Dinosaur: Blu-ray disc DVD Review

(Originally published May 19, 2000)

With a steep $200 million budget, $80 million of which went into the construction of a new state-of-the-art digital effects studio, Disney’s “Dinosaur” swings its beefy tail into theaters with one mean, ugly monkey on its back: Its script, which is a huge, carnivorous rip-off of Don Bluth’s 1988 animated film, “The Land Before Time.”

Just as in “Time,” “Dinosaur” follows a group of dinosaurs escaping predators and destruction for the promise of lush, green nesting grounds that will save their lives--if, of course, they don’t die before getting there. The situations might be different along the way, but the premise is brazenly the same.

Seemingly worse for Disney and its marketing department is the fact that “Dinosaur” comes a bit late in the dinosaur renaissance. Since 1993’s groundbreaking “Jurassic Park,” audiences have been deluged with digital dinos, most recently with 1997’s “The Lost World,” 1998’s “Godzilla,” and the current Discovery hit, “Walking with Dinosaurs.”

Is there room for another stomp around the cineplex?

If Uncle Walt has his way there is. Twelve years in the making, “Dinosaur” rises above its familiar plot and tardiness on the Cretaceous scene to mount a terrific spectacle of mind-blowing special effects that are simply awesome.

This is the best looking dinosaur movie ever, a film that boasts a breakthrough in the merging of digitally-enhanced, live-action backdrops to computer-generated images.

It’s often so breathtaking to watch unfold, and feels so real, parents of young, sensitive children should take note: This film may feature cute, cuddly dinosaurs and adorable lemurs that talk, but those gentle creatures are frequently put under attack by rampaging carnotaurs, blood-thirsty beasts that are so loud and terrifying, a few frightened children at my screening were quickly ushered out by their parents.

Older children, on the other hand, were delighted.

To the screenwriters’ credit, the film does pack sufficient punch, bite and roar to keep the action moving at a stirring pace, and it’s blissfully free of song and dance numbers. But unlike Disney’s other animated pics, it’s surprisingly humorless, instead focusing on the very humanlike morals the film’s “good” dinosaurs share.

So, will Disney earn back the hundreds of millions spent on “Dinosaur”? Probably, but with DreamWorks’ clay-animated “Chicken Run” opening on June 23, they’d better make their money fast. I’ve seen the hilarious “Chicken” and it tastes like box office gold.

Grade: B