''Aztec Rex'', also known as ''Tyrannosaurus Azteca'', is a film directed by

Brian Trenchard-Smith Brian Medwin Trenchard-Smith (born 1946) is an English-Australian filmmaker and author, known for his idiosyncratic and satirical low-budget genre films. His filmography covers action, science fiction, martial arts, dystopian fiction, comedy, w ...

and starring

Ian Ziering Ian Andrew Ziering (; born March 30, 1964) is an American actor best known for his role as Steve Sanders on the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', which he played from 1990 to 2000. He is also the voice of Vinnie on ''Biker Mice from M ...

. The film debuted on the

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broa ...

channel

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

in 2008. The film was filmed largely on location at

Kualoa Ranch Kualoa is a private nature reserve and working cattle ranch, as well as a popular tourist attraction and filming location on the windward coast of Oahu in Hawaii. It is about from Honolulu, and from Haleiwa. The ranch consists of 3 valleys: ...

on the island of

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Plot

Taking place in 1521 on the coast of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, a group of

Aztecs The Aztecs () were a Mesoamerican culture that flourished in central Mexico in the post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those g ...

worships and makes sacrifices to a pair of living

Tyrannosaurus rex ''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosaurus'' live ...

. A group of

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...

es led by

Hernán Cortés Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro Altamirano, 1st Marquess of the Valley of Oaxaca (; ; 1485 – December 2, 1547) was a Spanish ''conquistador'' who led an expedition that caused the fall of the Aztec Empire and brought large portions of w ...

later arrive on the location and venture into the forest to make camp. One of the Tyrannosaurs crosses the path of one of the conquistadores and devours Cortés's horse. His fellow conquistadores do not believe his story and continue to venture through the dense forest. An Aztec who is not aware of the Tyrannosaur is eaten, while another witnesses the event with an expression of deep horror and surprise. Later, the conquistadores try to kill the tribe of Aztecs, but are put to sleep by a hidden Aztec with a tube of tranquilizer darts. Hernán Cortés surrenders and demands a truce, but realizes they cannot understand him. He murmurs to himself that they are savages, not realizing the chief can understand Spanish, and is knocked out. Once he regains consciousness, he meets a Spanish-speaking female Aztec. She tells him the Aztecs call the Tyrannosaurs "Thunder Lizards". Later, Hernán Cortés is offered up as a sacrifice, but is freed by his new friend, Gria. It is revealed that of Hernán's fault, the female, who was the chief's daughter, was consumed by one of the Tyrannosaurs. The chief becomes enraged, but he does not know that his daughter Ayacoatl is actually alive and it was her friend who was eaten in her place. The chief orders a sacrifice of all the conquistadores, but his mind changes when his daughter returns. The daughter's marriage is postponed when a Tyrannosaur kills another Aztec girl. The conquistadores set out on a mission to kill the Tyrannosaurs with cannons and muskets. They succeed in killing the male at the loss of one of their companions. At night Cortez and his soldiers rob the temple of gold and try to escape to the coast. They leave lieutenant Rios and sergeant Mendoza to the mercy of the Aztecs as they had become too friendly with them. In their escape to the coast, all but Cortes are brutally slaughtered by the female Tyrannosaurus. Sergeant Mendoza is mortally wounded by the Tyrannosaurus and dies before his devastated comrades. Rios and shaman Xocozin set out to try to kill the animal, but Rios has been secretly drugged by Xocozin who tries to kill him. Xocozin leaves Rios to his fate and heads to the village where he is confronted by the Chief who found out his betrayal. Xocozin and the Chief fight with the latter being mortally wounded. Eventually Rios is found by Ayacoatl and Fra Gria who marries them at their request, the Chief (who witnesses) gives blessing to the union before passing away in peace. At the altar Xocozin confronts the survivors and is fatally wounded by Rios after a fierce fight. Ayacoatl then cuts out Xovozin's heart to use as bait for the female Tyrannosaurus who then is killed in a gunpowder explosion. Fra Gria and Cortes are picked up by a Spanish ship, the latter being warned by Rios not to return to the valley; which Cortes never did when he conquered the

Aztec Empire The Aztec Empire or the Triple Alliance ( nci, Ēxcān Tlahtōlōyān, Help:IPA/Nahuatl, �jéːʃkaːn̥ t͡ɬaʔtoːˈlóːjaːn̥ was an alliance of three Nahua peoples, Nahua altepetl, city-states: , , and . These three city-states ruled ...

. Fra Gia returned to Spain, became a saint and the inventor of

Sangria Sangria (, es, sangría , pt, sangria ) is an alcoholic beverage originating in Spain and Portugal. Under EU regulations only those two Iberian nations can label their product as Sangria; similar products from different regions are differ ...

. Ayacoatl and Rios become rulers of the tribe who ended the sacrifice rite.

Cast

* Jack McGee as Fra Gria *

Dichen Lachman Dichen Lachman (; born 22 February 1982) is an Australian actress. She earned recognition starring as Katya Kinski in the soap opera '' Neighbours'' (2005–2007) and as Sierra in Joss Whedon's science fiction drama series ''Dollhouse'' (2009� ...

as Ayacoatl *

Marco Sanchez Marco Sanchez is an American actor, producer, and writer. Life and career Sanchez studied theater throughout junior high and high school and graduated from the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television in 1992. His television work includes ...

as Rios *

Kalani Queypo Kalani Queypo (born September 6, 1986) is an American actor best known for his role as Chacrow on '' Jamestown'' and Klah Jackson on '' Fear the Walking Dead''. Biography Kalani Queypo claimed that he grew up being "artistic". His family were dan ...

as Xocozin * William Snow as Mendoza * Shawn Lathrop as Alvarado

References

External links

*
Fangoria article

''Fantasy Magazine'' Review

Review
{{Brian Trenchard-Smith 2008 fantasy films 2008 television films 2008 films Aztecs in fiction Films about dinosaurs Films set in Mexico Films about conquistadors Syfy original films Cultural depictions of Hernán Cortés Films set in the 1520s Films directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith 2000s English-language films 2000s American films