rate the last movie you saw

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Monterey Jack
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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2971 Post by Monterey Jack »

In space, no one can hear you scream…

-Alien (1979): 10/10

-Aliens (1986): 10/10

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The recent passings of both John Hurt and Bill Paxton got me to thinking of the odd coincidence that two of the key actors from the Alien franchise have not only died within a month of each other, but also in sequential sequel order. With that in mind (plus Alien: Covenant on the horizon), I thought it was fitting to re-visit the first two films in the franchise for the first time in a couple of years. Ridley Scott’s original film remains a peerless, primordial creepshow, with some of the most finely-aged visual effects of all time and H.R. Giger’s unforgettably eerie monster design. And James Cameron’s heart-thumping, blood-pumping sequel is one of the finest action films of the 80’s (or any decade), a roller-coaster of kinetic thrills that never overpowers the aching humanity at its core thanks to Sigourney Weaver’s ferocious, Oscar-nominated performance. In an era where “kick-ass” female action heroes are a dime-a-dozen, Ripley remains a pioneer for the “weaker sex” in the action and sci-fi genres as well as an incredibly well-rounded character regardless of gender. It may be “Game Over” for Hurt and Paxton, but their indelible work will continue to horrify and amuse moviegoers for generations to come.

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Paul MacLean
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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2972 Post by Paul MacLean »

The Betsy

Stupendously bad (and often unintentionally funny) Godfather ripoff, except that instead of the mafia, the drama centers on that most glamorous, torrid and dangerous world -- the Detroit auto industry.

The cast of this film is stellar, and one wonders how such a risable script attracted a line-up which includes Laurence Olivier, a young Tommy-Lee Jones, Leslie-Anne Down, Katherine Ross, Robert Duvall, Jane Alexander, Ed Herrmann and Joseph Wiseman.

Olivier plays an aging car executive, who recruits Formula One driver Jones to help design a modest, fuel-efficient car for regular folks, dubbed "The Betsy" (after Olivier's great-grandaughter, to whom Jones has taken a shine).

Somehow this mundane endeavor inspires an implausible barrage of backstabbings, corporate espionage, revenge and even murder -- as well as no shortage of tawdry affairs and hilariously gratuitous sex scenes. Obviously looking to The Godfather Part II for inspiration, The Betsy intercuts between the present day efforts to create the car, and extended flashbacks to the 1930s which depict Olivier's greener days -- and the disintegration of his family (with no shortage of stilted characterizations and corny dialog in either era).

Olivier does do an excellent job I have to say, but otherwise this film is a complete turkey, which often feels like a bad soap opera. It's only saving grace is John Barry's music -- but sadly he doesn't get the chance to do a whole lot, though there are two or three exceedingly lovely moments in the score.

Definitely good for some laughs though!


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AndyDursin
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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2973 Post by AndyDursin »

I bought the Vudu version but it's standard def and looks terrible...still I'm thrilled to hear it's good for some laughs! It's long been regarded a Bad Movie Classic of its type.

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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2974 Post by AndyDursin »

MOANA
8.5/10

I often get on Disney for their endless output of comic book franchises and reboots of everything from Star Wars to live-action remakes of their animated films. That’s often for good reason, but whenever the company does stray off the safe and preordained path, it’s the right time to laud their efforts, which is certainly the case with “Moana,” one of Disney’s finest animated features in years.

Sure, there are times when the movie’s story is messy and a little bit weird – perhaps the result of countless writers and years in development – but regardless, “Moana” is a jaw-droppingly beautiful and charming tale of a Polynesian girl who sets off on her own journey to restore the heart of an Island Goddess whose mythical stone was stolen by the playful, it not scheming, demi-God Maui. With her people suffering from a lack of food both on land and in the sea, Moana’s journey takes her to far reaches of the ocean in an adventure encompassing certain ancient and mythical traditions of Polynesian culture.

“Moana” was directed by John Musker and Ron Clements, whose previous classics included “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin.” Their prior two outings – “Treasure Planet” and “The Princess and the Frog” – didn’t meet with nearly the same level of success, but this first CGI foray for the duo is a winner on numerous levels. The character articulation of Moana and Maui is just delightful, possessing the “warmth” and appeal of hand-drawn animation in a spectacular 3D environment that offers constant pleasures: the deep blue waves and lush seascapes of the South Pacific are brilliantly rendered in a visual pallet that’s as sumptuous as any I’ve ever seen in an animated feature. Beyond the technical achievements, though, lies an appealing story that isn’t just a standard Disney fairy-tale recycling, with Moana’s personal quest and Maui’s chance at redemption making for an offbeat and thoroughly entertaining oceanic adventure. All of it is enhanced with a fine score by Mark Mancina, incorporating original songs from “Hamilton”’s resident genius, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Opetaia Foa'i that are fresh and fun.

While a little bit long and offering at least one strange run-in with a singing crab, “Moana” manages to be the right antidote for those of us worn out by Disney’s fairy tale princesses and standard-issue live-action fare. Disney’s 3D Blu-Ray is a format release that’s truly demo worthy with its spectrum of deep colors and eye-opening animation that represents a new high for the studio. The 3D presentation is superb, but this is one of those instances where the stronger colors of the 2D presentation are even more spectacular to behold. Extra features are in abundance in Disney’s Collector’s Edition, including Making Of featurettes, deleted scenes, “easter eggs,” one deleted song with Miranda’s introduction, a music video, the short film “Inner Workings” which preceded “Moana” in theatrical release, a Digital HD copy, DVD, and superbly mixed 7.1 DTS MA audio.

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Monterey Jack
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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2975 Post by Monterey Jack »

Moana was a LOT better than the curiously overpraised Zootopia, and will be remembered more fondly a long time after the topical age-of-Trump "subversive" subtext of Zootopia has faded into obscurity and people realize just how bland and routine the rest of the movie is. While I would have picked Kubo & The Two Strings over both at the Oscars, Moana is still Disney's best non-Pixar film since probably Bolt.

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AndyDursin
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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2976 Post by AndyDursin »

Monterey Jack wrote:Moana was a LOT better than the curiously overpraised Zootopia, and will be remembered more fondly a long time after the topical age-of-Trump "subversive" subtext of Zootopia has faded into obscurity and people realize just how bland and routine the rest of the movie is. While I would have picked Kubo & The Two Strings over both at the Oscars, Moana is still Disney's best non-Pixar film since probably Bolt.
Zootopia's heavy-handed liberal ideology and social-justice indoctrination subtext endeared it to critics far and wide, unsurprisingly (to say nothing of Academy voters). Funny though, nobody I know with kids seemed to like it all that much. On one podcast I listen to, the three hosts -- who all have children between 4-10 -- said none of their kids even wanted to watch it a second time, preferring even the likes of STORKS over it. In addition to the transparent politics, I did find it massively overrated and plot heavy to a ridiculous degree, not to mention lacking in appealing characters and "heart" in general.

Then again, I also thought SECRET LIFE OF PETS was a pile of excrement -- and too many critics thought that one was worth seeing also! My kid is never watching that one a second time.

BobaMike
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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2977 Post by BobaMike »

Deathtrap 8/10

Finally got around to seeing this on TCM last night. I thought I'd just watch a few minutes, but got sucked in! Michael Caine was superb, Diane Cannon yummy looking, and this had to be Christopher Reeve's best dramatic performance by far.

The plot had me guessing, especially when one of the leads was killed off early in the movie! You could tell this was based on a play, as the movie almost never left the house. I enjoyed the very long takes, and sweeping camera moves.

My only complaints were the slightly "stagey" dialogue. It didn't seem realistic. Also the score, when it was there, was annoying.

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Monterey Jack
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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2978 Post by Monterey Jack »

AndyDursin wrote:Funny though, nobody I know with kids seemed to like it all that much. On one podcast I listen to, the three hosts -- who all have children between 4-10 -- said none of their kids even wanted to watch it a second time, preferring even the likes of STORKS over it.
Now, Storks was one of the more pleasant animated surprises of last year...funny, energetic, clever and with a lot more heart than I was expecting. There's something wrong when I prefer something as silly as Storks to such a "critically-acclaimed" Disney flick, where the funniest scene (sloths at the DMV) was given away in its entirety in the trailer.

Honestly...a Godfather parody? In 2016? :|

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AndyDursin
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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2979 Post by AndyDursin »

Monterey Jack wrote:There's something wrong when I prefer something as silly as Storks to such a "critically-acclaimed" Disney flick, where the funniest scene (sloths at the DMV) was given away in its entirety in the trailer.

Honestly...a Godfather parody? In 2016? :|
And not only that, but a cartoon version of CRASH for all intents and purposes also! The thing is -- I found ZOOTOPIA crushingly dull. Like you said, they put the one funny scene in the trailer, and that was it. Still made tons of money, but I wonder how many people really, TRULY liked it. :?

Anyway, MOANA was great. Flawed but I agree, best Disney animated flick in years. Also the best looking Blu-Ray of all-time, bar none. Animation and colors are stupendous.

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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2980 Post by AndyDursin »

ROBOCOP 2
3/10


New on Blu-Ray Collector's Edition March 21st

In the annals of misguided, terrible sequels, ROBOCOP 2 stands out in a crowded pack. Hastily produced to lessen the financial burdens of fading Orion Pictures, haphazardly constructed with a script that was overhauled daily by a comic book scribe who had never written a film before, and directed by a Hollywood veteran who apparently recognized its problems (but wasn’t the film’s first choice), “Robocop 2" made modest cash in the Summer of 1990 but still failed completely to fulfill its two goals – keeping Orion afloat and maintaining Robocop as a viable box-office presence of his own.

Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 sleeper hit was obviously going to generate a sequel one way or another, but even though Verhoeven and the film’s original writers were at one point interested in returning for the inevitable “Robocop 2,” Orion passed on their initial premise. The producers courted “River’s Edge” director Tim Hunter and, in lieu of a writer’s strike, brought onboard celebrated “Dark Knight” graphic novelist Frank Miller to work on the picture’s screenplay. Desperately needing the film for Summer 1990, Orion dumped Hunter when it seemed apparent he wasn’t working fast enough, and brought on-board “Empire Strikes Back” veteran Irvin Kershner to steer the ship.

With a nasty, violent tone, “Robocop 2" was instantly derided by critics and dismissed by many fans. Miller and Walon Green’s screenplay finds Robocop taking on a drug dubbed “Nuke” that’s hit the mean streets of future Detroit and distributed by a cult-like leader (Tom Noonan) whose network of associates includes a 12-year-old (Gabriel Damon) who shoots Robocop and calls him “f—ker” – elements that were jaw-dropping for their time. Peter Weller returned as the former Officer Murphy with Nancy Allen as his partner, though neither of them have much to do here, and as the script went through constant revisions, so too was Allen’s part diminished as the frantic production rolled its way through Houston, its shooting locale in the Winter of 1989.

Watching “Robocop 2" today, the movie is still a mess – big, loud, and determined to not only not repeat its predecessor, the sequel also does everything imaginable to tick off the audience. No, this isn’t quite “Alien 3,” but it’s still hard not to peg “Robocop 2" as nearly as much of a failure given the popularity of the first film and how Orion viewed the franchise as one of its major players at a time when it was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Hopes were high that this sequel was going to save Orion from going over the cliff, yet all the film did was provide a brief respite before its eventual demise.

It’s no surprise, either, given the movie’s tasteless violence, which flew in the face of the franchise’s expanding kid fanbase, and messy script. Robocop himself is off-screen for too much of the film’s 117 minutes – in fact, there’s one stretch where the title character is off taking a nap for an entire half-hour while the villains are given too much leeway to run around. It’s also a different kind of “nasty” than Verhoeven’s often satiric predecessor – here, the action is ramped up in a more cartoonish – and occasionally repellent – manner, not unlike one of the bombastic Data East arcade games plastered all over the film (the company produced a series of “Robocop” games for both the arcade and home console market back in the day).

The movie is still watchable, especially from the perspective of buffs who can easily rip apart its abundant issues, but it’s shocking how its two top-billed stars have so little to do, with Miller more interested in the drug kingpin and his loonies than Robocop himself (given his subsequent output, though, is that any surprise?). And the less said, the better about Leonard Rosenman’s disastrous score, dismissed (to put it charitably) by many of us at the time of its release. By today’s low standards, one could argue it’s superior to most of the nondescript dreck that accompanies action films today, but the passage of the years still hasn’t lessened the embarrassment of hearing a chorus sing “Robocop!” during Rosenman’s main theme.

“Robocop 2"’s problematic journey to the screen is highlighted in Shout Factory’s marvelous new Collector’s Edition of the sequel. Thanks to a half-hour new documentary, you’ll quickly learn how high the stakes were for Orion’s baby, and how – due to Miller’s inexperience and a rapid-fire shooting schedule – the ensuing film failed to deliver. Allen in particular is candid about her miserable experience working with Irvin Kershner, going so far as to say she considered quitting the film due to her diminishing role and lack of connection with the director. Tom Noonan’s comments are also engaging – the character actor likewise had a terrible time on the film but did get along with Kershner, who bemoaned the movie’s lousy script along with him. All the participants, including behind-the-scenes guru Paul M. Sammon, dive into Miller’s daily script revisions, which were extensive and didn’t seem to improve what was originally on the page to begin with.

A separate commentary with Sammon, additional featurettes on the FX, the “Robo-Fabricator” and “OCP Declassified” are on-hand, along with trailers, a TV spot, still galleries and a brand-new 2K scan of the Interpositive. This Shout-exclusive 1080p (1.85) transfer is superior to MGM’s earlier “Robocop 2" release, marked by less noise and a bit more detail, and both 5.1 and 2.0 DTS MA offerings that are roughly equivalent to each other.

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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2981 Post by Eric Paddon »

The Blue Max (1966) 7 of 10

-Got an OOP Twilight Time Blu-Ray of this. This film may have held a personal record for me in terms of the one where I knew the score well based on the selections first played on Goldsmith CDs and while I had bought the CD releases of the score, I think I only saw the film once in the last 30 years and only remembered being so unimpressed by how George Peppard didn't even make the slightest try at an accent. It was time to give the film a new look.

-The cinematography is outstanding as is the aerial staging. James Mason gives a great performance in a limited role as does Jeremy Kemp and the rest of the supporting cast as the pilots and the squadron leader. The film also manages to accurately convey the state of the war for Germany at this point without being heavy-handed. These were the days when the audience still remembered some basic history and thus when the scene shifts to Berlin and we see people in bread lines and struggling we get an accurate view of the state of the war and also a telling illustration of how the pilots (especially Stachler) have been shielded from this. At the same time, the script by having Stachler be a veteran of two years of the trench horror at least gives him a nuance of how he can be immunized after all this time.

-The film's two weaknesses though are its lead and leading lady. I have always found George Peppard to have something of a slightly sleazy quality. This really rubbed off on me in the "Banacek" TV series where there was always something that just kept him from being a lead one could warm up to. The sleazy undercurrent of his role in "Breakfast At Tiffany's" also I have to admit reinforced that for me. Here, Peppard is clearly trying to channel Steve McQueen with this air of cold, silent distance and fascination with nothing but flying and Peppard just isn't in McQueen's class as an actor or presence (which I'm sure is one reason why "Sand Pebbles" received more acclaim that year). And it's a *big* mistake for him to not even put any kind of inflection in his voice to make him sound more German or less American. Mason certainly doesn't attempt an accent but he nonetheless manages to put the right inflection in his voice so that you accept him as a German when surrounded by other German actors. Peppard fails miserably there.

-Ursula Andress also demonstrates her inability to be more than a presence. Her scene of confronting Peppard to ask him to run off with her shows her limitations as an actress. Someone with more experience was needed for this role.

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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2982 Post by BobaMike »

LOGAN 8/10

This was one of the most violet movies I've ever seen. I'd rank it up there with Sin City. But where I hated Sin City, I really enjoyed Logan. More a modern day western film than a superhero movie, do NOT take kids to this. The teacher in me wanted to go over and reprimand the few parents that had kids in the theater. Heads are lopped off, stabbings galore, and it is brutal. Not like Deadpool or Kill Bill, where it was over the top. This was played realistically, and seemed how someone fighting with blades on their knuckles would really fight.

SPOILERS


With Rogue One and now this, is there a trend of killing off every main character?

The performances were excellent. If this is indeed Jackman's and Stewart's last film playing these characters, they went out with a bang. I don't think I've ever teared up at an X-men movie before.

I liked that the bad guy, right in the middle of explaining his master plan, just gets shot by Logan. This movie didn't spell everything out, but if you paid attention everything makes sense.

Marco Beltrami's score fit the movie, but isn't anything I'd want to hear on it's own.

Negatives: The movie is a little heavy-handed with the immigration/refugee moralizing, and I could have down without the entire farm family getting murdered.

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AndyDursin
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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2983 Post by AndyDursin »

KONG - SKULL ISLAND
7/10

When you get right down it, for a pop-culture icon like King Kong, it’s surprising that the Big Ape hasn’t had a whole lot of cinematic success. Sure, the 1933 RKO original is an all-time masterwork, but you can’t say the same about its hastily produced sequel “Son of Kong,” its decent – if not overlooked – 1976 Dino DeLaurentiis remake, or that version’s own, terrible follow-up “King Kong Lives.” A pair of ‘60s Toho productions brought Kong to Japan – including a silly skirmish with Godzilla – and the best you can say about them is that they’re at least more fun than Peter Jackson’s self-indulgent 2005 remake of the original, which was both miscast and painfully overlong.

All of those mostly misfired adventures make KONG: SKULL ISLAND a solid monster romp that fans will likely savor – very much a modern studio concoction that’s light on things like character development and heavy on what you want to see out of the premise, including Kong battling an assortment of prehistoric/mythical beasties that populate the title locale.

This companion piece to Legendary Pictures’ 2014 “Godzilla” sends an overpopulation of characters to Skull Island during the mid ‘70s, including a pair of “Monarch” scientists (John Goodman, current “24" hero Corey Hawkins) who want to utilize the mission to prove giant monsters exist. Accompanying their journey are a tracker (Tom Hiddleston), a pretty photographer (Brie Larson) fresh from working in Vietnam, and an overzealous military colonel (Samuel L. Jackson) and his men, uncertain of the dangers lurking ahead. Once on the island, the group very quickly runs into the island’s big primate, a guardian protecting its native people – and an American pilot (John C. Reilly) stranded on the island since WWII – from horrors that stretch beyond giant bananas.

With ILM’s special effects triumphantly rendering a new Kong, “Skull Island”’s hero is brilliantly articulated and impressive to behold, towering above the human characters as he takes on a giant octopus and weird, reptile-like beasts that populate the island. The monster mayhem is entertaining and convincingly animated, particularly where scale is concerned – an area that greatly improves upon Peter Jackson’s conception of the character, as none-too-subtle dialogue lines are dropped here and there that Kong’s not done “growing” yet (setting us up for the inevitable rematch with Godzilla in 2020).

If only the human element was as satisfying: with a brisk, sub-two hour running time, there’s not enough room to develop the movie’s vast array of characters, with one getting the feeling that scenes are often missing (i.e. no introductions between certain people, side characters who just show up). Case in point is Tom Hiddleston's character, who could’ve been digitally removed from the movie at no cost. Who is he? Why is he there? The character serves almost no purpose – and yet he's your top billed "lead"!

Much like “Star Wars: Rogue One,” the characters fall completely into paper-thin “types” – the crazy military colonel, the attractive photographer, the nerdy scientist – and you walk out of the theater being completely unable to recall any of their names. John C. Reilly’s character is also an odd duck, starting off as what feels like comic relief before morphing into the movie’s heart and soul – but it would’ve been more effective if the character wasn’t portrayed so broadly, and more emotion had been developed as part of his performance.

These days, though, things like “heart” are held to a minimum in order to sell these blockbuster behemoths to foreign markets – and the bottom line is “Kong: Skull Island” does get the job done. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, whose only other feature credit is the amiable 2013 indie film “The Kings of Summer,” harbors none of “Godzilla” auteur Gareth Edwards’ pretentiousness, and delivers the goods right out of the gate in so far as unveiling Kong himself and letting fans enjoy what they paid to see. Make no mistake about who's King in this cinematic dojo.

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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2984 Post by AndyDursin »

WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH
7.5/10

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Fans looking for more prehistoric adventure can venture on over to Warner Archive’s splendid Blu-Ray of Hammer’s WHEN DINOSAURS RULED THE EARTH.

The second in the British company’s essentially un-connected “Cave Girl” series (third if you count “Prehistoric Women,” which doesn’t really fit with its counterparts) that began with “One Million Years B.C.” (1966, recently out on Blu from Kino Lorber) and finished up with “Creatures The World Forgot” (1971, awaiting an HD release), “When Dinosaurs...” is a wild and woolly fantasy that fans should love.

Shot on a reduced budget from “One Million Years B.C.” but in some ways more entertaining, director Val Guest’s film – based on a story treatment by future “Empire of the Sun”/”Crash” author J.G. Ballard – offers former Playboy playmate Victoria Vetri as a blonde cavegirl who’s about to be sacrificed due to her fair features. After escaping to a nearby tribe, Vetri’s Sanna quickly sandwiches herself between Tara, one of the local cavemen (Robin Hawdon), and his brunette squeeze (Imogen Hassall), who quickly wants to dispose of her new competition. When the tribe that wants Sanna dead shows up onshore looking for her, Sanna retreats into the jungle with Tara, the tribal leaders, and a slew of creatures in hot pursuit – including a dinosaur who thinks Sanna may be its offspring!

There’s just something irresistible about “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth.” The movie keeps moving from one exciting sequence to the next, with its human characters running into everything from a prehistoric snail (which enables Sanna to briefly get a new hairdo) to terrifying pterodactyls, water-dwelling behemoths, and a towering triceratops. Throw in lovely Canary Islands locales, a cavegirl-catfight, and a memorable tidal wave finale, and you’ve got one of the best films of its genre, capped with Jim Danforth’s tremendous, Oscar-nominated stop-motion effects. Danforth, who worked with Ray Harryhausen on “One Million Years B.C.,” created a series of memorable creations for “Dinosaurs,” all of them impressively animated and detailed – most especially Tara’s run-in with a flying beast. The dinosaurs also have, if anything, more personality than Harryhausen’s work on the film’s predecessor, including a baby dinosaur that attaches itself to Sanna.

Lots of fun from start to finish – and a little bit more freewheeling than “One Million Years B.C.” – Warner’s Archive Blu-Ray of “When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth” offers a supremely detailed 1080p (1.85) AVC encoded transfer of the movie’s full, 100-minute uncut version. This includes additional nudity which parents may find to be a little bit over the top for a film’s that’s otherwise pretty much acceptable for kids (I’ll probably have to skip over the added material when I eventually show this to our dinosaur/train-captivated toddler down the line!). That said, most guys certainly may not mind the additional glimpses of Vetri, whose weird career included an appearance in “Star Trek” and “Invasion of the Bee Girls” among others; more recently, she was convicted of attempted voluntary manslaughter in 2011 and sentenced to 9 years in state prison!

The DTS MA mono audio houses a Mario Nascimbene score that’s more romantic and satisfying than the composer’s work on “One Million Years B.C.,” while the original trailer rounds out the package. Akita! Akita!

Eric Paddon
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Re: rate the last movie you saw

#2985 Post by Eric Paddon »

I haven't seen the Blu-Ray but in general I've never found Dinosaurs better than OMYBC! I agree there are some superior dino F/X but the real problem I have is the film is more self-consciously silly plus Victoria Vetri just doesn't have the force-of-nature gravitas Raquel had in OMYBC. Raquel seems at home in the setting in OMYBC whereas Vetri just comes off as a modern Playmate in a costume to me. There was more of a gritty quality to OMYBC in the setting, the plot and Nascimbene's score that made the fantasy world believable whereas with this film, that's totally absent.

And the gratuitous nudity in the international cut, I have to admit put me off completely since I had seen the old cut a number of times on LD and wasn't prepared for it when the DVD first came out (which Warner withdrew because of objections). I would have been much happier if the Blu-Ray had included both cuts like Kino did with both versions of OMYBC. Because of that I'm on the fence about getting the Blu-Ray for now though I'll probably give in when I can get it as a freebie.

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