Giganten der Vorzeit

I originally saw this movie when I was five years old. It was aired on a USA network creature feature. The movie fascinated me. My father taped the movie using our crappy 80's VHS player. I watched the movie throughout the next ten years until the actual tape broke from strain.

I'm not quite sure what it is exactly that makes me so incredibly addicted to this film. The soundtrack is a awesome 70's jap-pop funk. The dinosaurs, a pleasiasaur and some pterodactyl variant, are so rubber campy they're great. The acting is absolutely some of the worst acting ever committed to film, and that's including high school musicals and Congo.

I thought that i would never see this film again after my tape broke, but two years ago I found dude on the internet selling DVDs of the original Japanese print with English subtitles.

This one had potential, unfortunately it moves so slowly that it kind of shoots itself right in the explosive tank. The film is about mysterious killings in a lake and does follow a basic 'Jaws' formula for the first bit of the movie. They wait awhile to reveal the beast then it is finally shown, killing a couple of guys who played a very bad prank. The film follows a man who wants to get to this area near Mount Fuji where there has been mention of a petrified egg. He thinks that perhaps there is money to be made from this discovery. Strange though that they mention this discovery as no scientist actually sees this, but rather a woman who falls into a cave and then runs from the forest in a panic and falls into a coma shortly thereafter. Why this makes the news is beyond me. Still, he gets there and there start to be strange incidents happening such as a horse with its head bitten off. After a bit the dinosaur comes in, chomps a few people and then near the end the bird of the title swoops in and makes an impressive first appearance. Of course, the two duel in a very unimpressive battle that made me lower my initial score of six to five. This one had potential, they just needed to have more bloody kills and less banter. Sure they were copying "Jaws", but this film was not going to be in that film's league as far as acting and atmosphere so you have to go the bloody route. They did, but not quite enough. They even managed to show the naked rear end of a lady, so for the most part this one was quite different from most Japanese monster films of its day. Just needed more monster action. Though one thing I notice a lot of people saying about this is that the people in the film seem to say that the appearance of the dinosaurs causes the volcano to erupt, but in actuality the scientist is saying that if there was a dinosaur present than the conditions are such to release it from its slumber and one of the conditions is that there is going to be an imminent eruption of Mount Fuji. However, for the most part the film has way to many plot holes and such and suffers from not enough monster action.

Taking the formula established by the success of Jaws and combining it with the domestic kaiju film, Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds had a decent amount of potential but ultimately shot itself right in the explosive tank before it could fully realise that. The DNA of the film feels ripped right from Nessie, the tragically cancelled collaboration between Toho and Hammer, with climate anomalies and seismic activity reviving prehistoric reptiles to terrorise the residents around a legendarily monster-haunted lake. One of those creatures is a Plesiosaurus with the film even referring to poor Nessie at a few points during its runtime, Toei was evidently listening at the walls of Toho studios one summer day. Director Junji Kurata seems to have failed to fundamentally grasp the premise of a huge monster operating by stealth and picking off its victims individually in secret, regardless, his direction is nonetheless passable. The film doesn't allow you to bond with the characters, there's little reason to care for them beyond their base archetypes, however, the actors all turn in decent performances at least. The ill-fitting and often hilariously juxtaposed music by Masao Yagi is usually the film's talking point, combining a catchy mixture of disco, funk, and jazz. Despite a healthy dosing of gory violence and some great effects work, Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds is a really outlandish film, odd and sometimes surreal, it's at least capable of keeping your interest from beginning to end.

I saw this movie and yes, this is the kind of monster movie where the soundtrack is disco. I know, in other countries like Italy and Germany, the goofy disco soundtrack is replaced scary music of their own. While the special effects are typical Japanese kaiju stuff you see, I would have to say that these monsters could be OK if there was a bit more money put into it. It looks like Manda from ATRAGON let himself go and fights Rodan's cousin. The film is a mixture between EARTHQUAKE, JAWS, LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, THE GODFATHER and RODAN. EARTHQUAKE, because there is one. JAWS, because there are various scenes that copy it. LAND THAT TIME FORGOT, well the monsters come from a lost world. THE GODFATHER, because there was a horse with no head. RODAN, well, isn't it obvious? A pterodactyl that came out of an egg in a cave. I mean these dinosaurs look realistic, that they should be in a KING KONG-type movie. I bet this movie was a response to the Dino De Laurentiis version of KING KONG. Originally Toei wanted to make a movie, in co-production with British horror film company Amicus, to cash-in with the 1976 remake of KING KONG with a movie called KONGORILLA. With a script written by Tudor Gates, this was going to be good, but it never got made. Then, in 1979, Toei, in co-production with American film production, Punch Productions, called MORTAL. This was about a giant ape that comes out of a Mount Fuji to attack Tokyo in search of food. That never got made, unfortunately. Plesiosaur and the Rhamaphryncus, akin to the T-Rex and Triceratops in THE LAST DINOSAUR, look realistic and would good for the 1976 remake of KING KONG if Dino would put in some dinosaurs. I think this movie was made as a response to the 1976 KING KONG because this movie, THE LEGEND OF THE DINOSAURS (a.k.a. THE LEGEND OF THE DINOSAURS AND MONSTER BIRDS), along with THE LAST DINOSAUR, PEOPLE THAT TIME FORGOT, PLANET OF DINOSAURS, and WARLORDS OF ATLANTIS are saying that everything is better with dinosaurs. This is something that dinosaurs can do. Dinosaurs have potential. Would I recommend it? Yes. If you like dinosaurs, watch it. If you like Japanese monster movies, watch it. If you like disco, watch it. So give it a watch. Not rated, but due to the gore in it, it should be rated PG or PG-13. Bottom line: Good for bad movie night.

I watched this movie as a kid and I recently got a copy of it. Aside from obvious plot holes, this is an enjoyable film. I love the music in this movie and the dinosaurs are cool. It's a great film, just as long as you don't take it too seriously. I recommend it if you like Japanese films or monster films.