Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies

Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies (1990) D: Sandy Oliveri. A collection of theatrical trailers and clips from cinema's greatest (and worst) dinosaur movies, including THE LOST WORLD, THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS, and GODZILLA, KING OF THE MONSTERS. Some of the material is laughably bad (as were the actual films) and the video is very cheaply made, but it serves its purpose for dinosaur film fans and movie buffs alike. RATING: 6 out of 10. Not rated.

I could not but enjoy this film, for it is nostalgic. I watched most of these films in theaters, drive-ins, or on my family's black & white tv from when I five through my early college years. GODZILLA was the first movie I saw at age five, when my sadistic older brothers tricked me into seeing it. I could not. sleep for days. Nonetheless, this began my love affairs with monster movies that remain with me into my retirement years. The first SHARKNADO is a favorite.

This feature is mostly trailers promoting the various films ranging from KING KONG through the Doug McClure features somewhat based on Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jules Verne, and Arthur Conan Doyle. Even when young, I recognized how cheesy some of these films are, but I like them. The Ray Harryhausen features are my favorite. Some of these movies have held up pretty well through the decades, like KING KONG and THEM.

I cannot call this film educational in any way, but it is highly entertaining. My only beef is that a number of these clips appeared to be mastered from second or third generation VHS tapes.

Enjoy!

I was very excited and interested to check out Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies when I first heard of it. I always loved this genre of films as a kid and to this day I'm still able to enjoy them. The idea of a dinosaur film previews collected together in one viewing sounded like a great and fun idea. It is, but only to a certain point for me. While each individual film preview is in itself fun, they kind of lose something of their fascination/entertainment value when you see them one after the other for more than 60 minutes. For lovers of the genre it's definitely worth checking out. For me, I opted to spread out the fun and saw the whole thing over three separate viewings.

This documentary goes beyond expectations and includes a wealth of trailers for prehistoric creature features, as well as additional classics that may not quite qualify as "dinosaur movies" but are a hoot to watch. It's a very fun nostalgic collection if you dig Harryhausen FX, dinosaurs, and B-movies.

This came in a DVD set I got many years ago which also included "The Lost World" (1925) and "Planet of Dinosaurs". I had such low expectations for it I didn't watch it until now (I never expected Good Times to produce a competent documentary). I'm impressed by how many trailers are on here!

The picture quality leaves a bit to desired, and I hate that Good Times slaps a "GT" watermark on the bottom right of the frame (I seem to remember them doing that to "Plan 9" in one format or another). Regardless of DVD-mastering issues, I recommend this for anyone into prehistoric cinema, and it's an especially helpful way to get to introduced to the history of the genre for newcomers.

"Fantastic Dinosaurs of the Movies" (1990 - 75 minutes), a documentary produced by Good Times and directed by Sandy Oliveri, presents an amazing compilation of classic films images of dinosaurs and monsters. It includes features of the masters Willis O'Brien, Ray Harryhausen, Jim Danforth and trailers of many of their films. Take a look at what you are going to watch: "Gertie, the Dinosaur" (1909), "The Lost World", "Journey to the Beginning of Time", "King Dinosaur", "The Giant Behemoth", "The Spider", "The Giant Gila Monster", "The Loch Ness Horror", "The Land That Time Forgot", "Jack, the Giant-Killer", "It Came From Beneath the Sea", "Them!", "Valley of the Dragons", "Godzilla, King of the Monsters", "Tarantula", "20 Million Miles to Earth", "Godzilla vs. Mothra", "Journey to the Center of the Earth", "The Crater Lake Monster", "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad", "Rodan", "The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms", "Reptilicus", "The Land Unknown", "Jason and the Argonauts", "Ghidrah, the Three-Headed Monster", "At the Earth's Core", "The Valley of Gwangi", "Gorgo", "King Kong", "Son of Kong", "King Kong vs. Godzilla", "One Million Years B.C.", and" When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth ". Certainly this documentary is a collector item and a very good program for who likes this sort of film. Unfortunately, there are no extras in the DVD.