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triassictrash · 3 months ago

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Why the Sentinels from Murder Drones are kinda mid

Hello Everyone! So basically, one of my friends recently convinced me to watch Murder Drones with him(as he's a fan of it and has wanted to watch it with me for awhile), and we've been binging the show for the past 2 weeks. We just finished watching Episode 6. Now,I know this was a very well hidden-secret,but I am a pretty huge Dinosaur enthusiast,and was looking forward to this episode the moment my friend mentioned there where Dinosaurs in it(even though I did have worries that the Dinosaurs would feel out of place). After watching it, I have to say that I was pretty let down with said "Raptor" Dinosaur creatures,the Sentinels. I had high hopes for them going in because personally,the idea of Robotic Dinosaurs(especially incredibly fast and agile ones like Velociraptor or Utahraptor that you wouldn't expect to see mixed with typically slow-moving Robots) sounded really cool to me,but honestly, I was just really disappointed with how these guys were used.

First off,I have to say that whether Story-wise or Creatively-wise, there's really no reason for them to be robotic versions of dinosaurs in the first place,as it's never explained why JCJenson made them(atleast,I'm assuming that's who made them, as they really don't explain where these guys came from) into Robot Animals instead of just regular,more powerful Disassembly Drones or something like that. It's also not clear why they even needed to be Raptors in the first place,as their one special ability(which we'll get to very shortly) isn't directly related to a Raptor dinosaur and could have easily been used with any other type of Robotic creature/animal. And overall,Dinosaurs(regardless of whether they're Robotic or not) just feel really out of place in this futuristic series that features little to no Animals(as I alluded to earlier).

Secondly,the Sentinel's one unique ability(the "Boot-Loop" Light,which sounds kinda weird honestly) is cool, but it doesn't really feel very Raptor-like,in my opinion. And I'm not saying they should have just had the Sentinels claw at and tear up the Drones into pieces or something like that,because that would have been kinda boring. Instead,they could have used something like or akin to Mind Control(considering Raptor Dinosaurs in general were some of the smartest of all dinos). This could let them render the Drones basically immobile by forcing them not to do anything(or even force them to kill the other Drones),which is what they partially already use in the series with their Boot-Loop Light attack,which just immobilizes the Drones,but this simple change would have made them alot more interesting,atleast for me. They already show that the Sentinels are intelligent with the typical "hunting in packs and sneaking up on their victims" thing,but considering they're literal Robots,theres no reason they couldn't have gone further with their intelligence in ways that were unique and actually related to the intelligence of Raptor Dinosaurs. I also personally think Glitch(the guys who made Murder Drones) took a bit too much inspiration from the Velociraptors from Jurasic Park(I swear it feels like some of the shots are almost exactly the same as one's that were from the Jurassic Park movie,aside from the one that's intentionally that way to make fun of Jurassic World,I think) and didn't really try to differ the Sentinels from them all that much with any unique capabilities,outside of their light stunning attack.

However,I will say the Sentinels were used in a pretty good joke in the episode,which doesn't really save them for me but does make them a bit more enjoyable. In the scene,the human character,Tessa,tries to befriend one of the Sentinels by holding out her hand to it,like Owen Grady did with the Velociraptors in Jurassic World. This results in the Sentinel viciously biting her hand and causing it to bleed,which I laughed pretty hard at with my friend. I think it's supposed to be making fun of Jurassic World in some way(I personally believe its for making the Velociraptors tame-able and much less like killing machines than the OG Jurassic Park),and if so, it's a really good joke that I enjoyed,and helped make me a bit less dissapointed with the Sentinels.(There's also the possibility that it's not meant to be a joke and just a simple reference,as there's a scene in one of the Jurassic World movies that's literally identical to the one I just described,but I like to think it's not just a simple reference)

Also,I do REALLY like the way these things move. Seeing them crawling around,specifically in one scene where the red-eyed one climbs down a wall, is surprisingly creepy. And their designs are genuinely phemonial and really cool-looking,especially their multiple blue eyes.

Overall this really isn't a problem for most people,but I'm a guy who's enthusiasm on a piece of media can skyrocket from a 0 to a 100 at the mere mention of Dinosaurs being in it,so I was more than a bit dissapointed and I wanted to voice that here. Also,I'd like to clarify that I haven't actually finished the show with my friend yet(we're currently about to start Episode 7),but I've been told that the Sentinels barley appear after Episode 6 so I'm gonna just assume not much changes for them.

Oh,and for those who want to know my overall opinions on the show,I'd say (so far) that it's somewhat flawed(it introduces alot of plot points and characters that dont really go anywhere and aren't explained) and unfunny at times but it's overall a wonderfully animated series with a banger soundtrack,decently interesting story as of now,and overall really likable and enjoyable characters(my personal favorite is probally that one background Worker Drone who's head is always on fire),and it's clear it has alot of talented people behind it. I'd definitely reccomend it as I enjoyed the majority of it, just not to fellow Dinosaur fans lol.

Alright,that's all for this post. Have a good day/evening/night!

(btw I'm gonna be using this image to end off all my "lengthy" posts from now on. Hope you guys like it! :D)

#dinosaur #dinosaurs #raptor #velociraptor #murder drones #Md #Sentinels #murder drones sentinels

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triassictrash · 3 months ago

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Creature Feature-One Million B.C.

WARNING:This post contains discussions of Animal cruelty and death. Reader discretion is advised.

Welcome to the first post of Triassic Trash,and the first edition of "Creature Feature"! I wanted to do something a bit smaller before jumping onto a full-on Movie review for my first post,so today we'll be going over the "Dinosaurs" from the 1940 cinematic moral-deprived dumpster-fire, One Million B.C.!

(Hey,that looks alot like a Alligator...Oh,fuck...)

Anyways,it's best to give you some brief context on One Million B.C. before we set the stage on this dipshit stinker's prehistoric fanua:

So basically,One Million B.C. was an American fantasy film relased in 1940(I assume it was given its "fantasy" category because it features Caveman and Dinosaur co-exsisting,but honestly, I have no idea). Created by Hal Roach studios,One Million B.C. was modestly succsesful back in it's day but has mostly faded into obscurity,thanks in part to it's much more popular 1966 remake,One Million Years B.C.(you know,the one with Raquel Welch). While many people are familiar with the stunning Stop Motion featured in it's remake,alot less know about the,uhh...much less effective and much more problematic tactics this Movie used to bring its Dinosaurs to life,which we'll get to pretty soon.The Producer of this movie,Hal Roach,was most known for making the Laurel and Hardy films,which were Silent Films about the aforementioned British comedy duo. I say this because it's pretty fair to view One Million B.C. as a Silent Movie in the same vein as the Laurel and Hardy films,as nobody talks in it,save for alot of Caveman noises and actual dialouge in the opening scene. And speaking of that opening scene,here's a brief synopsis of the Movie's plot:

A group of Hikers are in the midst of a terrible storm,so they decided to head into a Cave for shelter. Low and behold,they find some random old guy is in the Cave,who decides to hold the Hikers hostage and,using the ancient drawings on the wall,tell them a story of Prehistoric Times...

(They never return to this Framing Device btw)

Anyways,our story concerns Tumok of the Rock Tribe,a Tribe with a good ol' case of the "Survive of the Fittest" mentality. Tumok is able to hunt down a Baby Triceratops,and his Tribe feasts on the dead animal. However,the Tribe only gives the best food to the strongest indivuals,and Tumok ain't falling under that umbrella. Tumok fights with the tribe leader,Akohba for his food but he fails and is kicked out of the tribe,forced to go on his own.

But poor Tumok ain't cut out for the unforgiving landscape of the Prehistoric world,and an encounter with a Wolly Mammoth leaves him floating down the River on a tree. There,Tumok meets the Shell Tribe,who are polar opposites of the Rock Tribe in every way,mainly because they're kind and compassionate and share their food with other members(which,honestly isn't doing you any favors in the Stone Age). Tumok at first expirences Culture Shock,but through the help of Loana,a kind woman of the Shell Tribe and also his love interest,he's slowly able to grow used to the customs of the tribe. He even begins to earn respect for the tribe after fighting off a nasty Allosaurus,which,uhh...oh boy,we'll get that,trust me...But sadly for Tumok,he was a big dumb-dumb and borrowed a spear that didn't belong to him to slay the Allosaurus,and after he neglects and refuses to return it,he's banished from the Shell Tribe.(Oh,and meanwhile,Akohba gets into a scuffle with a Prehistoric Ox and is bested by the Beast,with a new leader for the Rock Tribe being appointed,and Akohba now being in a lowly position within the tribe.)

Loana follows Tumok when he's banished(despite not even having known him for that long),and together, the two of them are in for a rough night. Armadillos with Horns,Deadly Lizards,and other terrifying creatures menace our two heroes throughout the night. After that,they begin to reach Rock Tribe territory,but they then encounter two terrifying "Dinosaurs," locked in an epic battle that,uh...well,we'll get there when we get there.

Anyways,after that scuffle,the New Leader of the Rock Tribe comes over to Loana to attack her or something,but Tumok ain't having it and kills that son of a gun,becoming the Rock Tribes new leader! Anyways,Tumok has Loana try and civilize the Rock Tribe and show them the more peaceful way of life,but a Volcano soons erupts. Loana is able to save a child from the Volcano,however she's separated from the Rock Tribe due to the Rock Flow,and is forced to head to her Shell Tribe.

Tumok at first believes her to be dead but then is able to find out where she is,and heads back to the Shell Tribe,only to see that the Shell People are being attacked by a deadly "Dinosaur"(yes,I will be putting quotations around the word Dinosaur for the entire post). Tumok and the other Rock People are able to kill the Dinosaur(which,uh,you'll see later that that really isnt something to celebrate over),and both tribes are able to unite as one!

(Okay maybe that wasn't very brief,oof...Anyways,lets get to the actual main part of this post.)

THE CREATURES

Any movie starring Prehistoric/Extinct wildlife needs to take great care and effort to make it's deceased creatures look believable and convincing,and this movie opts to do that through use of a method that's rather infamous and hated as these methods go: "Slurpasaurs". Now,that name more than likely made you imagine something that's very much not appropriate for this blog,but a Slurpasaur,as weird as that sounds,is a Trope used to describe animals that are enlarged or given features/props to pass them off as animals that they're not. And this movie does quite alot of this. Infact,you could argue it was the pioneer of this trend. No matter the case,you definitely can't argue it's one of the most egregious(and extremely problematic and disturbing,which we'll get to later) cases of the trope,as almost ALL of its prehistoric beasts are brought to life using Slurpasaurs. Thankfully,though,some of them aren't and actually do fare a bit better in looking realistic.

The first major creature in the movie is this baby Triceratops that the tribe kills pretty early on in the Movie. While it may look like some sort of weird rubber toy at first glance,it was actually played by a Pig in a rubber Triceratops suit. It's easily the best looking creature in the Movie aswell,not that that's saying much. Although,it is VERY obvious when the Suit was used without the Pig in it,particularly when Tumok is killing the thing. And also,if dressing a Pig up in a Rubber Costume sounds like animal cruelty,that's because it is. This Movie has a very weird and disturbing fetish with that sort of thing.

The next two creatures in the film aren't really anything of note,these being a few Vultures aswell as 2 Dogs that are apart of the Rock Tribe. The Vultures kinda just appear and don't really do anything,and they're quite literally just regular Vultures used for this movie so I don't really have much to say about them. The dogs are kinda the same case as the Vultures,seeing as they're just regular shaggy Dogs that aren't really passed off as some Prehistoric animal,although they do appear frequently in the film.

The next animal to appear is a Mammoth,or Mastodon,if you will. Technically,it is one of the first animals to appear as some of them appear when we're first being introduced to the Prehistoric World,but they don't really do anything during this scene. Anyways,the main Mammoth of this movie appears when Tumok gets banished from his tribe,and very quickly begins to chase him. Tumok runs up into a tree,however the Mammoth pushes the tree and causes it to plummet into the River. The Mammoth then reappears later on,when it chases a group of Prehistoric Ox towards the Rock Tribe. The Mammoth was brought to life by putting on fur and horns onto an actual Elephant,and all things considered it is one of the more convincing Slurpasaurs present in this film.

(Legitimately the highest quality image I could get of this thing)

The next animal that's important to the story is this...Prehistoric Ox,I'm guessing? I dont actually really have a good idea on what this one is supposed to be,so I'm guessing Hal Roach just put some fur and horns onto an Ox and called it a day. Anyways,like the previously discussed Mastodon,these guys first appear when we're being introduced to the Prehistoric World but don't have any relevance until a bit later,when they're being chased by a Mammoth,for some reason. One of the Ox gets into a bit of a scuffle with Akohba and runs away victorious,leaving Akohba heavily wounded. There's not alot of information available on these Prehistoric Ox,as I haven't even been able to find a good source that states what they even are,so I'll end this part by saying that they do look somewhat convincing,if mostly because you can't even get a good look at it in ANY of the scenes it's in.

The next animal that shows up in the Movie is a pretty minor one,that being a Sun Bear cub that lives in the Shell Tribe territory. The one scene it's in(unless I'm misremembering) simply involves it drinking out of a Shell. Given that the Bear cub also seems to(thankfully) not have any stupid-looking props or fur tacked onto it,there isn't really much to say for it.

Theres a ton to be said about our next creature,however. This one is another Dinosaur(being an Allosaurus.) It first shows up in a couple of scenes where it simply menaces the Shell Tribe but doesn't really do anything,until in one scene it eventually goes after and attacks a Young Girl who's in a Tree. Tumok,however,fights the Beast and quickly delivers it's extinction using a spear. The main notable thing about this Dinosaur is that instead of being played by a Large Lizard(which believe me,we'll get to shortly),this Allosaurus was portrayed using a costume,which does not look very good! Not only was it's overall posture incredibly outdated nowadays(and I doubt it looked believable even in 1940),but it's also not enlarged in ANY way when it's fighting Tumok,which just makes it even more obvious that it's just a guy in a suit. According to a video from youtuber Dino Diego,the suit shown here was actually a prototype,but was apparently so well liked by Hal Roach that he opted to just use the prototype instead of the actual finished version. Clearly that didn't pay off,but thankfully Hal Roach was smart enough to not give a too-close up view of the Allosaurus,with it being obscured by Trees and Bushes in most of its scenes. Also,I'm like 90% it just refuses the T-Rex sounds from King Kong.

When Tumok and Loana are banished from the Shell Tribe,their night in the forest is abundant with Slurpasaurs,and this Giant Monitor Lizard is the first of them. It dosent actually do anything during the Night scenes it's in,however,it moreso just stumbles around the set and makes Tumok and Loana run away from it(which to be fair,Lizards aren't exactly very active creatures). It then reappears much later on in the Volcano scene,where it is inexplicably stuck in place and VERY CLOSE to the volcano fire. Actual fire,mind you,because who cares if you burn a real,living Lizard for your movie? (Yeah,that Animal Abuse warning is only going to get more prevelant as we continue on with the creatures,unfortunately. Just know from that from this part onward,there will unfortunately be discussion of actual Animal death.)...Anyways,I've seen a few people claim this is supposed to be a Megalania,an extinct species of giant Monitor Lizard,and while that would be fitting,it's also far more likely they just wanting to have a Lizard be passed off as a Dinosaur and just chose a Monitor Lizard for it.

After getting away from the Monitor Lizard,Tumok and Loana eventually encounter two other Animals in the forest:a Giant Snake,and a Giant Coati,which are obviously just a real Snake and Coati,but enlarged to look like unspecified larger versions of themselves. What follows next with these two animals was actually allowed in theaters,somehow-the Giant Coati then reaches out for the Snake,and begins to brutally maul,kill,and eat the poor thing. ON CAMERA. Ignoring the fact that Animal rights weren't much of a concern back then...that is MAJORLY fucked up. I have no idea why real Animals where even used for the Film,but at the very least,up to this point you could have said the worst treatment they received was having fur put on them. And sadly,the Snake isn't even the only reptile that's killed on-screen. Yeah,its at this point where the Movie's treatment of creatures transforms it from a campy bad movie with questionable animal treatment to a deplorable Animal snuff film.

Oh yeah, and the Coati doesn't reappear after this scene, but does it really matter?

After that,the next animal shown in the film is this enlarged Armadillo with tacked-on horns. I'm not entirely sure what this one was meant to be,but I'll just be calling it a Giant Armadillo because that's effectively what it is. Anyways,the Armadillo is chewing on a tree,I think,when it notices Tumok and Loana are closely and immediately chases after the two. The Armadillo chases Tumok and Loana up the tree,and seems pretty determined to eat them,but luckily for our heroes,they're saved by a transition that shows them in Rock Tribe territory by the next day(Yeah,they never actually explain how the hell they got out of the predicament). Anyways,there's not really too much to say with this one,but some websites I've come across have said that this is supposed to be a Glyptodon,which I doubt,given that Animal's lack of horns. It's also more likely that the horns were just added for the sake of looking menacing.

These next two animals are inarguably the most infamous part of the film,and as such I have alot to say about both of them. Both of them are simply oversized Lizards that are poorly passed off as prehistoric creatures that they're not,which is honestly just the norm for this movie at this point. The Tegu Lizard is simply enlarged to look like some sort of unspecified prehistoric giant Lizard,while the Alligator is given a spine on its back,for some reason. I belive it's either meant to be passed off as a Spinosaurus or a Dimetrodon,with the Dimetrodon being a more believable answer considering the Spinosaurus wasn't very well known back in 1940. In that case,it begs the question as to why the hell they'd choose the Alligator to masquerade as a Dimetrodon. You would think it makes sense given the carnivore nature of both Animals until you realize that an Alligator's snout looks nothing like the face of a Dimetrodon.

Anyways,these two Animals role in the plot is quite minimal. The Alligator first shows up when Tumok is floating down the River towards the Shell Tribe. It's not seen again until Tumok and Loana encounter both it and the Tegu Lizard in the Rock Tribe territory. The two Lizards begin to approach each other,and what happens next is quite possibly the most disturbing part of the movie. The Alligator and the Tegu Lizard begin fighting and mauling each other onscreen,with both of them getting very hurt and torn apart in the process. What makes this even more horrible is how long it goes on:It drags out for a solid TWO minutes. Because I guess Hal Roach thought people wanted to see Lizards actually killing each other on screen for over 2 minutes in a Caveman flick. But it gets even worse,somehow. The Alligator ends up victorious from the fight and walks away to swim into the Water. Then...Ugh. You know that part from King Kong where the guys have killed the Stegosaurus and we get a close up shot of them walking past it's corpse? Well,they do a pretty similar thing in these movie,only Tumok is walking past the defeated Tegu Lizard,and it actually bleeding out on screen. How genuinley screwed up do you have to be to sit down and film a dying Lizard bleeding to death and unapologetically add it to your shitty movie? This is made even worse by the fact that both of these Animals were endangered species back then,and clearly Hal Roach couldn't have given any less thought about it. Thankfully,though,even in the 1940s,this part in particular sparked controversey for the movie,with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals banning most of the Animal Abuse and mistreatment shown in the movie,not that it could really undo the disgusting damage on display.

(Oh and the Alligator reappears during the Volcano scene I guess)

The last animal to appear in the Movie is a Iguana that's enlarged to look like a gigantic and prehistoric version of itself,which is pretty much this Movie's only technique now as the last non-Slurpasur creature appeared almost an hour ago. Anyways,the Iguana is seen terrorizing the Shell Tribe,trying to eat the Cavepeople. Luckily for them,however,Tumok and the Rock Tribe soon show up to save the day and defeat the giant Iguana,which consists of them poking sticks at it and throwing rocks at it. Most of the time,the Iguana is thankfully not actually getting hit with these weapons and it's pretty obvious to tell,but in a few instances it is actually getting poked with sticks,because of course it had to be. Anyways,the Iguana persists but is eventually defeated by both the Rock Tribe and the Shell Tribe after they cause an avalanche of Rocks to crush the poor Iguana,which unfortunately at this point of the film was all too expected. They never actually show whether or not the Iguana survived the production of this shitty and moral-less Movie,and honestly I don't really think I wanna know regardless.

One last thing to note about the Iganua is that alot of the Posters and Promotional Images absolutely plaster this guy everywhere on it,but it's only shown in the last 8 minutes of the film.

And those were all the Creatures from One Million B.C.! Putting aside all the disgusting treatment of the Movie's Repitlian and Mammal actors,by God do the majority of them not look even remotely impressive or convincing! Not only is it embarrassing to see a Alligator with a glued-on Fin and an Armadillo with tacked-on Horns be passed off as something they're not,it's also just depressing to see the poor critters in such a state. Upon first viewing,the average viewer will simply try to ignore these details because of how minimal they are,but once the dreaded Snake and Coati scene rolls along,one can no longer deny that the Producers clearly treated these creatures as disposable rag-dolls rather than actual living and breathing Animals. The only non-animal portrayed Creatures,the Triceratops and the Allosaurus,aren't the worst looking things ever,with the Triceratops actually looking pretty decent,but both are completely overshadowed by the blatant Animal Cruelty that plauges this film. Overall,this Movie can be campy and fun at some points and can actually be pretty enjoyable when it's not killing Reptiles but I overall would not reccomend watching it.

Well,with that out of the way,here's some trivia about the Movie to end off this post(not that it deserves it).

-Many sources claim that this movie is in the Public Domain,however that's simply not true,as ot was released in 1940 and thus it's copyright is set to expire in 2036. Who owns the rights to the Movie,however,is a much tricker question,and I can't really find a definitive answer on it.

-The 1966 remake of the movie briefly pays tribute to this Movie's lizards by featuring a real-life Lizard early on in the Movie,that basically fills in the Mammoth's role by chasing Tumok when he's kicked out of the tribe. Why you'd want to pay tribute to Animal death is beyond me,but at the very least,from what I can tell,this Lizard wasn't hurt during production.

("Whats that over there? Could it be...blatantly recycled footage?")

-Many clips of this Movie were sold as stock footage and reappeared in a bunch of other Movies that wanted cheap Dinosaur effects,mainly B-Movies. These iconic and beloved Movies that reused this footage included: Untamed Women,Valley of the Dragons,the American release of Godzilla Raids Again,Robot Monster,Tarzan's Desert Mystery,King Dinosaur,Two Lost Worlds,and many,many more(you knew,like,one of those,tops). Particularly,these movies absolutely loved reusing the Alligator vs Tegu clip,so I guess they also completely lacked any morals.

-When this movie came out,it was nominated for a Academy Award for "Best Special Effects". No,I'm not joking.

Well,that seems like a good note to end this post off on. See you next time!

#Dinosaur #paleomedia #movies #Caveman #Film #prehistoric #mammoth #dinosaurs #allosaurus #slurpasaur

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