Horst in Translation ([email protected])
"Dinosaurs Alive" is a 40-minute documentary from 2007, so this one has its 10th anniversary this year. The people who made this are Emmy winner David Clark and Oscar nominee Bayley Silleck. The title makes it pretty obvious what this one is about of course. So if you care about dinosaurs or paleontology, this one may very well be worth it. Or you will be especially disappointed because you find the lack of depth here really irritating. Depends on you I guess. I myself as someone with not too much interest in the subject must say that none of the aspects made me curious about the subject. Still I have watched dinosaur documentaries in the past that were clearly superior to this one here. No surprise that this one is not among the most known IMAX documentaries out there, but really goes more under the lesser known. Narrator and Oscar winner Michael Douglas is not really making things better as he has way too much text to be honest and you can't blame him for it. It seems as if they were trying to make up for lack of information by having Douglas (admittedly a huge star) talking random stuff all the time. And the reenactment scenes were just as uninteresting as the paleontologists we see and find out about. Thumbs down from me. Not recommended.
frankp127
This movie is pretty good for kids and especially in 3D which is how we saw it. There is a lot of science but my two boys are now spending time on 'digs' in our yard. Thedinosaur fight scenes are great and the dinosaurs aren't too scary but are still very realistic. I've seen quite a few IMAX movies and this one is one of the better ones. My boys would say the best one. 3D is getting better with new technology and this movie proves that it has come a long way. Michael Douglas is OK with the narration. If you are a parent or teacher, I recommend this dinosaur movie, but see it in the theater because it works best to see the dinosaurs IMAX size(or close to it). Eight collective thumbs up from my family of four.
sallydaverman
I took my 6 year old daughter to see this film at the California Science Center and we both really enjoyed it. The 3D glasses really make the Dinosaurs jump out and off the screen. We both jumped in our seats more than once! The film is short, only about 40 minutes long or so, but that is the length of most of the IMAX film I have seen at the Science Center. The film does contain a lot of educational material, which is interesting to learn about, especially when you are taken back in time to see the very real looking dinosaurs walking around in Mongolia and New Mexico.If you get a chance to see this movie I would recommend it. It is fun, and won't take up 2 hours of your day.
wwhitbeck
Don't just walk away from this clunker - run! There is nothing new at all covered in this sub par documentary styled fiasco. Any child that's studied dinosaurs in grade school already knows what this one's all about.The opening sequence was a great indication of what was yet to come - cartoonish dinosaurs do battle - and manage to walk across a sandy plain without leaving a single footprint.Then the movie resorts to shots we've all seen hundreds of times - yep dinosaur skeletons. Again, nothing new.But wait, next we are going to go on a real dig - in Mongolia. At first you think at least the scenery shots will be fantastic, but they are out of focus, totally taking that away from the experience.More disappointment as we move to Mexico and more blurry scenery and lack of story.Intersperse these shots with incredibly horrible CGI shots of water and sand floods - I'm talking incredibly bad effects. First year students would do at least 20x better.Also be warned before you shell out your hard earned money - this is one short movie.Definite skip.