Le Dinosaure

I mean, I don't understand why lots of people hated this movie. Sure, it isn't a masterpiece due to it's flaws that I will point out in a moment, but before I can get to those flaws, I would like to point out the redeeming qualities. I like the premise: An iguanadon named Aladar and his adopted family of monkeys walk to find a new home after their's was destroyed by a meteorite to find themselves in a conflict by joining the other dinosaurs led by Kron and Neera while being chased by Carnotaurs and velociraptors. It was very interesting, but Disney, being a master of storytelling, didn't bring anything new to the story and it's character development was lacking.

The characters, while undeveloped, are at least likable and the voice acting suited them really well. The script has some nice moments including the romance between Aladar and Neera which makes them a very cute couple to watch. The music from James Newton Howard is amazing and has been stuck to my head since I was a little child when I watched this a few more times. The strongest aspect goes to the computer animation. The prehistoric environments are amazing and are some of the best visuals I've ever seen in an animated film from my childhood.

Overall, Dinosaur may not be a masterpiece, but I still love it today and I think this would always be recommended to those who like computer animation and traditional animation.

Finally Disney has created an animation that isn't sugar-sweet!

What usually bugs me about Disney's films is the constant bursting-into-song sequences that clog up the stories, and the comic side-kicks that keep making bad jokes. No such thing in Dinosaur! It's a serious movie that is very sad and partially cruel: a wonderful tale of courage and survival, told with respect for the audience, with unpresidented animations. The dionsaurs merge seemlessly into the real surroundings, and they move and look absolutely real. Finally, computer animations have reached the stage where it doesn't look animated anymore!

I was also very touched by Aladar's attempts to save the old dinos, and although I'm a grown-up, I jumped in my seat when the carnotaurs emerged. There was violence in this film: cruel battles between carnivores and herbivores. And surging through it all there is a feeling of sadness and loss, for a world that is about to fade away into the pages of history.

Thus, it's not for the smallest children, but it's a great story that treats it's audience with respect and pays homage to that great lost Earth that was buried in the dust millions of years ago.

9/10

This movie was shear pleasure to watch. The movie looks visually absolutely stunning and the animation is done nicely. It's true eye-candy and entertaining as well.

The movie has a typical adventurous story and feeling and is at times spectacular as well. Especially the beginning is impressively spectacular. There are some nicely done action sequences that are at times tense as well. My only true complaint of the movie are the characters. There isn't really any character development in the movie and we never really get to know the character or care much about them, this is probably mainly due to the short running time of the movie. Also of course the story itself is somewhat predictable but that doesn't take away any of the fun or entertainment value of the movie.

Dinosaur fans will enjoy this movie as well, unless you're one of those persons who complains about the accuracy of the movie. This movie is entertainment, not a documentary.

The musical score by James Newton Howard fits the movie like a glove and in my opinion he delivers one of his best and moving scores, in his career.

There is much hate for this movie but quite frankly I can't see why. If you simply take the movie for what it is, you'll have a good time watching it. It's beautiful, adventurous and at times truly spectacular.

8/10

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When i heard that the original screenplay o this film planned no dialogue at all for the characters, i became even more disappointed at the end result. While a very good film Dinosaur certainly is, it could have been incredible. The visual effects alone are a sight to behold, never more so than in the opening sequence. This is probably the best stretch in the whole film for me; it's unsanitised by talking animals and genuinely feels like a prehistoric world (ignoring the multitude of historical inaccuracies like grass in the Mesozoic era, particular dinosaurs living side by side). Once the animals start to talk the film is bogged down by the shortcomings of the script, which is idealistic and morally exposition heavy, for the sake of the target audience. It also detracts from the illusion the film so effortlessly produces on the screen at the start; it all just becomes so standard an routine when it seemed to be so much more. With a weak script, the visuals no longer arrest like they did before and would have done had nobody talked. Without the amazing cgi, this could have almost been straight to video.

I say almost because despite the shortcomings Dinosaur is a good movie; it's at times thrilling, exhilarating, touching and surprisingly intense, for a movie with a such a routine story. Had it had a better script it could have been great. Had it had no dialogue at all it could have been a classic and perhaps one of Disney's finest. The era of risk taking and inventiveness for the company seems to be at an end, or at least under suppression. Damn you Eisner! They were onto something this time.

This was yet another example, when it came out in 2000, of the latest strides being made in animation, computer-or-otherwise. At the time, I thought to myself, "Man, this just gets better and better all the time." Six years later, I am still saying that but with newer animated efforts.

Some of the scenes in here look so real you wouldn't know they were drawings. The colors are particularly good in the opening minutes. They are just stunning at times.

The story is pretty interesting, too. It's not great, but not boring, either, and not too kid-oriented. Adults can enjoy this. In fact, I was surprised at the amount of violence. That, and some of the jokes actually make this more for adults than kids in many spots.

I recommend the movie for its story and innovative techniques.