Valley of the Dinosaurs: Journey to the Centre of Earth

***Valley of the Dinosaurs: Journey to the Centre of Earth*** is a film in the *Valley of the Dinosaurs* series based on Jules Verne's *Journey to the Centre of the Earth* and its 2008 film adaptation. It was released in 2015.

## Plot

A volcanic eruption from Iceland caused a plane boarded by Mrs. Pteranodon, Deltadromeus, Tuojiangosaurus, Ampelosaurus and Eustreptospondylus en route to Reykjavik to crash onto a mountain in the Faroe Islands. Surviving the crash, they meet Gastonia, a female dinosaur who lived nearby. Suddenly, a thunderstorm approaches and the dinosaurs hide in a cave in the mountain, where they set up camp. However, they realized that they are camping in a dormant volcano which was reactivated earlier by the thunderstorm, and the eruption sealed the cave's exit, trapping the dinosaurs.

The dinosaurs discover a route after blowing up a magnesium layer on the cave's floor, opening a gorge. They descend into the gorge to find a dark tunnel. They run through the collapsing tunnel, eventually reaching an abandoned mine cart. The dinosaurs ride the mine cart to a chamber filled with diamonds. The floor of the diamond chamber breaks due to the dinosaurs' combined weight, causing them to fall into a large sinkhole. During their descent, they see several waterfalls and named them the "Smartypants Falls" (hot water), "Pteranodon Falls" (cold water) and "Delta Falls" (youth water). The dinosaurs eventually land into a large lake. They make their way to the bank of the lake, but Gastonia is attacked by a Tanaconda (a *Tanystropheus*-anaconda hybrid), which Ampelosaurus kills.

They then encounter a bioluminescent bird, *Luminopteryx*, which led them to a passage. In the passage, the dinosaurs come across a mating pair of *Dilophospinus* (*Dilophosaurus*-*Spinosaurus* hybrids) before first stepping into the weird world of the center of the Earth. While exploring a primeval forest, they are attacked by a juvenile *Stegospinus* (a *Stegosaurus*-*Spinosaurus* hybrid), which chases them into a deep pit of bones. The dinosaurs attempt to escape the pit by building a bone ladder. The *Stegospinus* jumped onto the ladder, sending it and Ampelosaurus falling into the pit. The *Stegospinus* is about to devour Ampelosaurus, who was badly injured in the fall, until Gastonia jumped back-first into the pit, knocking down the *Stegospinus*. The *Stegospinus* is killed after its head is impaled on one of the bones. The pair then starts to rebuild the bone ladder. Meanwhile, a larger adult *Stegospinus* appears outside the pit. Tuojiangosaurus managed to tame it with a game of fetch, and uses it to help Ampelosaurus and Gastonia out of the pit.

As the dinosaurs follow the *Luminopteryx* deeper into the forest, they meet Cryolophosaurus, who lived in the center of the Earth for 45 years. Cryolophosaurus treats the party of their wounds, and the dinosaurs set up camp at his house inside the primeval forest. That night, the dinosaurs witness a pack of *Deinonycanis* (a *Deinonychus*-mammalian hybrid) hunting down and feasting on a *Pachysaurolophus* (a *Pachycephalosaurus*-*Parasaurolophus* hybrid). One of the *Deinonycanis* notices the dinosaurs and attacks the group, but it lands into the fireplace and burns to death.

The next morning after waking up, the dinosaurs see a large flock of *Ankyloranodon* (*Ankylosaurus*-*Pteranodon* hybrids) attacking a *Velocirapteryx* (a *Velociraptor*-*Archaeopteryx* hybrid). The dinosaurs distract the *Ankyloranodon* flock in an attempt to save the *Velocirapteryx*, which darted towards them. However, the raptor hybrid hit a tree which fell on it, killing it. The dinosaurs then cooked the *Velocirapteryx* for their breakfast before setting off.

The group later reaches a mountainside where they encounter a pack of *Paradeinonychus* (*Parasaurolophus*-*Deinonychus* hybrids), which are driven away by the rumbling footsteps of an incoming herd of *Amargospinus* (*Amargasaurus*-*Spinosaurus* hybrids). The *Paradeinonychus* also gave chase, targeting the group who are running with the herd. The *Amargospinus* herd eventually reaches a bend, where the herd and the *Paradeinonychus* pack plunge off a cliff. The group made it to safety at the edge of the cliff, but Ampelosaurus broke his tail in the fall.

Cryolophosaurus then tells the other dinosaurs that he has been secretly building something that would somehow get them back to the surface, and his workshop is in Cryo Island, an island across a vast sea which Cryolophosaurus named the Cryo Sea. They build a raft and begin crossing the underground ocean, but soon encounter a titanic battle between a *Tyrannosaurichthys* (a giant, *Protosphyraena*-like fish with sharp teeth and hard scales) and a *Gigantopleuron* (a giant, long-necked, *Calcarichelys*-like sea turtle with a steel-hard shell). The two giant sea creatures fought until both of them eventually die of blood loss. The sea became stormy during the battle, and the raft's sail becomes loose. Eustreptospondylus tries to hold on, but is blown away and separated from the rest of the group.

The group eventually reached Cryo Island, where they decide to take a rest. However, they are being watched and attacked by a group of *Tyrannonops* (*T. rex*-gorgonopsid hybrids). Eustreptospondylus, who follows the *Luminopteryx*, distracts the *Tyrannonops* pack before reuniting with the group. They then follow Cryolophosaurus across a magnetic rock bridge (which Cryolophosaurus named the "Bridge of Woe") into a bone-littered desert called the Desert of Despair, where they encounter the most ferocious alpha predator in the Center of the Earth: the *Ultimasaurus Rex*. Upon seeing the group, the superhybrid predator begins to chase after them until the dinosaurs jump into a hole which led to Cryolophosaurus' workshop. Luckily for them, Cryolophosaurus has completed his rocket-powered invention: the Turbo-Earthgine 9000. Eager to return to the surface, the dinosaurs get into it as Cryolophosaurus gives the Saturn V-sized flying machine a test drive. The rocket's engine fires, but the workshop was located in yet *another* volcano, which is about to erupt. Cryolophosaurus jumped into the rocket as it launches.

Outside, the *Ultimasaurus Rex* flies towards the rocket and attempts to break into it, disabling one of its engines in the process. Deltadromeus and Ampelosaurus, whose tail is healed again, go outside the rocket to repair the engine, fighting off the *Ultimasaurus Rex* in the process. Ampelosaurus burns one of the wings of the *Ultimasaurus* with the rocket engine fire, and the superhybrid is sent falling into the volcano's crater as it erupts, incinerating it when it lands in the molten lava below.

The rocket finally breaks out into the surface via Mount Vesuvius in Italy, where they land into the ruins of Pompeii. Overjoyed, the dinosaurs celebrate by using some of the diamonds gathered from the diamond chamber by Ampelosaurus to spend their vacation in Italy. Mrs. Pteranodon is planning to use a fraction of the diamonds to fund the Valley's development projects. Ampelosaurus revealed that a romantic relationship is blossoming between him and Gastonia. Eustreptospondylus also reveals that he has brought the *Luminopteryx* back from the center of the Earth to keep as a pet.

## Trivia

* As the film is adapted from a classical novel, it can be regarded as an installment of the *KB All-Stars Literature Remix* series.
* The idea of hybrid creatures inhabiting the Center of the Earth is inspired by *The Croods* (2013).
* In real life, the Faroe Islands were formed by volcanic eruptions, and had no active volcanoes on them.
* Ampelosaurus mentioned that he had survived an earlier plane crash en route to Palau.
* When Eustreptospondylus used the skeleton to communicate with Ampelosaurus, he uses a similar method to Alexander Graham Bell's Dead Ear Phonautograph.
* According to Gastonia, the diamond mine was closed in 1996.
* The juvenile *Stegospinus* was killed in a similar way as one of the *T. rex* from *Dinosaur Revolution*.
* The dinosaurs cooking the *Velocirapteryx* after it was killed by a fallen tree is based on a scene from *The Mysterious Island* (1961).
* The *Amargospinus* stampede scene is inspired by the sauropod stampede scene from the 2005 film, *King Kong*.
* Ampelosaurus' cell phone ringtone comes from the satellite phone from *Jurassic Park III*.
* The battle between the *Tyrannosaurichthys* and the *Gigantopleuron* is inspired by a scene in the original novel where a giant ichthyosaur battles a plesiosaur. In the novel, the ichthyosaur emerged victorious, but in the film, both the *Tyrannosaurichthys* and the *Gigantopleuron* die of blood loss.
* The encounter with the *Tyrannonops* in the film is based on the 1959 adaptation's encounter with a pack of *Dimetrodon*.

## Quotes

Ampelosaurus: WAH! Leave me alone! I'll give you my house in Slovenia! I'll also give you my car which is worth a million! And if you want, I'll give you my girlfriend!

Voice: I'm not a boy.

Ampelosaurus: (pauses) Fine. I will be your... Uh... wait. Would I choose you for being my wife?

Voice: Silence!!! Just kidding. (The speaker emerges from nearby bushes.)

Ampelosaurus: You must be my wife... to be.

Figure: It's not me, you silly. I'm not a killer girl. Instead, I'm a hot woman.

Ampelosaurus: Don't be silly. If you're hot, you would have been burning right now.

Figure: Not just hot in a sense, but SEXY.

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_

Ampelosaurus: (notices his food getting deeper into the lava) Oh no! I destroyed my food! Wait a second. Let me try it first. (bites into the food) Yum! It tastes like... like... uh... deep-fried burger and the steak tastes like barbecued steak.

\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_