Now, I did not expect this film to be good. I already knew of its bad repution, and the fact that it is was the first film by Bert I Gorden, I was already prepared to watch a bad film. KING DINOSAUR was actually even worse than I expected! All of the Bert Gordens films that I have seen are all bad, but at least I can find one or two good things to say about them. Not here! Even the opening sequence is dull. Narrator Marvin Miller tells us that a new planet has found its way in the Earths galaxy (sic). Scientists speculate the new planet, which they name "Nova" might be habitable, so plans for a manned flight to the new planet are planned. These plans are shown to us entirely with stock footage As bad as later Gorden films are, I have always felt many of his films like THE AMAZING COLOSSAL and WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST do open well. Perhaps this is the only lesson Gorden has learned from KING DINOSAUR during his long dubious career. The crew consisting of two men and two women arrive on the new planet in a super-imposed V2. WE see no shots of the inside of the ship. The crew exists the rocket and finds the planet to be...well (surprise!) just like good old planet Earth. As the crew wanders around, stock shots of normal animals like bears, moose, geese, tigers, a normal size caiman which one of the crew wrestle with like Tarzan. The crew also adopts a friendly kinkajou (?) they come upon whom they name Joe. In one scene they encounter a poor marco photographed mole cricket which briefly menaces the crew but is quickly dispatched by bullets. They then decide to explore an island that lies in the middle of a lake. I suppose since Gorden figured that King Kong lived on an island inhabited by dinosaurs, he would place his dinosaurs on an island. Hey, the film does have "king" in the title. Upon arriving on the island the crew is menaced by an oversized iguana and a few other enlarged lizards. Before fleeing the island they set the timer off on an atom bomb. Yes! An atom bomb! As they flee the island they are chased by the giant lizards, a stock shot of a mata mata turtle, and a stock footage shot of a woolly elephant from ONE MILLION B.C. They make it shore and the bomb goes off. Someone says the planet is now safe for civilization.
Why would the crew of a rocketship sent to explore a new planet bring along a an atom bomb? Because Bert Gorden probably wanted his film to end things with a bang and atom bombs do make a big bang. How does nukeing a puny island with a few dinosaurs bring civilization? What makes them think that this is only spot on the whole planet where dinosaurs live? Would not scientists back on Earth be interested in studying this abnormal zoology? Off the island they were menaced by a giant cricket. Will future Earth rockets come to nuke the rest of the planet? Did Gorden or anyone involved in the making of this film care? Why do I even bother to ask? How did I ever find this much to say about this rotten film?
