70 million years ago dinosaurs disappeared from the surface of the Earth. In the year 2000, they came back. For millions of years the dinosaurs remained hidden in a secret cavern below the Earth’s surface. Hidden from view, they continued to evolve. They gained superior intelligence and superpowers and apparently learned how to speak English. Guided by their ruler, Emperor Tyranis (voice Mike Reynolds); the dinosaurs go on a rampage destroying humans.
The “Gemini Command” is a defense squad that monitors the Earth and ensures its safety. The Center is run by biologist and physicist, Dr. John Carmody (voice Joe Perry). Carmody is in charge of a four-member squad. They are android brother and sister team, Captain Jim Starbuck (voice Dan Woren) and Lt. Gem Starbuck (voice Robin Levenson), Lt, Jerry Fordam (voice Joe Perry), and science officer, Lt Wally Singer (voice Cam Clarke).
The dinosaur leader, Tyranis, has the ability to hypnotize other animals and command them. He can turn ordinary pet dogs into raging red monsters that attack their owners as well as commanding other creatures such as giant bats, rats, and other dinosaurs to attack humans. He lives inside the Earth and telepathically issues orders to his minions. From his realm deep under the Earth’s surface he wages a war against humanity. The Gemini Command has their hands full trying to defeat the horrible menace and his underlings.
“Attack of the Super Monsters” was released in 1982 and was directed by Tom Wyner and Toru Sotoyama. It is a Japanese science fiction film that was compiled from four episodes of the television series “Dinosaur War Izenborg” AKA “Kyōryū Daisensō Aizenbōgu”. The series was produced by Tsuburaya Productions.
There were three television series by Tsuburaya Productions that featured humans combating dinosaurs. They were known as the Tsuburaya Dinosaur Trilogy. The four episodes used for the film are part of the second installment of the trilogy. The other two series were “Dinosaur Expedition Born Free” and “Dinosaur Corps Koseidon”. The three television series aired on TV Tokyo from 1976 to 1978.
The film is narrated by Tom Wyner. All of the characters in the English dubbed version of the movie are voiced by only a few people.
The underlying hook of the series is the Gemini transfer. To achieve the transfer the twins combine and integrate their spiritual, mental and physical cells that create one super entity. The effect can only be used for three and a half minutes. If they do not disengage after that time it could result in their death. What this means is not really clear, despite the fact that it is referred to and engaged in every episode.
Many of the dinosaurs in the movie look more like friends of Godzilla rather than actual dinosaurs. The main villain of the film is Lord Tyranis. The dinosaur suit was reused from the 1977 film “The Last Dinosaur”.
The movie features every low budget trick in the book. The film is comprised of stop motion action, miniatures, as well as puppets, guys in suits, live action (tokusatsu), and animation. The movie would mostly appeal to children and adults that had been fans of the series when they were kids.