Primitive War follows Sgt. Ryan Baker as he leads the Vulture Squad through a remote valley in Vietnam in 1968. The soldiers are sent to find a missing Green Beret unit, but they meet packs of dinosaurs released by a secret Soviet experiment. The squad must cross the jungle, survive attacks, and reach the research base before the creatures spread beyond the valley. The film uses loud gunfire, bloody attacks, military banter, and a cheesy B-movie tone.
The film gives its main attention to survival, team loyalty, war trauma, drug addiction, and the danger of science without control. Sofia Wagner is a Russian dinosaur scientist who explains the experiment and joins the soldiers, but Baker and the mostly male squad remain the main focus. Sofia is shown as a capable survivor, while her gender stays tied to the character and plot rather than an empowerment campaign. The main source change turns the novel's male scientist Andrei Wynn into Sofia, and the film keeps the story centered on the mission and dinosaur threat.
Community feedback
Was our 1% Woke rating accurate?
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Primitive War.
Woke representation / casting
Not present. The Vulture Squad is mostly male, and its mix of Black, white, and Latino soldiers fits a US unit in 1968. Sofia is a Russian dinosaur scientist whose role serves the experiment plot, not an identity message.
0%
Woke political dialogue
Not present. The soldiers talk about orders, combat, fear, and the dinosaur threat. The Vietnam setting and period songs do not become modern activist speeches.
0%
Identity-driven story themes
Not present. The story centers on survival, war trauma, drug withdrawal, team loyalty, and uncontrolled science. Sofia's struggles come from isolation and the failed experiment, not from a group identity.
0%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Not present. The film shows a secret military mission, a Soviet science project, and the cost of combat. It does not turn those events into a modern critique of patriarchy, capitalism, colonial guilt, Christianity, or Western institutions.
0%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The film changes the novel's male Russian scientist Andrei Wynn into Sofia Wagner. Available interviews present the movie as a shortened, mostly faithful adaptation, with no clear diversity or identity purpose given for the gender change.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Not present. The separate X check found no meaningful anti-woke complaints about Primitive War. Web and Reddit discussion focused on dinosaurs, gore, pacing, effects, and adaptation choices. A few posts called the film non-woke or debated its diversity, but they did not claim that the film pushes woke content.
0%
Creator track record context
The cached summaries give Luke Sparke, Wade Muller, Ethan Pettus, Alex Becconsall, and Carmel Imrie 4/100, and Carly Sparke 0/100. Their known work centers on action, science fiction, horror, and film production. The title interviews discuss dinosaurs, military detail, practical jungle sets, and adaptation faithfulness. No specific activist or identity-driven work is tied to this film.
4%
Production
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