It's Summer 1977 in Japan, near Mount Fuji, and a young woman is wandering through the forests there when suddenly she stumbles into a deep hole. Lying dazed at the bottom of it, she looks around and notices a large egg which appears to be hatching, so she makes her way over the rocks to investigate. To her horror, she sees a glowing, green eye staring back at her, causing her to panic and flee where presently she is found by some construction workers. When geologist Takashi Ashizawa (Tsunehiko Watase) hears about this on the television as he is about to fly to Mexico, he cancels his plans and heads straight to the famed mountain...
Legend of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Birds, or Kyôryuu: Kaichô no densetsu if you were Japanese, was long regarded as the worst giant monster movie to hail from that country, although the unkind might say there was some competition for that dubious honour. It was more influenced by the recent success of American blockbuster Jaws than any Japanese creature feature, for the first two thirds at least, and with that in mind the makers opted to render this a lot gorier than your average effort in this genre, which still surprises those more used to the relatively bloodless Godzilla series to this day.
Our hero, a rugged geologist if ever there was one (we can tell he means business by the way he sports his shades), arrives by Mount Fuji soon after the opening credits and makes no bones about wanting to get his hands on that prehistoric egg. The plot certainly keeps us waiting for those monsters, as the film is nearly halfway over before we so much as catch a glimpse of them, so until then we can amuse ourselves with an educational film about the mountain and some Japanese country and western music. It looks as if we will be spared any more of that when the band's floating stage takes a pummelling...
...but not to worry, it was just a couple of pranksters, complete with large rubber fin, trying to fool everyone. But there is definitely something out there, because not only have there been disappearances, but Ashizawa and his two new lady friends, both divers, have seen a horse with its head bitten off which ends up in a tree. This is all very Steven Spielberg influenced, and for much of the time the film strays into rip-off territory and makes itself comfortable with much suspense building on (and beneath) the lake, but the title references birds as well as dinosaurs and it's not a bird dwelling in the depths after all.
It seems a big coincidence that a water monster and a flying monster should appear at the same time, but we hear reports that there is weird weather and see the odd earthquake occur, as if to explain it all. Even so, Ashizawa expresses doubts that mankind will ever understand the ways of nature, as if to cover the scriptwriter for accusations of crafting a film that made no sense. Not that this saved him, for no sooner has the lake leviathan chomped on one of the lady divers (cue ridiculous over-the-top bloodletting) than the promised big bird appears and a battle between what the geologist insists on calling a plesiosaur to everyone who will listen and this pteranodon or whatever gets underway. And that's not to mention the rather desperate last act inclusion of a volcano. This is really no better or worse than many of the Jaws imitators, and the Japanese quality might even offer a spark of novelty to jaded palates. Music by Masao Yagi.
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