King Dinosaur: Where all the dinosaurs look like big old lizards, because they are.
A new planet has entered the solar system. It establishes an orbit around the sun very close to Earth. Close enough that for the first time man may be able to travel to another planet. The planet is called Nova. The race is now on to see what country can get a manned space ship to the new planet. It has been established that there is plant life there.
Four scientists are picked for the flight. Zoologist Dr. Richard Gordon (Douglas Henderson), geologist Dr. Nora Pierce (Patti Gallagher), chemist Dr. Patricia Bennett (Wanda Curtis) and medical specialist Dr. Ralph Martin (William Bryant). Their mission is to study the planet to see if it can sustain life. Our kind of life. Can it be colonized? The team lands on the planet and begin their experiments. They find animal life. Enter stock footage of animals that don’t belong together. And isn’t it amazing, they look like stock footage of Earth animals.
The team explores the area and finds a lake. On the other side appears to be an island. They take samples and make notes. Now it’s time to get back to the space ship. Oops. They’re lost. They have to camp for the night. One of the men, Ralph ends up wrestling with an alligator. One of the women, Pat, goes to pieces and just screams. The wrestler is injured so two members of the expedition go back to the ship for supplies and equipment. While they are gone a giant cricket attacks. Ralph shoots it, Pat just screams. Richard and Nora return with supplies.
The next day Richard and Nora decide to take a rubber raft and check out the island. The alligator wrestler and the screamer, Ralph and Pat, stay at the make shift camp. Once Richard and Nora get to the island they investigate the area. Hearing a thunderous noise they come upon a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex. Not really. It’s an Iguana propped up on its hind legs.
Richard and Nora hightail it away from the dreaded Tyrannosaurus-Rex-Iguana. It traps them in a cave. Along comes a,… well,… an Alligatorsaurus? The Tyrannosaurus-Rex-Iguana and the Alligatorsaurus start to battle. Hanging out nearby is a… oh I don’t know a Lizardosaurus? Richard and Nora are trapped. They send up a flare letting Ralph and Pat know they are in trouble. Can Ralph and Pat get there in time? If so, what the heck are they suppose to do?
** REALLY MAGNIFICENT SPOILERS: The battle is done. The Tyrannosaurus-Rex-Iguana has won. The Alligatorsaurus has been defeated. It was a duel to the death. And now, the Lizardosaurus is ready to fight the victor. Again there is a battle. Two giants fighting for the right to claim king. But the Lizardosaurus is no match for the Tyrannosaurus-Rex-Iguana. The Tyrannosaurus-Rex-Iguana IS King Dinosaur. Now Richard and Nora can escape the cave. And lucky for them Ralph and Pat are there. And they brought the atomic bomb with them. Now that they are safe they can set off the atomic bomb and blow up the island. They set it for half an hour. Plenty of time to avoid the giant Armadillosaurus and the Wooly Mammoth, and the Wildebeastosaurus, and the thing that looks kinda like a giant turtle with barnacles on it. Plenty of time to paddle out away from the island, reach the other side, and dive into a convenient fox hole and witness the giant mushroom cloud destroying everything that was trapped anyway on the island of the King Dinosaur. Now they can reflect. Yes they did it. They brought civilization to planet Nova.**
"King Dinosaur" was released in 1955. This is one of those Bert I. Gordon specials. Silly music, weird premise, really dumb dialogue, what is referred to as special effects. It really is everything you expect in a Mr. B.I.G. movie. It was hysterical. There may be some cute little tidbits about the movie I could talk about but, why bother. The best actor was the kinkajou (or honey bear) and he was billed as a lemur. And there’s no need to talk about animal abuse of the reptile kind. It was rampant.
Movie
MST3K version