I guess it's kind of hard for me to really hate this movie, mostly because it's easy to see how awful the dubbing is. They're not even trying to match up the words with the lips. That could be more of the dubber's fault and not the movie's creators. I still knew that this movie would be really cheesy. The dinosaurs don't really appear until the end of the movie and it's at this point that you can easily see how bad the effects are. I can at least appreciate the attempt at character development. It's hard to believe this was made in 1977. It looks a lot more like the 1960's.There's too much going on at the end. About the only good thing is that some of the explosions were cool. I just knew what would happen next. I knew that she would carry up an arm attached to a partly eaten body. It's easy to see how they use stock footage. This should have been shorter as you can tell they were trying to drag it out. I seriously wouldn't have been surprised if that fake dinosaur part was supposed to be the real one in the story. *1/2

"So, what about everyone else?" That's what Toei studios was probably saying upon preparing for "Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds." Godzilla and his pals/enemies were on vacation and had become too beloved, Gamera was for the kids, and you can forget about another Gappa or Dogora movie (especially the former.) When was a studio going to make a kaiju flick for a more grown-up audience? Granted, there already was one of sorts with "The Last Dinosaur", and there would be another with next year's "The Bermuda Depths", but how about something with a little "oomph factor" that others seemed to lack? You know, exploitable elements. That's what they tried to do with this movie.The story deals with an egg that hatches, and unleashes a none too friendly Plesiosaur, who has taken a liking to munching on the citizens. To make matters worse, a Rhamphorhynchus also comes into play, and as will happen in these movies, a fight's going to break out. Oh, and there's some s#!t involving a scientist and a hot girl, but I really didn't care about that.As I said, "Legend" tends to offer a few things that other kaiju films of the time didn't offer, namely gore and nudity. Granted, the female nudity is brief, and the gore is mostly of the "found a severed limb" variety, but it was more than other such movies were presenting. At best, the people behind this at least deserve kudos for that.Sadly, there isn't much else worthy of kudos. The two creatures we get are unconvincing and goofy even for the time, and one can just imagine audiences in Japan laughing their asses off at the sight of these creatures. Then there's the score from "pinky violence" regular Masao Yagi, which while catchy, is a jazzy score that really doesn't fit the proceedings. Hearing bouncy jazz/funk play while a girl is menaced by one of the least convincing dinosaurs ever put to screen is funny, no matter how you stretch it. The conclusion is also too bleak for a movie like this. I wanted the hero to come out on top here, but that doesn't happen, which just left me scratching my head.The biggest problem though, is that it really isn't that much of a kaiju film. Granted, it's not the worst one ever made that some make it out to be (I'll take this over "Gamera vs. Zigra" any day of the week), but it's still nothing much, and that's mostly because, at the end of the day, it's nothing more than a rip off of a certain shark movie Spielberg directed. No matter how you dress it up, it's a knock-off of a much better movie, and not even a very entertaining one at that.While it deserves credit for trying be a kaiju flick for adults, "Legend of Dinosaurs and Monster Birds" isn't much to get excited for. Believe me, you've seen better, and all the brief boob and butt shots in the world won't change your mind.

This one had potential, unfortunately it moves so slowly that it kind of shoots itself right in the explosive tank. The film is about mysterious killings in a lake and does follow a basic 'Jaws' formula for the first bit of the movie. They wait awhile to reveal the beast then it is finally shown, killing a couple of guys who played a very bad prank. The film follows a man who wants to get to this area near Mount Fuji where there has been mention of a petrified egg. He thinks that perhaps there is money to be made from this discovery. Strange though that they mention this discovery as no scientist actually sees this, but rather a woman who falls into a cave and then runs from the forest in a panic and falls into a coma shortly thereafter. Why this makes the news is beyond me. Still, he gets there and there start to be strange incidents happening such as a horse with its head bitten off. After a bit the dinosaur comes in, chomps a few people and then near the end the bird of the title swoops in and makes an impressive first appearance. Of course, the two duel in a very unimpressive battle that made me lower my initial score of six to five. This one had potential, they just needed to have more bloody kills and less banter. Sure they were copying "Jaws", but this film was not going to be in that film's league as far as acting and atmosphere so you have to go the bloody route. They did, but not quite enough. They even managed to show the naked rear end of a lady, so for the most part this one was quite different from most Japanese monster films of its day. Just needed more monster action. Though one thing I notice a lot of people saying about this is that the people in the film seem to say that the appearance of the dinosaurs causes the volcano to erupt, but in actuality the scientist is saying that if there was a dinosaur present than the conditions are such to release it from its slumber and one of the conditions is that there is going to be an imminent eruption of Mount Fuji. However, for the most part the film has way to many plot holes and such and suffers from not enough monster action.

This is regarded as the worst kaiju eiga ever made. I believe people always have a right to their opinions but this is vastly underrated. This film, about an obsessed paleontologist(dubbed by Robotech's Greg Snegoff) who comes back to his home town in search of a plesiosaur living in the lake. A pteranodon also makes an appearance as they duke it out at the end of the movie. There is graphic violence in this film but it's used quite effectively in quick cuts sending a jolt to the viewer. Most notably is when we catch a glimpse of a girl's bloody thrown-up arm and a headless horse. The music by Masao Yagi is of the times but is often effective and very original. It's unheard of for any monster movie to have a stylish jazzy film score. The pre-credit sequence is eerie. The cinematography is atmospheric, showing the misty forests of the lake and MT.Fuji. I admit this is a bad movie, but one that should looked closer on artistic terms. However, the movie has some obvious logic missing. Why would the reappearnce of dinosaurs cause massive earthquakes? Why would the ever so dormant MT. Fuji erupt after such a long time? How could anything hatch from a petrified egg?Also, plesiosaurs and pteranodons ARE NOT dinosaurs. The best scene in the movie is when the ptreanodon attacks some villagers. The editing is top notch and the disco-esque music that plays over it adds to the fun. The most disturbing part of the scene is when the winged reptile picks up a victim, flies high into the air and sadistically drops him. The dubbing is also very good. If you're a fan of Kaiju Eiga or b-films, pick this up.