SECAUCUS – Field Station: Dinosaurs is celebrating 100 Years of Mesozoic Movies with their first-ever family film festival devoted entirely to the legendary stars of the triassic, jurassic and cretaceous eras. The free festival runs for four nights, Aug. 12 to 15. All show times are 7 p.m.
The festival kicks off on Tuesday night with a silent double feature: William McKay’s cartoon classic Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) and Harry O. Hoyt’s groundbreaking Lost World (1925). Considered state-of-the-art in their day, both films have been deemed “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” by the Library of Congress.
King Kong swings into action on Wednesday night. One of the most iconic movies in the history of cinema, this 1933 masterpiece features stegosaurus, apatosaurus, pteranodon and, of course, T-rex.
Science meets camp and Jurassic Park meets Gumby in 1966’s One Million Years B.C. on Thursday night. Director Don Chaffey gets just about everything wrong, but Ray Harryhausen’s award-winning stop action animation brings the dinosaurs to life in magnificent Technicolor.
The festival closes on Saturday with Steven Spielberg’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) presented by The Town of Secaucus as part of its free summer movie series.
Mesozoic Movies are free and show time is 7 p.m. Gates will open at 6:45 p.m. Guests wishing to visit Field Station: Dinosaurs’ exhibits prior to the movie can buy special “Twilight Tickets” for $12. Twilight Tickets are good for entrance to the park after 5 p.m. and can be purchased at the Box Office at One Dinosaur Way in Secaucus. Seating for the movies is extremely limited.