The Complete Cinematic History of Allosaurus (Part 2 of 2)

Have a look at Part One of my spotlight on Allosaurus in film if you haven’t already. If you have, let’s now look at the second era, which brought the carnivore out of the 20^th century and into modern Hollywood.

 

Comeback Era (1990’s-present)

 

Allosaurus was absent from the 80’s, and even moving into the Dinosaur Renaissance of the early 90’s, it was still left out. T. rex was just bigger, scarier, and more well-known. Though Rex continued to hog the spotlight, and continues to do so to this day, Allosaurus would finally get a real chance to shine in the 21^st century. For Tri-Star’s Godzilla (1998), the King of the Monsters was radically re-designed, and no longer carried with it a strong sense of being a tyrannosaur mixed with a stegosaur. This new version, which was supposed to be a mutated iguana, had a stance more in-line with modern views of theropod dinosaurs, and I may be mis-remembering since I read it many years ago, but I believe a reference is made to the creature resembling or possibly even being descended from Allosaurus in the movie novelization. Connected or not, Tri-Star’s Godzilla sucked, and Allo’s one actual appearance in the 90’s was in the sixth Land Before Time movie, The Land Before Time VI: The Secret of Saurus Rock (1998). There’s not much to distinguish this brute from the other large sharp-teeth in the series other than a narrower skull and lighter-brown scales (it incorrectly has two fingers).

Finally, in the BBC TV-movie remake The Lost World (2001) we got what I think is the best representation of Allosaurus in a film so far. Previous adaptations had featured an Allo because it was the main threat in the novel, but T. rex was often included as well despite being absent from the source material. Not this time: the only big predatory dinosaur to appear is Allosaurus, and the modern effects allow it to far outshine any previous iterations. This was right around the time the BBC docu-drama Walking With Dinosaurs opened people’s eyes to what Allosaurus really looked like and what it was capable of. While it’s not the exact same design, the Lost World Allo looks very similar to the one from Walking With Dinosaurs, and the same effects company created them. A pair of them attacking a village is the scene where they stand out the most, and a uniquely violent moment occurs when one is stabbed through the head with a spear and continues attacking with the spear still in its skull! Not only does this movie feature the best Allosaurus, it’s also one of the best of the many adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel.

I wish I was done talking about crappy examples of cinematic allosaurs and could end this thing talking about the best example, but that is sadly not the reality. Allosaurus makes a cameo in Anonymous Rex (2004)—this stupid movie keeps coming up! There’s nothing worth saying about it other than just stating yes, it has Allosaurus in it. But, as bad as that cameo appearance is, at least it’s less screen time than the worst role Allosaurus has ever had, in the sci-fi/action/adventure/horror/thriller A Sound of Thunder (2005). This movie is awful. People from the future take a hunting trip back in time to the Jurassic period and shoot a big, hungry Allo. The dinosaur looks like a shiny plastic toy that’s been animated with cgi from a pre-Jurassic Park era, but there’s a reason for this crappiness. Apparently, the film didn’t get the full budget needed to be finished properly, so the visual effects were never actually finalized, which is why the Allosaurus (and all other creatures) look like unfinished, un-rendered pre-visual-effects: they are unfinished.

In spite of having more terrible roles than good ones in this era, Allosaurus made a recovery, and could stand toe-to-toe with T. rex now. It’s worth noting that A Sound of Thunder was based on the short story of the same name by Ray Bradbury, and the source material actually featured a Tyrannosaurus rex, which means the writers or producers or whoever was responsible actively chose to feature the Allo over the Rex. For Land of the Lost (2009), both big meat-eaters got to share the screen. They weren’t fighting, trying to kill each other, which was surprising (and maybe a little disappointing, it would’ve made for a better scene), and the Allo gets a spectacular death: becoming frozen and exploding. Again, not a great movie, but at least the cgi was good and it held its own against the Tyrant Lizard King.

After wanting to see one in the Jurassic Park franchise for almost two decades, I finally got my wish when Allosaurus appeared in the first trailer for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018). However…it wasn’t everything I had hoped for. The design left a lot to be desired, and the cgi was fine, but still lacking compared to the T. rex and Spinosaurus from earlier films. It didn’t end up having more than a bit part in the actual film, and is stated to be an adolescent. Then, a year later, redemption! Imagine my surprise when the short film Battle at Big Rock (2019), set after the end of Fallen Kingdom, was released online, featuring the Allosaurus, now full-grown, attacking campers and three-horns in the North American woods. In case you haven’t seen Fallen Kingdom, here’s how Battle at Big Rock connects. The dinosaurs are transported from the ruins of Jurassic World to the main land and are freed at the end of the 2018 film, so now there are dinosaurs running loose everywhere, which sets up the premise for the next film, Jurassic World: Dominion (2022) (and it looks like Allosaurus will make another appearance based on the trailer). Battle at Big Rock isn’t a particularly remarkable short film, but it is pretty well shot, and the Allosaurus’ design is better than in Fallen Kingdom. Finally, Allosaurus got the lead role it deserved.

Even though T. rex continues to reign supreme, Allosaurus has become known in the Jurassic franchise and beyond, now recognized by the general public as a formidable predator in its own right. If there is ever another film adaptation of The Lost World I would love to see it come back, and hopefully we see the Allo again in another kind of dinosaur film at some point, too.