King Dinosaur

Starring:William Bryant, Wanda Curtis (II), Douglas Henderson, Patti Gallagher, Marvin Miller
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Studio: Retro Media
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

GREAT FUN
Excellent quality DVD, but man, the movies are lame
King Dinosaur and The Jungle DVD
"King Dinosaur (1955) & The Jungle (1952) ... Sci-Fi of the '50s ... VCI Home Video"

50s Sci-Fi Double Feature: The Jungle/King Dinosaur
Starring: William Bryant , Wanda Curtis (II) , Douglas Henderson , Patti Gallagher , and Marvin Miller
Director: Bert I. Gordon , and William A. Berke
Manufacturer: Vci Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000IOM1E6
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Description

From Lippert Pictures two Sci-Fi adventures! King Dinosaur: Ten million miles away, astronauts discover another "earth" inhabited by huge animals, reptiles, dinosaurs, and a giant antisocial iguana. Bert I. Gordon special effects, too! From the original 35mm widescreen negative. The Jungle: A Princess, her advisor, and an American hunter trek deep into the jungles of India seeking the source of elephant raids on native villages. They soon discover that prehistoric wooly mammoths are running rogue over the natives! Filmed on location in India. From the original 35mm negative. First time on DVD. Bonus Features: Scene selection| Original theatrical trailers| Bios| Scenes censored from the British release| Sample pages from the original script, with director's notes| Marie Windsor Remembers "The Jungle" as told to Tom Weaver| Trivia| Photo Gallery: Theatre Lobby Cards| Behind the Scene Shots. Specs: DVD9; Dolby Digital; 132 minutes; B&W / Sepiatone; 1.85:1 / 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1955, 1952; SRP - $14.99.

Customer Reviews:

GREAT FUN.......2007-06-27

THESE MOVIES WHERE HOKIE AND GREAT FUN TO WATCH. FOR A TRIP BACK TO MY TEEN HOOD IT WAS GREAT..

Excellent quality DVD, but man, the movies are lame.......2007-05-04

This is the first double feature DVD I have bought from VCI Entertainment. I don't know if they have others, but if they do, I will check them out as the quality of this one is excellent. Both of these old movies are in pristine condition here, with crystal picture clarity, good contrast levels, no speckling whatsoever, and fine sound. "King Dinosaur" is in anamorphic wide screen, and "The Jungle" is full-screen, in sepia-tint that lends an old-fashioned look. There are a few extras I haven't bothered with. In general, VCI gets 5 stars for presentation and the care with which they have released these movies. I never expected to find either of these films in such nice condition, so it's a very pleasant surprise. By the way, the package gives "King Dino" a running time of 59 minutes, but it played a full 63, so hasn't been cut as far as I can see.

Now the bad news...

Both these movies are clunkers. "King Dinosaur" follows four scientists as they explore a wandering planet, Nova, which has entered our solar system. The first eleven minutes are stock footage. Then the expedition gets to Nova, which looks a lot like California, but with more animals. The women scream a lot while the men shoot everything in sight. Some scientists! In the end they decide guns are inadequate and haul out the heavier weapons. The effects, which are mainly recycled from 1940's "One Million BC," consist of enlarged iguanas, gila monsters, armadillos and so forth. "King Dinosaur" has neither kings nor dinosaurs. It does, however, have an abundance od corny dialogue and incomprehensible activity, which make it worthwhile for "so bad it's good" aficianados.

"The Jungle" has Cesar Romero, an exotic locale (rural India), song and dance numbers, plenty of wildlife... and a lot of walking through the jungle. Then there's more. And more. It is, needless to say, a bit slow. It's redeemed somewhat by the unusual setting, but for the monsters in a monster movie to be outweighed ten-to-one by singin' and dancin', well, that's a problem. There are, in fact, monsters, of a very unusual type too, but they show up in the last 5 minutes of the movie and probably occupy about 60 seconds of screen time. This is quickly followed by a climax that makes no sense and it's over. Shades of "Monster From Green Hell" or "Two Lost Worlds," this is a monster movie that really isn't.

So there you go. If you're a 1950s monster-movie completist, like me, you might want these films. "The Jungle," especially, has been out of circulation for a while. But if you're looking for hokey fun, you might be better off with "Missile to the Moon" or even "Teenagers From Outer Space."

King Dinosaur and The Jungle DVD.......2007-01-14

This is a very nice Double Feature 50's Sci-Fi DVD,and for a good price too.The picture quality is good and there are enough bonus features to make fans of these movies very happy.This DVD is a great addition to my 50's Sci-Fi collection.I'd love to see more like these.If you like movies like this I think you will really enjoy this DVD.I know I did.

"King Dinosaur (1955) & The Jungle (1952) ... Sci-Fi of the '50s ... VCI Home Video".......2006-11-08

VCI Entertainment and Kit Parker Films presents "50s Sci-Fi Double Feature: King Dinosaur (1955) & "The Jungle" (1952) (Dolby digitally remastered)...featuring top performances by actors of the '40s and '50s with outstanding drama and screenplays...from almost forgotten and little known films that will leave you wanting more...so pop some popcorn, sit back and enjoy the movie.

First up we have Lippert Pictures "KING DINOSAUR" (1955) (63 min/B&W) --- Under Bert I. Gordon (Director / Producer), Al Zimbalist (Producer), Tom Gries (Screenwriter), Gordon Avil (Cinematographer), Mischa Terr (Composer (Music Score), John A. Bushelman (Editor), Jack Cornall (Editor), Howard A. Anderson (Special Effects) ------ the cast includes William Bryant (Dr. Ralph Martin), Wanda Curtis (Dr. Patricia Bennett), Douglas Henderson (Dr. Richard Gordon), Patti Gallagher (Nora Pierce), Marvin Miller (Narrator (voice) . . . . . . this film in some circles is considered a cult classic for collectors ... our story opens with an unknown planet that has joined our solar system "Planet Nova" ... it's up to our top scientists to explore and discover if there is life on the planet, if there is what kind and is it friendly ...our four cast members land on this planet and run into various obstacles ... can we start a colony or will there be nothing but death and ruin, don't leave the theater you're about to discover this exciting answer yourself.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Scenes censored from British Release
2. Theater Lobby cards & Behind the Scenes Shots
3. Sample Pages from The Original Script with Director Notes
4. Advertising Gallery on King Dinosaur

TRAILERS:
1. King Dinosaur (1955) - William Bryant and Marvin Miller
2. Death Monster - (not available)
3. Bride and the Beast (1958) -Charlotte Austin and Lance Fuller

BIOS:
1. Bill Bryant
Date of birth: 31 January 1924 - Detroit, Michigan
Date of death: 26 June 2001 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
2. Marvin Miller (aka: Marvin Mueller) (Narrator)
Date of birth: 18 July 1913 - St. Louis, Missouri
Date of death: 8 February 1985 - Los Angeles, California
3. Bert I. Gordon (aka: Bert Ira Gordon) (Director)
Date of birth: 24 September 1922 - Kenosha, Wisconsin
Date of death: Still Living

Second on the double bill is Lippert Pictures - "THE JUNGLE" (1952) (74 mins/Sepiatone) --- Under William A. Berke (Director / Producer), Orville H. Hampton (Screenwriter), Carroll Young (Screenwriter), Clyde de Vinna (Cinematographer), Daksnamurti (Composer (Music Score), G. Ramanathan (Composer (Music Score), L. Balu (Editor), A.J. Dominic (Art Director), P.B. Krishnan (Art Director) ------ the cast includes Rod Cameron (Steve Bentley), Marie Windsor (Princess Mari), Cesar Romero (Rama Singh), Ruby Mayer (The Aunt (as Sulochana), M.N. Nambiar (Mahaji), David (Prime Minister (as David Abraham), Chitra Devi (Dancer), Ramakrishna (Young Boy) . . . . . . our story has our hero Rod Cameron as the great white hunter, who has escaped a previous encounter with giant mammoth elephants ... Marie Windsor the Indian Princess and Cesar Romero as the Rama Singh don't believe Cameron's story ... Romero's brother was killed on Cameron's first safari and believes he had something to do with it ... much Indian wildlife and scenic landscape with a twist and surprising ending ... ........there's a great deal of entertainment here for all the film fans out there...all courtesy of VCI Entertainment, who in my humble opinion is the best there is in restoring early serials and features like this one.

BIOS:
1. Rod Cameron (aka: Nathan Roderick Cox)
Date of birth: 7 December 1910 - Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Date of death: 21 December 1983 - Gainesville, Georgia
2. Cesar Romero (aka: Cesar Julio Romero Jr.)
Date of birth: 15 February 1907 - New York, New York
Date of death: 1 January 1994 - Santa Monica, California
3. Marie Windsor (aka: Emily Marie Bertelsen)
Date of birth: 11 December 1919 - Marysvale, Utah
Date of death: 10 December 2000 - Beverly Hills, California
4. William Berke (Director)
Date of birth: 3 October 1903 - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Date of death: 15 February 1958 - Los Angeles, California

SPECIAL FEATURES:
1. Marie Windsor remembers "The Jungle" as told to Tom Weaver
2. Theater Lobby Cards & behind the scenes shots
3. Advertising Gallery
4. Trivia

TRAILERS:
1. The Jungle (1952) - Rod Cameron, Cesar Romero and Marie Windsor
2. Jungle Bride (1933) - Anita Page & Charles Starrett
3. Macumba Love (1960) - Walter Reed, Ziva Rodann, William Wellman Jr and June Wilkinson.
4. White Gorilla (1945) - Ray Corrigan and Lorraine Miller

Great job by VCI Entertainment for releasing the "King Dinosaur (1955) & The Jungle (1952), digital transfere with a clean, clear and crisp print...looking forward to more of the same from the '40s and '50s vintage...order your copy now from Amazon or VCI Entertainment, stay tuned once again with a top notch films from the Forgotten Age of Hollywood that only VCI Entertainment (King of the Serials) can deliver...just the way we like 'em!

Total Time: 132 mins on DVD ~ VCI KPF563 ~ (10/31/2006)

Average customer rating:

Atrocious and hilarious at the same time
Don't Touch it with a Ten Foot Pole
Lippert and Bert I. Gordon? Oh, the pain, the pain.
Fine DVD package for no-budget SF travelogue
You could do worse

King Dinosaur
Starring: William Bryant , Wanda Curtis (II) , Douglas Henderson , Patti Gallagher , and Marvin Miller
Director: Bert I. Gordon
Manufacturer: Retro Media
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Sci-Fi | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Dinosaurs | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $7.49 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( K ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

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ASIN: B0000687F8
Release Date: 2002-06-25

Customer Reviews:

Atrocious and hilarious at the same time.......2006-08-16

This is a "fun to watch because its so bad" movie. And make no mistake, it's bad. A new planet is discovered and named Nova. We send, instead of astronauts, 4 scientists, to explore the planet which looks remarkably like Earth. We have 2 female and 2 male scientists for easy pairing up. These 4 are so adventurous that after only a few days, one of the women says, "Let's just finish up so we can get out of this awful place"! That's the spirit. Our intrepid explorers run into a lemur, an alligator, a bee the size of a house and eventually King Dinosaur. King Dinosaur doesn't make an appearance until almost the end of the film and then it's quite obviously an iguana. To complete their mission of stupidity, the 4 scientists set off an atomic bomb and actually state, "we did it, we brought civilization to planet Nova." Ohhhkaayy.

There is no point to this movie as well as no plot, no acting or direction being done and nothing you could call a real special effect. But, if you like bad sci-fi like I do, this one's a keeper.

Don't Touch it with a Ten Foot Pole.......2004-11-04

I give it 1 star because that's the lowest rating available.

I don't have the DVD, I have a video. The box shows a T Rex on the front so I knew it was going to be a good one! WRONG! As pointed out by another reviewer, the cruelest trick of all cheap dinosaur movies is played upon the viewer: There's no dinosaur! Only an overgrown lizzard.

I like cheap dinosaur movies, and I like watching them with my nephew. Even HE felt ripped off by the "dinosaur."

Lippert and Bert I. Gordon? Oh, the pain, the pain........2004-06-28

King Dinosaur was distributed by Lippert Pictures, and you know what that means: tons of stock footage, plenty of walking scenes, and a final product that goes down hard. It gets worse, though. King Dinosaur is also Bert I. Gordon's (yes, that Bert I. Gordon) very first movie; Gordon directed, co-produced, and co-wrote the script. Now before I go any further, let's get one thing straight; I don't want anyone to be under the delusion that there is actually anything resembling a dinosaur in this film. King Dinosaur turns out to be - tada! - a stupid iguana, one of many normal creatures shot on film (or ripped off from stock footage of creatures in the wild) and - through the magic of Bert I. Gordon's matte-projecting technique - turned into fuzzy gigantic "monsters." One of the lead characters says the would-be "King Dinosaur" looks just like a T-Rex, but, folks, this fellow is lying through his teeth. It looks like a stupid iguana because that is what it is.

As unimpressive as the special effects are, the dialogue and very idea of this movie are even worse. We start out with about ten minutes of stock footage, during which time we find out some scientist using the most powerful telescope in the world discovered a new planet and named it Nova (since the planet appears in the night sky as large if not larger than the moon, this discovery fails to impress me) - and, ladies and gentlemen, the planet is covered in vegetation. Scientists rush to develop a rocket that can send a manned mission to Nova, and unfortunately that rocket does not blow up on the launch pad and save us all a lot of time and misery. Now, you might think the good old US of A would send astronauts on this first manned mission to space, but you would be wrong - no, four lame scientists (two men and two women), make up the crew. Despite the lack of anybody remotely resembling an astronaut on board, they manage to land on Nova and begin their mission. Almost immediately, they break up into pairs of smoochers, go out and get themselves lost, and begin to encounter strange animals. Like all scientists confronted with life forms no one has ever encountered before, they try to kill everything unusual they meet up with. They go out of their way to shoot at every one of Gordon's horribly fake gigantic insects and reptiles, even when the creatures are just minding their own business and posing no threat to them whatsoever. The kicker comes at the very end, though. One of the couples investigates a mysterious island while the other couple (the man who fought a rubber crocodile and his constantly-screaming companion) stays behind to flirt and talk about how icky the place is. Finally, our "dinosaur" shows up, and things get ugly. It is safe to say that animals WERE harmed in the making of this movie, as the sadistic B movie moguls stage a number of actual fights between "gigantic" reptiles.

After little more than an hour, this mercifully short film ends - but not before our disgraceful scientist "heroes" manage to bring civilization to Nova - forcing every viewer with a heart and half an ounce of scientific curiosity to bow our heads in shame. You'll find plenty of stuff to make fun of and laugh at in this film, and I'm giving it three stars on that basis. Technically, though, King Dinosaur is mind bogglingly awful in every way possible.

Fine DVD package for no-budget SF travelogue.......2002-07-26

King Dinosaur is a dirt-cheap, mildly entertaining collaboration between 1950s giant monster auteur Bert I. Gordon (Amazing Colossal Man, Attack of the Puppet People, Beginning of the End), producer Al Zimbalist (Robot Monster, Cat Women of the Moon, Monster from Green Hell), and screenwriter Tom Gries (Donovan's Brain, Science Fiction Theater). Incredible as it may sound, King Dinosaur, Gordon's first directorial effort, manages to make his The Cyclops or any of Zimbalist's other flicks look expensive by comparison. You know you're in zero-budget territory when the movie opens with 12 (count `em) solid minutes of stock footage, accompanied by narrator Marvin (Robby the Robot) Miller. (The movie's only 63 minutes long!) Fans of the `knobs and dials' school of poverty-stricken SF will thrill to the seemingly endless scenes of jet engines, rockets, starfields, observatories, and lotsa scientific and military types pushing buttons and flipping switches (reminiscent of one of those old B&W 16mm high school physics films). These opening scenes detail the discovery of a new planet, Nova, and subsequent rocket flight there by Drs. Gordon (Bill Bryant), Bennett (Wanda Curtis), Martin (Douglas Henderson), and Pierce (Patti Gallagher). Finally, 18 minutes in, we get some sync sound as they disembark on the new world. Unsurprisingly, Nova looks amazingly like Earth and the air is breathable. Good thing they don't need those space suits (left over from Abbott & Costello Go to Mars?), especially since there are only two of them! Bryant and Gallagher wander off and get lost in an episode of Marlin Perkins' Wild Kingdom; Henderson and Curtis are liplocked almost immediately, but their fun is soon interrupted by a rubber alligator (which he wrestles while she screams hysterically) and a giant bug (which he shoots while she screams hysterically). Later, after a nighttime encounter with a huge (real) snake (Henderson apparently gamely let the thing crawl on top of him!), Bryant and Gallagher journey by raft to an island where they're menaced by gigantic rear-projected/matted alligators, gila monster, armadillo, miscellaneous reptiles, and a mastodon/mammoth that looks like stock footage from One Million B.C., and are eventually trapped in a cave (Bronson Canyon) by an enlarged iguana. Bryant becomes obsessed with photographing the creature ("It looks just like the king dinosaur Tyrannosaurus Rex! No one will ever believe us!") and grimaces a lot; Gallagher wigs out (a hilarious scene). They send up a rescue flare; Henderson and Curtis rush to the island, and then do absolutely nothing. As the reptiles fight, the humans manage to escape, and then set off a time-delayed nuclear bomb that they just happened to have along! The closing dialogue is priceless, instantly redeeming the preceding 60 minutes of slow death. While Z-movie diehards will find mild- to moderate-level amusement here, mainstream moviegoers beware: nothing resembling an actual dinosaur ever appears in King Dinosaur. I think my wife summed it up nicely: "This movie is nothing but lizards fighting and people walking around in the woods!"
For this beloved bad-film classic, Retromedia delivers the best DVD package I've seen from them yet. The feature, transferred from a 35mm print that is a bit contrasty at times, looks pretty fabulous for a cheapie of this era. The black level, brightness, contrast, shadow/highlight detail, and sharpness are uniformly very good to excellent, rivaling some of the better Image/Wade Williams discs. Physical damage is limited to some very light speckling and spotting throughout, a rare damaged frame or splice, and a jump or two. It's highly unlikely that anyone will ever find or release a nicer print. Unfortunately, I did notice some minor pixelation/artifacting at times, particularly toward the end of the picture. The trailer (also from 35mm) looks merely very good with OK sharpness and detail, but a little flat and washed-out, and suffering from moderate speckling, blemishing, and lining. Six chapter stops, simple yet effective animated menus, and a rather slim but nicely done gallery of eight B&W photos are the only other extras, but this is still a very pleasing DVD release nonetheless.

You could do worse.......2000-07-01

I had enough warm feelings about this movie from when I first saw it in 1955 that I picked up the video right away when it was released a few years ago. I still liked it enough to watch it several times then, though I haven't had the chance to view it since. To some extent, this movie falls into the "so bad it's good category". A new planet drifts into our solar system, and in a burst of creativity is named "Nova". So a space ship with two guys and two hot-babe scientists is sent to investigate. After some initial exploration they discover that Nova bears a striking resemblace to stock footage from "One Million B.C." This is all handled with likeable characters in an easy-going manner, helping to make it more enjoyable that it might seem from a rundown of the plot. {Also, I find one of the women scientists particularly easy on the eyes! And she is portrayed as a competent scientist to boot.) It goes almost without saying that there is no attempt to have any animal in the movie that looks like a real dinosaur. But all things considered this is one of the better movies that uses the "One Million B.C." footage.

Average customer rating:

"King Dinosaur (1955) & The Jungle (1952) ... Sci-Fi of the '50s ... VCI Home Video"
Flawed King Dinosaur

King Dinosaur / The Bride & the Beast
Starring: William Bryant , Wanda Curtis (II) , Douglas Henderson , Patti Gallagher , and Marvin Miller
Director: Bert I. Gordon , and Adrian Weiss
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Horror | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Classic Sci-Fi | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

Dinosaurs | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( K ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

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ASIN: B0000CG8GY
Release Date: 2003-11-11

Customer Reviews:

"King Dinosaur (1955) & The Jungle (1952) ... Sci-Fi of the '50s ... VCI Home Video".......2006-11-08

Flawed King Dinosaur.......2004-04-03

I cant really recommend this set due to the flawed master copy of King Dinosaur.
Starting at the 19:10 minute mark the image on screen breaks up into pixelised horizontal lines a total of 60 times through the movie at 16 different places. I've contacted the supplier and they've replied with:
It is not a faulty disc. This is, unfortunately, a built in condition of the only master available for this film from it's legal owner Weiss Global Ent. and the same problem exists, I believe, in the official vhs release of a few years back.

This is a real shame because the movie itself is hilarious.
I guess the best thing to do is to wait until (hopefully) Rhino releases it as part of a future MST3K volume !

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