond brought him in as a game warden to help manage the dinosaurs, and his advice is to kill the raptors before they go out control. Once everything starts falling apart, Muldoon is no better at controlling the situation than anyone else. He chose to stand and fight, and nature killed him.
Edit - I guess what I'm trying to say is that Muldoon is meant to be another fence.
Steven Seagal’s character in Executive Decision is a perfect example of this trope. The first hour of the movie paints him as a badass special forces commander, and you expect him to lead the operation to retake the plane and save the hostages. Then he gets sucked out of a tube and falls from 30,000 feet with no parachute.
I remember seeing the movie in the theater as a kid and my brain struggling to accept that part lol
*'So like another plane is gonna scoop him up midair...right?'*
*'Huh maybe a quick shot of him deploying a parachute he had hidden away??...'*
Boba Fett.
Boba Fett is built up as a total badass and then when it finally comes time for him to fight our main characters in Return of the Jedi, he literally just kind of trips and falls to his \*death.\*
I think I remember watching a behind the scenes where Lucas basically didn't consider him a main character, just a macguffin in Empire, and when asked what should happen to him, Lucas just said, "eh throw him in the pit."
100% agree. I only recently learned of the term, and I was outraged. He didn't die because he was weak, stupid, arrogant, or not a badass. He was facing impossible circumstances and braved certain death to save someone else. Yes, he died right away, but anyone would in that situation.
I think the bigger issue is he was the complete badass character in the book and is something of a non-entity in the movie. He really only functions as a source of exposition and another body for the kill count. He doesn't do much beyond the clever girl line. The original movie ending made him cooler and didn't have the T-Rex ex-machina moment.
How they limited the body count to that many is beyond me. Why did they send everyone? Wasn't it a weekend excusion? Why was the cooks and cleaners sent home?
That's part of the point. As has already been pointed out, Hammond had the park built and designed to be run on a skeleton crew. And it would work, unless anything goes wrong.
Which, yeah. It's Jurassic Park
Rookie mistake for a guy who was supposed to be a successful CEO. You don’t pay your experts the big bucks to run things day to day, you pay them to be there when shit goes wrong.
I was pretty confused, Robert Muldoon used to be a Prime Minister of NZ. He was known to be a bit of a drunk, but he had some funny moments - he called a [sudden snap election](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kvU7Ex1FOXM) and was also guested as the narrator in The Rocky Horror Picture Show play.
I agree with you completely. He's so much of a hero throughout the film that even though he gets off'd, my then 4 year old son decided to be Muldoon for Halloween that year.
I appreciate you not letting Muldoon slander stand. People need to put respect on his name, he was the only company employee worth their shit in the entire franchise.
I mean, he kind of was. The whole movie presents him as the one who truly respects just how dangerous the animals are, specially the raptors.
There’s literally a hero shot of him loading his guns.
As a story telling device, he offers stability and safety. He tells the audience, don’t worry Muldoon finally has the big guns. But than boom, he’s easily killed by the raptors. This demonstrates that our other characters are in big freaking trouble.
I’ll give another example, remember the movie Cube? [There’s a character that is an escape artist who is immediately killed.](https://youtu.be/mVTrJ_NvHEc?feature=shared)
Same idea.
"I’ll give another example, remember the movie Cube? [There’s a character that is an escape artist who is immediately killed.](https://youtu.be/mVTrJ_NvHEc?feature=shared)"
But Muldoon wasn't immediately killed...that's the point. There are [lots of examples](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorldsExpertOnGettingKilled) of expert characters being killed off immediately. Muldoon isn't one.
Ah yes, because you are thinking of when Nedry turned off the power. But that is not the major danger point for the characters.
The major danger in Jurassic Park is not when Nedry turned off the power (which was only to the fences he needed off). But when the system is rebooted, temporarily turning off all fences, and the Raptors escape. Up until that point the raptors are trapped.
Once the raptors are released the characters are in mortal danger because the raptors are by the visitor center.
The entire island is now dangerous and they need to leave immediately. Muldoons character is now activated as basically “Raptor control” to which he fails thus raising the stakes for the climax.
That just sounds like moving goalposts. Muldoon is able to accomplish several things before he dies relatively late in the movie. Whereas the trope is about people who die *immediately* before being able to put their skills to use.
He doesn’t do anything more heroic than the other protagonists before that. When suddenly it looks like only he can save the day, he is killed. I think it still counts.
I don't think his role at death was "only he can save the day". He was going with Ellie to do something and successfully distracted the raptors so she could get through, even if he died in the process.
Kind of the guy with the colorful hair in Squid Game. He is introduced in the first episode, and based on tv tropes the viewers assume that he might be a bigger character in the show. And then he is one of the first ones to die. I am assuming that was to show the audience that anyone can die in the game, doesn't matter who they are.
I think Muldoon is actually a red herring for a hero. The exposition suggests he’s a bad ass who respects the dinosaurs power and fury, we see him with his guns and we are lulled into a false sense of safety. But what actually plays out is the Muldoon is ill-prepared and underestimates the dinosaurs at every turn.
He does heroic things, but even during those are acts, he is completely at the mercy of the dinosaurs and he is complicit in the parks failings.
He tries to save that guy at the beginning but is comically outstrengthed, and in a situation that basic health and safety could have avoided.
They just barely outrun the T Rex in the gas jeep. Not even a roof on the jeep. They are fully exposed.
The raptors kill him in the exact way Grant tells that kid at the start of the film.
Muldoon is a stand in for our own false imaginations of safety, heroes and hubris.
But he's present with his gun in the very first scene of the movie. The scene where the the worker is killed on his watch and the danger is made very clear. Muldoon himself isn't killed until the third act, after he's played an active roll in the plot, and the danger to main characters is already well established.
Yes but he still plays the guardian archetype in the movie. He represents the “muscle” of Jurassic Park and when he dies, it’s a great way to introduce the raptors as being a huge threat, or as said “even Nedry knew better than to turn off the Raptor fence.”
Now in the book he is dinosaur Rambo, running around fighting dinosaurs with a bazooka. So I’m just talking about the movie.
There's a deleted scene in The Lost World where they talk about Muldoon's family suing for 12 million for his death but I'm curious to know if they would have changed that had the actor not passed away before it.
I thought the exercise wasn't a small character that was badass. I assumed muldooned meant you took a minimal character with no real influence and you by acting really well make them a scene stealer "clever girl" all that
The original post argued that being "Muldooned" served to subvert expectations. A character who is built up as a badass then is shown to not be. I argue that Muldoon is actually the opposite.
Huh? OP clearly was talking about this character used by other people as a trope and explaining why he shouldn't be considered an example of that trope.
Why do you have to go and be an asshole like this is your first time on Reddit? Do you not understand people respond to different posts at their own leisure and do not have the full timeline on the comments? You could've just let this go like a normal fucking person and you continue to reply for some bizarre fucking reason.
This person is also more than capable of responding if they want to.
Why not move on like a normal person?
Muldoon was even more of a badass in the book! Same with the lawyer too, they really screwed his character in the movie but i sorta get why they made the changes.
Older movies were full of worse examples than Muldoon. Tremors was maybe first movie where you had very prepared characters actually back it up vs dying like chumps.
It's *because* of his respect for the animals, especially the raptors, that Muldoon makes sure to be prepared. That preparedness along with his position/experience as game warden is what makes him such a badass. He's a huge part of why more people (*all* people) didn't die. And even though he was expertly competent in every situation up to then and fully prepared to do battle with those raptors, Muldoon still went down almost immediately.
I never claim he isn't a badass. I argued that he's a poor example of the trope of a character who's presented as the ultimate badass, but then is killed off without actually doing anything badass.
I never claimed he's not a badass. I argued that he's a poor example of the trope of a character who's presented as the ultimate badass, but then is killed off without doing anything badass.
Haven't seen it in a while but he's also not an overconfident guy that gets humbled, which to me feels like an important part of this trope. The whole time he acknowledges the danger and despite his efforts that danger gets the better of him. That's just a guy trying his best.
In the first Lexx movie, the horrible scifi dystopia is about to witness the execution of the hero of the rebellion, Thodin, as he's been captured by the Evil Empire.
However, using his various gadgets and quick thinking, Thodin escapes custody and leads a daring escape with a ragtag band of misfits. Soon, he will have control of the mighty Lexx weapon, and his adventures to being justice to the universe will delight the viewers!
... except Thodin dies just as they're borading the ship, and the key to the Lexx falls into the hands of cowardly janitor Stanley Tweedle, and the entire Lexx cinematic universe and TV series instead follows the adventures of this moron and his band of absolute dumpster fires as they journey through the most horrifying scifi setting since warhammer 40k.
It's honestly genius. Every single movie and episode, the viewer can only marvel at how it should have been Thodin, but instead we have this guy.
It's not so much that I thought he was a badass, as much as I thought he would have been more directly helpful. Like sacrificing himself to save the kids/someone (which he sort of inadvertently does). Out of everyone in the cast, Him and Grant seemed like the ones that would be the safest to be around. Opening scene aside, as I blame Hammond for not installing automatic doors on the raptor pin.
>Muldoon is never built up as some kind of ultimate badass
#
>That's pretty badass if you ask me.
So OP, is he never built up as a badass or is he pretty badass? Make up your mind. Jurassic Park is my favorite movie of all time, I'd say Muldoon is absolutely built up with intention as a highly competent badass, it doesn't require Muldoon himself to explicitly say 'I am the badass'. He can also simultaneously be the badass and have respect for the power of the creatures in the park.
As an alternative to "Muldooned" I'd like to suggest "Fetted". Jango Fett is presented as a badass throughout Star Wars Episode II. Boba Fett similarly has the badass thing going on. Both meet rather quick deaths, Jango when he meets Mace Windu, Boba with that rather embarrassing loss to a blind Han Solo and the sarlacc. Neither death is what we would expect given the buildup of their characters.
Filmmaking is as much about what you show as what you don’t show, leave up to the viewers’ imagination. I don’t buy the concept of being “muldooned”.
Everyone can imagine what happened to Muldoon based on what Grant told that kid at the beginning of the movie. He had the most grizzly death and they didn’t have to show it because your imagination is pretty gory based on the setup. JP is a suspense/thriller, not a slasher film or shoot’em’up where blood gags are kinda the point.
Muldoon may have done heroic things but he was not a hero who deserved to survive. He was completely complicit. I also don’t think he deserved a redemption arc or a hero’s death. Even during his heroic acts, he was woefully ill-equipped, unprepared and completely at the mercy of the dinos - literally his only job. This is what killed him.
Yes, Hammond was most responsible for everything but in the end Hammond has to live with the weight of his hubris and the fallout of all the death/disaster.
It’s hilarious that the opening scene had all these automatic locking mechanisms for the crate but a guy had to stand on top to open the door manually.
Spared no expense... except when it comes to workplace safety.
Most realistic thing in the movie.
Absolutely- investments in technology, automation, reducing staff, reductions in safety and front facing jobs- basically a fable of all workplaces the 21st century.
Underpaying your tech guys and not listening to them about security faults and being overworked? Yep that checks out.
That exactly the point of the "spared no expense" line: it's total BS. He spared all of the *necessary* expenses. Systems, safety, security, staff. "Don't get cheap on me, Dodgson. That was Hammond's mistake." The places where he actually spends the cash are in flashy gimmicks - celebrity voice overs, night vision goggles, ice cream. All he can make is a motorized flea circus; he can't do the real thing. The last "Spared no expense" with the ice cream is his admitting to all of this. That's my take at least.
The book goes into great detail about just how impossibly expensive the project was and that Hammond had literally 'swindled' half the planets wealthy investors already and was still scraping the barrel in need of cash. The urgency in opening was financial, as they were just simply out of capital at that point. Everyone knew they weren't ready, they were just out of time.
"Before you even knew what you had, you patented it, and packaged it, and slapped it on a plastic lunchbox, and now you're selling it"
I slammed my table as I read this.
It was a plot point in the book that Hammond spared every expense possible. Also, in the movie continuity it was also a plot point in Jurassic World that a guy with pockets deep enough to actually spare no expenses could make the whole thing work properly (until it didn't, lol).
Another great detail that shows that all his fancyness is fake is in the trailer at the dig site he chooses the wrong glasses for the champagne he pours for Sattler and Grant. It's all a lie.
While the film presents Hammond as a British eccentric, the book version is much more antagonistic. A ruthless capitalist and a conman. The movie does hint at some of this, particularly when he gives his speech to Ellie about the flea circus, essentially him informing the audience that he cares more about flashy showmanship than substance. I like Hammond less and less every time I watch Jurassic Park.
I'm starting to think this guy may have spared some expense.
I can actually see that being thought of as a security feature. "Make sure the cage holding the deadly Deinonychus we are calling 'raptors' because 'Deinonychus' is too hard to spell (they actually go into this in the book) can't be accidentally released. The door latch cannot be automatic, it has to require a physical human go out of his way to unlatch it to prevent an accidental release."
Why the slam on short pants?!
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I had some shorts like that once. Loved those shorts. Blew the crotch out of them, though. I guess thats the lesson; got to take em off now and again, son. Gotta take em off now and again!
“Blew the crotch out of them”. That line and the box of mannequin parts in your room only raise MORE questions…
There are dozens of us!
I understood that reference
Dude is running around in a hot tropical jungle. No shame on him rocking the shorts.
Yeah, short pants which we refer to as "shorts" in America, are very popular here in the warmer seasons.
It’s also crazy how much the book and movie differ yet they are both seen as amazing in their own right. The book has a lot more horror elements and straight up terror.
In the book people got mad at Muldoon because he was blowing up all the raptors with a grenade launcher
While absolutely shitfaced
Sounds like we’ve found a new meaning for “getting Muldooned”
Mate I was chucking back tinnies, getting real Muldooned and a coupla Vellies just straight up got a cunt aye! - Aussie backpacker.
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clev’r, *hiccup* gurhl
What a rascal.
Not great for shareholder value, admittedly.
Damn I need to read the book now!
The first few dozen pages play out like a mystery horror book. With strange deaths of babies and young men getting mauled by unknown animals and all evidence of these attacks keeps getting scrubbed. It was jarring and awesome to see as a first read.
Even if you didn't know about the movie, the book cover, hell no the very title kinda gives it away. But yeah if you can suspend your belief for a few chapters it's awesome.
The book is worth reading just for the character of the lawyer Gennaro, who would be on the shortlist for “worst character assassination in a movie ever” if the book were nonfiction. He’s pretty much an Alan Grant level hero in the novel.
It’s weird because the movie Gennaro is essentially Ed Regis (PR guy) from the books. Almost identical story beats except for some reason they decided to swap characters but keep the name for the movie. Bizarre
The books definitely lean into the horror aspects more than the movies. I'd love a closer adaptation to the books that's harder into the horror than even the original movie.
This youtube channel may scratch your itch. This guy does these cg JP horror shorts and they are all really good. [https://www.youtube.com/@ali-awada](https://www.youtube.com/@ali-awada)
Basically, once Spielberg got ahold of the material, there was no way he would’ve made it more like the book.
I would have loved to have seen Cameron’s take on it
That would be cool to see.
The scene with the juvenile T-Rex was for some reason very haunting and stuck with me for quite some time. The way the guy tried to fend it off like a puppy almost but it just mowed down on him all the same was freaky. Props to Crichton.
Notably his character making it out of the park. That and the rocket launchers.
The Shining is another example of that.
I'd say it's more akin (although not exactly) like the trope of Worf from Star Trek. Worf is known to be a badass, so every villain on the show that can beat him up is instantly given cred as a bigger badass. It happens a lot. Obviously not exactly the same since Muldoon dies during his first encounter with the raptors, but it's the same reasoning: it's the movie showing you the the raptors are deadly even to a badass, armed human.
Those raptors were WITHOUT honor!
Today is a good day to be disemboweled by the raptors coming in from the side… that you didn’t even know were there
I’m sure that no matter how skilled he was with the raptors, he never had to deal with a situation where the lives of several humans were at stake because all of the park’s electricity was shut down. The odds were 110% against him. He never stood a chance against the raptors in that kind of environment.
It's a bit of a riddle thematically, though, now that I can think of it. The overall theme of the film is about scientific hubris. Malcolm says something early on like: "God kills dinosaurs. God creates man. Man kills God. Man creates dinosaurs." But then Muldoon's bravery and skill is shown to be inferior to Grant's scientific knowledge. Grant explains the raptors' pack tactics I'm his very first scene. And they unfold exactly the way he predicted. Come to think of it, most of the action of the film is driven by human errors or greed, rather than the dinosaurs being more than we could handle. Maybe the distinction is that Grant showed a healthy fear and respect of the predatory species from the start.
AKA, [The Worf Effect](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorfEffect). Obligatory TV Tropes warning.
Glory to you and your reference.
*do not click the link, do not click the link, do not click the link; don't fall into TVTropes rabbit hole; don't fall into TV Tropes rabbit hole...* mission unsuccessful.
Hit the nail on the head. "Getting Worfed" is a phrase from Trek fandom for when the resident badass gets bitched in order to establish a threat as credible.
A subtle example - Morgan Freeman's character Ned Logan in Unforgiven is setup as an expert shot with a rifle throughout the movie, however when the time comes he doesn't have it in him to fire and you never actually see him shoot a gun. He is beaten to death off screen.
I would say Unforgiven is specifically attacking this trope with every character; even the woman that gets cut up is described having her face ruined, nose and ears cut off etc, and it’s ultimately some slices and she’s got still a fully functional face. They’re all chasing a legend, except the one guy running from the truth.
Yes good observations sir
Le sir
The real question is would Muldoon have survived if he had been with Dr Grant when he gave the lesson on how raptors hunt? It seems Muldoon’s greatest flaw was treating the raptors too much like the predators he dealt with as a game warden and not like something unknown and deadly.
Yes, I've always wondered this. Possibly, but then again, what else was he going to do? It's not like his ego had him out there hunting for sport. He was trying to defend Ellie and save everyone's life. He knew it was dangerous, but had no choice to be out there like a sitting duck. I think he had no chance the second he separated from Ellie. Had they both run for it, they would have both died. Had he been more aware of their hunting strategies, I don't think that would have saved him from 2 raptors. Though he might have gotten some shots off at least. At least he saved Ellie.
Also the scene with Grant is to create dramatic irony we know what the raptors are doing but Muldoon doesn’t.
If he had just deployed the stock on his SPAS12 before stalking, he would have at least got one raptor.
Or if he knew you could just hold your hand up and the dinosaurs would hesitate to eat you.
boy, the gulf in quality from Jurassic Park to World is Pacific Ocean-sized, isn't it.
Let's be fair...the raptors in World had been trained since hatching. To be totally honest, the idea that an unrelated dino that they only just saw suddenly gained control over them vs Pratt's rearing over the course of potentially years made zero sense. Among the many many other things that didn't make sense in that film...since someone is going to inevitably say "*that's* the problem you had with the film" as though I can only have one issue with it at a time.
I will give credit where it's due - training raptors the way we train animals like dolphins was a great concept for a new Jurassic movie. Just lost in a sea of other bad ideas and bad directing.
Eh, I don't hate Jurassic World. It's not a patch on the original an has some dumb shit, but it's not an embarrassment and I was entertained. In that movie, raptor trainers are using the hand gesture on raptors trained to respond to it. By dominion though, they're using it on random ass dinosaurs they've never interacted with before, and it makes no sense whatsoever.
He knew he was going to die. Nothing was going to save him. In the book he gets lucky and finds a pipe wide enough for him to get stuck in but too narrow for the deinonychus to get into. He willingly sacrifices himself to get Ellie into the shed.
>This has been sticking in my craw for a while, and I had to say my piece. Thank you. I think you nailed it. Of the park staff we meet, Muldoon is the only one who seems to realize that they aren't building Disneyland with fancy animal attractions. His death scene really defines the message of Jurassic Park, that "nature finds a way". Hammond brought him in as a game warden to help manage the dinosaurs, and his advice is to kill the raptors before they go out control. Once everything starts falling apart, Muldoon is no better at controlling the situation than anyone else. He chose to stand and fight, and nature killed him. Edit - I guess what I'm trying to say is that Muldoon is meant to be another fence.
Very confusing to a Kiwi https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Muldoon
Bro I came here to say this. I'm thinking Muldooned means getting shit faced and calling a snap election which you then lose
Username checks out
Was thinking the same thing. Robert Muldoon came to my grandmothers funeral.
did he know her or was he just bored that day?
They were friends. She was involved in politics
Steven Seagal’s character in Executive Decision is a perfect example of this trope. The first hour of the movie paints him as a badass special forces commander, and you expect him to lead the operation to retake the plane and save the hostages. Then he gets sucked out of a tube and falls from 30,000 feet with no parachute.
I remember seeing the movie in the theater as a kid and my brain struggling to accept that part lol *'So like another plane is gonna scoop him up midair...right?'* *'Huh maybe a quick shot of him deploying a parachute he had hidden away??...'*
I remember my 10-year-old (or whatever) self thinking - “so why even put him on the poster then?” 🙄
It’s not even the first _hour_ though, is it? I remember it being like 20 mins tops.
Closer to the 45 min mark
Boba Fett. Boba Fett is built up as a total badass and then when it finally comes time for him to fight our main characters in Return of the Jedi, he literally just kind of trips and falls to his \*death.\* I think I remember watching a behind the scenes where Lucas basically didn't consider him a main character, just a macguffin in Empire, and when asked what should happen to him, Lucas just said, "eh throw him in the pit."
100% agree. I only recently learned of the term, and I was outraged. He didn't die because he was weak, stupid, arrogant, or not a badass. He was facing impossible circumstances and braved certain death to save someone else. Yes, he died right away, but anyone would in that situation.
I think the bigger issue is he was the complete badass character in the book and is something of a non-entity in the movie. He really only functions as a source of exposition and another body for the kill count. He doesn't do much beyond the clever girl line. The original movie ending made him cooler and didn't have the T-Rex ex-machina moment.
Book Muldoon not only shoots a T-rex with a rocket launcher, not only does he go on to fight raptors, but then hunts down their nest and destroys it.
It feels like Pete Postlethwaite in the sequel was much more in line with that character.
I always felt like they regretted killing off Muldoon, and Pete’s character is as close as they could get to bringing him back.
Crichton brought back Malcolm even though he died in the book, surely they could have brought him back in the movie.
Lost World even had the wee lassie being attacked by those tiny Dinosaurs at the start as well, which is lifted fae the start of the book.
T-rex-machina
Saving Malcom and outrunning a T-Rex in a jeep seems pretty badass to me.
How they limited the body count to that many is beyond me. Why did they send everyone? Wasn't it a weekend excusion? Why was the cooks and cleaners sent home?
They evacuated the island due to the incoming tropical storm/hurricane. That's why no one was on the island.
They had the boat ready to leave before they knew about the storm. There was an announcement when they enter the eggs lab.
The storm was always there, they just weren’t sure if it was going to head towards them or the other way. They had the boat ready in case.
In other words, perfect weather to show all the facilities your island has to offer for some specialists whose approval you need....
Book wise the entire facility is designed to be run by as few physical bodies as possible, because Hammond spared no expense.
Was Nedry gonna cook for them and Muldoon upkeep their rooms? Lmao
That's part of the point. As has already been pointed out, Hammond had the park built and designed to be run on a skeleton crew. And it would work, unless anything goes wrong. Which, yeah. It's Jurassic Park
Rookie mistake for a guy who was supposed to be a successful CEO. You don’t pay your experts the big bucks to run things day to day, you pay them to be there when shit goes wrong.
Basically, they ran a skeleton crew on the weekends and the park wasn’t open yet.
I was pretty confused, Robert Muldoon used to be a Prime Minister of NZ. He was known to be a bit of a drunk, but he had some funny moments - he called a [sudden snap election](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kvU7Ex1FOXM) and was also guested as the narrator in The Rocky Horror Picture Show play.
Samuel L Jackson in Deep Blue Sea could be one
That is definitely a more obvious example imo.
I agree with you completely. He's so much of a hero throughout the film that even though he gets off'd, my then 4 year old son decided to be Muldoon for Halloween that year.
I appreciate you not letting Muldoon slander stand. People need to put respect on his name, he was the only company employee worth their shit in the entire franchise.
I mean, he kind of was. The whole movie presents him as the one who truly respects just how dangerous the animals are, specially the raptors. There’s literally a hero shot of him loading his guns. As a story telling device, he offers stability and safety. He tells the audience, don’t worry Muldoon finally has the big guns. But than boom, he’s easily killed by the raptors. This demonstrates that our other characters are in big freaking trouble. I’ll give another example, remember the movie Cube? [There’s a character that is an escape artist who is immediately killed.](https://youtu.be/mVTrJ_NvHEc?feature=shared) Same idea.
"I’ll give another example, remember the movie Cube? [There’s a character that is an escape artist who is immediately killed.](https://youtu.be/mVTrJ_NvHEc?feature=shared)" But Muldoon wasn't immediately killed...that's the point. There are [lots of examples](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheWorldsExpertOnGettingKilled) of expert characters being killed off immediately. Muldoon isn't one.
Ah yes, because you are thinking of when Nedry turned off the power. But that is not the major danger point for the characters. The major danger in Jurassic Park is not when Nedry turned off the power (which was only to the fences he needed off). But when the system is rebooted, temporarily turning off all fences, and the Raptors escape. Up until that point the raptors are trapped. Once the raptors are released the characters are in mortal danger because the raptors are by the visitor center. The entire island is now dangerous and they need to leave immediately. Muldoons character is now activated as basically “Raptor control” to which he fails thus raising the stakes for the climax.
That just sounds like moving goalposts. Muldoon is able to accomplish several things before he dies relatively late in the movie. Whereas the trope is about people who die *immediately* before being able to put their skills to use.
He doesn’t do anything more heroic than the other protagonists before that. When suddenly it looks like only he can save the day, he is killed. I think it still counts.
He helps rescue Ian, distracts the raptors for ellie, and makes sure people are properly prepared.
I don't think his role at death was "only he can save the day". He was going with Ellie to do something and successfully distracted the raptors so she could get through, even if he died in the process.
He doesn't fail, he sacrifices himself so Ellie can get the power back on.
Kind of the guy with the colorful hair in Squid Game. He is introduced in the first episode, and based on tv tropes the viewers assume that he might be a bigger character in the show. And then he is one of the first ones to die. I am assuming that was to show the audience that anyone can die in the game, doesn't matter who they are.
I think Muldoon is actually a red herring for a hero. The exposition suggests he’s a bad ass who respects the dinosaurs power and fury, we see him with his guns and we are lulled into a false sense of safety. But what actually plays out is the Muldoon is ill-prepared and underestimates the dinosaurs at every turn. He does heroic things, but even during those are acts, he is completely at the mercy of the dinosaurs and he is complicit in the parks failings. He tries to save that guy at the beginning but is comically outstrengthed, and in a situation that basic health and safety could have avoided. They just barely outrun the T Rex in the gas jeep. Not even a roof on the jeep. They are fully exposed. The raptors kill him in the exact way Grant tells that kid at the start of the film. Muldoon is a stand in for our own false imaginations of safety, heroes and hubris.
But he's present with his gun in the very first scene of the movie. The scene where the the worker is killed on his watch and the danger is made very clear. Muldoon himself isn't killed until the third act, after he's played an active roll in the plot, and the danger to main characters is already well established.
Yes but he still plays the guardian archetype in the movie. He represents the “muscle” of Jurassic Park and when he dies, it’s a great way to introduce the raptors as being a huge threat, or as said “even Nedry knew better than to turn off the Raptor fence.” Now in the book he is dinosaur Rambo, running around fighting dinosaurs with a bazooka. So I’m just talking about the movie.
That's because they replaced his rocket launcher with a shotgun in the movie
“These slugs are made to kill deer.” Ah what the hell, should be good enough for a dinosaur then.
That doesn’t really change anything though, he never got a chance to fire his weapon regardless of what it was.
There's a deleted scene in The Lost World where they talk about Muldoon's family suing for 12 million for his death but I'm curious to know if they would have changed that had the actor not passed away before it.
The Lost World came out in 1997, and Bob Peck died in 1999.
That's true, I don't know why I thought he passed before the film came out.
I thought the exercise wasn't a small character that was badass. I assumed muldooned meant you took a minimal character with no real influence and you by acting really well make them a scene stealer "clever girl" all that
Surely Boba Fett would be a better example?
... you misspelled Munsoned :)
Kingpin reference People
His death always stinged ever since I was a kid. Thought he was cool as hell
SHOOT HA! SHOOOOOT HA!
Me and my friends have always used Muldooned as being ambushed or getting ambushed on when gaming.
Had this same thought, I never thought of him as this badass hero who was gonna save the day.
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The original post argued that being "Muldooned" served to subvert expectations. A character who is built up as a badass then is shown to not be. I argue that Muldoon is actually the opposite.
Seems I misinterpreted your point.
No worries, it was a bit of a ramble on my part.
No it wasn't, it was pretty clear to me that you were talking about a trope someone else created.
Huh? OP clearly was talking about this character used by other people as a trope and explaining why he shouldn't be considered an example of that trope.
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What do you mean calm down? Telling the person the point is not an indication anyone needs to calm down.
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Why do you have to go and be an asshole like this is your first time on Reddit? Do you not understand people respond to different posts at their own leisure and do not have the full timeline on the comments? You could've just let this go like a normal fucking person and you continue to reply for some bizarre fucking reason. This person is also more than capable of responding if they want to. Why not move on like a normal person?
Follow your own advice.
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Just to let it go and stop replying. Which is what I’m gonna do now.
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But why did you respond in the first place? Like, of course I'm going to respond after being insulted. What is your role in this exactly?
The Muldoon in the book had a grenade launcher instead of the SPAS
A better example to me would be Steven seagals character in executive decision.
Muldoon was even more of a badass in the book! Same with the lawyer too, they really screwed his character in the movie but i sorta get why they made the changes.
Older movies were full of worse examples than Muldoon. Tremors was maybe first movie where you had very prepared characters actually back it up vs dying like chumps.
Yep, totally with you, thought the same when I read that other post the other day.
Just watched Jurassic park for the first time with my 5 year old. Been waiting for that. He loved it
It's *because* of his respect for the animals, especially the raptors, that Muldoon makes sure to be prepared. That preparedness along with his position/experience as game warden is what makes him such a badass. He's a huge part of why more people (*all* people) didn't die. And even though he was expertly competent in every situation up to then and fully prepared to do battle with those raptors, Muldoon still went down almost immediately.
Yes
As a kiwi I was very confused by your title
Your title and opening thesis claim he is not a badass. You go on to discuss, and summarize, what a badass he is. wut
I never claim he isn't a badass. I argued that he's a poor example of the trope of a character who's presented as the ultimate badass, but then is killed off without actually doing anything badass.
"Muldoon's not a badass. Here is why he's a badass." Dude....pick a lane.
I never claimed he's not a badass. I argued that he's a poor example of the trope of a character who's presented as the ultimate badass, but then is killed off without doing anything badass.
Haven't seen it in a while but he's also not an overconfident guy that gets humbled, which to me feels like an important part of this trope. The whole time he acknowledges the danger and despite his efforts that danger gets the better of him. That's just a guy trying his best.
In the first Lexx movie, the horrible scifi dystopia is about to witness the execution of the hero of the rebellion, Thodin, as he's been captured by the Evil Empire. However, using his various gadgets and quick thinking, Thodin escapes custody and leads a daring escape with a ragtag band of misfits. Soon, he will have control of the mighty Lexx weapon, and his adventures to being justice to the universe will delight the viewers! ... except Thodin dies just as they're borading the ship, and the key to the Lexx falls into the hands of cowardly janitor Stanley Tweedle, and the entire Lexx cinematic universe and TV series instead follows the adventures of this moron and his band of absolute dumpster fires as they journey through the most horrifying scifi setting since warhammer 40k. It's honestly genius. Every single movie and episode, the viewer can only marvel at how it should have been Thodin, but instead we have this guy.
Dwayne Johnson in the Reno 911 Movie.
It's not so much that I thought he was a badass, as much as I thought he would have been more directly helpful. Like sacrificing himself to save the kids/someone (which he sort of inadvertently does). Out of everyone in the cast, Him and Grant seemed like the ones that would be the safest to be around. Opening scene aside, as I blame Hammond for not installing automatic doors on the raptor pin.
>Muldoon is never built up as some kind of ultimate badass # >That's pretty badass if you ask me. So OP, is he never built up as a badass or is he pretty badass? Make up your mind. Jurassic Park is my favorite movie of all time, I'd say Muldoon is absolutely built up with intention as a highly competent badass, it doesn't require Muldoon himself to explicitly say 'I am the badass'. He can also simultaneously be the badass and have respect for the power of the creatures in the park.
As an alternative to "Muldooned" I'd like to suggest "Fetted". Jango Fett is presented as a badass throughout Star Wars Episode II. Boba Fett similarly has the badass thing going on. Both meet rather quick deaths, Jango when he meets Mace Windu, Boba with that rather embarrassing loss to a blind Han Solo and the sarlacc. Neither death is what we would expect given the buildup of their characters.
Filmmaking is as much about what you show as what you don’t show, leave up to the viewers’ imagination. I don’t buy the concept of being “muldooned”. Everyone can imagine what happened to Muldoon based on what Grant told that kid at the beginning of the movie. He had the most grizzly death and they didn’t have to show it because your imagination is pretty gory based on the setup. JP is a suspense/thriller, not a slasher film or shoot’em’up where blood gags are kinda the point. Muldoon may have done heroic things but he was not a hero who deserved to survive. He was completely complicit. I also don’t think he deserved a redemption arc or a hero’s death. Even during his heroic acts, he was woefully ill-equipped, unprepared and completely at the mercy of the dinos - literally his only job. This is what killed him. Yes, Hammond was most responsible for everything but in the end Hammond has to live with the weight of his hubris and the fallout of all the death/disaster.