Primitive War

If Apocalypse Now and Jurassic Park had a baby, you'd get Primitive War and that sentence alone is baffling enough to turn heads. A movie like this can go one of two ways: ridiculously stupid or surprisingly epic. To my surprise, it succeeds in most areas, despite a few rough edges.

The biggest strength lies in the direction. The cinematography and lighting are often stunning, creating an immersive atmosphere that fits the story perfectly. The camera work feels deliberate and engaging, pulling you into the chaos of the jungle. On top of that, the dinosaurs look fantastic. The inclusion of feathers was a great detail, and the CGI was convincing enough to make the creatures feel genuinely dangerous especially the raptors, who were easily the highlight.

The plot itself is simple, almost reminiscent of The Mist with its "experiments gone wrong" premise. I appreciated that the film didn't overcomplicate things and instead leaned into a straightforward survival story. However, the screenplay was definitely the weakest element. The dialogue often felt clunky and occasionally cringe worthy. The constant one-liners undercut the tension, and I wish the characters had approached their dire situation with a bit more seriousness.

As for pacing, the runtime felt justified and never dragged. That said, the ending went a little too far. I was already suspending disbelief for the story, but the final act with its slow-motion sequences and over-the-top carnage pushed things past the point of plausibility.

Overall, Primitive War is a ridiculously fun ride with strong direction, great cinematography, and some memorable dinosaur moments. It's not without flaws, the dialogue and ending drag it down but when the movie is firing on all cylinders, its no doubt epic.

I knew for months, since seeing the first poster for Primitive War, I would see this movie in theaters. It's a real shame the release is so limited - because I could see this appealing to a broader audience.

Vietnam War. 1960s soundtrack. Dinosaurs (and PLENTY of them). Carnage. What more do you want?

Is this an Oscar contender? Maybe not.

Is it a refreshing dinosaur & popcorn flick? Absolutely.

I'll admit, I tempered my expectations and halfway expected some extra campy SyFy movie, but ended up pleasantly surprised.

The script is absurd, the characters are underdeveloped - and there's more implausibility to go around than dry turkey on Thanksgiving, but I don't care. Because tucked away are some great one-liners, a well-bonded "Vulture" team of actors (the core cast is quite good; Aaron Glenane 👀), and some surprising little nuggets of real emotion.

I loved the handful of jump scares and suspense, the score and soundtrack, the gruesome and ruthless details of death by dinosaur, and the dinosaurs! I don't know what the budget for this was, but I can't imagine it had a "Jurassic" pocketbook, yet it looks really solid.

Overall, Primitive War is something I didn't know I wanted. I'll buy it when it's available - and can see myself watching it and appreciating it more later, I'm sure.

It's a keeper!

The dinosaur action was amazing and obviously there's some parts that could look better but that's it if you're really nit picking. If you're a fan of dinosaurs and want a mature tone for your dinosaur media than this is right up your alley, it's not a field trip in the jungle it's a fight for survival and seeing that in a serious tone with consequences was great to see on the big screen. As Luke Sparke said on InGeneral: The Jurassic Outpost Podcast, he said he loves randomness with his dinosaurs and them just being animals and you get a lot of that in this movie. From grazing, to hunting (some were on demon mode), to sleeping they captured the dinosaurs in a great way (while showing off how dangerous and deadly they are).

The Marines and their story took me by surprise with how good it was and how they got a story and honestly the struggles of war and PTSD and just mental health was captured really well and something that caught me off guard. The characters were good and did their job only some were a tad questionable but it's not that bad. The dialogue was good and I was surprised with how funny it was? I guess because it is a war movie set in Vietnam you can use colourful language and they didn't shy away from it and it really sets the tone.

The gore was INTENSE and I'm definitely not use to seeing that in a Dinosaur movie and it was a nice change showing how dangerous a dinosaur is and so much death, I honestly lost count in the first 15 mins there was so much and it was fun a fun WILD ride. For an independent film, the scale is amazing I honestly can't get over how great it was and you can just tell how much passion is in this movie, Luke Sparke is like us A HUGE dinosaur fan that achieved his dream and made his dinosaur movie, I genuinely think you should check it out if you love Dinosaurs and as a Jurassic Park/World fan we need competition and competition breeds greatness, we need more dinosaur media in general and this is the right way forward as a Dinosaur fan. So enough of me yappin and go check out Primitive War.

Words cant describe how insane this movie is. The thrill is there, the horror, the comedy and the CGI are on point!!! Could not be more pleased with this. Not to mention the sheer brilliance of the cinematography at the end and the 'keep you at the edge of your seat always' atmosphere that they created with the sets. Amazing!

You must go see this movie.

While there are some cheesy moments it still super enjoyable and for once dinosaurs have gotten the horror treatment they deserve.

Once you think that the movie cannot get any more crazy, it does, over and over again. The ending is the most "Hell Yeah" movie endings of all time.