Exhumed: Emilia Clarke in "Triassic Attack" [2010]

by Joseph Perry and Mike Imboden

In their “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict” film reviews, Joseph and Mike normally give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. However, “Exhumed” will focus on the first (or very early) credits of established actors, giving their roles the GBV treatment. For this installment, it’s Emilia Clarke in Triassic Attack.

Intro

Before Emilia Clarke was the fierce Mother of Dragons, she was, well… running away from CGI dinosaurs in Triassic Attack (2010), a made-for-TV masterpiece (and by masterpiece, I mean a gloriously low-budget Syfy movie). If you ever wondered what Jurassic Park would look like if it had roughly $20 in special effects budget and a script seemingly written on a napkin, then congratulations—you've found your new favorite film.

The Details

Clarke plays Savannah Roundtree, the college-aged daughter of a Native American sheriff who somehow gets tangled up in a bizarre plot involving reanimated dinosaur fossils wreaking havoc on a small town.

Even in this early role, Clarke shows glimpses of the charm and charisma that would later make her a household name. She delivers her lines with conviction, even when the dialogue seems to be lifted from the “How to Survive a Dinosaur Attack” handbook. Her character mostly serves as the generic “college girl in distress,” which means lots of running, screaming, and looking appropriately shocked as digital dinosaurs munch on people. It’s not exactly Shakespeare, but hey, everyone has to start somewhere.

While Clarke does her best, the real stars of the show are the unconvincing special effects and the absurdity of it all.

The Verdict

Ultimately, Triassic Attack is a must-watch for Clarke fans who want to see her pre-Game of Thrones career. It’s a hilariously bad, yet strangely entertaining film, proving that even future queens of Westeros have to start somewhere—sometimes, that "somewhere" involves dodging skeleton dinosaurs on a Syfy budget.

Triassic Attack