[HorrorScience] Primitive War (2025)

When a themeis successful, copies usually appearand products related to it. In the world of cinema, if the success is thunderous, so many copies may appear that there is a need to classify them with a specific genre or subgenre.

Sometimes,A successful movie can keep an idea alive for decades,such as what happened withJaws by Steven Spielberg, which was released in 1975 and today it is almost an obligation to release a film in the summer in which a marine predator feeds on absent-minded bathers, thus feeding the enormous collection of films known asSharksploitation.

When I was a child I experienced something similar, because in the middle ofIn the 90s, dinosaurs became fashionable in practically any area., and it was his fault againSteven Spielberg, this time withjurassic park(1993). Dinosaurs dominated much of the 1990s and then took a huge step back at the turn of the millennium, but they never completely disappeared.

With the resurrection ofjurassic park(this time under the name Jurassic World)They gave the theme a boost again, and with the sequels they were keeping the flame that was lit in the 90s lit. Due to the ups and downs in quality in the saga and the fact that they have released more films now than in the 90s, much of the enthusiasm for dinosaur movies has been lost (and rightly so), but from time to time a project on the same theme appears that can provide something interesting.

Very recently I came across a trailer for a movie calledPrimitive War, a low-budget independent film, where the war theme is mixed with dinosaurs. I didn't want to spoil any surprises with the trailer and preferred to watch the movie directly.

Primitive Warbeginplacing us in the Vietnam War, where a commando of American soldiers known as “the Vultures” have been called to search for a group of Green Berets missing in the jungle. The group has no information (everything is confidential) and immediately enters the jungle to discover that there is something more in the shadows than the enemy army.

Some huge bird footprints will be the main clue that they are going to find something unexpected and shortly after, attacks by small dinosaurs begin, reducing the main group, which is divided into two. Each group will tour the island meeting the local fauna and also the Vietnamese and Soviets, who apparently are responsible for the dinosaurs walking among us again. At a given moment the “vultures” will have to make a decision: do they continue with their mission or try to save the world to prevent the creatures from proliferating freely?

Once the movie is over, I can't help but think thatThey have had good ideas and at the same time they have done many things wrong, but I don't want to be too harsh either, since we are talking about an independent film and not a big-budget film under the protection of Hollywood.

What I liked most about the movieThey are the dinosaurs themselves, there is a lot of variety and they have interesting designs and striking colors(In addition, we can see feathered raptors and a plumper-than-usual tyrannosaurus, something that seems to be more in line with current science than what was seen in Jurassic World). At first, the dinosaurs have the powerful ally of appearing at night and being illuminated exclusively by bursts of gunfire, thus making it difficult for us to appreciate them well, which would hide defects in the special effects; However, we can then see them in broad daylight and we must admit that the finish is fantastic.

The appearances of the different dinosaurs push the film in the right direction and I am happy to say thatthe final part of it is as explosive as it is enjoyable, which leaves us with a much more positive feeling than expected.

The idea of ​​introducing dinosaurs into the Vietnam War is striking to say the least, although in practice there is not much difference between seeing the military shooting dinosaurs here or seeing them do the same on any island injurassic park. Perhaps that is why they have resorted to using some songs that are historically associated with the Vietnam War (such as Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival).

And now it's time to talk about the bad, which unfortunately is very present in this film. The main flaw is that the group ofprotagonists is tremendously forgettable, they try to give personality to its members (one is religious, the other is a novice, the other hears voices, the other tries to make jokes...) and create a certain mystery around their leader (who went through a dark period before getting to where he is now), but all that effort is absolutely useless and unnecessary, since at no time does it contribute anything to the film and I would even say that it works against it, since thedrags on unnecessarily with unnecessary scenes that could have been saved.

The dialogue and acting are forgettable., and we find some actors who have experience in films and series, some of which are quite popular or were popular in their day (Ryan Wanten appeared intrue bloodand Tricia Helfer inBattleStar Galactica, Lucifer, Two and a Half MenandCSI).

Lamentablemente los protagonistas no son lo único olvidable o cliché, pues el resto de ideas de la película también tienenpoca o nula originalidad, ¿queréis un científico loco soviético? Lo tenéis. ¿Y una ayudante que lo traiciona y se une a los americanos? ¿Una ligera crítica a la guerra al mismo tiempo que los soldados disfrutan explotando cosas “al estilo americano”? Lo tenéis.

El tener tantísimos tópicos no hace que la película sea mala, pero sí que contribuye a empeorarsu mayor defecto, que es su duración,pues por algún motivo, esta película dura más de dos horas, cuando debería durar menos de una hora y media, ya que, como digo, su historia no es compleja, ni ofrece giros de guión ni nada que justifique alargar el metraje.

Primitive Waracierta notablemente en los dinosaurios, pero sufre horriblemente en su guión, sus diálogos, sus actuaciones y sobre todo su duración, que es mayor de lo que la propia película puede soportar. Pero si soy completamente sincero,esos fallos también se encuentran en las películas deJurassic World, lo cual es mucho más grave teniendo en cuenta el presupuesto del cual disponen y, de hecho, preferiría volver a verPrimitive Warantes queJurassic World Dominion.

Curiosities

• La película sucede en 1968 y la científica rusa identifica dinosaurios pequeños como Deinonychus, pero no debería saberlo, pues ese nombre se les dio en 1969.
• Luke Sparke, director de la película, es un amante del formato físico, debido a ello en el contrato de la película se incluyó su lanzamiento en DVD y Blu-ray, pudiendo así incluir extras rodados para la ocasión, como un “making of” y los comentarios del director.
• Este largometraje está basado en la novelaPrimitive War: Opiate Undertowde Ethan Pettus, quien también es coautor del guion.
• En los créditos se han usado escenas reales de la guerra de Vietnam a las cuales se les han añadido dinosaurios.