My first glimpse of this film was an extended trailer (which is essentially the first 5 minutes of the film) in front of The Phantom Menace a few years back. Everyone in the audience was stunned at the incredible visuals. And when it was over, there was a simultaneous "Whoa..." from everyone in the theater including myself.
Then there was all this hoo ha about the inappropriateness of a Kate Bush song so the movie was re-edited and when it finally did come out, it came out rather quietly so I never got around to seeing it in the theater.
I just caught the end of it tonight broadcast on the Disney Channel while doing some channel surfing. They were gracious enough to show it 2 times back-to-back so I sat there and watched it all the way through on the second run. I'm really mad at myself for forgetting to go and see it in the theater. Broadcast cable television quality is garbage and what I saw on my television tonight blew me away - I can just imagine how it must have looked in the theater.
Is this story a rehashed mix of Tarzan with a dinosaur and a pack of lemurs, and Land Before Time? Yes. Does it use the same technique of meshing CGI and live action backgrounds as Discovery Channel's Walking with Dinosaurs? Yes. But given it took 12 years to make this film, I would believe that it was Walking with Dinosaurs that copied from this film.
I am a big fan of CGI animation and I have to say that the first 20 minutes of this film that are set in mostly lush, tropical settings are some of the most impressive CGI / live action scenes I have seen yet. It looks so real that I found myself having a hard time trying to figure out which elements were CGI and which were live action.
Just as James Cameron's Titanic was a visual masterpiece, so is Dinosaur. If you'll remember Titanic won tons of awards for special effects, set decoration, and music. 'Best Background' if you will. The story was predictable and boring (and I'm not talking about the fact that everyone knew the ship was going to sink either) and the dialogue was flat. Same thing with Dinosaur.
Just as Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor's attack scenes were visually spectacular and the rest of the movie pretty much was a waste - the same could be said for Dinosaur. I really like the middle hour of Pearl Harbor (from where the Japanese fleet attacks to shortly after they withdraw). I don't bother watching the rest of the movie. With Dinosaur the first 20 minutes are incredible up until shortly after the asteroid hits and the last 10 minutes are also visually impressive. Skip the middle.
If you are looking for a perfect movie - this definately isn't it. But if you are looking to see some incredible animation, there's a good 30 minutes of jaw dropping visuals that every CGI animation fan must see.
Watch only the first 20 minutes and the last 10 minutes and this is a 9 out of 10. Watch it complete and the middle drags it down to about a 5.
The visuals were so good, I'm on my way to buy Dinosaur on DVD first thing tomorrow and have no intention of watching the middle hour of it.
