Vietnam, 1968. A recon unit known as Vulture Squad is sent to an isolated jungle valley to uncover the fate of a missing Green Beret platoon. They soon discover they are not alone. A film by Luke Sparke, starring Ryan Kwanten, Tricia Helfer, Nick Wechsler, Aaron Glenane, Anthony Ingruber, Carlos Sanson Jr., Albert Mwangi, Adolphus Waylee, Henry Nixon, and Jeremy Piven.
PRIMITIVE WAR
In 1968 during the Vietnam War, a six-man Green Beret team “Snakebite” is deployed on a classified mission into a remote jungle valley. They are soon brutally attacked and nearly wiped out by mysterious predators. The survivors contact the base, reporting that the mission has failed with four men down, and requesting an emergency extraction from Site Delta. Moments later, an Utahraptor attacks and kills the two remaining soldiers.
Utahraptor is a genus of large carnivorous dinosaurs that lived during the Early Cretaceous period, about 139 to 135 million years ago. Its fossils have been found only in what is now the United States, particularly in Utah. It is the largest known member of the dromaeosaurid family, often called “raptors,” measuring about 6 to 7 meters long and weighing around 500 kilograms. Utahraptor had a heavily built, bipedal body with a distinctive large sickle-shaped claw on its second toe, which it used to hunt and dispatch prey.
Bishop (Henry Nixon) and Ibex (Marcus Johnson) arrive at a Vietnamese village after Major Wallace (Jake Ryan) alerts them to a truck loaded with Russian-marked barrels of radioactive waste. Bishop photographs the scene while Ibex scans the barrels with a Geiger counter.
A Geiger counter is an electronic instrument used to detect and measure ionizing radiation such as alpha, beta, and gamma rays. It works using a Geiger–Müller tube filled with inert gas, which briefly conducts electricity when radiation ionizes the gas inside. The counter then produces a measurable pulse or click for each detected particle.
Ibex then radios Colonel Jericho with his findings: 10 barrels bearing Russian markings register 3.46 on the counter, the driver shows early signs of radiation poisoning, and this is the fifth such truck they’ve found since beginning their investigation.
A radiation level of 3.46 microsieverts per hour (µSv/h) is considered above normal background radiation but is not immediately dangerous for short-term exposure. Normal background radiation is typically around 0.05 to 0.2 µSv/h. The annual dose limit for the general public is about 1 millisievert (mSv) per year. Exposure to 3.46 µSv/h for a prolonged period would lead to significant cumulative doses.
Meanwhile, a recon unit known as Vulture Squad infiltrates a Viet Cong prison camp on a rescue mission. Led by Sergeant First Class Ryan Baker (Ryan Kwanten) and his second-in-command Sergeant Xavier Wise (Adolphus Waylee), the team includes rookie radio operator Leon Verne (Carlos Sanson Jr.), former Marines Eli Taylor (Nick Wechsler) and Charlie Miller (Albert Mwangi), and snipers Gerald Keyes (Anthony Ingruber) and Logan Stovall. However, they soon discover that most of the prisoners have been killed, leaving only two survivors.
After completing the mission, Baker contacts the base requesting an air unit to evacuate the survivors. Moments later, two Hueys arrive. Baker is surprised when a soldier informs him there’s been a new order from Colonel Jericho to airlift the entire squad back to the base. Though frustrated, Baker complies.
The Huey, officially known as the Bell UH-1 Iroquois, is a versatile military helicopter developed by Bell Helicopter. It was first flown in 1956 and became widely known for its extensive use by the United States Army during the Vietnam War. It features a single turboshaft engine and can carry up to 14 troops or medical stretchers. It can be armed with machine guns or rocket pods for combat missions. Its rugged design, reliability, and multi-role capability made the Huey a workhorse during the Vietnam War and in subsequent conflicts. Variants and upgrades of the UH-1 continue to serve in many military forces worldwide. The iconic sound and rotor design of the Huey make it one of the most recognizable helicopters in history.
At the base, Colonel Jericho (Jeremy Piven) explains that three days ago a Green Beret team was sent to investigate heavy lift transports and construction bunkers, but contact was lost. Aerial reconnaissance is useless since the area is dense jungle. Vulture Squad receives new orders to locate the missing soldiers, identify them, and call it in. When pressed about what’s really out there, Colonel Jericho insists that everything else is classified.
Later that night, Vulture Squad is inserted into the valley by helicopter. As they search for the Green Berets, they find massive animal footprints and large feathers. They also recover a backpack containing a map marked “Research Station Four” and a notebook. The last page reads “We’re being hunted.” While following the tracks, the group is ambushed by a creature that drags Baker away. Baker fights back, firing his weapon at the creature and forcing it to retreat.
Meanwhile, a Soviet team consisting of Aleksandr (John Reynolds), Tolstoy (Ryan Panizza), Nikita (Ben Corlett), Sergei (M.J. Kokolis), and Vietnamese guerrilla fighter Con Nhen (Ana Thu Nguyen) hears the Americans’ gunfire. Tolstoy states that Borodin’s orders are to track the Americans and only engage if they approach one of their facilities. He then asks Con Nhen to lead the way.
While moving through the forest, Aleksandr is ambushed and killed by an Utahraptor. The team realizes Aleksandr has vanished and finds his rifle covered in blood. They follow the blood trail and discover his mutilated corpse. Believing the Americans are responsible, Nikita vows to hunt them down and kill them all.
Following the tracks, Vulture Squad comes across a hole in the ground. Baker sends Keyes inside to scout it out. Moments later, Keyes emerges and reports that the tunnel runs deep and likely connects to an exit on the other side. He believes they’re on the right trail. Baker orders the squad into the tunnel. Halfway through the tunnel, they discover the bodies of the missing Green Beret soldiers. Wounds on the corpses indicate an attack by unknown predators. Without warning, the squad is ambushed by a pack of aggressive Deinonychus. The violent attack in the confined space forces them to split up as they fight for survival.
Deinonychus is a genus of carnivorous dromaeosaurid theropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Cretaceous period, around 115 to 108 million years ago. It was smaller than Utahraptor, measuring about 3 to 3.3 meters in length and weighing approximately 80 to 100 kilograms. Deinonychus had distinctive large, sickle-shaped claws on its second toes, used for slashing and disemboweling prey. It was agile with long legs, a flexible neck, and a stiff tail for balance. It is believed to have been a fast, intelligent predator, possibly hunting in packs and covered in feathers.
After getting separated from the squad in the tunnel, Leon and Baker encounter a sleeping Tyrannosaurus rex and its three offspring. The young dinosaurs are drawn to their presence, waking the mother. The T. rex charges after Baker and Leon as they flee through the jungle.
They eventually reach what Baker initially thought was a river, only to realize it’s a waterfall. With the T. rex closing in, they have no choice but to leap into the water below and barely escape. Soviet paleontologist Sofia Wagner (Tricia Helfer) pulls them from the river and brings them to her abandoned research station nearby.
Sofia reveals that she and her late husband, a nuclear research scientist, were sent here under orders from USSR General Grigory Borodin (Jeremy Lindsay Taylor) to conduct what was supposed to be pure research. Upon arrival, they learned Borodin was actually testing a particle collider that he believed could help the Soviet Union crush America. The experiment went wrong, opening a wormhole to the distant past that allowed dinosaurs to cross over.
After the creatures ravaged the facility and killed everyone, including her husband, Borodin refused to give up. He relocated and is now rebuilding another collider site further upriver in the mountains. She warns that if Borodin succeeds, there will be nothing left for them to go home to.
Directed by Australian filmmaker Luke Sparke from a screenplay he co-wrote with author Ethan Pettus, PRIMITIVE WAR is an action sci-fi thriller based on Pettus’s 2017 novel.
Primitive War takes place during the Vietnam War. The story follows Vulture Squad, a team of American soldiers deployed to a remote jungle valley in Vietnam in 1968 to find out what happened to a missing platoon. What they discover is that the valley is crawling with dinosaurs, brought back from extinction through a covert experiment that went horribly wrong.
For the most part, the film is surprisingly entertaining if you’re into dinosaurs, with some scenes that are genuinely spectacular. Unlike the JURASSIC WORLD franchise, which keeps inventing new hybrids that look more like monsters, PRIMITIVE WAR focuses on building a believable world around these prehistoric creatures. The science fiction premise about an accident creating a wormhole to a hundred million years in the past also works quite well.
The dinosaurs look really good, though there are moments where they appear less realistic. I mean, you don’t need to cram as many dinosaurs as possible into a single movie if they don’t all look authentic.
While the story is engaging, editing may not be the filmmaker’s strongest suit, as he produced, directed, wrote, and edited everything himself. A tighter cut, perhaps 90 to 100 minutes instead of 126, would have served the movie better. Some sequences feel unnecessary, padding the runtime rather than raising tension or advancing the plot. A few even play out like music videos.
PRIMITIVE WAR was theatrically released in Australia on 21 August 2025, by Rialto Distribution. The film had a limited theatrically release in the United States on the same day, by Fathom Entertainment.
