LRPharm54
Considering the number of ideas incorporated in making of prehistoric movies with cavemen, dinosaurs, and travel back in time, Dinotopia brings on a refreshing new twist.My thoughts on this movie can only see it as a vehicle to good family fun. It has reasonably good acting, graphics are great, and special effects are above average. I would recommend this movie to anyone having a desire to enjoy a simply fun movie with enjoyable twists.Nothing about the film is boring and borders on hysterical. It is a good movie for all ages and the lack of sexual undertones and violence gives the movie a refreshing alternative to otherwise destructive mediums.I believe it is worth the time to see and let the good times roll. It may not be the best movie in the world, but is most certainly is not the worst, and I would recommend it any and all to watch.
Nympho3278
I only rented Dinotopia because I saw it at my local video store and noticed that Wentworth Miller was on the cover. Of course it looked stupid just from the box cover, but I'm a huge fan of Wentworth so I rented it.There are no words for how lame this movie is. The acting is horrible (yes, surprisingly even Wentworth Miller seemed awkward and spit his lines out WAY too fast). There is a storyline but the poor effects, bad acting, and ridiculous dialog take away any chance this film had of being watchable. Maybe the actors felt so stupid interacting with cheap looking animatronic dinosaurs that they just didn't even try to give any heart to their performance.Seriously, your plane crashes at sea nearly drowning you and killing your father and you don't seem in the least bothered by this? And then, you find yourself on an island where dinosaurs still exist and you only seem mildly surprised? Maybe a kid would enjoy this, but anyone over seven will just laugh.
KP-XF
There are many plot holes, bad acting, undeveloped and uninteresting story and dialog, this overlong film (part I&II) had potential but failed to deliver; recommended for people who want to dream without thinking and for children. Don't look for a flawless story and interesting dialog, don't try to analyze. I expected much more and I got mediocrity. I've heard that James Gurney's Dinotopia books are great (unlike the movies) but I haven't read them. You don't find out how Frank Scott survived in the cave. Free Fall just happens to be at the temple. Frank Scott was in the caves for a long time and he didn't find the sun stones. There's no explanation why nobody can find Dinotopia in this world with satellites where no area of the planet is unknown. ............................................................. P.S. It's "dialog" because the stupid IMDb spell checker thinks the right word is wrong and wouldn't let me submit the message.
Anna Konda
This comment contains spoilers on the dinotopian society and the storyline.I borrowed the 'Dinotopia'-DVD from a friend and watched all of the three parts last night. Somehow the show didn't turn out to be that gripping I could sit along for 4,5 hours without taking my eyes off the screen. I moved around rather a lot, returning to the TV when dramatic music or some line caught my attention. Signs that I got occasionally bored.What has been so boring has already been named in other comments, such as the lousy acting, the incredibly silly lines and the tiring, predictable 'immature teens learn to take their responsibilities'-story line.The CGIs were quite good for a TV Show, although in some scenes you could clearly see that the dinos were added to the film later, especially in most of the Zippo-scenes. Zippo's colour was far too light to fit the rest of the scene.Zippo himself indeed reminded me of Jar-Jar Binks, but I noted that he wasn't half that annoying as this babbling dope. Poor Zippo didn't have a clear part, in fact he wasn't much more than the usual funny sidekick, as it is common use in Disney movies.The portrayal of the dinotopian way of life made me a bit uncomfortable. Although it would be most welcome if mankind would get closer to Nature again, the social structure appeared to be quite dictatorial to me. One single person, the 'Matriarch', decides where people will work and how they will live. The Senate decides which saurian partner one will have to live with. Every decision concerning your very life is taken by the authorities. And not a single Dinotopian appears to question this? Where is the right of the free will? What if someone doesn't want to work at the place he has been chosen to? Will he be placed under house arrest for the rest of his life? It may be forbidden for Dinotopians to make use of violence and weapons but there can be psychological violence as well.Even the dinotopian teenagers seem to know exactly their one and only destiny (and everyone knows that teenagers rarely do), such as Marion and Romana. But what if Romana, who dreamed being a skybax rider since her childhood, would have been chosen to work in the hatchery? Eh? Would she still answer 'Fly high' when someone addresses her with 'Breath deep', or wouldn't it rather be 'Go to hell'?As I don't know the books of James Gurney I cannot tell if the description of this society is the same in the original or if it has just been simplified for the TV show.It intrigues me that no one seems to argue at any time (except the villain of course). Even the children appear to be the most wellbehaving. I expected them to poke fun at their nearly adult classmates David and Karl, but – no. Nowhere on earth, in any society, you have such every time sunny, patient, friendly and peaceful people. Everyone (except the villain of course) seems to be brainwashed since his childhood. What do those people do for fun? Watching sectlike ceremonies and listening to incantations of the Ten Rules? Didn't one of the Rules read 'Sing Every Day'? I never heard anyone sing during those 4,5 hours. But this may come because they are all vegetarians (no offense to the vegetarian community ;-) – I hardly eat meat myself). As I understood, they only eat fruit, vegetables, and cereals and they didn't propose cheese or eggs for meal, which makes them more vegans than vegetarians. But if they are, where do they take the leather from to make their saddles (it clearly was leather, no cloth)? I can hardly believe they skin the dinos after they die! When you live together with a saurian partner, aren't you supposed to bury it decently after it dies? You don't make a pair of shoes out of your dead grandma's skin, do you? Besides, isn't it strange that there is no other kind of animal to be seen on the island apart from the dinosaurs? No dogs, cats, pigs or chicken. It is quite unlikely that the shipwrecked ancestors of the Dinotopians never had any animals aboard. But strangely, Marion knows exactly that a chicken is a bird when Karl asks for a chicken burger. Being Dinotopian in the 20th generation, her knowledge seems rather implausible on a chickenless island.Sometimes I felt sorry for poor Sirus Crabb, a villain for sure, but he appeared to be the only one to question the 'paradise' he lives in. And if you question Paradise, as is proved by Adam and Eve, you must be get rid off – in one way or another…As a conclusion, let me state that besides my comments on this weird society, 'Dinotopia' is far away from being the worst movie I ever saw. It can offer a nice TV evening with friends and even a very catching discussion afterwards about how mankind should or shouldn't live and if you liked to live in Dinotopia yourself or not.I gave it a rating 6/10.
