Triassic Attack (2010)

RELEASED TO TV IN 2010 and directed by Colin Ferguson, "Triassic Attack" takes place at an Oregon university town where the skeletal remains of a tyrannosaurus, a pteranodon & a velociraptor come to life due to the mojo of a Native American (Raoul Max Trujillo) frustrated about the University taking over Native lands. CAST: Steven Brand plays the sheriff, Kirsty Mitchell his ex-wife, Emilia Clarke their daughter, Gabriel Womack a helpful electrician who stinks and Christopher Villiers the venal president of the college. This is basically a TV-budgeted "Jurassic Park" with better characters (generally speaking), Native mojo and taking place on the mainland rather than a tropical island. Of course, it lacks the great Tyrannosaurus and velociraptors-in-the-kitchen sequences, but it's pretty entertaining for what it is. The movie starts out thoroughly serious, but eventually adds a little humor. The opening act features a great tantrum scene involving Raoul's character, Dakota. Speaking of Dakota, the story angle of his traditional beliefs/practices NOT saving someone in the past and how it ill-affects his relationship with someone else is insightful. It's interesting to see Emilia before she shot to fame with Game of Thrones and "Terminator: Genisys" (2015), not that I'm a fan, which isn't to say I DON'T like her. She's a'right. THE FILM RUNS about 87 minutes and was shot in Bulgaria. WRITERS: Russ Friedman & Tripp Reed.GRADE: B/B- (6.5/10)

I rarely rip on the acting performances in creature features from the SyFy Channel, but Jesus H. Christ. Where the hell did they find all these people? A project like "Triassic Attack" isn't going to attract the cream of the crop, but this cast goes well below the minimum requirements. For one thing: nobody in this quiet, rural American town manages to hide their British accent. For another, the inevitable comic relief character has the comedic timing of an orphanage fire. The Native American character does seem to be pulled straight from an SNL sketch, but I think those scenes are supposed to be taken seriously. The effects are never that good in SyFy movies, but they are especially bad here. These dinosaur skeletons seemed very difficult to animate, they move in a really unnatural way. There are several scenes where we get dangerously close to "Birdemic" territory. Overall though, the most bothersome thing about this movie is that it just doesn't give the audience what it wants. All you want to see is dinosaurs eating people, and it barely has any of that. And on the rare occasions you do see it, it appears to be completely bloodless because adding CGI blood is more work. Not even good for a laugh.

Well i think this movie was great The fact that they got the mother of dragons to come down from HBO and film something for the scyfi channel blows my mind. And the progression that the sheriff went through in the film was beautiful. Truly an art-house movie. I myself felt many a tear fall from my eye as i realized the dinosaur skeletons were an allegory for corporate expansion in the United States. Truly sublime. The animation for the dinosaurs was better than most movies in theaters today. The only place i felt the movie lacked was in the score. The music clashed with the morose theme of the film. But other than that perfect.

What a FUN movie. Beautifully shot in Bulgaria. Sure it was a LOW-budget production, sure some of the actors should have other jobs at the drive-up Dairy Queen, but hey, it was still fun.The joker that played the sheriff was probably the weakest cast member. Pretty flat character that should have done a little more FREAKING OUT when danger was on the Jeep. Dontcha think. The rest of the cast was well suited for their parts. Especially the quirky and funny Gabriel Womack that was part McGyver, part stand up comedian. Loved his hair after the "wire-connection."The reincarnation of a FLYING T-Rex was fabulous!!All in all a good outing for the Sci Fi channel. We all loved it, Gabriel!!! Missoula out....