'Jurassic Park's Best Death Was Foreshadowed In The First 10 Minutes

Jurassic Park (1993) is a beloved sci-fi creature feature for multiple reasons, but just like Steven Spielberg's other amazing films, there's always something new to find with every rewatch. This is especially true with Jurassic Park.

In a word, the film has always felt intricate in how it executed its many twists and turns. This went double for the park's game warden, Muldoon. A character who always seemed to think he understood the raptors, his death was the biggest shock of the film. But it was also a moment foreshadowed in the opening minutes of the film by none other than Dr. Alan Grant.

Muldoon's Death Was Common Knowledge To Paleontologists

We all know the iconic "clever girl" line Muldoon utters before a velociraptor pounces on him and eats him. But the way it happens is easy to get caught up in and miss. Muldoon knew he and Dr. Sattler were being hunted, and he made himself bait so she could get away.

As Muldoon thought he was hunting one, he slowly prepared himself and readied his shotgun. The moment he had the raptor in his sights, another came up to him from the side, and as he said his famous line, he was eaten. The scariest part of the scene was that the raptor he was hunting was still watching him as he died.

While the scene itself is surprising, the best part is realizing, often after the first viewing, that when Dr. Grant was scaring the little boy by explaining raptor hunting patterns, he foreshadowed Muldoon's death. Grant specialized in raptors, and he understood them better than anything else. Knowing their hunting patterns is amazing, but Muldoon not saying it is even more about his character.

'Jurassic Park's Muldoon Never Understood The Raptors

Muldoon was no stranger to two things: being a warden and the nature of animals. He was a skilled hunter and warden in Kenya before joining Jurassic Park, and he saw someone get killed by raptors the night they were brought to their pen.

Muldoon understood the ferocity and intelligence of raptors as a hunter would. He analyzed them the same way they analyzed him. But as he cared for them and saw the danger they possessed, he never actually understood them. For Muldoon, they were another dangerous carnivore that needed to be watched.

It's unlikely that Muldoon ever studied raptors and instead focused on his experience to dictate his present. As a result, he probably never anticipated their hunting patterns to be so advanced, even though he saw how they tried to escape their pen numerous times.

Muldoon was a man who thought his past could easily overpower the raptors in his present, and he couldn't have been more wrong. He wasn't cocky or disrespectful, but he was so confident in his skills that he never opened himself up to the thought that these raptors were smarter, and that's what got him killed.

Muldoon's Death Is Exactly Why 'Jurassic Park' Is Still Worth Watching

Muldoon dying the way he did and the fact that it was foreshadowed so early on serve as perfect examples of why Jurassic Park is still great to watch over 30 years later. The movie has many layers, just like the book, and is engaging and fun for all ages. More than that, hidden details continuously hide in plain sight.

These details can be small, like seeing Dr. Malcolm fall into the bathroom hut as the T-Rex breaks through, or as big as the DNA code shining on the raptors from the ceiling as they hunt Grant and the others.

Jurassic Park is a film that thrives on its detail, and the revelations that make the film feel fresh with every viewing. With the added context of later sequels, it continues to add more moments like Muldoon's death because we now know that raptors can form bonds with humans, and Muldoon never saw them as anything more than carnivores.

It's hard to look at Muldoon the same way again, knowing how easily he fell into the raptors' trap, but it also adds to just how smart Grant was, perfectly calling out how these creatures hunted millions of years ago. It's these things that continue to make Jurassic Park a must-watch film.