Dinosaurios

I was 10 when I saw DINOSAURUS in a theater. While the acting left much to be desired, and the film was obviously shot on a shoestring, the animated dinosaurs seemed pretty awesome for the time. Ray Harryhausen this ain't, but for a dinosaur-loving kid like myself, it definitely hit the spot. A caveman and two dinosaurs, one of them a T-Rex, are discovered and accidentally revived in 1960. In the end, it takes a modern mechanical marvel to subdue the rampaging T-Rex. The caveman befriends a little boy, whom I assume we tykes in the audience were meant to identify with. Good fun. Best seen on a big screen with booming sound, and today that's possible right at home with a large flat-screen digital TV and a 5.1 Dolby home theater setup.

A group of Americans come to a remote island to find minerals only to uncover dinosaurs from the bed of the ocean with underwater explosives. Not only do they find two frozen and incredibly intact dinosaurs millions of years old, but they also find a million year old caveman. The premise is by itself somewhat plausible, but when you add trite and inept dialogue, some of the worst acting imaginable, cheap dinosaur effects, and one ridiculous caveman you have one funny picture. Dinosaurus will leave you in stitches if you appreciate badly made films. The dinosaurs themselves really are not that bad, but the acting....the acting...is on par with something found in an H. G. Lewis picture. Almost no one has any acting savvy whatsoever. The best actor in the film is a young teenage boy who befriends the caveman and the brontosaurus. Once again the T-Rex is the bad one, chasing anything that moves across the island.

I must confess that I, a middle-aged "adult," learned a valuable life lesson from the juvenile film "Dinosaurus." That lesson is, if you're ever building a harbor on a Caribbean island, and dredge up a perfectly preserved T. Rex and brontosaurus from below the ocean floor, do NOT leave them lying on the beach during a thunderstorm, as a freak bolt of lightning may revive them and lead to all sorts of trouble. Yes, that's just what happens in this cute little film, with the added attraction of a grunting, Alley Oop-like caveman getting revived as well. This Neanderthal is basically used for comedic effect, especially when he invades a modern house on the island and runs afoul of waxed fruit, mirrors and up-to-date plumbing. Gregg Martell, I must say, is perfectly cast as this confused misfit. Less impressive, however, are the two dinosaurs. This is no "Jurassic Park" or Ray Harryhausen movie, and the creature FX are unconvincing; a serious suspension of disbelief will be required for adult viewers. The kiddies should just eat this one up, though. There's a cute little boy character for them to sympathize with (he befriends the bronto, and even rides atop him!); one, fortunately, who's not overly annoying for older viewers. The bottom line is that "Dinosaurus" is good, goofy fun; put your brain on hold and enjoy it, preferably with your kids or your young nephew. Oh...as for that title, it's what one of the characters, Dumpy(!), yells when the T. Rex approaches. Don't ask me why.

I admit it, I am a fan of stop motion animation. It can be excellent or hideous but if it's stop motion I am so there! I was first attracted to this movie when I was very young because it had dinosaurs in it (yes it had a caveman too but he was secondary to me).

Anyway, so why is this particular movie forever tied to my birthday? Therein lies a tale. 20 July 1969 will be forever remembered as the day Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon. That day was also my 5th birthday and I was watching DINOSAURUS in my room on my 12 inch b/w TV. Just at the scene where the mortally wounded Brontosaurus lumbers into the quicksand the movie faded out for a commercial break. Then it cut to the TV newsroom where they were talking about the landing on the Moon. My uncle came into my room to ask if I was watching the news and I said "No, I'm waiting for the movie to come back on."

This made him start talking about how history was being made and I should be proud I could see this moment live and so on. Okay so to-0day I am aware of how important it was but back then I was 5 years old and this was a movie that had DINOSAURS in it for cryin' out loud! Let's just say my priorities were a lot different back then.

When the movie finally came back on I was as happy as could be and it had my undivided attention all the way to the end.

Now I make it a point to watch this movie every year on my birthday and at the scene where the Brontosaurus dies I cannot help but think about the first Moon landing. Curious how completely unrelated memories somehow get joined together isn't it?

After undersea explosions near a Caribbean island, prehistoric creatures are unleashed on the unsuspecting population...

Allegedly, Marcel Delgado was given less than half the time originally agreed upon to create the dinosaur models used in the film. The studio initially agreed to give him five to six weeks, as he requested, but two weeks later he was told that they would begin production on Tuesday. This would explain why the effects are cheesy (or it could just be an excuse).

Howard Maxford sums up the film as having "dismal effects", which is not a poor criticism if that is the worst he can say. As just mentioned, this may not have been the creators' faults. And, really, this is 1960. We just went through the 1950s, where sci-fi films were constantly cheesy. To use that as a criticism seems unfair.

Howard Thompson of the New York Times said at the time that "motion picture art hit rock bottom" when this film came out. It is "a tired, synthetic, plodding sample of movie junk", says Thompson. Those involved "thoroughly wasted a few exotic backgrounds." Thompson finally points out that the film comes from Fairview Productions, who also made "The Blob". He categorizes both films as "Grade Z". Wow. I mean, it is one thing to not like it... but Thompson just goes off!

If I had to say one thing about the film negatively, it would be about Julio (Alan Roberts). He was a bit annoying. And, sadly, he passed away too young (though that has nothing to do with this film). I had no issue with the effects or plot. I mean, really, it is a movie about dinosaurs and a caveman who survived frozen for millions of years. If you accept that premise (and the idea that all three were found in the same areas), I would hope you could look past the execution!