Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (1977)

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Credits for Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds


Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds
The Japanese poster for Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds
Alternate titles
Flagicon United States.png The "Legend of Dinosaurs" (TV 1987)
See alternate titles
Directed by Junji Kurata
Producer Keiichi Hashimoto
Written by Masaru Igami, Isao Matsumoto,
Ichiro Otsu
Music by Masao Yagi
Distributor Toei Company, Ltd.
Running time 92 minutes
(1 hour, 32 minutes)
Aspect ratio 2.35:1JP
1.33:1US TV
Rate this film!
1.89
(9 votes)

Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (恐竜・怪鳥の伝説,   Kyōryū Kaichō no Densetsu) is a 1977 Japanese tokusatsu kaiju film produced by Toei. It was released to Japanese theaters on April 29, 1977.

Plot

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Please help by editing this section.

To be added.

Staff

Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.

  • Directed by   Junji Kurata
  • Written by   Masaru Igami, Isao Matsumoto, Ichiro Otsu
  • Produced by   Keiichi Hashimoto
  • Music by   Masao Yagi
  • Cinematography by   Sakuji Shiomi
  • Edited by   Isamu Ichida
  • Production design by   Yoshimitsu Amamori
  • Special effects by   Fuminori Ohashi

Cast

Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.

  • Tsunehiko Watase   as   Setsu Serizawa
  • Shotaro Hayashi   as   Akira Taniki
  • Nobiko Sawa   as   Akiko Osano
  • Satoko Kyoshima   as   Junko Sonoda
  • Fuyukichi Maki   as   Masahira Muku
  • Kinshi Nakamura   as   Hideyuki Sakai
  • Hiroshi Nawa   as   Masahiko Miyawaki
  • So Takizawa   as   Jiro Shimamoto
  • Yusuke Tsukasa   as   Susume Hirano
  • Go Nawata   as   Hiroshi Sugiyama
  • Yukari Miyazen   as   Hiroko Takami
  • Masahiro Arikawa   as   Seitaro Shintaku
  • Tamikashi Karazawa   as   Uemura
  • Sachio Miyashiro   as   Kobayashi

Appearances

Monsters

Production

Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds was shot on location at Mount Fuji. Principal photography began on October 12, 1976.[1]

Gallery

Main article: Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds/Gallery.

Alternate titles

  • The "Legend of Dinosaurs" (United States)
  • The Monsters of Prehistory (Les Monstres de la préhistoire; France)
  • Earthquake 10° (Terremoto 10°; Italy)
  • God of the Sea (Denizlerin tanrisi; Turkey)
  • Giants of Prehistoric Times (Giganten der Vorzeit; West Germany)
  • Legend of the Dinosaur (Легенда о динозавре; Soviet Union)
  • The Monster Birds Against the Island of the Dinosaurs (Los pajaros monstruo contra la isla de los dinosauros; Mexico)

Foreign releases

U.S. release

Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds was dubbed into English for international export by Tokyo-based Frontier Enterprises.[1] Television producer and distributor Sandy Frank acquired U.S. television and home video rights to the film from Toei. In 1987, Frank sold the film, now titled The "Legend of Dinosaurs", in a television syndication package through King Features Entertainment with other Japanese productions he'd licensed; Celebrity Home Entertainment released the film to VHS the same year. Strangely, the cover art featured photos of two Futabasaurus props from the otherwise unrelated 1978-1979 series Dinosaur Corps Koseidon. On May 28, 1989, The "Legend of Dinosaurs" was featured as the final episode of the movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 during its original broadcast on the Minneapolis-area station KTMA.[2]

A 2007 DVD release by Tokyo Shock included both the film's English dub and the original Japanese audio with English subtitles.

Soviet Union release

Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds was released theatrically in the USSR in 1979, with a Russian-language dub commissioned by the studio Mosfilm and a shortened 80 minute runtime. The first Japanese monster movie to be released in the Soviet Union, it recorded 48,700,000 admissions, the 17th-most for a foreign film at the time, and became something of a cult film.[3] According to Gregory Pflugfelder, "For many Russian viewers, this was a rare glimpse into everyday life in a capitalist economy. People were not taking note of the dinosaurs and monster birds—it was the Polaroid cameras!"[4]

Videos

Trailers

Japanese teaser trailer
Japanese trailer
International trailer
King Features Entertainment TV spots
Celebrity Home Entertainment video promo
West German trailer

Video releases

Tokyo Shock DVD (December 18, 2007)

  • Region: 1
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio: Japanese, English (2.0 Mono)
  • Subtitles: English
  • Special features: Still gallery, two trailers for the movie, four trailers for other Tokyo Shock movies
  • Notes: Out of print.

Discotek Media Blu-ray (November 29, 2022)[5]

  • Region: A
  • Discs: 1
  • Audio:: Japanese, English
  • Subtitles: English
  • Special features: Trailers

Trivia

  • Despite the film's title, neither of the titular creatures are actually dinosaurs or ancient birds, though both are animals that lived alongside them; Plesiosaurus is a marine reptile genus, while Rhamphorhynchus is a pterosaur genus.
    • Other dinosaurs, including an Archaeopteryx, were present in the early planning stages for the production before being replaced by the aforementioned creatures.[6]
  • Italian movie posters for the film featured a gigantic Tyrannosaurus towering over a skyscraper in place of the film's Plesiosaurus.
    • Additionally, Italian magazine advertisements for the film oddly included the giant octopus from It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955) to the proceedings.
  • Stock footage of both the Plesiosaurus and the Rhamphorhynchus were briefly used in the final few episodes of the 1985-1986 series MegaBeast Investigator Juspion as members of the villainous Megabeast Empire.[7][8]
  • The 2021 film Zillafoot makes a brief mention of the (otherwise unseen) Disco-Plesiosaur, a humorous homage to the main creature and the soundtrack of Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds. The Disco-Plesiosaur is described as a lake monster who lives near Mt. Fuji and can summon forth "funky beats" (i.e., music) to force humans into dancing before its presence.

References

This is a list of references for Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds. These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Shoemaker, Greg; Tom Rogers; Jon Inoue; Barry Schlacter (1979). The Japanese Fantasy Film Journal #12. pp. 7, 28. External link in |title= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Episode guide: K21- The 'Legend of Dinosaurs' « Satellite News
  3. Kudryavtsev, Sergey (4 July 2006). "Зарубежные фильмы в советском кинопрокате". LiveJournal.
  4. Columbia's Gregory Pflugfelder on Godzilla's Global History
  5. "Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds Blu-ray". Right Stuf. 29 August 2022.
  6. "恐竜・怪鳥の伝説". ja.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  7. http://blog.livedoor.jp/redking41_94/archives/52026657.html
  8. https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%81%90%E7%AB%9C%E3%83%BB%E6%80%AA%E9%B3%A5%E3%81%AE%E4%BC%9D%E8%AA%AC#%E3%81%9D%E3%81%AE%E4%BB%96

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