A Quick Look: THE "LEGEND OF DINOSAURS" (1977 - color)

   THE "LEGEND OF DINOSAURS" is legendary in bad movie circles. Filmed in 1977, it was Japan's answer to JAWS. The plot (if it can so be described) tells the discovery of an ice cave near Mt. Fuji. There's a heatwave hitting Japan, and this has caused the cave to begin melting, which naturally exposes some viable dinosaur eggs. From one egg comes a massive, flesh-hungry water monster that takes up residence in one of the local lakes. From another egg hatches (twice, apparently) a pterodactyl. For some reason, the reviving dinosaurs cause natural disasters, including massive earthquakes and the eruption of Mt. Fuji! Nothing here makes sense, and the dialog is astoundingly bizarre. The film didn't hit the States until about a decade later, when Sandy Frank imported the film as part of Celebrity Video's Just For Kids line (which included a number of Japanese genre films, including a few of the Gamera movies and the infamous TIME OF THE APES). THE "LEGEND OF DINOSAURS" was a bit rough for the supposedly kid-friendly series, including as it does some mild gore and even a tiny nude scene. The film has recently been released on DVD under the title "The Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds" -a direct translation of the Japanese title. This presents a nice scope transfer, which helps greatly and gives the film a tad more polish. It's still literally insane, of course, but it's prettier than it was when I saw it as a kid!