Posted on 03/11/2004 7:12:33 PM PST by Piefloater
Reports a live dinosaur had been sighted on a volcanic island of Papua New Guinea prompted the deployment of heavily-armed police in search of the mystery creature.
Villagers in the superstitious island province of East New Britain this week said they fled in terror after seeing a three-metre tall, grey-coloured creature with a head like a dog and a tail like a crocodile.
They said the creature was living among thick green plants in a mosquito-ridden marsh just outside the provincial capital Kokopo, near the devastated town of Rabaul which was buried by a volcanic eruption in 1994.
Kokopo's Mayor Albert Buanga said the dinosaur would make a great a tourist attraction, if it existed.
A government official confirmed police carrying M-16s and shotguns searched the area but found no trace of the creature.
Eyewitness Christine Samei told reporters she ran for her life after seeing a three-metre tall, grey creature with a head like a dog and a tail like a crocodile which was as fat as a 900-litre water tank.
"It's a very huge and ugly looking animal," Samei told local media.
A government official said the villagers had identified the creature from books and movies about dinosaurs.
"They told us it was a dinosaur," the official told AAP.
Although police found no trace of the creature, Senior Sergeant Leuth Nidung warned villagers to take extra precautions when going about their daily business, amid reports it had eaten three dogs.
Villagers were told to report any further sightings immediately to police, who were already organising a more thorough search of the area.
Black magic and other superstitions are common in many parts of PNG's predominantly village-based society.
Each year large numbers of foreigners visit the area to see World War II relics as well as the devastated town of Rabaul - the only urban centre in the world built inside the crater of a giant volcano.
I do, too. To me a lot of the charm of the original was the setting of Depression-era New York. I also thought that the "prehistoric" atmosphere of the island was enhanced by the black-and-white film and the stop-animation technique, which I'm not sure a director today could even try to duplicate (although I guess Ray Harryhausen is still alive and is training a couple proteges--he could do it). I think if Jackson's going to do it well part of the challenge will be how to apply modern fx without losing the atmosphere of the original. DeLaurentis did a good job on the fx but he lost some other important stuff through poor casting choices, adding PC environmentalist themes to the plot, and getting rid of most of the dinosaurs.
Has anyone checked on the whereabouts of Teddy Kennedy? I'd check to see if any of the witnesses noticed a bottle of gin clutched in its claws.
Exactly.
Ocean's Eleven is another example of a film that can't be separated from it's era. That was the film which best captured the spirit of the early 60's in America, IMO.
Description: Male Length: 2.6 m Weight: 90-kg Female Length: 1.5 m Weight: 45 kg Very large males have been recorded at 3 metres in length and a weight of more than 130 kg. The Komodo dragon, the largest lizard in the world, is a heavy, well-muscled lizard with a long thick head and neck. There are long curved claws on all four feet. The tail, which is about the same length as the body, tapers to a fine tip.
Distribution: The Komodo dragon is found on only a few small islands in the Lesser Sunda archipelago of Indonesia; the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores and Gili Motang.
[SNIP]
Komodo dragons swim well and have been known to cross the narrow ocean barriers between the islands they inhabit.
Komodo Dragons are extremely territorial animals. The males fight over the right to mate with a particular female. They "stand" on their hind legs and wrestle each other to the ground.
I saw an interview with her on an AMC monster movie documentary aired within the past couple years or so. She seemed pretty lively for her age, and talked about how after that film her main acting job consisted in providing screams for soundtracks, because she screamed so well in Kong that they decided to reuse her voice for a bunch of other films. I think she was also in the original House of Wax where she also did a famous scream scene.
And then hold the mother of all barbeques.
Some paleontologists would say that all birds are dinosaurs.
I thought the city of Aden in Yemen was situated inside the crater of a volcano.
Can't anybody take a bath in peace?? Sheesh!
You're posting from the bath?!
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