Jurassic World: Every Big Game Hunter In Every Park

Sunday, February 7, 2021

The Jurassic franchise is known for scientists and kids facing dinosaurs, but each chapter of the saga also has a memorable big game hunter character.

The Jurassic Park franchise has had a big game hunter in every movie as well as Netflix's animated spinoff; here's every such character who failed to keep the dinosaurs in line. The Jurassic film franchise spans the original Jurassic Park trilogy directed by Steven Spielberg and Joe Johnston as well as the Jurassic World trilogy directed by Colin Trevorrow and J.A. Bayona. Trevorrow's Jurassic World: Dominion is scheduled to premiere in June 2022 while Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous is keeping the franchise strong on Netflix in the meantime.

Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park novel ignited the franchise, and it was the author who recognized that John Hammond's dinosaur theme park would need a game warden to oversee the prehistoric cloned animals. Crichton created Robert Muldoon, the original Jurassic Park's game warden, who survived the dinosaur outbreak in the novel. Muldoon became the prototype for similar characters who appeared throughout all of the Jurassic movies and the TV series; in fact, like the dinosaurs themselves, every similar big game hunter who followed is essentially a clone of Muldoon. Most of the Jurassic franchise's big game hunter characters spoke with European accents like Muldoon and they more-or-less physically resemble him, including emulating his fashion sense of beige khakis, safari hats, sunglasses, and the latest in jungle gear.

Another distinguishing feature of Jurassic Park/World's succession of big game hunter characters is how tremendously bad they all turn out to be at herding and combating the dinosaurs. Indeed, scientists like Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill), administrators like Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), and even kids like Eric Kirby (Trevor Morgan) and the six teens of Camp Cretaceous have fared far better at surviving dinosaur rampages than the highly paid, swaggering professional hunters who come equipped with weapons and tactical jungle experience.

Ultimately, Jurassic Park's big game hunters fall into the same mold and most of them end up as a meal for prehistoric predators. Yet, the Jurassic franchise's big game hunters are essential and memorable parts of the saga - especially how they end up being eaten - and the Jurassic movies and TV series wouldn't be the same without them.

Robert Muldoon - Jurassic Park (1993)

Robert Muldoon (Bob Peck) was the first and, arguably, the best Jurassic big game hunter. Muldoon was formerly the game warden of John Hammond's (Richard Attenborough) Kenya park before he transferred to Isla Nublar to oversee Jurassic Park's dinosaurs. Muldoon was also one of the first characters seen in Jurassic Park and he was clear-eyed about the serious threat the Velociraptors posed, although his warnings went unheeded by his eccentric billionaire employer.

Muldoon survived the Jurassic Park novel but he memorably died in Spielberg's film when he accompanied Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) into the jungle as they searched for Ray Arnold (Samuel L. Jackson). Muldoon instantly understood that they were being hunted by the Velociraptors and he stayed behind to draw them out as Dr. Sattler made it to safety. Muldoon also had one of the most memorable lines of dialogue in Jurassic Park when he said "Clever girl!" right before the raptors made a meal out of him.

Roland Tembo - The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)

The Lost World: Jurassic Park's big game hunter was Roland Tembo (Pete Postlethwaite), who made his reputation in Mombasa, Kenya. Regarded as the best of the best in his field, Tembo was hired by InGen CEO (and John Hammond's nephew) Peter Ludlow (Arliss Howard) to lead the expedition into Isla Sorna AKA Site B, which was overrun by dinosaurs.

Tembo's primary interest in Jurassic Park 2 was hunting a T-Rex, but he had a change of heart after all of the carnage that occurred in The Lost World and the death of his friend, Ajay Sidhu (Harvey Jason). Disheartened, Tembo turned down Ludlow's offer to oversee Jurassic Park San Diego and he left; Tembo surviving The Lost World was a reversal of Muldoon dying in Jurassic Park, and the big game hunter turned out to be more complex and moral than he initially appeared to be.

Udesky, Cooper, And Nash - Jurassic Park III (2001)

Jurassic Park III introduced a trio of big game hunter-types, none of whom were worth the fees Amanda (Tea Leoni) and Paul Kirby (William H. Macy) paid them to lead an expedition into Isla Sorna to rescue their lost teenage son, Eric. Udesky (Michael Jeter) was the mercenary "booking agent" who brought along Cooper (John Diehl) and M.B. Nash (Bruce A. Young).

Despite the weapons and gear they brought along, Nash and Cooper were eaten by the Jurassic Park 3 dino, the Spinosaurus, soon after they landed their plane in Isla Sorna. Udesky lasted a little longer, but he was surrounded and killed by a pack of Velociraptors. Later, the survivors led by Dr. Alan Grant ran across a mound of Spinosaurus dung that contained the remains of Nash and Cooper, a sly wink at what value their high-priced "expertise" turned out to be against the dinosaurs.

Vic Hoskins - Jurassic World (2015)

Portrayed by Vincent D'Onofrio, Vic Hoskins was a memorable villain in Jurassic World and he was a foil for the film's hero, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt). Hoskins headed up InGen's Security Division and he initiated advanced security measures in the interest of weaponizing super predators like the Velociraptors and the hybrid dinosaur the Indominus Rex, beyond being the stars of a dinosaur zoo.

When the Jurassic World dinosaur outbreak occurred, Hoskins and his men went to Hammond's Creation Lab and began gathering up DNA samples. Hoskins was then killed by Delta, one of the Velociraptors Grady worked with, who mauled him to death. However, Hoskins embodied the idea of the dinosaurs being weaponized and before died, Hoskins even mused his mistaken belief that the Indoraptor would be great for military applications.

Ken Wheatley - Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018)

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom's Ken Wheatley (Ted Levine) was perhaps the most outright villainous of the Jurassic big game hunters, and he also met the most comical death. Another high-priced mercenary, Wheatley led the rescue operation of the dinosaurs ahead of the volcanic eruption of Mt. Sibo, but he was under orders to gather the dinos up and bring them back to Lockwood Manor for a black market dinosaur auction.

Wheatley had a sadistic hobby of plucking a tooth from every dinosaur he killed for his personal collection, but this ended up leading to his gory demise against the Indoraptor after the auction. Wheatley's attempt to get an Indoraptor tooth hilariously backfired when the hybrid beast tricked Wheatley by playing dead and then mauled the helpless big game hunter.

Hap - Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous (2021)

Hap (Angus Sampson) appeared in Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous season 2, and he was the guide Mitch (Bradley Whitford) and Tiff (Stephanie Beatriz) hired to lead them into Isla Nublar after the dinosaurs overran Jurassic World. In a clever twist, the outwardly intimidating Hap was actually a good guy and he was trying to protect the teenage Campers from Mitch and Tiff, who posed as eco-tourists but were actually big game hunters looking to make trophies of the dinosaurs.

Hap turned on his married employers and helped the kids, and he sacrificed his life to distract a pack of Baryonyx so the teens could escape. Mitch and Tiff also met horrible ends in Camp Cretaceous: he was eaten by the T-Rex and the Baryonyx made a meal out of Tiff aboard her boat as she tried to escape Jurassic World.

Source: https://screenrant.com/