Visionary Australian Director Luke Sparke, of Occupation and Bring Him To Me fame, has been tremendously busy with his latest project, Primitive War, based on the novel by Ethan Pettus, and starring Jeremy Piven (Entourage, Old School), Tricia Helfer (Battlestar Galactica, Lucifer), and more.

Set in 1968 during the Vietnam War, the plot follows a ragtag search and rescue team known as ‘Vulture Squad’ on a mission to locate a Green Beret platoon that has gone missing deep in the jungles of Vietnam. Despite being armed to the teeth in the belly of the beast, they weren’t expecting that beast to be a Mesozoic horror thought extinct…

In anticipation of Primitive War, Supanova sat down with Sparke to discuss his orchestrated dino-madness, including how this monstrous production started in the first place. “I have always been a massive dinosaur fan ever since I was a kid,” said Sparke. “Jurassic Park came out at an appropriate age for me, and it made a huge impact on my choice to go into the film industry to become a director.

“I came across a comic book cover on social media with a soldier fighting a feathered dinosaur. It sparked my interest, so I had to find out more about it. I got in touch with the author [Ethan Pettus], and I made it happen. That was back in 2021, and I have been working on Primitive War ever since,” he elaborated.

“On my first read through, I quickly identified the through line I would adapt; in my mind’s eye, I could see it. I knew which parts I would take from the book and which parts I would have to leave out due to the film’s runtime. It came together quite quickly,” he grinned confidently.

Sparke gave insight into the hard work and dedication it took to create his vision. “We used every trick in the book we could come up with. We used puppets for the scenes we shot in a studio environment. Most of the film was shot on location; we were climbing mountains and going into rivers, so we had people in mocap suits to interact with the cast. There were some scenes where we couldn’t use mocap, so they [the cast] had to rely on my direction and their imagination.

“The first dinosaur we created was the T-Rex; we got its look locked down early on. We all wanted to have input on the T-Rex because it is such an iconic creature. We used the skeleton structure from the National History Museum in New York and a nice, elongated T-Rex skull from the National History Museum in LA to form the basis of our T-Rex,” he explained.

Although the T-Rex is the undisputed king of the dinosaurs, the ferocious Utahraptor has captivated the internet and fans with its visually striking design, complete with feathers.

Sparke laughed, “Yes, they have become the mascot, especially Cyclops with the knife in his eye. My artist and some of the studios I was talking to said to me, ‘Don’t do feathers, they’re too hard!’ I was compelled to do it because it was part of the design in the comic book and novel; it’s something that makes us [Primitive War] different. They were the hardest to get right.”

The soldiers who fought in the Vietnam War bore the brunt, both physically and mentally. Sparke explained how he accurately and respectfully portrayed the war.

“We brought in one of the best military advisers to help me look over the script. He is a Vietnam veteran and has contributed to heaps of war films. He gave me great advice on how to structure the script in a militaristic way.

“I then brought over another military advisor whom I have known for a long time. He was on set working with the actors, making sure they were living the war, mentally. We needed that to be very realistic. This is not a parody or a satire, this is the Vietnam War, with the inclusion of dinosaurs,” he nodded.

It has been a big year for Sparke. From a room full of eager Supa-Fans at his Goldnova panel watching an exclusive teaser before everybody else, to overseas domination, Primitive War has been a wild ride, as he explained.

“The reception to this film has been insane, I didn’t expect it,” he exclaimed! “When the first teaser came out, it really blew up. Headlining San Diego Comic-Con at Ballroom 20 and walking onto the stage and seeing the room packed is an experience I will never forget. Everybody has a journey, and this is a culmination of my last 10 years of filmmaking. This film is my biggest and best one yet,” he smiled.

Sparke had this to say on his future projects, including the possibility of Primitive War sequels, “There’s a lot to explore, I’m looking forward to it. So, it’s up to fans to turn up so we can continue to do more. I have years of films I want to make here in Australia, and to go to Supanova to share them with my fans.”

You can win an exclusive Primitive War poster, one of only five signed by the cast during their appearance at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con by entering our Primitive War Competition here! (Closes Friday, 29 August).

Primitive War is in cinemas NOW, and you can meet Director Luke Sparke at Brisnova this November!