Line #18 Film/TheDinosaurProject


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6	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_dinosaur_project.jpg]]
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8	''The Dinosaur Project'' is a 2012 found-footage film.
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10	Set in the deepest, wildest throngs of the African jungle, ''The Dinosaur Project'' is an ambitious quest by a team of western explorers, hoping to find a water creature whose origins are rooted in myth and fantasy. The head of the expedition, an Franchise/IndianaJones type, has his plans for a successful trip spoiled though, after his helicopter is brought down by a flock of pterosaurs and to add to his troubles, he also has to look after his stowaway son, Luke. Luke is the film's main narrator; with an arsenal of personal cameras at his disposal, the young techno-geek captures every minute of this project, which becomes a lesson in survival. The team quickly discover that all is not well in the jungle, and encounter some extraordinary creatures, which civilization has presumed extinct for millions of years!
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13	!! The film includes the following tropes:
14	* ActionSurvivor: Luke has next to no experience in dangerous situations, but he manages to avoid being killed throughout the film. [[spoiler:In fact, he's the only character who's implied to have survived at the end.]]
15	* AdventurerArchaeologist: Johnathan, of the cryptozoologist variation. He's already adventurous enough to head into a dangerous jungle in search of a mythological creature, but when the myths turn out to be dangerously real and deeper than anyone imagined, he proves himself to be a highly capable leader.
16	* AllAnimalsAreDogs: Averted with most of the dinosaurs. Played straight with Crypto, a playful and friendly creature.
17	* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: [[spoiler:Turns out that Crypto is actually little more than a hatchling. His parents are MUCH bigger than he is, and just as dangerous as that implies.]]
18	* ApocalypticLog: The entire film is shown via camera, filmed by Luke.
19	* BigBad: In an unexpected twist, [[spoiler:Charlie]] turns out to be far more dangerous than he appeared.
20	* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler: Crypto's parents save Luke from Charlie at the last moment]].
21	* BreakThemByTalking: [[spoiler:Charlie]] attempts to deliver a rather cold lecture to Luke [[spoiler: when he's surrounded by a pair of parent dinosaurs, and promptly eaten]].
22	* ChekhovsGun: Of all things, [[spoiler: Crypto's spit]]. Which saves the day when [[spoiler:Crypto's parents recognize their offspring's scent on Luke. Because [[BigBad Charlie]] was never spit on, the dinosaurs see him as an unknown threat to their child and kill him.]]
23	* CompositeCharacter: MokeleMbembe, in-universe. [[spoiler:Its appearance is based on a [[StockNessMonster plesiosaur]] that lives in the rivers of the LostWorld, whereas its aggressive behavior comes from a [[PrehistoricMonster fearsome pliosaur]] that inhabits the same waters.]] At the film's very end, a herd of sauropod dinosaurs appears, implying that sightings of the cryptid on land have some merit as well.
24	* CoversAlwaysLie: The film's cover which currently illustrates the page. No, there is no ''Tyrannosaurus'' nor ''Compsognathus'' in this film.
25	* CoveredInGunge: Crypto (the benign raptor-like dinosaur that Luke befriends) spits drool on him, twice. [[spoiler:This turns out to be more than just a gag; Crypto is covering Luke in his own scent, so [[MamaBear his]] [[PapaWolf parents]] will protect Luke.]]
26	* DeathByMaterialism: The main villain of the movie is killed after confessing his reasons for [[spoiler: attempting to murder Luke are so he'll get sole credit for discovering the dinosaurs]].
27	* DomesticatedDinosaurs: [[spoiler: Crypto]], by the end of the film, though it's not really true domestication.
28	* GhostTown: The abandoned village the characters stay in for most of the night after they crash-land. The reason for its abandonment turns out to be that [[spoiler:carnivorous flightless pterosaurs ate the inhabitants after leaving their native range due to environmental damage.]]
29	%%* AHouseDivided
30	* InterspeciesFriendship: Luke and Crypto form a bond that seems to go beyond AllAnimalsAreDogs. Crypto even [[spoiler:spits on Luke to mask his human scent so that Crypto's parents know Luke is a friend.]]
31	* JitterCam: Most of the film is shown through a handheld camera, and as the protagonists spend a fair amount of time running for their lives, the camera does shake a lot.
32	* JumpScare: When [[spoiler:the pliosaur appears.]] Holy ''heck'' does it come out of nowhere!
33	** The first appearance of the carnivorous flightless pterosaur is startling as well.
34	* LiteralCliffhanger: Near the end of film, Luke tries to catch Johnathan as he's about to fall into a chasm after a rockslide. However, Johnathan insists he can't reach Luke's hand. [[spoiler: He then appears to fall to his death when his hand slips away]].
35	* LostWorld: Based on the myth of the MokeleMbembe and other Central African dinosaur-like cryptids. The film assumes that they're all real, and not only has the lost world been found, the creatures are starting to leave it due to [[SpaceWhaleAesop habitat loss.]]
36	* LoyalAnimalCompanion: Crypto takes a liking to Luke, sticking by him throughout the film. [[spoiler:He even spits on Luke so that Luke smells like Crypto, ensuring that Crypto's parents know he isn't a threat.]]
37	%%* MamaBear: [[spoiler:Crypto's mother.]]
38	* MokeleMbembe: The mokele-mbembe turns out to be an ''Elasmosaurus'' -- a kind of large, long-necked plesiosaur -- and one of several not-yet-extinct population of dinosaurs living in the Congo Basin.
39	* OffTheShelfFX: The ''T. rex'' on the poster above is made by the Papo Toy Company, and can be bought in many museum gift shops.
40	* PapaWolf: Johnathan, despite often berating him, is protective of his son Luke. [[spoiler:Crypto's father is also very protective of Crypto.]]
41	* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: Crypto, just about everyone in the expedition fawns over him and in turn he seems to enjoy it.
42	* SceneryPorn: The final shot of the LostWorld, a mountaintop view of the valley including a herd of sauropods.
43	* ShoutOut: One of the dinosuars in the film is clearly based off the ''Dilophosaurus'' in ''Film/JurassicPark'', frills and all. It even spits, but its saliva is harmlessly non-venomous.
44	* SpaceWhaleAesop: The pterosaurs are said to have left their own habitat because of environmental damage. So, deforestation will cause undiscovered predators to emerge and eat cryptozoologists (and offscreen villagers).
45	* StockNessMonster: The plesiosaur is fairly typical of fictional portrayals. To top it off, it's based on a refreshingly non-Nessie cryptid.
46	* TeamPet: Crypto, the surprisingly friendly (and useful) frilled raptor-like dinosaur.
47	* TerrorDactyl: The characters are attacked by carnivorous nocturnal anurognathid pterosaurs, which are also depicted as flightless and instead get around by leaping from tree to tree like monkeys.
48	* TooDumbToLive: [[spoiler:Pete performs an ill-advised HeroicSacrifice to lure the carnivorous flightless pterosaurs away from the team. He runs straight into a nesting group and they attack (and presumably eat) him.]]
49	* TokenEvilTeammate: [[spoiler:Charlie, though no one in the expedition was aware of it.]]

Context Film / TheDinosaurProject