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Last Day of the Dinosaurs
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Wikipedia article
'Last Day of the Dinosaurs' is a 2010 Discovery Channel television documentary about the extinction of the dinosaurs. It portrays the Alvarez hypothesis as the cause of extinction. The documentary was released on August 28, 2010 and narrated by Bill Mondy.
Production of the film
The dinosaur models created for 'Clash of the Dinosaurs' were reused for this program. The 'Parasaurolophus' model was used for 'Charonosaurus' even though the legs of 'Charonosaurus' were shorter than those of 'Parasaurolophus'. The 'Deinonychus' model was used for 'Saurornithoides' (rather inaccurately, as 'Saurornithoides' was slenderer than 'Deinonychus'), and the 'Sauroposeidon' model was used for 'Alamosaurus' (even though 'Alamosaurus' had different proportions than 'Sauroposeidon'). The same 'Tyrannosaurus rex', 'Triceratops', 'Ankylosaurus', and 'Quetzalcoatlus' models were also used. These models were placed upon different backdrops most of the time than those used in 'Clash of the Dinosaurs'.
Plot summary
In the Pacific Northwest, a 'Quetzalcoatlus' is soaring above the valley during a rain storm when it spots an unguarded 'Tyrannosaurus' nest. The pterosaur then flies down and consumes several young babies. Meanwhile, the father 'Tyrannosaurus' is hunting for prey in the forest when his acute sense of smell alerts him to the intruder and runs back to the nest. The pterosaur is forced to flee when the enraged father arrives, trying to take off but its huge wings prevent it from flying in the forest. The 'T. rex' repeatedly lunges and tries to kill it. It finally takes off just as the father bites its foot, though the pterosaur manages to break free of his jaws by pecking at his eye and then flying away. Only one hatchling survives from the brink.
After a 'T. rex' attacks an 'Ankylosaurus' before being driven away, a male 'Triceratops' loses a fight for mating rights against another male 'Triceratops'. Two 'T.rex' hear the commotion and close in to attack the loser. Working together, they bring down the 'Triceratops'. In Mongolia, a group of 'Charonosaurus' are seen drinking at a water hole in an oasis. They are protecting their eggs. Suddenly, a 'Saurornithoides' appears. It steals an egg from the nest and flees, but the enraged mother follows it into the cave. It tries to eat the egg, but the mother arrives, bellowing just before the raptor appears, and she flees, with the pair racing after her. They manage to bring her down, and the pair then eat their kill.
Meanwhile, in Mexico, a herd of 'Alamosaurus' are roaming the plains in search of food. A female lays a clutch of eggs as an asteroid enters the atmosphere. The asteroid hits the Earth in Mexico, causing a big explosion and sending debris shooting through the air. The explosion heats the air temperature near the site. Hundreds of 'Alamosaurus' are burned alive. Moments later, burning debris come raining down from the sky, crushing many 'Alamosaurus'. Afterwards, shockwaves cripple the rest of the herd before a blast arrives and finishes off the last of the 'Alamosaurus'. Most of the eggs are destroyed but some survive, buried under the soil. In the pacific northwest, a mated pair of 'Quetzalcoatlus' try to escape their nest by flying away, but pieces of debris fill the valley. Unable to survive, the male pterosaur falls from the sky to his death. After trying to save her mate, the also wounded female is forced to land in the valley, where her mate lies dead, before managing to take off again. Smaller animals hide underground while the larger animals are forced to flee.
In Mongolia, forty-five minutes since the impact, the ejecta cloud rolls in from the east, increasing the temperature around Mongolia by several degrees every second until it reaches 300, causing three 'Charonosaurus' and a pair of 'Saurornithoides' to use the cave for shelter. The temperatures return to normal after five hours, and as the pair run outside to feast on the corpse, while two of the surviving 'Charonosaurus' travel to the hole. The third stays close. Soon, another cloud causes a storm, suffocating them alive. The pair survive by hiding their prey, while the third 'Charonosaurus' remains in the cave. The day passes, and the pair return to the hole, where the hadrosaur is drinking. The pair are desperately hungry, yet they are too weak from their ordeal. One of them recklessly attacks the 'Charonosaurus', but the hadrosaur collapses on top of it, killing it. The remaining 'Saurornithoides' resorts to cannibalize the corpse of its companion.
Four days since impact, food is in short supply across the entire planet. In the Pacific Northwest, four 'Triceratops' head towards an island untouched by a fire storm in search of food. The cause of the island forms a huge wave, but also causes the water to recede and form a bridge to the ocean. Three of the 'Triceratops' cross the land bridge to the island. The remaining female 'Quetzalcoatlus' lands, where she eats a stranded fish, just as the wave builds and races towards shore. She attempts to take off but is caught into a big wave and drowns, with the wave drowning three 'Triceratops' as well.
Ten days have passed since impact, only a few dinosaurs remain. In Mongolia, the 'Charonosaurus' stays close to the hole, but collapses and dies from inhaling gas that rose up from the hole. The 'Saurornithoides' runs up to the dead 'Charonosaurus', but it too is killed by the toxic gas.
Back in the Pacific Northwest, a small number of dinosaurs patrol the grey wasteland. A starving 'Ankylosaurus' finds a small bush, and almost faces off with a 'Triceratops,' until a 'Tyrannosaurus' arrives. The 'Tyrannosaurus' loses an eye to his prey's right horn, but he then manages to break off its left horn and kills it by lunging and biting down on its neck. The 'Tyrannosaurus' then turns his attention to the 'Ankylosaurus' and after being struck in the leg, flips it onto its back and bites its throat. He then heads back to the dead 'Triceratops', but trips over the 'Ankylosaurus' and has his neck impaled on the 'Triceratops's' remaining right horn. In the end, an 'Alamosaurus' baby emerges from an egg that was sheltered away in the ground.
List of Animal species
Dinosaurs
* 'Alamosaurus'* 'Ankylosaurus'
* 'Charonosaurus'
* 'Saurornithoides'
* 'Triceratops'
* 'Tyrannosaurus'
* 'Quetzalcoatlus'
Mammals
* 'Mesodma'Athropods
* Cockroach* Scorpion
Awards
The film was a Gemini Award nominee for Best Science or Nature Documentary at the 26th Gemini Awards.Mishki Vaccaro, [https://torontolife.com/culture/26th-annual-gemini-nominations-announced/ "Gemini nominations announced: Flashpoint leads, once again, and controversial Kennedys miniseries gets some nods"]. 'Toronto Life', August 4, 2011.
References
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