Planet of Dinosaurs is a 1977 American science fiction film produced and directed by James K. Shea from a screenplay written by Ralph Lucas, based on a story by Jim Aupperle (as James Aupperle).
The Deathbeast Productions movie stars James Whitworth, Pamela Bottaro, Harvey Shain and Charlotte Speer.
Plot:
Set in an unspecified future, the film follows the journey of Captain Lee and his crew after they crash land on a planet with similar living conditions to Earth, but millions of years behind in time.
Encountering a wide variety of dangerous dinosaurs, the crew decides that its best chance for survival lies in finding higher ground and setting up a defensive perimeter on a higher plateau for refuge to wait for when or if their rescuers arrive. They soon encounter a deadly Tyrannosaurus and must figure out a way to defeat the creature and survive on the planet.
After a mechanical failure aboard the spaceship Odyssey, Captain Lee Norsythe (Louie Lawless) is forced to crash land on a planet with an atmosphere and conditions much like that of Earth, although it is many light-years away.
As the ship sinks into the lake that it landed in, communications officer Cindy (Mary Appleseth) realises that she forgot the radio in the ship and attempts to retrieve it, with the assistance of fellow crew-member Chuck (Chuck Pennington). En route, Cindy is attacked and killed by an unidentified aquatic creature, prompting Chuck to return to shore without the radio.
Realising that they are stranded, the remaining eight people aboard the ship decide that survival is their primary goal and begin to explore the planet that they have landed on. Derna Lee (Derna Wylde) quickly loses one of the laser guns that Mike (Max Thayer) had given her, leaving the stranded individuals with one less weapon. They eventually come across a brontosaurus, which leads them to deduce that the planet is following a similar evolutionary track to Earth, but is millions of years younger.
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Later, Charlotte (Charlotte Spear) determines that the plant life, especially the berries, is poisonous. After another dinosaur encounter, Lee decides that the best option is to climb the mountains and reach a higher plateau, where he believes the large creatures will be unable to reach them…
Trailer:
Free on YouTube:
Choice dialogue:
Mike: “Yeah! We’re alive and we’re safe… and we’re shipwrecked. Two outta three ain’t bad.”
Mike: “It was a hunting call. Something out there is carnivorous. And it sounds very, very hungry.”
Captain Lee Norsythe: “We can’t risk lives trying to tame dinosaurs!”
Cast and characters:
Mary Appleseth … Cindy
Harvey Shain … Harvey Baylor
Derna Wylde … Derna Lee
Max Thayer … Mike
Chuck Pennington … Chuck
Charlotte Speer … Charlotte
Louie Lawless … Captain Lee Norsythe
Pamela Bottaro … Nyla
James Whitworth … Jim
Michael Lee … Charlotte’s Son
Technical specs:
1 hour 24 minutes
Audio: Mono
Aspect ratio: 1.85: 1
