Bud Brewster Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)
![](images/avatars/3.jpg)
Joined: 14 Dec 2013 Posts: 17154 Location: North Carolina
|
Posted: Thu Apr 04, 2024 1:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
The Beast of Hollow Mountain (1956) 2nd Concept
Pow wrote: | The cowboys for some reason enter Hollow Mountain.
The cave is incredibly large. Similar to the 3-million year old Hang Son Doong cave discovered in central Vietnam.
That cave is so enormous it has its own localized weather system and eco-system. Collapsed ceiling have allowed microscopic organisms to grow. It has rivers rushing throughout it.
So the Hollow Mountain cave will be just like Han Son Doong, maybe even larger! |
Mike, your story idea is so completely original that it differs significantly from both that lousy movie and my own attempt to modify it in many ways, even though I left other parts about the same.
But what really blew me away, Mike, was your suggestion about the cave which the characters discover which is similar to the one in Viet Nam ! Holy crap, that place is amazing! :shock;
The images of the Hang Son Doong cave I've posted below are incredible!
It's just like Sir Conan Doyle's plateau in The Lost World — but in reverse!!
Instead of being isolated from the surrounding area by sheer cliffs, it's isolated by its subterranean nature!
You're idea about setting the story in a cavern system like that one far surpasses the movie's Mexican environment. With that in mind, please allow me to suggest the following.
Instead of setting this story in the arid region of Mexico, why not place the adventure in Asia? It would start with the astounding discovery of an even bigger cavern than Hang Son Doong . . . and these caverns actually contain prehistoric creatures!
Furthermore, since these creatures have had 65 million years to evolve and adapt to their incredible underground world, we're perfectly free to invent radically different creatures — instead of simply trotting out all the usual dinosaurs we've seen for decades.
For example, what if we including something like this?
And remember, there's a great deal of water in the Hang Son Doong cave.
That means we could include quite a few aquatic life forms . . . like this guy!
Imagine a scene in which our intrepid explorers in this underground "Lost World" find themselves paddling across a crystal clear pool of water . . . while keeping a keen eye out for the monsters which might be below them!
As for why the dinosaurs stay isolated in these caves when it has so many areas open to the outside word — that problem is easily solved!
Having evolved in an environment which rarely gets direct sunlight, the dinosaurs avoid exposure to the most intense rays.
However, in all the cavern's areas which received indirect sunlight during most of the day, both they and the abundant plant life would be thriving.
In addition to this, the cavern's plant life has adapted as well. In fact, there are areas which flourish precisely because they rarely get direct sunlight!
Ironically, even in the areas which receive very little light all, the cave's flora proliferates!
In these low-light areas there are small-to-medium-sized creatures which thrive on these plants . . . simply because these animals are equally sensitive to the light!
There would, however, be creatures which actually ventured out of the caves to hunt at night, using openings like this one.
In fact . . . the most amazing creatures of this subterranean world are not the ones who remain hidden!
Some of the more evolved creatures would be capable of tolerating the sunlight around dawn and dusk to venture out and hunt for food in the surrounding region.
These animals would be able to enhance their diets and insure their own survival — as well as their dominance in the food chain!
Imagine a highly evolved animal similar to the one below — a creature like nothing the fossil record has ever shown us!
Wow, Mike! What if THIS guy was The Beasts of Hang Son Doong Mountain? He's the new Tyrannosaurus Rex — a "King Dinosaur" who possesses both higher intelligence and much better hands than his poor ancestor from long ago.
That's as far as I've gone with the concept your own comment inspire!
Please feel free to add your thoughts to this thread. That's exactly what launched me into the post I made above! ![Cool](images/smiles/icon_cool.gif) _________________ ____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958) |
|