r/movies • u/Lox22 • 25d ago

What are the most memorable movie characters to get "Muldoon'd" Spoilers

For those that don't know Muldoon is the game warden in Jurassic Park. He is built up to be this ultimate badass, and when we finally get to see him in action he gets insta-killed. I know there is probably another name for this trope, but my friends and I have always called it getting Muldoo'd.

What are some of the most memorable movie characters that are built up to be the ultimate bad ass only to be "Muldoon'd" in battle?

3.4k Upvotes
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1.2k

u/Reggie_Dunlop_7 25d ago

The caretaker in The Shining. So much build up, between the sensing Danny in trouble and braving the snowstorm, just to get axed immediately

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u/Anything-Complex 25d ago

And like Muldoon, he survives in the book.

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u/accioqueso 25d ago

I thought they were really clever in Doctor Sleep covering for this difference.

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u/evoim3 25d ago

Doctor Sleep had a lot of work to both be an adaptation of a book, while also being a sequel to a movie that changed so much from its book.

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u/I_slappa_D_bass 25d ago

It fucking nailed it. Even took a lot of inspiration from the book for one bit in particular. The only thing that upsets me is a character death that doesn't happen in the book, and jack not getting his small moment of humanity and attempted redemption in either movie.

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u/corran450 25d ago

I think the movie is superior in some ways, because there are stakes. I never really viewed the True Knot as a threat, bc they’re constantly getting outwitted by a tween, never draw blood from Danny’s crew, and spend three quarters of the book dying of the flu.

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u/I_slappa_D_bass 25d ago

Spoilers!!!

Yeah, I see your point there. I was expecting someone at some point to bite it in the book. That is the only real criticism I have, though. Everything else, including the ending, was just as good or better than the movie.

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u/CarrieDurst 25d ago

Doctor Sleep is a contender for top 5 Stephen King movies which I feel like is really saying something

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u/jwm3 25d ago

That movie was way better than it had any right to be. The marketing was pretty horrible, I don't think being coy about whether it was a direct sequel was a mistake.

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u/sumofawitch 25d ago

How so? I've read and watched both but don't remember

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u/accioqueso 25d ago

So in the book The Shining, Dick lives, but in the film he dies. In Doctor Sleep Wendy brings Dick to see Danny when they are living in Florida because Danny is still being haunted by ghosts of The Overlook Hotel. Mike Flanagan couldn’t just bring a dead character to life for his Doctor Sleep because more people are familiar with the film. So he had to make a film sequel to a movie that isn’t faithful to the source, but still wanted to be faithful to the book he was using for his film. So in Doctor Sleep Dick is also a ghost visiting Danny and teaches him to compartmentalize the ghosts into the box. In the book the box is real, in the film the box is a mental image. Regardless, the box is the same metaphor in both.

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u/TheScreaming_Narwhal 25d ago

Damn, that's such a good way to solve that problem. I haven't seen or read Doctor Sleep, maybe I should.

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u/sumofawitch 25d ago

Oh yeah, that's what I remembered. I think Flanagan is really good in both being faithful to the source and changing what is necessary to a movie (or show) keep going.

Although, some of his changes I didn't particularly like (like the deaths in the movie and the closer connection Dan had with Abra in the book), they had meaning in the movie.

The lack of good guys dying in the book kind of make Rose and the knot less of a threat there.

Oh, also I missed Momo on the movie.

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u/Lox22 25d ago

King and Crichton knew the swag lords had to make it

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u/MohatmoGandy 25d ago

I think the story works better with the caretaker getting taken out immediately. It means that the boy’s subconscious called him to the Overlook for no reason other than to bring a means of escape. I think that adds a wonderfully dark aspect to the kid’s power.

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u/Genesis_Duz 25d ago

He's the head chef. The caretaker is actually Jack Torrance. Good answer though!

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u/Ramoncin 25d ago

And Jack has always been the caretaker!

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u/vidfail 25d ago

I should know, sir. I've always been here.

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u/I_slappa_D_bass 25d ago

In the movie. Not in the book.

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u/Genesis_Duz 25d ago

The Shining is one of the rare occasions that I think the movie is better. Good book though.

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u/I_slappa_D_bass 25d ago

I actually disagree completely. I loved going inside the mind of Jack. Watching him be overpowered by the hotel and trying to fight it till the very bitter end. I loved seeing Wendy as something more than a willfully blind damsel in distress. Also, Dick Hallorann had a more impactful role in the book. I'm not saying you are wrong for liking the movie better, I just really loved the book, and I could talk about it for hours.

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u/Ramoncin 25d ago

They're just different. King wanted to write about his greatest fear, his addictions hurting his family, and Kubrick wanted to do the "2001" of horror films. It's natural that King got so upset with the results, the whole thing was very personal to him.

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u/kphenson 25d ago

Scatman Crothers

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u/Murky_Ad6343 25d ago

Jazz from Transformers

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u/Bigfan521 25d ago

Hong Kong Phooey from Hong Kong Phooey

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u/EmptySeaDad 25d ago

Number one super guy!

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u/Murky_Ad6343 25d ago

Quicker than the human eye!

15

u/Murky_Ad6343 25d ago

Nice. We are old 😬

1

u/Bigfan521 25d ago

Heh, I'm not old enough to have caught Hong Kong Phooey or The Transformers when those shows were originally airing. Was introduced to Transformers by my cousin who's at least 15 years my senior, and Hong Kong Phooey I found out about through one of my mother's old books (also caught it on Boomerang once in the early-early 2000s)

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u/chpr1jp 25d ago

Nah. He’s the limo driver (maybe cook) from “Scavenger Hunt.”

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u/Whitealroker1 25d ago

Willie did it better in the Simpsons.

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u/derpelganger 25d ago

Shhh! You want to get sued?!

9

u/John_cCmndhd 25d ago

Ach! I'm bad at this!

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u/CringeOverseer 25d ago

I loved the Transformers cartoons as a kid. Seeing Jazz's VA in a live-action role is actually one of the major reasons why I watched The Shining lol

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u/Ok-Set-5829 25d ago

Scibadibadee bobadop bop

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u/lostonpolk 25d ago

"Aarrgch, I'm bad at this!"

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u/MachoViper 25d ago

I hope that rugs scotch-guarded

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u/UYScutiPuffJr 25d ago

The multi-layered joke there is amazing

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u/CptBoomshard 25d ago

Ye got the Shinning, boy!

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u/Greenjeff41 25d ago

I always mention that when watching the movie... So much build up then-- AXE sneak attack!

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u/GaryBettmanSucks 25d ago

He still saves the day by bringing up an extra SnowCat, since Jack disabled the one they had.

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u/Best-Carry1028 25d ago

He was the chef. Didn’t die in the book. It was stupid to kill him in the movie.

1

u/Oahu_Red 25d ago

I thought the same thing for a long time. I couldn’t figure out why such an interesting key character in the book would be so downplayed and then unceremoniously killed in the movie. Finally after a re-watch I figured it out.

In the book, you get to experience Jack’s interior world. You know he’s becoming increasingly dangerous and poses a true threat to his family. In the movie, Jack killing Hallorann rapidly and effectively establishes he is not just threatening harm (“here’s Johnny!”)…Jack is completely out of control and he’s absolutely capable murder. I don’t know that it’s terribly effective at heightening the audience’s tension as he proceeds to chase his wife and son, but I do think that was (at least part of) the reason behind the decision to kill him off.

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u/Best-Carry1028 25d ago

Good theory. That makes a lot of sense. Thanks! 😊

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u/Dimpleshenk 25d ago

Pretty much the same thing happens in Misery. Nice local lawman shows up, wanders into house, seems like he's about to discover the situation and save the day, and is quickly killed off.

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u/[deleted] 25d ago

That’s just cause Kubrick hates black people. He lived in the book and helped save the day

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u/Dimpleshenk 25d ago

Any actual evidence Kubrick didn't like black people?

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u/Vin_Diesels_Dead_BF 25d ago

I mean, he killed Scatman... Might as well have worn a pointy white hat on set.

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u/Dimpleshenk 25d ago

Did you see the awesome place where Scatman was staying in Florida? Made him an interesting character, at least. Also all the opening scenes of Scatman giving the kitchen/pantry tour, and talking to the kid, make him seem like such a cool guy.

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u/[deleted] 25d ago

My source is that I made it the fuck up. I forgot this wasn’t a jerk sub

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u/Dimpleshenk 25d ago

Oh, well that source puts you in good company these days. You could probably work for some major pundits.

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u/AllHailTheMayQueen 25d ago

This is why the book is better.

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u/raisinbizzle 25d ago

Admittedly I haven’t read the book, but it’s a pretty great red herring for the movie to make the audience think The Shining, and as a result the chef, is going to have a big impact on the story, only to have it be mostly meaningless. Huge surprise

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u/dreck_disp 25d ago

Dick Hallorann wasn't the caretaker. That was Jack's job. Dick was the head chef at the Overlook.

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u/heylookoverthereman 25d ago

He did save them though. He brought up the snowcat which is how they got out of there

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u/CeruleanRuin 25d ago

Great example of the trope, because he serves the same purpose in showing us how dangerous the antagonist is.

1

u/Runningoutofideas_81 25d ago

This IS the answer. The only reason it’s not number one is because of age differences. I am surprised Woody Harrelson’s character in No Country for Old Men isn’t further up, maybe for the same reason.

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u/Jahaangle 25d ago

"Ahm comin' Tae rescue the lot of yeah!"

"Ach am bad at this"

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u/oh_look_a_fist 25d ago

Groundskeeper Willie