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.
I remember this movie. To my memory it was really good. I'll have to find this and watch it again.
ReplyDeleteDidn't it have some cheesy love boat like theme song?
ReplyDelete"He's the laaaaast dinosaur . . . Please don't kill him . . . oooooh, he's one of a kiiiiind!"
Seems like that's what I recall.
Well... it WAS the Seventies, after all. Cheesy theme songs were mandatory.
ReplyDeleteOh, 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.
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteNow 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