Dinotopia

Dinotopia is a Visual Spectacular!

Though the mini-series is corny in areas, it the good type of corny...not that crappy 'we're the best' Hollywood corny. It's a movie that's not afraid to admit that it's corny or that some of it's acting isn't the greatest at times. On the upside the visual effects are amazing. If you watch the mini-series and think that you are looking at a painting/drawing style it's really quite breathtaking. Another thing thing I must say for this movie is that it is entertaining, fun ride, action packed. I was neve bored watching this film. Overall it was just a good 4.5 hours to spend. Light hearted...good family fun...but not one of those typical family movies.

Recommendation: Read the books by James Guerny as well "Dinotopia" and the "World Beneath" =)

I thought that "Dinotopia" was absolutely excellent. At the beginning, the acting seemed a bit, well, fake; but as it went on the actors became a lot more believable. Zippo has been compared to Jar Jar Binks...but how could you do that when Zippo isn't a thing like Jar Jar? Jar Jar was hard to understand and just plain silly, not smart at all. Zippo spoke great English and was intellectual. The dinosaurs were a delight to see, as well...I've been a huge fan of dinos since I was little. I'm definitely going to buy the DVD so I can see it again and again. Congratulations to the creators of such a great miniseries!

I saw the first part of Dinotopia on television. In advance, I knew nothing about it, and I thought it would be just another cheap movie with horrible effects and only a few dinosaur scenes. I have never been that wrong! Dinotopia is a gripping story with splendid animation, I have immediately bought it on video! The movie contains marvellous landscapes, introduces some new ideas about dinosaurs (the ability to speak, intelligence, the way they survived extinction), is filled with magnificent music and contains fascinating ways of human-dinosaur interaction. A must-see for almost everyone, since there are no gruesome blood-scenes. My points of comment:1) a total of four seconds bad acting, and 2) a couple of gaps in the script (however, very small). In contrast to Jurassic Park, this movie has very little scenes with flesh-eating dinosaurs. Dinotopia can count itself to the best dinosaur-movies ever (which is, even now, a disappointing small group), and is a movie I want to watch over and over again! Only he who is blind or deaf, doesn't like dinosaurs or adventure and/or wants to have killing action every second of a movie has to ignore this masterpiece.

Considering the number of ideas incorporated in making of prehistoric movies with cavemen, dinosaurs, and travel back in time, Dinotopia brings on a refreshing new twist.

My thoughts on this movie can only see it as a vehicle to good family fun. It has reasonably good acting, graphics are great, and special effects are above average. I would recommend this movie to anyone having a desire to enjoy a simply fun movie with enjoyable twists.

Nothing about the film is boring and borders on hysterical. It is a good movie for all ages and the lack of sexual undertones and violence gives the movie a refreshing alternative to otherwise destructive mediums.

I believe it is worth the time to see and let the good times roll. It may not be the best movie in the world, but is most certainly is not the worst, and I would recommend it any and all to watch.

Yes, I know. It's a miniseries for kids, but some grownups seem to enjoy it. I have loved dinosaur movies ever since I saw Jurassic Park (1993) as a kid, so I decided to give it a try.

The overarching story is an exciting tale of adventure. Two half-brothers survive a plane crash. After this brush with death they discover an island where humans and dinosaurs live together. The brothers have different personalities and deal with this discovery in different ways. There are dangers ahead for the brothers and the inhabitants of the island, but I won't reveal any more about that now.

The story itself is great, but of course, it also matters how a story is told. About the script, certain things are just not explained. Maybe it has to do with limitations on the running time. An example early on is when the brothers take a bus. To get on they need a ticket. Presumably, if you need a ticket you need to buy it. They just get them from a man in a booth with no explanation. Would it had been so hard to just have someone lend them some coins in the local currency? No spoilers, but the ending was even worse to the point of being sloppy. I could see the screenwriter in front of me going: "Ops, I only have three more pages to finish this!" He would have needed half an episode.

Another important aspect in a series about dinosaurs is of course the practical and digital effects. For scenes in broad daylight, the CGI is not that impressive. It didn't look much better than a video game at the time. However, there were a few suspenseful scenes, in the dark, that mixed CGI with animatronics, and these worked much better. It's clear that great care had been taken to make the most of what they had in order to make these scenes as thrilling as possible. Of course, if you're mainly interested in realistic-looking creatures, you might as well re-watch Jurassic Park. Even if the industry had nine years to improve the technologies, you have to consider that Dinotopia is made for TV and Jurassic Park was a blockbuster, and had groundbreaking effects.

The acting wasn't always great, but wasn't what bothered me the most. Maybe it was because I half-expected it from a TV production.

I'm sorry I didn't watch Dinotopia at age ten, as I probably wouldn't have noticed the flaws as much. It's not terrible, but I suspect that the grownups who give it the most praise might be watching through a nostalgic filter.

I would recommend this if the following is true: You want something to watch with your kids. Your kids like adventure and/or dinosaurs. They can handle some scary sequences, but aren't yet ready for Jurassic Park. If you are looking for something to watch on your own, there are better options, even if you like dinosaurs.