PLANET OF DINOSAURS

The crew of a spaceship, due to a malfunction of the vehicle, is forced to make an emergency landing on a mysterious unknown planet. The planet, apparently deserted, offers life conditions very similar to those on Earth, but soon the astronauts will make an unpleasant discovery: the planet is still in the phase of evolution and is entirely populated by fierce and voracious dinosaurs. Having no hope of rescue and after losing some members of the crew, the few survivors will take the only possible decision: fight for survival against the enormous reptiles and try, as much as possible, to adapt to the new world. Is it possible that only Steven Spielberg, with his famous "Jurassic Park", has succeeded in bringing the voracious reptiles of the Jurassic to the screen in a dignified manner? Apparently, the answer is yes and "Planet of Dinosaurs" ("Planet of Dinosaurs"), in part, is a clear demonstration of this. But by opening the discussion in this way, one might expect the worst for this small film directed by James K. Shea ! In reality, it is an innocuous, at times even silly, B-movie made with four coins without any pretension other than to entertain the viewer. Its nature as a B-movie is immediately apparent starting from the elementary and very thin plot that recalls, in a rather brazen manner, the themes treated, although then analyzed with various nuances, in the numerous science fiction B-movies made mostly in the 1950s and 1960s. The most homage (or plundered?) film is undoubtedly the one that, ten years earlier, had arrived on the screens under the direction of F. Schaffner and which saw Charlton Heston prisoner on a planet populated by extremely evolved monkeys; I am talking about "The Planet of the Apes" that inspires the film both in the title (clever commercial maneuver to capture as many viewers as possible by exploiting the success of Schaffner's film), both in the settings, both in the basic plot (especially the first minutes). But in "Planet of Dinosaurs" everything is analyzed with too much lightness, a lightness that does not push the viewer to watch the film with the right seriousness and that makes banal even the most engaging and science fiction passages. The protagonists of the work also contribute to increasing the dose of silliness of the film since they are not very functional either on paper (they do not enjoy any depth) or in person, since the actors, among whom James Whitworth stands out who will take a place in the cast of Craven's film "The Hills Have Eyes 2" in the role of Jupiter, move as best they can on the scene. As for the rendering of the dinosaurs, a few words must be said about it. The huge reptiles are made with a rather primitive stop-motion even for its year of origin, 1978 (just think that the year before we had films like "Star Wars" which, although having an incomparable budget, boasted much superior visual effects). But even if the technique used may seem very primitive and dated, it is impossible not to feel a certain charm, especially if you are nostalgic for stop-motion, for effects as rough as enchanting as these. In short, "Planet of Dinosaurs" is a really cheap little film, very elementary and weak but nevertheless genuine and fluid. The rough special effects alone are worth watching the film. Not recommended for younger viewers.