Customer Reviews

Primal Species [VHS]

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

When the words "Roger Corman presents" comes on the screen, you know you're in for some thing. Unfortunately, what you're in for here is a bad plot and incomprehensible writing. The movie starts off with some European terrorists (we have to be politically correct, after all) attacking a military convoy guarding a truck carrying what they think is uranium and take it to an abandoned warehouse in a harbor. What's actually inside the truck are two genetically built velociraptors and a female T-rex. Incidentally, the great method of keeping these three animals secure is to blow cold air on them - and thats it. I guess defense budget cuts took away cages.

So a team of army special forces are sent in to recover the three dinosaurs. But they aren't TOLD what they're looking for because "That's classified" - which is like saying, "OK boys, we need you to kill this guy. Nope sorry, we can't tell you who, that's classified." Of course, it's not until AFTER the carnosaurs have killed two team members that the higher-ups say, "Oh yeah, by the way, you're up against three dinosaurs." By the way, they can't KILL the carnosaurs because apparently these things were bred to help stop disease. However, at no point in the movie are ever told WHAT disease these carnosaurs can cure, or WHY the government chose dinosaurs in the first place. The sharks in "Deep Blue Sea" were forgivable because the super-IQ was an unknown side-affect, but this is just ridiculous.

After many deaths, the characters say, "Hey! Here's an idea! Let's put them on a boat AND THEN try to capture them!" instead of saying, "Wait a minute, it's not the method that's failing us, it's the whole LOGIC." As predicted, this doesn't work either, and so they must resort to using C-4, which they suddenly have. I guess the C-4 fairy paid a visit or some thing, I don't know...

Usually a film like this can get by with a bad storyline, but this had some atrocious writing in it as well. The marine Johnson is a black marine, so he gets to say stereotype things like, "Take dis mutha fugga!" When the police storm into the empty warehouse and see five small body parts scattered around a big room their sergeant says, "Looks like a plane crashed through here!" And by the way...what was with all the donkey references?! You think I'm kidding? The colonel calls Polchek a "dumbass donkey" at the beginning of the movie, then there are two more donkey remarks while they're hunting the carnosaurs, and then at the end of the movie the girl marine says, "Johnson, if you see any thing bigger than a donkey, shoot it!" Did the writers have a thing for donkeys? What is this!?

There is ONE good scene though: while the female scientist is blabbing on about the features of the three carnosaurs, Polchek and Sanders are passing notes to each other and snickering the whole time. They were taking the film about as seriously as I was.

Alright, just how many lemon sourballs did they have to give Scott Valentine to make him keep that Stallonish type sneer throughout the whole movie? In an obvious effort to shed his sitcom/family type roles, Valentine plays Rance like he just had two or three enemas and can't wait to get to the pottie. His performance is so ludicrously bad, he's enjoyable.
This third in the series was obviously tired, as they've never done the fourth. It' not grossly bad, just not as good as it could have been with a little more regard to plotting, pacing, and credibility. Janet Gunn tries to outdo Valentine in her role as the doctor determined to take the dinosaurs alive to study them and make unbelievable progress in curing diseases? Then halfway through the movie, she's a gun-toting soldier, obviously in heat with Valetnine, and she doesn't need her glasses either. Rick Dean's Polchek tries so hard for comic relief, but delivers his lines with such lethargy, you wonder what kept him propped up. Fortunately, Juliana Vail and Morgan Englund, as two marine grunts, give the picture some strength and credibility.
Roger Corman took over the helms of producer for this one, and his standard tacky touches are oh so evident.
It's a fun little movie in its own deranged way; the arm wrestling between Vail and Dean is so ridiculous, you can't help but laugh; here they are in the midst of killer dinosaurs and they want to show who's tougher, he or she.
Rent--don't buy, though.

Available in a 3 pack DVD set, these movies are fun and great if you are in for a laugh.
DVD Set Contains:
-Animated Interactive Menus, (They are really neat!)
-Theatrical Trailers for all the films and for others,
-Cast and Crew biographies
-all films digitally remastered for the first time in their original fullscreen presentation.
-Dolby Digital 2.0

They are always fun to watch. Part 2 is my favourite of the three. Definatly worth a look or maybe a purchase if its cheap.

It disappoints me that so many reviews I have read on CARNOSAUR are so bad. So these movies aren't as good as the JURASSIC PARK movies. Well you should still stop calling them bad. I enjoyed these movie a lot. So there are corny special effects and some other shortcomings, but as a whole, this set was great. These movies weren't made on a huge budget and made to be great like JURASSIC PARK. I love JURASSIC PARK, but you still need to stop hating on CARNOSAUR. SO people, my only request is that you have on open mind about these movies and at least rent one of them. And for reference, the 2nd one is the best, followed by number 1, then number 3, although a good movie, is last. 5/5

I liked carnosaur 2 & 3 and 1 was ok but the ending was incredibally awful. These movies were full of violence and gore and is really not reccommended for kids under the age of 16 or so. Although the good plot this movie was a really low budget film and had laughable dinosaurs. There were definetely some jumpy moments in this series but it ends when you see the funny dinos. If you are buying the films seperatly buy the 2nd first, 3rd second, and if you really need the first buy it last, it doesn't matter what order they are watched in.

Carnosaur 1: From chicken eggs a deranged geneticist brings dinosaurs back to life. Through a virus people start giving birth to dinosaurs.

Carnosaur 2: A crew of technicians is sent into a top secret facility to investigate a mysterious power shortage. And what they discover is horrifying. Radiation has caused dinosaur eggs to hatch and they are very hungry.

Carnosaur 3: Terrorists thought they were stealing uranium. Yeah right. What they stole was dinosaurs being sent to another research facility. Then anti terrorists are sent to round up the dinos and keep them alive without becoming extinct themselves.

Check out my other reviews under the screen name Nowakmt.

Yes, the series has been fun, but when will they stop! I think it should have stopped at number 2, but that is my opinion. Anyway, I watched this film on tv, and...well, what can I say? It is a low- budget film about dinos. Now, the dinosaurs may look fake, but they do a good jod on getting people to 'jump' out of their seats. The story is miner. Sometimes you can tell what is going on, but sometimes your saying "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?". The goofs in the film are sometimes not even noticable, but sometime...you get the picture. The series has always been gory, and this film is very gory. If you were to fight over an argument on which film is better, Jurrassic Park 3 or Carnosaur 3, I think Carnosaur 3 would win. Do to the fact the Jurrassic Park 3 is terrible and the fact that Carnosaur 3 has better acting and story. Eacj film has almost the same story, but been changed around. In the Jurrassic Park franchise, It is always the same story. Anyway, If you really like the series, buy this one as well. It is just as good as the first two.

In CARNOSAUR 3, Jonathan Winfrey resurrects the same plot mechanisms and rubbery special effects that marked the first two in the series. Unfortunately, since the plot and special effects of CARNOSAUR and CARNOSAUR 2 were laughably bad, in this third go round, nothing of note has been added, with the possible exception of two good looking females who interact romantically with their male counterparts at the drop of a hat.

There is no real connection story wise with either of the first two so the opening scene of a terrorist hijacking gone awry is only to give the carnosaurs (actually a trio of Velociraptors and a T-Rex, all of whom for some reason cooperate rather than turn on each other) their cue to go on a rampage. And on a nonstop rampage it is, much to the consternation of an anti-terrorist SWAT team who quickly find out that the carnosaurs' reptillian skin is every bit as bullet proof as their own body armor. The killing starts in a warehouse, and then inexplicably shifts to a sea freighter. The climax races toward who will kill whom first. The plot holes are big enough for well, a T-Rex to walk through. Ever since Robert Cornthwaite as the mad pacifist scientist from THE THING (1952) shouted that the military has no right to kill an alien species that plainly seeks to kill as many humans as it can, Hollywood has continued to insert such an off the top character. Here, it is Janet Gunn, the lovely blonde who exhorts the military to find a non-lethal way to subdue the creatures. I could almost see a political subtext operating with Gunn taking the leftist attitude that the military must discover what the good guys have done to warrant being chomped on by flesh eaters who deserve our understanding more than our enmity. Films like this one are not to be taken seriously. We see them. We are shocked by a few scenes of heads being ripped off. We laugh at a few incongruous romantic pairings. And then it is over. Thankfully.

What a great deal for these great movies. One veryone should add to their collection. Great openning menus on the dvds. Pretty good special features: Theatrical Trailers, Trailers to other movies and biograpies on the actors and creators of these films. Great dvds at a very good price. Buy them right now. Great movies!

They don't get worst than this. Laugable acting (if you want to call it 'acting'), no plot or suspense, and the special effects are cheezy. Stay away. Stay far, far away.

i really like this movie, though i can't say it's perfect. but i think they did a pretty good job,luckily i watched this on the SCI FI channel,and boy was it worth sitting down for 2 hours,and there is even a carnosaur 4,or "raptor" i own it. but i especially liked the rubbery plastic dinosaurs, i loved the t rex and i also loved seeing the plastic monster munching on people. all in all i gave his flick a 2 of 5 it's not perfect but it's pretty good. my advise, watch it.