TV/Movies Megathread

[viper37]

I always wondered why reptiles can't be trained like mammals.  Or there are alligator trainers I just don't know about?

well, I didn't think that was possible

[Malthus]

I would like to have a pack of trained velociraptors. It would be a glorious few seconds until they kill me.

They weren't, actually, all that large - slightly bigger than chickens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Velociraptor#/media/File:Vraptor-scale.png

A pack of coyotes would be more dangerous I think (that is, 'not very'). 

[viper37]

I would like to have a pack of trained velociraptors. It would be a glorious few seconds until they kill me.

They weren't, actually, all that large - slightly bigger than chickens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Velociraptor#/media/File:Vraptor-scale.png

A pack of coyotes would be more dangerous I think (that is, 'not very'). 

Jurassic Park's raptors are closer to the Utahraptor.  It probably sounds less menacing then Velociraptor.
I am surprised, very surprised, that an Hollywood movie has got something wrong with history.

[The Brain]

Insert velocirapture pic.

[Malthus]

Jurassic Park's raptors are closer to the Utahraptor.  It probably sounds less menacing then Velociraptor.

A carnivorous dinosaur that goes door to door in pairs, and has multiple wives? Sounds plenty menacing to me. 

[Razgovory]

I would like to have a pack of trained velociraptors. It would be a glorious few seconds until they kill me.

They weren't, actually, all that large - slightly bigger than chickens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Velociraptor#/media/File:Vraptor-scale.png

A pack of coyotes would be more dangerous I think (that is, 'not very').

The movie would have lost something if the last third of it was the characters trying to escape a pack of angry geese.

[The Brain]

Richard Burton.

[Malthus]

The movie would have lost something if the last third of it was the characters trying to escape a pack of angry geese.

Well, there is that. 

[lustindarkness]

I would like to have a pack of trained velociraptors. It would be a glorious few seconds until they kill me.

They weren't, actually, all that large - slightly bigger than chickens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Velociraptor#/media/File:Vraptor-scale.png

A pack of coyotes would be more dangerous I think (that is, 'not very').

The movie would have lost something if the last third of it was the characters trying to escape a pack of angry geese.

Have you ever been chased by geese? Those motherfuckers! I think I prefer velociraptors.

[Ideologue]

I would like to have a pack of trained velociraptors. It would be a glorious few seconds until they kill me.

They weren't, actually, all that large - slightly bigger than chickens.

https://en.wikipedia.org/?title=Velociraptor#/media/File:Vraptor-scale.png

A pack of coyotes would be more dangerous I think (that is, 'not very'). 

Jurassic Park's raptors are closer to the Utahraptor.  It probably sounds less menacing then Velociraptor.
I am surprised, very surprised, that an Hollywood movie has got something wrong with history.

Utahraptor wasn't named at the time of the novel's or film's conception, nor was Achillobator. As Tim said, the inspiration was likely Deinonychus, another dromaeosaurid which was pretty big (still blown up for the film).  I wasn't aware of its taxonomic history in regards a brief association with the Velociraptor genus, which kinda fucks up a theory I raised in my Jurassic Park review series, although I still think I'm basically correct that the big reason "velociraptor" was chosen was because it sounds cool. As does deinonychus, but quick, pluralize deinonychus...

Of course, dromaeosaurid pack hunting is a supposition too.

But you know what no one ever talks about? JP velociraptors are pretty much acceptable artistic license, but the shit they do to Tyrannosaurus and Dilophosaurus in that movie is straight-up retarded.

[Ideologue]

Btw, Tim, I don't think it's accurate to say there was no suspicion that theropods weren't feathered in 1990.  It was a hypothesis way back, and was gaining a lot of currency in the 1970s and 1980s. Given how strongly JP links theropods ("dinosaurs," generally, insofar as it's pitched to kids) to birds, I'm surprised Crichton didn't run with it. Tho I think it's a bad bet to say Spielberg would've used feathered dinos even if he'd made JP ten years later, simply out of populism.  I'm not sure when feathers of dinosaurs became part of the wider public perception, but I feel like it was very recent.

[viper37]

But you know what no one ever talks about? JP velociraptors are pretty much acceptable artistic license, but the shit they do to Tyrannosaurus and Dilophosaurus in that movie is straight-up retarded.

Tyrannosaurus, I don't know what's wrong with them, what is your problem?

Dilophosaurus, because reducing the size of a dino instead of increasing it is bad?

[viper37]

Btw, Tim, I don't think it's accurate to say there was no suspicion that theropods weren't feathered in 1990.  It was a hypothesis way back, and was gaining a lot of currency in the 1970s and 1980s. Given how strongly JP links theropods ("dinosaurs," generally, insofar as it's pitched to kids) to birds, I'm surprised Crichton didn't run with it. Tho I think it's a bad bet to say Spielberg would've used feathered dinos even if he'd made JP ten years later, simply out of populism.  I'm not sure when feathers of dinosaurs became part of the wider public perception, but I feel like it was very recent.

not all dinosaurs where feathered, IIRC.

[Ideologue]

Vipe: There is literally not a whiff of a reason to believe Tyrannosaurus couldn't see you just because you stood still.

And I'm pretty sure dilophosaurs couldn't spit poison. (The threat display is pretty fanciful too.)

And not all dinos we're feathered; ankylosaurids almost certainly weren't, just for one example. Iirc, almost all theropods were, with evidence pointing to some plumage on Tyrannosaurus, although there are some exceptions, like Spinosaurus, where there is zero evidence for (afaik) and substantial evidence against.

[viper37]

Vipe: There is literally not a whiff of a reason to believe Tyrannosaurus couldn't see you just because you stood still.

Ah, yes, now I remember that iconic scene.  How could I forget?

And I'm pretty sure dilophosaurs couldn't spit poison. (The threat display is pretty fanciful too.)

It is unlikely they did.  Maybe some other dinos did.

And not all dinos we're feathered; ankylosaurids almost certainly weren't, just for one example. Iirc, almost all theropods were, with evidence pointing to some plumage on Tyrannosaurus, although there are some exceptions, like Spinosaurus, where there is zero evidence for (afaik) and substantial evidence against.

right, tat's what I thought.  I'd have to brush up on my dino reading.  1980s V might not have been up to date