The Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds (1977)

Don't be fooled. I know this poster and the movie’s title would lead you to believe there are a bunch of dinos and birds in this piece. In fact, there aren't any dinosaurs or monster birds in Legend of Dinosaurs and Monsters Birds if you want to get technical. What we do have are two prehistoric monsters though, a Plesiosaur and a Rhamphornycus, which aren’t true dinosaurs. But I will concede that the title is truly epic, and that I am truly a nerd.

There are quite a couple remarkable things about this movie, though, that I think make it worth viewing, starting with its crazy Japanese-Monster-Disco soundtrack. This kind of soundtrack isn’t really that unusual, if not expected, from the kaiju movies of the ‘70s. You’re running, you’re scared, there’s a monster chasing you or about to fight another crazy monster, you might as well boogie, right?



In contrast to, let’s say, a Godzilla movie, Legend of Dinosaurs and Monsters Birds is fairly gory! There’s enough lost limbs and decapitation to satisfy the Clarence Boddikers of the world, but frankly...there’s not enough monster in this monster movie. I would like to think that the director, Junji Kurata, was trying to pull of a Jaws effect by not giving away the beast too early. What’s more likely is that the “dino” model looked like crap and he didn’t want it to be so obvious. And that notion, is only mocked by the disc’s packing with a huge blurb that says “HIGHEST BUDGETED TOEI FEATURE OF ITS TIME!” Yikes. We don’t even get any “monster birds” until the last 20 or so minutes.




All in all though, Legend of Dinosaurs and Monsters Birds holds a special place in my heart as it reminds me of the days when TNT had MonsterVision and TBS showed ridiculous flicks like this on a regular basis, including many Godzilla movies. Those hours spent watching rubber suited men slap each other around really shaped my brother and me. He is still an avid Godzilla buff and I still enjoy watching men in rubber suits battle...by that I mean KAIJU BIG BATTEL!! If you’re in Philly on June 20, do yourself a favor and check it out!



Buy Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds / Rent It