Dinotopia (2002)

But no great shakes as an actor. At least not here. I remember him being a bit better in "Wonderfalls." In "Dinotopia" he's rather robotic. This mini-series is playing right now on the SciFi Channel so it's really fresh in my mind. In fact, I'm gonna go back and watch some more of it after I've finished with this. I have to say, it's rather enthralling in spite of itself. Dinosaurs are just fun to watch, no matter the context, and did I mention Tyron Leitso is easy on the eyes? But as a whole it doesn't really hold up very well to scrutiny. I have to echo some other reviewers' comments as to being more than a little uncomfortable with the way Dinotopian society is run. The cities have mayors, who I assume are democratically elected, but they also have a "Queen", who more or less controls everyone's destiny. Seems like the writers wanted to have it both ways, both modernly democratic and fairy-tale-like autocratic as well. Aside from the villain, played by David Thewlis, there was never any sign of dissent or dissatisfaction. Was there something in the water keeping the people docile? Maybe that quasi-mystical, orgasm-inducing, dino-foot-stomping rite keeps them all hyp-mo-tized. (Wentworth Miller: "There are just not words to describe it..." Good work, writers.) At least there seemed to be a high degree of gender equality, though really, this came off being more of a concession to pc'ness on behalf of the writers rather than a "realistic" depiction of a pre-industrial society. A lot of the dinosaurs seemed kind of like slaves. And no other animals except reptiles? Amphibians and small mammals and eventually birds lived side-by-side with dinosaurs for quite a while, you know. All in all, Dinotopia would be fascinating to visit, but I sure as heck wouldn't wanna live there. I found myself sympathizing with Karl (Tyron Leitso) on that point. Oh, by the way, he has a skinny-dipping scene, but you don't see anything, darn it.

I thought that this movie was fantastic! The graphics were wonderful and the scenery was beautiful. I watched this movie when it came out on TV, and i remember watching it and thinking "it looks so amazing and surreal". The ideas, such as the mail birds, and the sky bax riders made me want to go to dinotopia myself. In fact, my favourite part of the movie is when David joins the sky bax corp. the graphics are breathtaking. The most beautiful scene in the movie by far though is the image of waterfall city. that took my breath away. for people to live in a city like that made me think, wow. The only disappointment i had with this movie was Marion's acting. She didn't portray her character that well. She was always so uptight. even David mentioned it in the movie. she needs to loosen up, and so does the actress. Marion's character was crap and if i was Karl or David, i wouldn't fall in love with her. I thought the actors that played Karl and Sirus Crabbe were fantastic. Their acting was well done and hopefully they get more jobs in the future. I give this movie a 9/10 and i recommend that everyone should watch it.

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.

*may contain potential spoilers*Dinotopia was slated to be a big budget and big hit movie. After its release on ABC in 2002, it became something of a failure in the sense that it was not a smash hit. Rather, it falls into history as a unique movie based off of a memorable childhood book. It has its strengths that make it overall worth watching. Running at over four hours, it has some good plot, acceptable acting, very rich settings, comical characters, and a different ending than one would expect.The main theme that is explored in the movie offers something to think about. The idea of utopia is not a new one; adding dinos into the mix definitely makes it unique. Although we all expect every movie about utopia to have the same conclusion that all utopias fail, this one does not have the same outcome. Perhaps it is the effect of the "scalies" that minimizes the human tendency of self destruction. Still, the gravity of the theme rapidly tappers off way before the movie actually ends. Really, very few people actually care by the end of the movie whether or not the dinotopians fail in their "perfectly" created society. Still, it is something of a childish "happy" ending that will probably please younger audiences who do not wish to see all the dinos and humans perish.Children will probably find the dinosaurs amusing and fun. Yet the animation of the dinosaurs leaves something to be desired for anyone over the age of 10. Still, the character "Zippo" is one of the best computer animated characters in any movie. Although sometimes borderline dumb, he is much more comical and interesting than "Ja ja" from you know what. Oh, and little kids will inevitably find "26" cute. Dinotopia offers a solid soundtrack. Its music is memorable but not very varied in flavor. The music does fit the movie well and adds an added element that makes it more watchable. What really makes Dinotopia unique is the grand nature of the movie itself: four hours of dino and human utopia exploration. Dino lovers and enthusiasts will probably have this DVD in their collection. It has enough pluses to outweigh the sometimes egregious minuses. One of the worst parts of the movie: The mayor's hat. What was anyone thinking when they decided on a pointy hat with several red fuzzy balls hanging off the top?One of the best parts of the movie: The messenger (mail) birds. Very good animation and very comical. Overall, a fun family movie. 6.5 out of 10.