Dinosaurus!

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Dinosaurus!
Directed by	Irvin Shortess Yeaworth, Jr.
Produced by	Jack H. Harris
Written by	Dan E. Weisburd Jean Yeaworth
Starring	Ward Ramsey Paul Lukather Kristina Hanson Alan Roberts Gregg Martell
Music by	Ronald Stein
Cinematography	Stanley Cortez
Editing by	John A. Bushelman
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date(s)	1960
Running time	85 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile

Dinosaurus! is a 1960 science fiction film directed by Irvin Shortess Yeaworth Jr (1926-2004) and produced by Jack H. Harris. The leading role was intended for Steve McQueen, who starred The Blob two years earlier, also directed by Yeaworth Jr. But for reasons not clear, the offer was never made to McQueen.[1]

During special-effects work on this picture, the stop-motion animation crew used their brontosaurus model and miniature jungle set to film a shot for an episode of TV's The Twilight Zone(1959), called The Odyssey of Flight 33.[2]

[edit] Plot

The movie is about American men building a harbour on a Caribbean Island when they accidentally uncover two dinosaurs that have been frozen in suspended animation for millions of years. They are a Brontosaurus (correctly Apatosaurus) and a Tyrannosaurus Rex. One night, during a storm, the beasts are struck by lightning and come alive. The islanders have no idea that the dinosaurs have actually been alive and because of the storm are now roaming the island. Also woken is a caveman (played by Gregg Martell) who befriends an island boy and, along with the Brontosaurus get into a series of wacky misadventures, which lead to the death of the Brontosaurus and the caveman. Meanwhile the islanders have found refuge from the Tyrant Lizard King by hiding in the old fortress, which is protected by a ring of burning fuel. To ensure the Tyrannosaurus does not get in, the hero Bart (played by Ward Ramsey) drives out to face the beast in a mechanical digger. The two duel on the edge of an island cliff and, after a tense fight, the Tyrannosaurus is knocked into the sea, ending the island terror. The film ends with a picture of the apparently dead Tyrannosaurus on the sea bed, with 'THE END' followed by '?' superimposed.