Primitive War 2025 Movie Review
Every now and again, you find a film that has been laser-focused on your interests. For me, you must work to make me not interested once you have mentioned the word dinosaurs. Start with the premise ‘what if dinosaurs suddenly showed up in the middle of the Vietnam War’, now you don’t just have my interest, you have my full attention
So, to set the scene, it is 1968, and the Vietnam War is in full swing. In the middle of the war, a Green Beret platoon was sent into a jungle valley to find out what the Russians were doing there, only for none of them to return, and a final radio call was cut off halfway through. General Amadeus Jericho (Jeremy Piven) needs the information the recon team collected. Still, he can’t have it known, so he sends in the Vulture Squad led by Ryan Baker (Ryan Kwanten), as they are a bunch of misfits. They find the remains of the Green Berets, but also an unusually large feather. It is clear that the Green Berets were not able to finish their recon before they were taken out, so the Vulture Squad trek into the jungle to find the Russian base, not realising what might be waiting, hiding, stalking in the bushes.
Now, one of the things that makes this film stand out is how much it leans into the schlocky nature of the story, and I don’t mean that as a negative. You know exactly where this film is set in the first seconds as Fortunate Son blares over a helicopter as napalm explodes in the background. There is zero ambiguity, and that was kind of refreshing. You will hit a lot of the Vietnam War film mainstays throughout the runtime: incompetent military command, spooks in plain clothes, and even boats on rivers. Look, don’t come at me, you know what boats of rivers mean. Because the film is so rooted in that cinematic architecture, you don’t have to spend a lot of time getting things going before we hit our first dinosaur interaction.
Also, because the filmmakers have done a lot of work in war films in the past, they have all the features, costumes, and props that help sell the setting. Which is good for me, because this was filmed half an hour from where I live, so I needed a little help to get to Vietnam and not think I was near Mount Tambourine. It also means that a lot of the military action set pieces hit their mark. A good example of this is the opening strike on an enemy camp, where you can feel that they have practised making every move look right.
On that point, I was delighted with the dinosaur representation in the film. I was a little nervous at the start that we wouldn’t get to see much of them as we leaned into the rustling bushes and screams as people are killed offscreen. However, thankfully, as we go on, we get to see more and more in some truly fascinating situations. There is more than one montage in this film that took my breath away, with some of the work being on par or better than the latest Jurassic World films. There was a genuine care to bring some texture to the animals, so we are not just looking at different shades of grey. I also liked where they chose to draw the line on whether dinosaurs had feathers or not.
Now, there is a dialogue happening with a lot of other films in the dinosaur zeitgeist. I am sure that it was not a coincidence that the film goes out of its way to have Dilophosaurus without all the Jurassic Park add-ons. It also wades into the Spinosaurus debate with a confidence that I applaud. Since we are not aiming for a safe PG-13, a lot of people get killed by dinosaurs in some profoundly gruesome ways. For example, I audibly gasped at the Quetzalcoatlus and what it did. It knows what it did. They are presented as both profoundly terrifying, but also as what they were: animals, needing to eat to live. For example, there was a fascinating throughline with a Tyrannosaurus rex family that was almost touching.
The story feels like a very faithful adaptation of the original novel, with just some streamlining happening in the middle portion of the story. Because of this, there is a lot more intentionality to the motivations of everyone involved. Once you find out that something weird is happening with the Russians in the jungle, you will probably be able to work out roughly how things will pan out, and you would be right, but that is fine. I think some people might not like the sci-fi-ness that creeps into the film as we go on. But I kind of liked it because it felt like a fun throwback to the sort of films like this that they used to make in the 1970s. It also helps provide a single focus for the narrative to pull everyone to the ending. Not every part of the story works; there are some themes that they try to explore, like the impact on the local population that lives there, which was a bit hit and miss.
As this is a ragtag collection of characters sort of film, it means that those characters become more important. There is a lot of bluster in his performance, but I think Ryan Kwanten worked well as the lynchpin that kept the ball rolling. Tricia Helfer was a fantastic addition to the cast and worked well as the balance to the rest of the American military characters. Jeremy Piven was chewing all the scenery and looked like he was having a ball as the cantankerous general. I also liked what Ana Thu Nguyen was bringing to the film, and I wish we had gotten a bit more of her character. There is a good team feel to the proceedings, which you need in a film like this.
To be honest, I am shocked by just how much they got out of what was clearly not a big budget. Sure, not all the effects are perfect, and I am sure if they had more time and money, they would have fixed things. But I have seen some big-budget films fail to hit some of the marks they achieved here. Some of that comes from good planning because night time can hide a lot of sins. Some parts of the ending were a little overdone for me personally, the musical score didn’t quite hit where it needed to, and some of the dinosaurs are a bit of a bullet sponge at times. But while these are issues, none of them rip you out of the film.
In the end, do we recommend Primitive War? Look, did I get dinosaurs? Yes. Did I get a solid Vietnam War action film? Yes. Did they combine in interesting and weird ways? Absolutely. Have you watched Primitive War? Let us know what you thought in the comments below. If you liked Primitive War, we would recommend to you Kong: Skull Island as the themes and vibes match up very well.
