[.ca] T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous [IMAX]

From Amazon.com:
Did you ever want to get so close to a mama tyrannosaur that you could pat her scaly reptilian snout? Now you'll know what that's like, thanks to aspiring paleontologist Ally Hayden (Liz Stauber), the teenage heroine of the 1998 IMAX film T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous. Ally's dino-expert father (Peter Horton) has just returned from his latest dig with a fossilized T. rex egg, and when Ally accidentally cracks the egg in her dad's museum laboratory, a puff of mysterious smoke catapults her back to the Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs-- especially T. rex--ruled the Earth. With her imagination in full flight (along with an astonishingly realistic pterodactyl), Ally confirms the dinosaur theories of her own speculative research, and she also encounters pioneering dinosaur illustrator Charles Knight (Tuck Milligan) and legendary paleontologist Barnum Brown (Laurie Murdoch). Best of all, she comes face to face with a maternal tyrannosaur, earning its respect by protecting one of its incubating eggs. T-Rex won't be as effective on DVD (where the IMAX 3-D effects are amusingly pointless), but it's guaranteed to please anyone who enjoyed the similarly astounding CGI effects of Walking with Dinosaurs. Stauber is a refreshingly normal teen star, and although much of the dialogue sounds like it was cribbed from a grade-school science text, its educational value is perfectly matched to the wonders of Ally's prehistoric adventure. Director Brett Leonard previously helmed the pioneering FX flick The Lawnmower Man, and here he demonstrates a warmer, more accessible sense of wonder for kids and parents alike. At 45 minutes, this IMAX dazzler never wears out its welcome. --Jeff Shannon

Short, but entertaining:
From the bulk of reviews on this site I gather most people don't realize that IMAX is about presentation and style rather than story and content. Shot on vertical 70mm film the reels in the projection booth take up a huge amount of space, thus the running time of IMAX movies tends to be kept to around 45-50 minutes. Thus the format lends itself more towards the documentary/short movie genre. Most of the movies are factual but sometimes original stories come along. T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous is one of them. It came out in 1998 and when I was at the Trocadero IMAX-3D cinema in London I had to choose between this movie and another called Across the Sea of Time. I chose the latter. Which is a shame coz the dinosaurs and huge shots of this movie would have looked better in 3D. T-Rex begins with an impressive opening shot of the camera swooping over the Arizona desert, which still looks great even on a widescreen TV instead of the huge IMAX screen. There's a hefty narration from the lead actress conveying relevant information about dinosaurs. In this respect the film feels a bit like a 10-year-old's educational program. But being familiar with IMAX movies I was expecting this. I think too many people were expecting a Jurassic Park variant. Tho I would have expected a few more dinosaurs. In the 45 minute running time there wasn't much dinosaur action. Though there was a good amount of story that I did get into. Plus the movie has a great score by William Ross. He released a promo CD of this score but it's impossible to find. Hey, I was entertained and I thot the brief story was quite okay. The horribly slanderous reviews on this site really baffle me. The IMAX format does not work well on DVD, you have to see these movies in the cinema. But if you have a good sound system then the DVD is still worth it. The DVD is in 1.33:1 full frame (they are shown theatrically at 1.44:1 so there isn't much modification to the framing) with a Dolby 5.1 soundtrack that is quite impressive. A slight featurette and an IMAX movies trailer are also included.

Terrible, about 10 seconds of actual dinosaurs in it...:
I saw this at an Imax theatre, I was thinking what awesome potential seeing dinosaurs in 3D would provide. Boy was I wrong, there was around 10 seconds of CG dinosaurs in this, and they were badly animated. The rest is the most banal story imagineable about a girl and her quest to find an egg or something (I forget, it was _that_ dull). Check out Walking with Dinosaurs instead.

Saw this in the Smithsonian:
I saw this in the Smithsonian with my kids, and even with the novelty of seeing a movie in 3D it was *boring*. It was a complete waste of time and money. If you are looking for eye candy, there are very few scenes that actually have "live" dinosaurs. If you are looking for science, and you're over 5, I doubt you'll learn anything new.

IMAX 3-D viewed as DVD 2-D:
This is one of the few IMAX "educational" films to have a storytelling presentation. It's 3-D was well shot for the IMAX format (70mm film). An IMAX 1.44 format is close enough to a standard 1.33 TV video, that it should translate to DVD well. It also comes with a "making of" short featurette. The film centers around the daughter of a paleontologist, who's induced imagination brings the museum's displays to life. A few (good) educational encounters with historic figures, and realistic (though brief) prehistoric lifeforms, are interwoven by a father/daughter storyline and a contrived, disoriented, hallucinatory run through the museum. So, why only 2 stars? An attempt to add storytelling to education, without being firmly committed to either (or both), leaves everyone expecting more than this film provides. Little boys will find very little dinosaur sightings here, along with too little action to hold their attention. Little girls might identify with the lead character, but it's not likely to have enough storyline to be their favorite DVD. Adults will find the children's "edu-drama" well under their heads (something you'd like to show your child, but too dull to watch by yourself). This is not at all a bad film, but there's just too little of the good stuff. Film fans will be disappointed that the well done 3-D isn't presented here...even though the film is only 45 mins long, and the DVD could easily have included a field sequential 3-D "bonus" version, which would've sold the DVD the same way 3-D sold this IMAX film in theaters. This film was written to be shot in 3-D, and technically executed flawlessly for IMAX 3-D presentation. I'd buy a 3-D version of this DVD in a heart-beat! IMAX is HUGE, so the impressive size is lost on a TV...and 70mm film versus DVD quality is like illustrating an atomic blast with a BB gun. The only thing that could be of value is if there was a thorough "making of" focusing of the rules of 3-D filmmaking (and IMAX) versus standard filmmaking, which would pull in the 3-D lovers and film students.

Great for children who aren't fanatics about dinos:
Clean and decent entertainment. Saw it on the IMAX screen with a 10 year old boy who loves the dino's. He wasn't thrilled but I (33 yrs old and sick of shoot 'em ups) thought it was clean decent and even slightly educational. My dvd collection is 200 movies strong and I will add this for entertainment value for adults and children alike. (Although I know it won't be as grand as on the IMAX screen.) Worth the under $$$ price tag. An even better value at the used prices.