The Dinosaur Hunter is a 2000 Canadian TV movie. It begins with a boy named Peter getting lost in the Royal Tyrell Museum and bumping into an old woman named Julie Creath, who tells him a story…
In the midst of the Great Depression, life is hard for the Creath family. So when palaeontologist Jack McCabe arrives in town promising a cash reward for dinosaur fossils, Julie and her older brother Daniel quickly take notice. But the race is heated up even further when passing shyster Hump Hinton (Christopher Plummer) upstages McCabe by offering double the reward money.
So as fossil fever hits the quiet Alberta town, Julie and Daniel are forced to balance supporting their family and trying to find that elusive specimen.
This movie provides examples of:
- Adventurer Archaeologist: McCabe has this vibe.
- Bad Boss: Hinton tends to not treat Amba that well, seeing her as a means to an end at best.
- Beware the Quiet Ones: After being told of the T. rex on his land, Mr. Creath shows that he has a shotgun and is not afraid to use it.Mr. Creath: I said. Pack up. And get out.
Hinton: And what's going to stop me, Mister Sodbuster?
Mr. Creath: Have it your way.
<blows Hinton's wooden leg in two>
Mr. Creath: Well, you're mighty lucky, Camel Man. I wasn't sure which leg was Hinton and which one was hickory. Now get off my land. Next time, you might not be so easy to hammer back together. - Big Bad: Hump Hinton
- Bungling Inventor: Julie and Daniel's father has this reputation for his attempt to construct an irrigation system for his farm. Unfortunately, a drought has left him with no viable reservoir until later in the film.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Hump Hinton is killed by the falling upper jaw of the T. rex skeleton.
- Covers Always Lie: The DVD cover makes it look like McCabe is the protagonist, when in fact much of the movie focuses on Julie and Daniel.
- Evil Cripple: The wooden-legged Hinton.
- Framing Device: An elderly Julie telling the story to Peter in the Royal Tyrell Museum.
- Get Out!: After Julie and Daniel reveal the T. rex skeleton to their father, he makes it clear he wants Hinton off his land pronto.
- Happy Rain: After a long period of drought dogs the first two-thirds of the film. Even moreso because it indirectly leads to Julie finding a T. rex skeleton.
- It Belongs in a Museum: While Hinton is eager to cash in on dinosaur fossils' monetary value, McCabe is adamant that "the bones belong to science."
- It's All My Fault: Julie blames herself for her mother's miscarriage, feeling she didn't do enough of her chores, and later blames herself for Hinton badly injuring Daniel.
- Magical Negro: Amba.
- Named After Somebody Famous: One of the Creath family's calves is named Thomas Edison ("Eddy" for short).
- Super Spit: Exhibited by Hinton's camel on Daniel.
- Terrifying Tyrannosaur: Naturally the most coveted fossil out there is Tyrannosaurus rex.
- Tragic Stillbirth: Julie and Daniel's would-be little brother.
- The Vicar: The Reverend Smythe, who at first takes issue with the fossil hunt as the idea of the Earth being millions of years old goes against the Good Book. After a bit of convincing from McCabe that these views aren't so incompatible, the fossil bug winds up biting him as well…
