Julian R. White I mean yeah, that's probably the first time I've ever seen one of the monster movies I've watched get a rating less than 2.0. But you know, I can't entirely say that it's undeserved. Let me ask you, since when did the Tyrannosaurus Rex walk on 4 legs? It didn't. 2 or 3 lizards were used in the filming of this movie, an Iguana, a young alligator, and what appears to be a young Tegu. I really don't think its cool that they actually had these lizards injuring each other for the film. But seriously, someone is legit holding the Iguana up from behind the bushes and making it look as if its on two legs. It was an awesome concept for a movie but heck, I would have enjoyed it even more if it were TOY dinosaurs, much less completely unrelated reptiles. Bleh, I don't think I care to see it again.

drystyx This is a story of four likable astronauts who land on a very Earthlike planet with giant lizards.The astronauts are neatly paired as two men and two women.Fortunately, we don't have any psychotic bad guys in the group. It becomes a survival quest in a strange land.However, Gordon never really seems to make up his mind about what direction to go. That's the weakness of the movie.We get such a standard fare of actions, and shots of giant lizards, that we wonder if there is a direction. There is none.On th good side, the characters aren't one dimensional. They are basically likable, some braver than others, some more foolish than others, but basically likable.The weakness here is that what should have been a good original dram, stage play type, of survival Robinson Crusoe style, becomes hyped with ridiculous footage of giant lizards, and of an atomic blast.We get the feeling that the movie was made around these images. Someone wanted to show a giant lizard and an atomic bomb, so the rest of the movie was made around it. We get a feeling that the action scenes were shot first, and then the rest of the movie made later. This is the mistake of letting a storyboard artist write a script.The movie should have gone in either direction. Either the complete monster movie, or the survival drama. Obviously, the survival drama would have worked better. A Swiss Family Robinson in space, so to speak. We wouldn't even need all of the "monster" footage. Most of it could just as easy been dramatized without showing the monsters.

shugaron316 This has to be one of the worst of the "B' movies. Idiotic plot,cheesy special effects,wooden acting. So many plot holes in this one:first,how does a planet just manage to enter our system without colliding with everything in its path(and with nobody noticing),and then conveniently park itself next to Earth? Next,if this new planet is so close to us,why does it take the rocket 4 months to get there? Why are all the animals so familiar? Then those gosh-awful "dinosaurs"! Blow up shots of an iguana,a caiman and a gila monster,"fighting" each other(tho I am curious if those were real fights,and if the caiman and gila were really killed,in which case it's cruelty to animals) Finally,how could they have possibly paddled a leaky rubber life raft far enough to escape being caught in the bomb's explosion? I remember this turkey being double billed with Monster From Green Hell,another clunker of the B variety,on Saturday morning TV.

barcrab Initiated into film with 1954's Serpent Island, which I would love to see, Bert I. Gordon got his chance to direct with King Dinosaur, whose being influenced by King Kong is indicated in in the title and the monster battles.The mini-epic, filmed in Bronson Caverns etc. on a mini budget, starred Bill Bryant, who had minor roles in some other films like CHISUM and appeared on TV in westerns as well. He plays one of four intrepid scientists who venture to newly discovered Planet Nova, which has just entered the solar system. Well, actually this occurs after a barrage of about 15 min of stock footage accompanied by Marvin Miller filling us in with about every piece of useless information we might need.Anyway, they eventually get to Nova and discover an island and some monsters, walking and talking a lot along the way.That's the main weakness of the script and film in general; an all-encompassing lack of genuine intrigue. However, it's kind of fun for sci-fi fans and devotees of Gordon's to see his slightly amateurish first feature, even if it means sitting through a lot of stale scenarios to get to those full-blooded reptile brawls.