The Last Dinosaur
Encyclopedia
The Last Dinosaur is a Japanese/American tokusatsu
co-production, co-directed by Alexander Grasshoff and Shusei Kotani, billed as Tom Kotani, and co-produced by Japan's Tsuburaya Productions
, and American interests for Rankin/Bass
Productions. This B-movie
first aired in the United States as a television movie
in 1977 and shortly afterwards was released in Japan as a theatrical feature. The film stars Richard Boone
and Joan Van Ark
. The score was composed, as was most of the music for all Rankin/Bass specials and series, by Maury Laws
, while the title song, with lyrics by Jules Bass
, was sung by Nancy Wilson, and arranged and conducted by Bernard Hoffer
.
) has a multi-million dollar company, "Thrust INC.", which successfully drills for oil under the polar caps with a manned laser drill, called the "Polar Borer". When only one man returns from a Bore Expedition, Thurst calls a press conference. It appears that the borer was going through a routine check in the icecaps when it suddenly surfaced in a valley which was super-heated by a volcano. The crew, all except for geologist Chuck Wade (Steven Keats
), get out of the Polar Borer and explore the strange area. Once ashore, they end up being eaten by a giant prehistoric Tyrannosaurus Rex. Chuck is able to make it back to tell their tale and Thrust decides to go there himself to study the creature. Along with Thrust and Chuck, there will be three others: Bunta (Luther Rackley), a Maasai tracker; Dr. Kawamoto (Tetsu Nakamura); and Frankie Banks (Joan Van Ark
) a Pulitzer Prize
winning photographer selected by the Press Pool. Maston, being his sexist self, goes on about how he's never taken a woman on his journeys and that he's not going to change now. But with some clever persuasion at a dinner for the crew, Frankie manages to convince Thrust to allow her on the expedition.
Upon arriving at the isolated valley, they notice flying Pteranodon
s. Once they raft to shore, the group is almost stampeded by a "ceratopsian" (though in reality, the beast in question actually resembles the lesser-known extinct mammal Uintatherium
). After setting up camp, Maston, Chuck, Bunta, and Frankie go out looking for the dinosaur while Dr. Kawamoto remains back at the camp. The party locates the Tyrannosaurus
, and after they're chased, Thrust tries to shoot it, but his gun jams. Bunta spears it and is able to turn it away.
Afterward, the Tyrannosaurus
is fishing in a stream, and comes across the camp. It destroys the camp and kills Dr. Kawamoto by crushing him under its (overly) enormous foot. Then it attacks the Polar Borer and throws it ashore to a canyon containing a bone field. While it continues its attack on the Polar Borer, a Triceratops
unearths in the canyon and the two clash. After a fierce battle, the Tyrannosaurus is able to kill the Triceratops.
The group returns to their destroyed camp and notice Dr. Kawamoto is gone, as well as the Borer. They mistakenly assume the borer was sunk. Enraged, Thrust vows to kill the dinosaur. After a few months, the group is now living in a cave. Thrust creates a crossbow out of Dr. Kawamoto's items and uses tent pegs for arrows. They have a number of encounters with some cavemen in the area, but are able to turn them away with the crossbow. They also befriend a cavewoman (Masumi Sekiya) who has held onto Frankie's purse (she lost after the ceratopsian attack) and Thrust's scope from his broken rifle. While Hazel (the name they give the cavewoman) helps Frankie wash her hair, the T. rex returns. Frankie is able to make it to a cave, with the Tyrannosaurus trying to get in. Thrust, Bunta, and Wade are able to turn the animal with a large boulder they rope and attach to the dinosaur's tail. Thrust decides to kill the dinosaur once and for all with a catapult.
Once built, they wait for the dinosaur. Out hunting, Chuck finds the Borer and says it's still operable. However, Thrust doesn't want to leave until they kill the Tyrannosaurus. Nevertheless, Chuck and Frankie leave camp to get the Borer fixed and leave, while Thrust and Bunta remain. Once it is launched back in the water, Frankie goes back to convince the others to leave with them one last time. While tracking the dinosaur, Bunta is eaten. Frankie and Thrust use the catapault on it, but the boulder hit the dinosaur square on the head, but only knocks it over temporarily, not killing it. It then rampages and destroys their catapult.
Finally Chuck arrives and says they have to leave now or they'll be stuck there forever. Frankie pleads with Thrust to go with them and to leave the dinosaur, as it's the "last one." Thrust replies "So am I..." and so they leave without him. Now it's just Thrust (and Hazel) in this primeval world with "The Last Dinosaur."
, puppets, etc.) for the dinosaurs, this movie uses the cheaper "man in a suit" method, much like the Godzilla
movies of the 1960s and 1970s. The "ceratopsian" (Uintatherium), as well as the Triceratops were done through the "two guys in a horse-suit" technique. The scale (size) of the Tyrannosaurus also changes literally from scene to scene, in some cases it appears to be over 40–50 feet tall (when it attacks the borer) and can carry it in its mouth, when the Polar Borer is easily well over 10 feet in diameter. However, they do correctly state in the beginning of the movie that a Tyrannosaurus Rex is 20 feet high and 40 feet long.
The suit of Tyranosaurus was created by Tsuburaya Production, and was converted from Ururu of Tokusatsu
Anime
Dinosaur War Aizenborg. Also while the film featured mostly an English speaking cast a Japanese dub was created for the television release in Japan. The Japanese theatrical release as well as the Japanese laser disc used the English voice cast with Japanese subtitles.
The DVD also contains a 13-minute interview with visual effects director Kazuo Sagawa, a photo gallery (which includes storyboards, production designs, and behind-the-scenes photos), it also contains a 15-minute behind-the-scenes production reel narrated by Kazuo Sagawa, and the original Japanese release trailer. For more info on special features and description of the DVD please referrer to the link below.
In the U.S., Warner Home Video released the movie on DVD through their Warner Archive Collection as a "made to order" DVD on March 22, 2011.
Tokusatsu
is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....
co-production, co-directed by Alexander Grasshoff and Shusei Kotani, billed as Tom Kotani, and co-produced by Japan's Tsuburaya Productions
Tsuburaya Productions
is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya and was run by his family, until October 2007, when the family sold the company to advertising agency TYO Inc. The studio is best known for producing the original Ultraman TV series, as well as the Ultra...
, and American interests for Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass
Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. , also known as Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, was an American production company, known for its seasonal television specials, particularly its work in stop-motion animation. The pre-1974 library is currently owned by Classic Media,while the post-1974 library is...
Productions. This B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
first aired in the United States as a television movie
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
in 1977 and shortly afterwards was released in Japan as a theatrical feature. The film stars Richard Boone
Richard Boone
Richard Allen Boone was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns and for starring in the TV series Have Gun – Will Travel.-Early life:...
and Joan Van Ark
Joan Van Ark
Joan Van Ark is an American actress, most notable for her role as Valene Ewing, which she originated on the CBS series Dallas and continued for thirteen seasons on its spin-off, Knots Landing...
. The score was composed, as was most of the music for all Rankin/Bass specials and series, by Maury Laws
Maury Laws
Maury Laws is an American television and film composer.In his teens, Laws performed in local country, jazz and dance bands as a singer and guitarist in his home state of North Carolina...
, while the title song, with lyrics by Jules Bass
Jules Bass
Jules Bass is an American director, producer, composer, and author.- Biography :Educated at New York University, he first worked at an advertising agency in New York until the early 1960s, when he founded the film production company Videocraft International with Arthur Rankin, Jr...
, was sung by Nancy Wilson, and arranged and conducted by Bernard Hoffer
Bernard Hoffer
Bernard Hoffer is an American composer who was born in Switzerland and conductor who has created original music for a number of different films, television series, and commercials. He has also conducted several musical shows, such as the ballets A Boston Cinderella! and Ma Goose...
.
Plot
Wealthy big-game hunter Maston Thrust (Richard BooneRichard Boone
Richard Allen Boone was an American actor who starred in over 50 films and was notable for his roles in Westerns and for starring in the TV series Have Gun – Will Travel.-Early life:...
) has a multi-million dollar company, "Thrust INC.", which successfully drills for oil under the polar caps with a manned laser drill, called the "Polar Borer". When only one man returns from a Bore Expedition, Thurst calls a press conference. It appears that the borer was going through a routine check in the icecaps when it suddenly surfaced in a valley which was super-heated by a volcano. The crew, all except for geologist Chuck Wade (Steven Keats
Steven Keats
Steven Keats was an American actor who appeared in such films as Silent Rage, Death Wish, Black Sunday, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, and the TV-movie version of the Norman Mailer book The Executioner's Song starring Tommy Lee Jones.-Biography:The son of Jewish emigrants from Denmark, Keats was a...
), get out of the Polar Borer and explore the strange area. Once ashore, they end up being eaten by a giant prehistoric Tyrannosaurus Rex. Chuck is able to make it back to tell their tale and Thrust decides to go there himself to study the creature. Along with Thrust and Chuck, there will be three others: Bunta (Luther Rackley), a Maasai tracker; Dr. Kawamoto (Tetsu Nakamura); and Frankie Banks (Joan Van Ark
Joan Van Ark
Joan Van Ark is an American actress, most notable for her role as Valene Ewing, which she originated on the CBS series Dallas and continued for thirteen seasons on its spin-off, Knots Landing...
) a Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winning photographer selected by the Press Pool. Maston, being his sexist self, goes on about how he's never taken a woman on his journeys and that he's not going to change now. But with some clever persuasion at a dinner for the crew, Frankie manages to convince Thrust to allow her on the expedition.
Upon arriving at the isolated valley, they notice flying Pteranodon
Pteranodon
Pteranodon , from the Late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota, was one of the largest pterosaur genera and had a maximum wingspan of over...
s. Once they raft to shore, the group is almost stampeded by a "ceratopsian" (though in reality, the beast in question actually resembles the lesser-known extinct mammal Uintatherium
Uintatherium
Uintatherium, is an extinct genus of herbivorous mammal that lived during the Eocene epoch, which includes a single species currently recognized, U. anceps. They were similar to today's rhinoceros both in size and in shape, although they are not closely related...
). After setting up camp, Maston, Chuck, Bunta, and Frankie go out looking for the dinosaur while Dr. Kawamoto remains back at the camp. The party locates the Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
, and after they're chased, Thrust tries to shoot it, but his gun jams. Bunta spears it and is able to turn it away.
Afterward, the Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus
Tyrannosaurus meaning "tyrant," and sauros meaning "lizard") is a genus of coelurosaurian theropod dinosaur. The species Tyrannosaurus rex , commonly abbreviated to T. rex, is a fixture in popular culture. It lived throughout what is now western North America, with a much wider range than other...
is fishing in a stream, and comes across the camp. It destroys the camp and kills Dr. Kawamoto by crushing him under its (overly) enormous foot. Then it attacks the Polar Borer and throws it ashore to a canyon containing a bone field. While it continues its attack on the Polar Borer, a Triceratops
Triceratops
Triceratops is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsid dinosaur which lived during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, around 68 to 65 million years ago in what is now North America. It was one of the last dinosaur genera to appear before the great Cretaceous–Paleogene...
unearths in the canyon and the two clash. After a fierce battle, the Tyrannosaurus is able to kill the Triceratops.
The group returns to their destroyed camp and notice Dr. Kawamoto is gone, as well as the Borer. They mistakenly assume the borer was sunk. Enraged, Thrust vows to kill the dinosaur. After a few months, the group is now living in a cave. Thrust creates a crossbow out of Dr. Kawamoto's items and uses tent pegs for arrows. They have a number of encounters with some cavemen in the area, but are able to turn them away with the crossbow. They also befriend a cavewoman (Masumi Sekiya) who has held onto Frankie's purse (she lost after the ceratopsian attack) and Thrust's scope from his broken rifle. While Hazel (the name they give the cavewoman) helps Frankie wash her hair, the T. rex returns. Frankie is able to make it to a cave, with the Tyrannosaurus trying to get in. Thrust, Bunta, and Wade are able to turn the animal with a large boulder they rope and attach to the dinosaur's tail. Thrust decides to kill the dinosaur once and for all with a catapult.
Once built, they wait for the dinosaur. Out hunting, Chuck finds the Borer and says it's still operable. However, Thrust doesn't want to leave until they kill the Tyrannosaurus. Nevertheless, Chuck and Frankie leave camp to get the Borer fixed and leave, while Thrust and Bunta remain. Once it is launched back in the water, Frankie goes back to convince the others to leave with them one last time. While tracking the dinosaur, Bunta is eaten. Frankie and Thrust use the catapault on it, but the boulder hit the dinosaur square on the head, but only knocks it over temporarily, not killing it. It then rampages and destroys their catapult.
Finally Chuck arrives and says they have to leave now or they'll be stuck there forever. Frankie pleads with Thrust to go with them and to leave the dinosaur, as it's the "last one." Thrust replies "So am I..." and so they leave without him. Now it's just Thrust (and Hazel) in this primeval world with "The Last Dinosaur."
Production
Unlike other bigger budgeted movies that have used state of the art effects (i.e.: Stop MotionStop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
, puppets, etc.) for the dinosaurs, this movie uses the cheaper "man in a suit" method, much like the Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
movies of the 1960s and 1970s. The "ceratopsian" (Uintatherium), as well as the Triceratops were done through the "two guys in a horse-suit" technique. The scale (size) of the Tyrannosaurus also changes literally from scene to scene, in some cases it appears to be over 40–50 feet tall (when it attacks the borer) and can carry it in its mouth, when the Polar Borer is easily well over 10 feet in diameter. However, they do correctly state in the beginning of the movie that a Tyrannosaurus Rex is 20 feet high and 40 feet long.
The suit of Tyranosaurus was created by Tsuburaya Production, and was converted from Ururu of Tokusatsu
Tokusatsu
is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....
Anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
Dinosaur War Aizenborg. Also while the film featured mostly an English speaking cast a Japanese dub was created for the television release in Japan. The Japanese theatrical release as well as the Japanese laser disc used the English voice cast with Japanese subtitles.
Release
On May 22, 2009, Toho Video released the movie on DVD for the first time ever. The DVD contains both English and Japanese audio tracks as well as an audio commentary in Japanese obviously. This is the uncut Japanese release therefore it runs the full 106 minutes, rather than the 92 minute length of all the US release.The DVD also contains a 13-minute interview with visual effects director Kazuo Sagawa, a photo gallery (which includes storyboards, production designs, and behind-the-scenes photos), it also contains a 15-minute behind-the-scenes production reel narrated by Kazuo Sagawa, and the original Japanese release trailer. For more info on special features and description of the DVD please referrer to the link below.
In the U.S., Warner Home Video released the movie on DVD through their Warner Archive Collection as a "made to order" DVD on March 22, 2011.