Tuesday, March 22, 2011

News: THE LAST DINOSAUR (1977) on DVD

Yesterday I posted that the Hanna-Barbara animated series Valley of the Dinosaurs was coming to Manufacture-on-Demand DVD-R from Warner Archives. Well, I also should have mentioned that the studio is now also offering the 1977 dino-flick, The Last Dinosaur, as well.

Originally airing on prime time TV in the United States, The Last Dinosaur stars Richard Boone as millionaire big game hunter Masten Thrust(!), who leads a exploratory expedition into a prehistoric world hidden beneath the polar ice cap. There, along with other prehistoric creatures, the hunter discovers the ultimate game - a ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex!

This Japanese/American co-production was produced by animation studio Rankin/Bass and Tsuburaya Productions, the makers of Ultraman. It also stars Joan Van Ark and Steven Keats.  This new DVD-R disc from Warners Archive marks the first time the movie has been legally available on video in the U.S. and contains the original 106 minute international theatrical cut - which has never even been seen in this country before.

Needless to say, this is on my Wish List; like most 70s Star Kids, I loved dinosaurs - and dinosaur sci-fi, like Land of the Lost and this movie, which I watched on TV when it originally aired - as much as I did spaceships and aliens.

5 comments:

  1. I remember this movie. To my memory it was really good. I'll have to find this and watch it again.

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  2. Didn't it have some cheesy love boat like theme song?

    "He's the laaaaast dinosaur . . . Please don't kill him . . . oooooh, he's one of a kiiiiind!"

    Seems like that's what I recall.

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  3. Well... it WAS the Seventies, after all. Cheesy theme songs were mandatory.

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  4. Oh, and the drilling vehicle. I loved that. THe hidden land beneath the polar ice cap made me think of the Savage Land and Skartaris. Everything came back to comic books somehow in those days.

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  5. I remember this movie, and, sorry to say, was a little disappointed by it. It had some good moments and some kinda cool SFX, but with a little better quality of acting (not so overly-dramatic) & slightly better SFX, could have been great for its day. Even to me as a pre-teen, overall it felt like it was missing something.

    Now that you've pointed out it was quite a bit longer--man, they must have cut a lot out to fit in so many commercials--maybe it won't be quite as poor as that 'rough cut'--or more accurately 'butchered' version--I saw on tv.

    But I doubt if I'll get over the 'Tardis' effect of the drill machine... it seemed large enough to hold a three or four man crew on the inside, and absolutely dinky on the outside.

    Oh, one other thing (not a complaint, mind you, but an observation): didn't the T-Rex's roar sound a bit like a partial Godzilla roar on several occasions? I guess that's not a complete surprise, given its Japanese connection.

    CR

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