I can't believe anybody thought this would be a good idea. I find it hard to believe that when this was pitched to those in command, not one person stood up and said "Hold on a sec, this idea is total crud."
But it happened. And dear Christ don't you wish it hadn't. Lets start with a basic plot outline. Two brothers, who don't get along, go out flying a light aircraft for no apparent reason. All of a sudden they get caught up in a tropical storm. Their plane crashes into the sea, the brothers escape, but lose track of their Dad. Low and behold they are washed up on a mysterious island, inhabited by...guess what! Dinosaurs! Yes it seems that on this island, humans and dinosaurs live in relative peace. And get this! Some of the dinosaurs can talk!
If you read the entirity of that last paragraph, then you're either a) a simpleton, b) 'genuinely intruiged' or c) as bored as I am.
Let's move on to the cast shall we? You are never likely to see a greater number of career suicides in a single production. Lee Evans, for example, great comedian, some good moments in film (Mouse Hunt, There's Something About Mary) and then this. Granted, you never actually see him on screen, but the very fact that he lent his voice to the Jar-Jar Binks of the dinosaur world (the loathsome Zippo) is a crime against British comedy. And David Thewlis. What is he doing? Having given a performance in 'Seven Years in Tibet' that was good enough to get him banned from entering The People's Republic of China for the rest of his life, he then decides to lend his considerable acting talent to this worthless piece of trash. Why God? Why?
Ahem. Anyway. Where was I? Ah yes. The special effects. Now in some places, they are comendable. Some of the more sedate sequences give real feeling to the creatures, and the flying beasts are excellently animated. The character of Zippo, no matter how much you'd like to set him on fire, is superbly animated and interacts with his human counterparts more or less perfectly. Sadly that's about as far as the positives go. The action packed, T-Rex bashing set-pieces are diabolical. When a human is on the screen with fast moving action taking place around them, they are always surrounded by a faint but noticeable outline, where the blue screen hasn't quite adjusted. Come on people! Jurassic Park did this perfectly years ago, with genuinely scary dinosaurs and believable action scenes. This is just shoddy.
In conclusion then, this is bad, even by TV-movie standards. It might appeal to the very young, but you get the feeling that that wasn't the demographic the producers were aiming for. The actors look vaguley embarassed by the whole thing and the story chugs along like a written off motor car.
As far as entertainment goes, this isn't even tenth rate.
But it happened. And dear Christ don't you wish it hadn't. Lets start with a basic plot outline. Two brothers, who don't get along, go out flying a light aircraft for no apparent reason. All of a sudden they get caught up in a tropical storm. Their plane crashes into the sea, the brothers escape, but lose track of their Dad. Low and behold they are washed up on a mysterious island, inhabited by...guess what! Dinosaurs! Yes it seems that on this island, humans and dinosaurs live in relative peace. And get this! Some of the dinosaurs can talk!
If you read the entirity of that last paragraph, then you're either a) a simpleton, b) 'genuinely intruiged' or c) as bored as I am.
Let's move on to the cast shall we? You are never likely to see a greater number of career suicides in a single production. Lee Evans, for example, great comedian, some good moments in film (Mouse Hunt, There's Something About Mary) and then this. Granted, you never actually see him on screen, but the very fact that he lent his voice to the Jar-Jar Binks of the dinosaur world (the loathsome Zippo) is a crime against British comedy. And David Thewlis. What is he doing? Having given a performance in 'Seven Years in Tibet' that was good enough to get him banned from entering The People's Republic of China for the rest of his life, he then decides to lend his considerable acting talent to this worthless piece of trash. Why God? Why?
Ahem. Anyway. Where was I? Ah yes. The special effects. Now in some places, they are comendable. Some of the more sedate sequences give real feeling to the creatures, and the flying beasts are excellently animated. The character of Zippo, no matter how much you'd like to set him on fire, is superbly animated and interacts with his human counterparts more or less perfectly. Sadly that's about as far as the positives go. The action packed, T-Rex bashing set-pieces are diabolical. When a human is on the screen with fast moving action taking place around them, they are always surrounded by a faint but noticeable outline, where the blue screen hasn't quite adjusted. Come on people! Jurassic Park did this perfectly years ago, with genuinely scary dinosaurs and believable action scenes. This is just shoddy.
In conclusion then, this is bad, even by TV-movie standards. It might appeal to the very young, but you get the feeling that that wasn't the demographic the producers were aiming for. The actors look vaguley embarassed by the whole thing and the story chugs along like a written off motor car.
As far as entertainment goes, this isn't even tenth rate.
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