Primitive War, from Fathom Events

Somehow, Robert McNamara left this part out of the shameful book he wrote to disavow his responsibility for presiding over the Vietnam War. Of course, it is fictional, because living dinosaurs were never discovered in-country. However, it aptly represents the bad decision-making imposed from above on junior officers, NCO’s, and their squads and platoons, by politicians and senior officers. Fortunately, Vulture Squad has a talent for improvising and an aversion to buck-passing. Consequently, when they discover a top-secret Soviet operation unleashed dinosaurs in Vietnam, they take decisive counter-measures in director-screenwriter Luke Sparke’s Primitive War, which is now playing in theaters, via Fathom Events.

Col. Amadeus Jericho allowed Sgt. Baker to hand pick the “Dirty Dozen”-worthy members of his Vulture Squad, because he knew Baker could get the job done. Thanks to their latest rescue operation, there will be two less missing POW’s. Obviously, their next mission will be dicey, considering Jericho’s caginess regarding the on-the-ground circumstances. Baker’s men are supposed to extract any surviving Green Berets and report any unusual observations. Presumably, the dinosaurs will qualify.

It turns out this is all the Soviets’ fault, particularly Dr. Borodin, the mad scientist whose experiment opened a wormhole, which all the really dangerous dinosaurs stepped through (as well as some of the herbivores, like stegosauruses and brontosauruses). Baker even captures a motivated informant, paleontologist Sophia Atalar, who was recruited by Borodin to study the dinosaurs. Despite his orders, Baker realizes Vulture Squad must stop Borodin’s research by any means necessary. However, to reach the hidden Soviet base, Baker and his men must evade a squad of raptors and a pair of very upset tyrannosaur parents.

It is important to note some of the worst dinosaur effects come in early scenes, so resist snap judgements. As the film progresses, the quality of the dinosaur renderings improves dramatically. In fact, some of the later scenes are shockingly cool. In all likelihood, if Primitive War had released a year before Jurassic Park, it would still be considered legendary.

Regardless, the depictions of warfighting are always viscerally gritty and realistic. There is nothing cartoony about Vulture’s Squad’s recon and rescue business. If anything, depicting the battles and wartime conditions took priority over the dinosaur apocalypse. Yet, the mordantly sly, cynical, and foul-mouthed dialogue rings even truer than the scrupulously realistic blood and muck.

The ensemble cast couldn’t get much grittier either, starting with Ryan Kwanten as steely Sgt. Baker. Arguably, this is his best film work in years. The rest of the squad also looks and acts credibly battle-tested. Sparke does not exactly over-indulge in backstories or character-building, but Carlos Sanson, Nick Wechsler, and Aaron Glenane have sufficient screen presence to differentiate and distinguish their characters.

Jeremy Piven also nicely plays against his usual nebbish type as hard-charging Col. Jericho. Plus, Tricia Helfer makes Atalar, the self-medicating dino doc, relatively believable, especially during her withdrawal scenes.

To Sparke’s credit, Primitive War overachieves up and down its score card, except maybe its insufficiently descriptive title, which comes from Ethan Pettus’s source novels. There are a few silly moments, but the purely war scenes are all brutally grounded, while the rampaging dinosaurs are relentlessly fun. Highly recommended for dinosaur fans and patrons who appreciate its hardnosed noncom attitude, Primitive War screens nationwide through this Monday (8/25), including the AMC Empire in New York.