Mom took me to see this when I was 8 or 9 - out of love because she knew I loved anything with dinosaurs. At the time I loved it. I love you Mom.
40+ years later I watched it again on YouTube - and was expecting to be sorely disappointed that it was not the movie I remembered as a kid.
And I was not disappointed at all. This was one of those rare movies that was almost exactly as I remembered it. Okay, so my 9-year-old brain didn't entirely register that most of it was dubbed or that most of the special effects weren't so special - but the things that made it memorable for me were exactly as I remembered them all those years ago.
I remembered a fight between two sea-going dinosaurs that was much more gory than anything I'd seen before. Re-watching it now - yup, those were real animal intestines and other animal parts they used when the sea dinos start eating each other. Not anything like the wimpy smears of red paint I'd always seen before in this sort of movie.
However, I also remembered that no one died in this movie, and that the characters really seemed to care about each other. I was so used to Captain Kirk losing two or three red shirts an episode in the original Star Trek, and wondering - gee, does he really even care? In contrast, no one in this movie leaves anyone behind or to fend for themselves, and there are some genuinely sweet moments. I vividly remembered how at the end when the volcano was exploding everyone went back to look for Hans - a rather minor character - and not only rescued Hans but even the baby lamb Hans himself was rescuing. If Hans had been in an episode of Star Trek - sorry but Kirk would have sent him to 'investigate' the exploding volcano and wouldn't have spent two seconds trying to save him or the baby lamb. Hans would have just been another red shirt who bit the dust.
40+ years later, just as I remembered they didn't leave Hans or the lamb behind.
Yes I'm reviewing this movie through a sentimental haze - but I'm giving it an 8.
40+ years later I watched it again on YouTube - and was expecting to be sorely disappointed that it was not the movie I remembered as a kid.
And I was not disappointed at all. This was one of those rare movies that was almost exactly as I remembered it. Okay, so my 9-year-old brain didn't entirely register that most of it was dubbed or that most of the special effects weren't so special - but the things that made it memorable for me were exactly as I remembered them all those years ago.
I remembered a fight between two sea-going dinosaurs that was much more gory than anything I'd seen before. Re-watching it now - yup, those were real animal intestines and other animal parts they used when the sea dinos start eating each other. Not anything like the wimpy smears of red paint I'd always seen before in this sort of movie.
However, I also remembered that no one died in this movie, and that the characters really seemed to care about each other. I was so used to Captain Kirk losing two or three red shirts an episode in the original Star Trek, and wondering - gee, does he really even care? In contrast, no one in this movie leaves anyone behind or to fend for themselves, and there are some genuinely sweet moments. I vividly remembered how at the end when the volcano was exploding everyone went back to look for Hans - a rather minor character - and not only rescued Hans but even the baby lamb Hans himself was rescuing. If Hans had been in an episode of Star Trek - sorry but Kirk would have sent him to 'investigate' the exploding volcano and wouldn't have spent two seconds trying to save him or the baby lamb. Hans would have just been another red shirt who bit the dust.
40+ years later, just as I remembered they didn't leave Hans or the lamb behind.
Yes I'm reviewing this movie through a sentimental haze - but I'm giving it an 8.