Konterr
Brilliant and touching
Beystiman
It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.
WillSushyMedia
This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.
Zandra
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
johnstonjames
In my opinion this is Disney's best live-action comedy. It's also one of Disney's best live-action special effect fantasies produced during the classic age of the Burbank studio. Sure it was filmed a EMI London, but it was conceived by Disney veterans Bill Walsh and Robert Stevenson and was distributed and produced by the studio in Burbank. It really is an American product that was filmed in England.I've always loved Helen Hayes involvement with Disney and felt the collaboration led to some of Disney's best live action products, 'Candleshoe' and 'Dinosaurs' are two of the studios finest live-action films, and 'Herbie Rides Again' is a very funny follow-up to the 1967 hit 'Lovebug'. Helen Hayes is a real asset to the Disney legacy and was a real 'Disney' star along with the likes of Fred MacMurray, Dean Jones, Don Knotts, Haley Mills and Jodie Foster, and of course the incredibly accomplished Peter Ustinov. All three of Hayes's film were big money makers for Disney and it's surprising they are not better remembered by Disney buffs. I had to go to England to purchase a foreign region copy of this film.The studio seems afraid to give this a serious DVD release in the States probably because they fear the broad comedy in this will be perceived as racist. I am not Chinese, but I am of mixed ethnicity and have suffered from racial discrimination myself,and I wouldn't worry about it. Ustinov is simply parodying the Asian stereotypes that were typical in spy thrillers and films from the 1930's. It's basically a send-up of the Charlie Chan stereotypes from that period(although this film is obviously set in the 1920's).I mean how racist can a movie actually be when the Chinese make comments about how "all English look alike" or "we Chinese were making tea when you English were swinging from the trees by your dirty tails." Hilarious.The special effects and 1920's production design are first rate and hold up remarkably well with CGI effects of today. The effects are very colorful and cartoonish looking, and the opening scenes in China have a real fantasy, fairy tale quality to them.Anyone saying this film is worthless or dull has something personal against it. This is an easy film to like and laugh at. And it's definitely worth a look simply for it's lavish production design alone, which, knowing Disney studios films of the past, was probably filmed on a modest budget with lots of cost cutting. A definite must see for anyone interested in the old classic Disney films.
chuffnobbler
What enormous fun! Nannies, toffs with monocles, drunken Scots, loud Yanks, inscrutable Chinese ... every cliché under the sun chases around London in pursuit of a dinosaur skeleton on the back of a lorry.Such energy, fun, and real "oomph" make this film utterly lovable. it's not subtle, but it's not meant to be. It's a kids' film. I love it as I love the Carry Ons: rip-roaring laughter, unsubtlety, old gags, and corking performances from a range of brilliant character actors.Look at the cast list! How can anyone not love this film, just from the cast list alone?! Peter Ustinov and Helen Hayes lead the proceedings. Derek Nimmo has a key role. Carry On-ers Joan Sims, Bernard Bresslaw, Amanda Barrie and the supreme Joan Hickson give 100% to their roles.People seem to be a bit sniffy about this film, but it's so good-natured, warm and funny that it's really rather rude to pick it to pieces for its stereotyping or its clichés. This film is glorious as it is.
to_kill_better
This is possibly the best film ever. The story of a group of British nannies and a captured spy and their conflicts with the Chinese secret service over the recipe for the mysterious "lotus x" produces a miraculously silly slapstick festival of idiocy that is probably the most watchable film ever to come from Britain. Forget the grossly overrrated "The Full Monty" - One Of Our Dinosaurs is Missing is the funniest film ever to escape our sceptered isle. Of course the British actors playing Chinese characters are unconvincing, but this isn't about realism or diplomacy; it's about non-stop tomfoolery, which it supplies in bucketloads. This is what British films should be about! Not dark, brooding council estates; tower-blocks filled with the destitute; or the collapse of industry; instead, the power of self-belief and good honest values overcoming adversity. An absolute film classic, sadly overlooked at the Oscars, this deserves a cinema re-release at some point. Failing that, buy the video - you won't regret it!
gridoon
Silly, disappointing Disney outing, hampered mostly by Ustinov's terrible performance. As Hercule Poirot, Ustinov has always been superb, but here he overacts embarrassingly; the same year (1976), Peter Sellers also played an inept Oriental guy for laughs, in "Murder By Death", and he was much more efficient. Besides, the film has no coherency, and the story is hopelessly uninteresting. Frankly, I can't think of one person (of any age) that will find himself caring about what will happen here.