The Komodo dragon, also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large reptile of the monitor lizard family Varanidae that is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang. It is the largest extant species of lizard, with the males growing to a maximum length of 3 m (9.8 ft) and weighing up to 150 kg (330 lb).
Lizard is the common name used for all squamate reptiles other than snakes, encompassing over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The grouping is paraphyletic as some lizards are more closely related to snakes than they are to other lizards. Lizards range in size from chameleons and geckos a few centimeters long to the 3-meter-long Komodo dragon.
Reign of Fire is a 2002 post-apocalyptic science fantasy film directed by Rob Bowman and starring Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Izabella Scorupco and Gerard Butler with the screenplay written by Matt Greenberg, Gregg Chabot, and Kevin Peterka.
Lake Placid is a 1999 American comedy horror film directed by Steve Miner and written by David E. Kelley. It is the first installment in the Lake Placid film series and stars Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, Brendan Gleeson, Oliver Platt, Betty White, Meredith Salenger, and Mariska Hargitay. In the film, a giant crocodile terrorizes the fictional location of Black Lake, Maine, while a dysfunctional group of police and scientists attempt to capture or kill the beast.
Komodo National Park is a national park in Indonesia located within the Lesser Sunda Islands in the border region between the provinces of East Nusa Tenggara and West Nusa Tenggara. The park includes the three larger islands Komodo, Padar and Rinca, and 26 smaller ones, with a total area of 1,733 km2. The national park was founded in 1980 to protect the Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard. Later it was dedicated to protecting other species, including marine species. In 1991 the national park was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Man and Biosphere Reserve. It is considered one of the world's 25 biodiversity hotspots.
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with reptile-like traits.
Kong: The Animated Series is an animated television series that follows King Kong, the title character based on the 1933 film of the same name. The series was a co-production between BKN International, Ellipsanime and M6, and premiered in France on the latter network on May 2, 2001.
Gojiro is the 1991 debut novel by former Esquire columnist Mark Jacobson. It reinterprets the Godzilla film series from the perspective of the daikaiju—not a fictional creature depicted on-screen via suitmation, but an irradiated varanid-turned B-movie star named Gojiro. Gojiro, a freak mutation with a cynical worldview, suffers the pain of solitude as well as several maladies experienced by entertainers, including drug abuse and suicidal tendencies. The story revolves around his adventures with human friend Komodo, a scientific genius scarred as a child by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, as they attempt to fulfill their "Triple Ring Promise" to bring about world peace. The odyssey takes them from their home on Radioactive Island—also home to several children, called Atoms, suffering from radiation sickness—to several locations in Hollywood and the Trinity site in New Mexico.
Warriors of Virtue is a 1997 martial arts fantasy film directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Ronny Yu in his American English-language directorial debut, written by Michael Vickerman and Hugh Kelley, and starring Angus Macfadyen, Mario Yedidia, and Marley Shelton. The film was an international co-production between the United States, China, Hong Kong, and Canada. The film was based on a series of characters created by the Chinese-American Law brothers, four siblings who worked as physicians and had no prior filmmaking experience. The story follows a young boy who stumbles into a mystical world based on the Tao Te Ching, where he meets the titular Warriors of Virtue—anthropomorphic kangaroos who wield the powers of Tao and battle an evil warlord. The Irish band Clannad provided the original song "Forces of Nature".
Jaws Unleashed is a 2006 action-adventure video game inspired by the 1975 film Jaws. It was developed by Appaloosa Interactive and published by Majesco Entertainment. This game features open world gameplay, with the player assuming control of a large great white shark and being able to roam freely throughout the water, eating other animals and humans, while destroying everything in its path. Jaws Unleashed was released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox and PlayStation 2.
Free Willy is an animated television series, inspired by the 1993 film of the same name. The television show was produced by Warner Bros. Television, Regency Enterprises, Canadian company Nelvana and French company Le Studio Canal+ for Warner Bros. Studios.
Komodo vs. Cobra, also referred to as KVC, is a 2005 American television film directed by Jim Wynorski. It is Wynorski's sequel to his 2004 film Curse of the Komodo.
Outlander is a 2008 action film written and directed by Howard McCain, starring Jim Caviezel, Sophia Myles, Jack Huston, John Hurt, and Ron Perlman. The plot is loosely based on the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, adapted to a science fiction backstory involving a spaceship crashing in Iron Age Norway. The film grossed US$7 million compared to a budget estimated at $47 million.
Avengers: The Initiative is a comic book series from Marvel Comics. Written by Dan Slott and Christos Gage with artwork initially by Stefano Caselli, Steve Uy and Harvey Tolibao, the series handles the aftermath of Marvel's "Civil War" storyline. A preview of the title was shown in Civil War: The Initiative.
Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison is the fifth and final installment in the best-selling Fablehaven series by Brandon Mull.
Last Chance to See is a wildlife documentary first broadcast on BBC Two in the United Kingdom during September and October 2009. The series is a follow-up of the 1989 radio series, also called Last Chance to See, in which Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine set out to find endangered animals. In this updated television version, produced for the BBC, Stephen Fry and Carwardine revisit the animals originally featured to see how they're getting on almost 20 years later.
The 7 Adventures of Sinbad is a 2010 American adventure film directed by Adam Silver and Ben Hayflick. As a mockbuster distributed by The Asylum, it attempts to capitalise on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Clash of the Titans.
The Ballarat Wildlife Park is a wildlife park in Ballarat, Victoria. Opened in February 1985, it is privately owned by founder Greg Parker and his wife, Julia Leonard. The 10-hectare park holds over 300 animals, including Australian animals—there are over 100 free-roaming kangaroos—and an extensive collection of reptiles. It was once well known for housing Patrick, the common wombat who was the oldest known marsupial in captivity when he died aged around 30 years old in 2017.
Curse of the Komodo is a 2004 American science fiction film directed by Jim Wynorski under the pseudonym Jay Andrews. On a isolated island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, genetically mutated Komodo dragons find themselves facing the prospect of a feast. Their main course consists of a team of scientists that has been ordered by the military to destroy all evidence of the secret experiments it has been conducting. Their dessert is served in the form of a group of robbers who arrive on the forsaken island. Unless the group manages to destroy the killer lizards, mankind is doomed. It was followed by Komodo vs. Cobra.
Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon is a 2013 Chinese action-adventure fantasy mystery film directed, produced, and co-written by Tsui Hark, and a prequel to Tsui's 2010 film Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame. Taiwanese-Canadian actor Mark Chao takes over from Andy Lau as a young Dee Renjie, while William Feng, Kenny Lin, Ian Kim, and Angelababy co-star alongside a returning Carina Lau from Mystery of the Phantom Flame, rounding up the ensemble cast. The film was shot in native 3D.
