One of the worst movies I've ever seen

not horrible nor great

good back-story, and good acting

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Arriving in Mexico in 1521, a group of Spanish conquistadors are captured by the Aztec natives and offered their freedom in exchange to kill a giant dinosaur plaguing their community and try to hunt it down in order to finally leave.This was a rather fun and enjoyable creature feature. Among the better factors here is the fact that it plays with history, since there's an actual amount of history attempted here. It plays enough with it to feel true to what happened while also incorporating enough of actual history, namely the inclusion of Cortez, the Spaniard conquest of Aztec-led Mexico and much more here that come from actual history give it enough to be rather new and unique. The inclusion of the dinosaur in that story is great, as it allows for a readily available amount of suspense into an action film, and the fact that it remains a part of the story for a while is what really helps this since the beginning is about the exploration of the culture, then about the dinosaur for the rest of the film with limited interruptions. That also means that the creature is perceived as a threat, and really plays up to that nicely, with many encounters with the creature to generate action and excitement. The first encounter in the jungle, the battle with it deep in the ravine and the assault in the surf on the beach are really great and full of action coupled with some fantastic encounters to further the human storyline and this one gets interesting all the time. This continuous amount of action also comes with what is the last plus here as all the encounters between the two stories leads to some great kills, and the blood and gore in here doesn't disappoint, as this one here has some really nice points to it while there wasn't a whole lot of flaws. The biggest issue here is the same one that is customary in these films, the CGI on display is just atrocious and never once looks anything close to realistic. Besides it looking incredibly phony, there are also times where it's out-of-scale to the environment and there's a sense that it is never there interacting amongst the group. The scenes of it stalking the soldiers through the jungle are fine, but by making the several scenes of it really out-of-scale, there's no way around how fake it was. That also applies to the gore, which is never realistic either and is plainly obvious as well. The other flaw in this is that there's nothing on the dinosaur's origins. It's mentioned that there was a family that had died out, leaving the ones here as the last survivors, but nothing is mentioned about how they stayed alive to begin with. Even a hokey legend about them would've worked here, which would've been fine over what's given here as nothing is definitely not appreciated. Otherwise, these here are the film's flaws.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Language and Brief Nudity.

I was prepared to hate AZTEC REX. Stupid title, stupid plot, completely unbelievable. Charitably called a B-movie, this is one of the many schlocky pictures released via the Sci-Fi Channel in America. Others have been absolutely god-awful, so why shouldn't this one be? From the beginning, things don't look good. The T-Rex is inevitably brought to life with some pretty diabolical CGI effects that make the BBC's WALKING WITH DINOSAURS look like an authentic nature documentary. The acting is wooden – there's no point trying to deny it. When the highlight is an ex-NEIGHBOURS actress wandering around in a bikini for the film's duration, you know you're in trouble. With a bunch of ex-TV actors and actresses attempting to convincingly portray Aztec warriors and Spanish Conquistadors, there's not really much hope, even from the start. The low budget and cheap look dooms this one from the outset.But – wait a second. This film has something that most B-grade flicks don't: it has a sense of humour. And hey, it's actually quite entertaining to watch, albeit in a so-bad-it's-good way. Sure, it's a cheesy combination of at least three movies: JURASSIC PARK, APOCALYPTO and KING KONG, but somehow, the combination works. Instead of making us wait an age for the monster to appear, as in the old monster flicks, this one introduces us to the T-Rex from the start as he chews a guy's leg off. That's something else: the surprisingly graphic blood 'n' guts effects. They come thick and plentiful, with actors losing limbs, intestines and spraying arterial blood across the screen. The thing about the gore is that it isn't repulsive as in something like HOSTEL. Instead, it's colourful and amusing and left me looking forward to the next poorly animated death.In the end, AZTEC REX is a success. I loved it, a lot more than many A-list Hollywood blockbusters. I was enthralled, I had a laugh, I had a really good time. And I can rest the success of this delightful movie on one man's shoulders alone: director Brian Trenchard-Smith. This man has been making B-movies for over thirty years and shows no signs of slowing down. He was responsible for TURKEY SHOOT, one of my all time favourite 'nasties', as well as the fun crime flick DAY OF THE ASSASSIN. Trenchard-Smith knows his genre inside out and I think he's a man who you can guarantee will give you a fun time. Leave your expectations at the door and give AZTEC REX a chance!

Tyrannosaurus Azteca is set during the sixteenth century where famous Spanish explorer Hernando Cortes (Ian Ziering) has landed in Mexico with six of his best men including Lieutenant Rios (Marco Sanchez), they intend to claim the land in the name of the Spanish & maybe steal some gold too if the opportunity arises. Within minutes they have their first sight of local Aztec savages, within minutes after that Cortes & his men are captured & held prisoner. If that wasn't bad enough it turns out that a couple of Tyrannosaurus Rex live there & like to eat the locals, in an effort to win their lives the Spanish offer to help the locals get rid of their monster problem but with various hidden agendas & ulterior motives it's not just the dinosaurs they have to watch out for...Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith (who, coincidently, made one of my all time favourite exploitations films Turkey Shoot (1982) which I throughly recommend to one & all) & also more commonly known under the spoof sounding title of Aztec Rex (the title was changed by the Sci-Fi Channel when they aired it maybe as the original title Tyrannosaurus Azteca sounds like it might be a foreign film) this is yet another idiotic & cheap looking Sci-Fi Channel 'Creature Feature' & that's all you need to know really. Based on & around the real Spanish Conquistador Cortes during his expedition to Mexico the film definitely doesn't strive for historic accuracy although I will admit that the story tries to do something slightly different here but ultimately Tyrannosaurus Azteca is still just a 'Creature Feature' with a bunch of people running from some poor CGI computer graphic of a monster despite it's period setting. Not too sure what else I can say, despite being set centuries ago the usual clichés are here, the character's are the usual cardboard cutouts, make stupid decisions & the selfish one, the heroic one, the backstabbing one, the faceless victim who exists just to get eaten & the pretty woman are all here & easy to spot. The film is predictable, silly, dull & doesn't really entertain on any level although it does move along at a decent pace & there's one or two half decent moments of gore if that sort of thing interests you. The story isn't that good & has plenty of holes too, this is also the sort of film that you will have completely forgotten about within a few days.Now I have seen & commented on plenty of Sci-Fi Channel 'Creature Features' & usually the CGI computer effects are terrible & while Tyrannosaurus Azteca doesn't exactly buck the trend I will admit there are a few effects shots which look alright but then they are usually ruined by an absolutely awful effects shot straight afterwards. There's a few decent gore effects here too, there's a cut out heart, a guy's leg is bitten off, there's some blood splatter, a cool shot of a guy left holding his own intestines after he has been attacked by the dinosaur, there's a few dead bodies seen & someone is stabbed with a spear. The T-Rex gets to eat a couple of people too. The production values are really cheap, the Aztec set looks like one of those theme park attractions made from Styrofoam & those Spanish men must have been imprisoned in the worst enclosure in cinematic history with the fence supposedly keeping them in lower than a mans waist, they could have simply stepped out of it & run away it was so low.With a supposed budget of about $900,000 I can't see where the money went, shot in O'ahu in Hawaii in apparently fifteen days. The acting isn't great from no-one I have ever heard of.Tyrannosaurus Azteca really isn't any better than any other cheap Sci-Fi Channel 'Creature Feature' despite an almost interesting & unusual premise, that basic statement should basically be enough for you to decide whether you will enjoy this or not (at a guess probably not).

So Cortes and a small band of Spaniards plan to steal from a tribe of half a dozen Hawaiian Aztecs who have a bad CGI T Rex and a megalomaniac shaman on hand to generate some random slaughter. There are some love triangle shenanigans going on involving the psycho shaman, one of the Spaniards, and a very freckly Hawaiian Aztec princess, the latter two of whom indulge in a swift knee-trembler at the most inopportune moment.That deals with the plot.I do not understand how a tribe so small (half the members of which have been killed by the end of the film) manages to survive.The scenery is lush and gorgeous.The CGI would have been better if even a slight attempt had been made to integrate the T Rex with the background. The blood round the T Rex's mouth alternates between red and greeny-brown.The cast are all thoroughly committed, although the shaman chews the scenery somewhat - he might as well have a sign reading "VILLAIN" hanging round his neck.The slaughter - of which there is plenty - is hilariously over the top.In short, this film is everything you might expect a movie called Tyrannosaurus Azteca (aka Aztec Rex) to be.