Cowgirls vs. Pterodactyls (2021) User Reviews

So bad it is fun to watch...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 6 February 2021]

Right, well with a title such as "Cowgirls vs. Pterodactyls", then you pretty much know beforehand what you are getting yourself into here. And chances are that this movie will either be downright terrible and unwatchable, or it might actually just be so bad and cheesy that it turns out to be fun to watch.

And luckily it was the latter. Yeah, "Cowgirls vs. Pterodactyls" is a bad movie, no doubt about it. I mean, just look at the storyline and script; it is so far fetches that it makes absolutely no sense. But the movie manages to be so corny and cheesy that it was actually fun to watch.

Seriously, who comes up with ideas such as "Cowgirls vs. Pterodactyls"? Well, in this case, writer and director Joshua Kennedy did.

The special effects in this 2021 movie are bad, very, very bad. Trust me. But it is part of what makes it fun to watch a movie such as this. It is just beyond me that special effects of that magnitude still manage to get to see the light of day in this age. "Cowgirls vs. Pterodactyls" makes use of some horrible outdated special effects, but you can't help but laugh at the pterodactyls whenever you see them on the screen, given their horrible animation and stop motion jerky movements.

The acting in "Cowgirls vs. Pterodactyls" was as to be expected for a movie of this caliber. So you know what you are getting here. Yup, this is not a Shakespearian display of thespian skills and art.

"Cowgirls vs. Pterodactyls" is a campy movie for a particular audience that enjoy these types of bad horrible B-movies. So if you sit down to watch writer and director Joshua Kennedy's movie with the intention of seeing a full-fledged serious movie, then you'll be sorely disappointed.

My rating of "Cowgirls vs. Pterodactyls" lands on a less than mediocre four out of ten stars. This was by no means a grand piece of cinematic history.

Stop motion dinosaur fun

[Leofwine_draca · 3/10 · 1 May 2021]

A cheap and cheerful indie and throwback to old classics like THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN. Hammer starlet Martine Beswick supplies some narration. For an indie, this is a higher grade quality than many; at least they've tried with the costumes and locations, even if they aren't much cop. The dialogue is trite and the performances poor, but I award an extra star for the stop motion dinosaur.

Just be in the right mood

[Snootz · 5/10 · 9 February 2021]

One doesn't go into a film titled "Cowgirls vs Pterodactyls" and expect cerebral fiction. If you're in the right mood., this is one of those "so bad it's fun" films. In places it moves slower than a constipated snail, but other than that it's a romp.

First thing to realize: this is intentional schlock. It's not an "Asylum bad" film... this is intentional camp and absurdity. To mention just a few points that happen within in the first 5 minutes of the movie:

* Pre-credit rubber pterodactyl props * Cracking whip and horse whinys in the theme soundtrack * Narrarator: "They were indeed pterodactyls... creatures, that no MAN could stop..." * Nice opening credit landscapes with ridiculously large lettering. * Narrarator: "Our story begins on a dark, and stormy night." * A cowboy is smoking a FILTERED cigarette * Many of the guns are obvious toys. This had to be intentional, because real black powder pistols aren't expensive. * They actually used stop-animation along with paper mache puppet heads rather than CGI

Best line in the movie: "Yaaay horsies!"

I didn't go in taking this movie seriously, and as a result somewhat enjoyed the terrible directing, hammy acting and ludicrous script. I actually chuckled at a few of the lines and comic bits-- which says something of itself.

This isn't a "bad" movie. It's a goofy movie; there's a major difference. If not for the current pandemic I would actually put this on my "watch with friends and have a good laugh" list. They'll either enjoy it with you or question your sanity. : )

Only ione reason to waste time on this flick

[charlesadamek · 1/10 · 10 June 2021]

Let's see. Wooden amateurish acting that is embarrassing to watch. Stilted dialog. And to call it a story line is as generous as the 2.5 star rating. Cast must have had a large family packing the IMBD site.

BUT, the use of stop action is worth looking at. In the era of CGI and so forth, this throwback technology is hardly ever employed anymore. So, the one reason to watch is the stop action special effects. Fast forward through the rest of this dreck, but enjoy the special effects effort,

I couldn't stop laughing

[phoenixinvictus · 6 February 2021]

To rate this movie would be unfair because I haven't seen something this bad since Sharknado. The props are so bad that the gun is obviously a kid's toy. A girl with a gun is an age old formula indeed but this is ridiculous. I suppose that the world needs a bit of the absurd to remind us not to take life so seriously all of the time. Who knows maybe it might get a sequel made.

Imbecilic and boreing.

[Areles · 1/10 · 8 February 2022]

Lets just call "Cowgirls vs. Pterodactyls" what it is.

A $3000.00 home movie. Some kids are seriously spoiled!

A woman sees her husband killed by a group of "pteranodons", and unable to get the local Sheriff to help her, goes out on her own to destroy the euphonious beasts. Gathering together a group of misfits, and a female gunslinger, they do battle with the stop-motion creatures. There are faux moments of female empowerment that simply grate in their naivety.

Direction is limited to extended closeup of people mincing and rolling their eyes, performances are less believable than anything Edward D. Wood and Dolores Fuller attempted.

While there are some stop-motion animated creatures, they are less credible than a hand puppet (which is also used). Effects are amateurish, performances are are not even phoned in, and the dialogue is trite and juvenile.

This is simply a very bad film.

But I guess when your goal is to make a bad film, Success is it's own justification. But then, so is navel gazing.

Yeah, no

[naughty_isis · 1/10 · 24 April 2021]

Don't bother. The special effects are truly dreadful but they are stellar in comparison to the script.

Stupid is as stupid does ;)

[misamer · 8/10 · 8 February 2021]

This is a "Gotta Watch" for all those who slow down to look at the car wreck. But To Know the very good ....., you must know the very bad. To Be exposed to this Virus of a movie , depending on how Healthy your Brain is! You will probably survive this adventure into La La Land of just plain silly fun reminding all.......... to just have fun once in a while. Ed Wood Would be proud!

Missam

A generally fun and enjoyable cheesy creature feature

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 18 October 2021]

Living in the Old West, a woman discovers that a series of disappearances and attacks are caused by a breed of pterodactyls running wild in the community, and after failing to find male support gathers a posse of women to track down and kill the creatures to retrieve their kidnapped partners and stop them from spreading.

On the whole, this one was quite cheesy and fun overall. One of the better elements present here is the incredibly fun setup that gets things going. Making their existence known from the very beginning, there's a lot to like here involving the dinosaurs interrupting the daily lives of the other citizens around the town. From the married couple trying to keep their marriage going with some sexual spice, the incompetent sheriff looking for the escaped convict, and the gunslinger getting involved in the traveling prostitute group that eventually brings them all together in the quest to recover her missing husband, the early setup on display here gives the film quite a lot to like as the seemingly disparate storylines here actually come into a cohesive whole. This allows the film to feature a lot of fun creature attacks which is all cheesy fun. The first attack on the jailhouse where the creature sets fire to the building looking for food which sets the outlaw free gives this a great start, while the grabbing of the husband which sets everything off is a goofy enough sequence as it takes him away. The big confrontation with the creatures, where the entire group of girls encounters the dinosaurs flying around and attacking serves as a highlight sequence that's just cheesy enough to come off as a series of encounters full of goofy tactics to fight them off that's quite enjoyable. The explosive finale, where they battle the creatures in their cave lair, contains all the expected over-the-top elements expected in such a wild finale and really works nicely to give this some likable positives. There isn't much to dislike here but there are some flaws featured here. The biggest issue here is the final half where the film pulls off an incredibly bone-headed happy ending that doesn't mesh with anything that's come previously. The idea of killing off the majority of the group in one fell swoop without being done by the creatures is bad enough and feels like a cheat in and of itself yet to turn it around even more so that is completely unnecessary when this finale comes into play. Providing a happy ending that turns everything around and erasing what happened is a real cheat which isn't all that much fun. The other flaw present here is the utterly goofy effects done for the creatures, being either puppets or stop-motion which blend together well but look obvious that they've created in these manners. These are the films' only real issues.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

File under "why not?"

[I_Ailurophile · 8/10 · 13 February 2022]

The title alone says so much, but the first 3-4 minutes tell us everything we need to know about 'Cowgirls vs. Pterodactyls.' We get our first peek at the flying reptiles, and as subpar Ray Harryhausen-style creations, they neatly fit with the low budget nature of the production that includes bare-faced, unembellished cinematography that's nearly on the level of "home video." Heavy use of still images are accompanied by Martine Beswick's (!) ham-handed narration to provide exposition, and the very first scenes to greet us, like all to follow, are characterized by dialogue, costume design, filming locations and set design, and acting that all generally meet the bare minimum requirements to be called "serviceable" (and scarcely deign to exceed that base level). Transitions and otherwise editing are curt and brusque, including where the pterodactyls are inserted into scenes, and sometimes painted over with very modest visual effects to distract from the forcefulness.

In all fairness, however - none of this matters. Because as the title also portends, 'Cowgirls vs. Pterodactyls' is intended and built, truly, for only one thing. In his direction and certainly in his screenplay, Joshua Kennedy wants naught but to entertain. To be sure, one must be prepared to accept direly meager production values to be able to appreciate this. However, so long as you can, this is actually more enjoyable than I expected. The performances that the assembled actors turn in are decidedly over the top, leaning into the low-grade flavor of the feature, yet even within that slant all demonstrate some small measure of nuance and personality that I welcome. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I genuinely like the cast and their contributions here, especially Madelyn Wiley, Haley Zega, and Carmen Vienhage in the primary roles, and I would like to see what they're capable of in a film with more duly expansive writing. At all times the special effects can best be described as "shoestring," and all but painfully overt - and honestly, that goes as well for the music, too - but nor is there any pretense otherwise.

Characters are ostensibly given different backgrounds, motivations, and personalities, but this isn't the type of picture where these are of major importance. Dialogue is surprisingly filled with cheeky humor that's more fun than I could have anticipated, and the cast sell the delivery of their lines with aplomb, including the application of some referential humor and anachronisms. That same tongue-in-cheek bent is echoed in the narrative, unquestionably silly but complete and mostly coherent, while also marked with emphatic incongruities; in the writing and realization of scenes, preposterous but varied, and well considered as they provide a good time; and in some specific shots that Kennedy arranges that wink as they mimic big studio westerns. 'Cowgirls vs. Pterodactyls' is at once terribly inauthentic - and wonderfully sincere in its ludicrous bombast. I'm not really sure why I like this as much as I do, but sometimes it's the most blithering nonsense that sparks the imagination, and we're at a loss to totally account for our reasoning.

Even at only 73 minutes, the feature is arguably a tad longer than it needs to be. A couple scenes are allowed to linger just a bit too much, and the humor isn't quite sufficient to compensate for the indulgence. Above all, it's necessary to highlight once again how very, very low-budget this is - any viewer who can't abide the deep inelegance of a picture that rarely rises above bottom tier production design should immediately point their browser elsewhere. The nearest point of comparison I can draw is 'Velocipastor,' yet even that is a tour de force by comparison. And still, for all the possible weaknesses, shortcomings, and faults, I was consistently amused. There is a simple charm and earnestness to a film that is conjured and made on a lark, that everyone involved obviously had a blast making, and that cordially invites all comers to parlay with the absurdity it represents. I understand how this isn't going to be for everyone - and also can't help but wonder if those who speak most ill of it have watched the same movie I have. Against all odds, the purely daft gaiety of this lightly funded romp is endearing and satisfying: though I'm unsure who I'd recommend it to - I, for one, find 'Cowgirls vs. Pterodactyls' to be to my liking, a frivolous bit of movie-making that's a fine way to whittle away a small bit of time. What more is there to say?

Take it for what it's worth

[pavelhobbit · 7/10 · 18 June 2022]

This is not Jurassic Park. This is not a great film. It is however, a fun film. If you go in to it with the right attitude you might enjoy it. Sometimes that's all I want.

Joshua Kennedy is Ed Wood Reincarnated

[wwalt-44656 · 8/10 · 4 March 2021]

Ed Wood would be proud of this film. Its so tongue-in-cheek bad that its great. The film score and that map (spoiler alert) are actually quit good. A bit like "Brisco County, Jr." if anyone remembers that series, though this film is not nearly as well produced.

A fun tribute to those old Saturday afternoon matinee!

[nevets-12079 · 9/10 · 15 March 2021]

This micro budget movie is a lot of fun! Joshua Kennedy did a fast paced movie that is part western, and part monster movie. The movie has a lot of charm, and will bring a smile to your face. The score by Reber Clark really augments the movie, and is joy to listen to on its own. If you like B-Movies of yesteryear, than you should give it a try!

This movie is glorious.

[autumncmcmahon · 10/10 · 5 March 2021]

This movie is great. I came here expecting exactly what I got. 10 out of 10. Would watch again.

An absolutely wonderful film

[lilliejpriestley · 10/10 · 5 May 2021]

It is exceptional I love it I can't remember the last time I saw such a cinematic masterpieces the baby pteradactyls I want merch. So so good. Absolutely in love. A second would be unwarranted because the first went above and beyond.

Worth the watch for all aficionados of fine cinema

[matthew-23014 · 10/10 · 2 May 2021]

Any time there's stop-motion you know it's going to be good. This movie features the story of 2 wide-eyed innocents who meet their hero who helps them grow up and they help her earn redemption. Well plotted and paced, with an outstanding performance by Haley Zega, but the true standout star of this movie is the special effects department. Everything from the stop-motion pterodactyls to the dynamite sticks obviously made from paper towel tubes to one shot where they stab the puppet but for some reason they stuck together separate shots of the sword and puppet, every single frame of this movie is truly top notch.

NOT BAD

[EskimoChain · 10/10 · 28 April 2021]

I WAS WATCHING THIS FILM WHILE I WAS SEARCHING GOOGLE TO FIND A WIFE, AND I FOUND IT PRETTY KEWL FOR THE FILMS INCLUDED ON AMAZON PRIME KISS KISS.