Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds
Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds
| 12 October 1977 (USA)
Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds Trailers

A Japanese geologist discovers that dinosaurs still exist in caves beneath the surface of a volcanic lake.

Reviews
Matcollis

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

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AniInterview

Sorry, this movie sucks

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Titreenp

SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

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Breakinger

A Brilliant Conflict

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Eric Stevenson

I guess it's kind of hard for me to really hate this movie, mostly because it's easy to see how awful the dubbing is. They're not even trying to match up the words with the lips. That could be more of the dubber's fault and not the movie's creators. I still knew that this movie would be really cheesy. The dinosaurs don't really appear until the end of the movie and it's at this point that you can easily see how bad the effects are. I can at least appreciate the attempt at character development. It's hard to believe this was made in 1977. It looks a lot more like the 1960's.There's too much going on at the end. About the only good thing is that some of the explosions were cool. I just knew what would happen next. I knew that she would carry up an arm attached to a partly eaten body. It's easy to see how they use stock footage. This should have been shorter as you can tell they were trying to drag it out. I seriously wouldn't have been surprised if that fake dinosaur part was supposed to be the real one in the story. *1/2

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Aaron1375

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.

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smittie-1

We've all heard that(paraphrased)line in a movie, right? When cattle/teenagers/homeless people start disappearing, and dammit, we need answers, who comes to our rescue? Yes, the lovably eccentric wise Native American/discredited scientist/otherwise dubious "expert", with a tailor made "legend" or "fable" or even, if the writers were ballsy, a "report" concerning just the matter at hand. But what does our brave hero do? Well, actually, most of the time he goes along with it. But the AUTHORITIES now, they don't believe that ballyhoo, do they? No. They will pay. Or, in this movie, hippies will pay. With blood. With buckets and buckets of blood.Consider this movie's "legend"... well, there isn't one, really. But there is this undisputed scientific fact: "If there's a pleisiosaur, there must be a pterodactyl!" There, the voice of reason. And if it's a 1970s Japanese sci-fi, hippies must die. Godzilla vs the Smog Monster. That movie about Nostradamus. And that one with the meteor... Japanese SF of the '70s was a veritable smörgåsbord of reactionary nihilism.Boy, do hippies die in this one. If I remember correctly, after two hippies play a prank on some other hippies having a little festival, the diving suited clods get dragged under by Nessie. Unless the pterodactyl got 'em. It was a long time ago. But I remember dead hippies, a dead horse, and an apocalyptic climax that almost perfectly complements the end of The Land That Time Forgot.Watch it as a double bill with The Last Dinosaur... in which feminists AND chauvinists get their comeuppance!

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sogoishi

This is regarded as the worst kaiju eiga ever made. I believe people always have a right to their opinions but this is vastly underrated. This film, about an obsessed paleontologist(dubbed by Robotech's Greg Snegoff) who comes back to his home town in search of a plesiosaur living in the lake. A pteranodon also makes an appearance as they duke it out at the end of the movie. There is graphic violence in this film but it's used quite effectively in quick cuts sending a jolt to the viewer. Most notably is when we catch a glimpse of a girl's bloody thrown-up arm and a headless horse. The music by Masao Yagi is of the times but is often effective and very original. It's unheard of for any monster movie to have a stylish jazzy film score. The pre-credit sequence is eerie. The cinematography is atmospheric, showing the misty forests of the lake and MT.Fuji. I admit this is a bad movie, but one that should looked closer on artistic terms. However, the movie has some obvious logic missing. Why would the reappearnce of dinosaurs cause massive earthquakes? Why would the ever so dormant MT. Fuji erupt after such a long time? How could anything hatch from a petrified egg?Also, plesiosaurs and pteranodons ARE NOT dinosaurs. The best scene in the movie is when the ptreanodon attacks some villagers. The editing is top notch and the disco-esque music that plays over it adds to the fun. The most disturbing part of the scene is when the winged reptile picks up a victim, flies high into the air and sadistically drops him. The dubbing is also very good. If you're a fan of Kaiju Eiga or b-films, pick this up.

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