A Volta ao Mundo Pré-Histórico

A harmless low-budget movie from one of the people responsible for the original "The Blob" and "The 4D Man". Hurricane pulls up perfectly preserved dinosaur bodies from the ocean floor; Tyrannosaur and Brontosaurus, and a caveman. Lightning strikes, dinosaurs come to lift and terrorize bad actors. Caveman comes to life also, befriends kid, and ends up riding the brontosaurus.

I saw this years ago, and remember it as being kinda cool. Always remembered the caveman trying to eat plastic fruit, then wondering into the bathroom and flushing the toilet. The FX were OK, I guess. Think they used puppets, and some stop-motion. Final confrontation with the Tyrannosaur vs a tractor was cool. Kind of a precursor for Ripley's duel with the queen in "Aliens."

"Dinosaurus!" certainly won't make you forget "Jurassic Park," but it's an enjoyable little movie.

A group of Americans come to a remote island to find minerals only to uncover dinosaurs from the bed of the ocean with underwater explosives. Not only do they find two frozen and incredibly intact dinosaurs millions of years old, but they also find a million year old caveman. The premise is by itself somewhat plausible, but when you add trite and inept dialogue, some of the worst acting imaginable, cheap dinosaur effects, and one ridiculous caveman you have one funny picture. Dinosaurus will leave you in stitches if you appreciate badly made films. The dinosaurs themselves really are not that bad, but the acting....the acting...is on par with something found in an H. G. Lewis picture. Almost no one has any acting savvy whatsoever. The best actor in the film is a young teenage boy who befriends the caveman and the brontosaurus. Once again the T-Rex is the bad one, chasing anything that moves across the island.

Now, that doesn't necessarily mean this is a bad film....quite the contrary, in my humble opinion. Sure, the story has some huge holes, but don't you watch a film to be entertained and just to let yourself relax without the need to think every minute? This film is definitely right up your alley, if you enjoy dinosaurs and stop-motion animation.

Basically, this is the story of a construction crew that finds the bodies of a T-Rex, Brontosaurus and caveman frozen in the waters off a tropical island. With the help of lightning, the beasties and the caveman are brought back among the living and the remainder of the story is all the action that takes place when you place three pre-historics out of their element. Good clean fun, some decent stop-animation effects and a great way to spend an afternoon.

Whilst building a harbour on a Caribbean island, construction workers discover two perfectly preserved dinosaurs—a brontosaurus and a T-Rex—frozen under the sea for millions of years. After being brought ashore, the prehistoric creatures thaw out and are struck by lightning during a storm, bringing them back to life. As the beasts wander the island, looking for food, construction boss Bart Thompson (Ward Ramsey) tries to ensure the safety of the islanders. Meanwhile, a neanderthal (Gregg Martell), who has also emerged from the ocean, befriends local boy Julio (Alan Roberts) and protects him from his wicked guardian Hacker (Fred Engelberg).

Dinosaurus! is the one in which the 'cute' kid (ie., thoroughly irritating brat) and the caveman ride on the back of the brontosaurus, putting the audience squarely in family territory—good clean fun with very little to seriously scare the young 'uns. The juvenile nature of the film, along with some naff neanderthal-based comedy, make it just a little too cloying at times, but as a fan of dinosaur movies in general, and especially those that make use of stop motion animation, I couldn't help but be entertained. Yes, the animation is a long way from Harryhausen standard, and there's some even worse puppetry, but it still proves to be a reasonably decent dose of mindless fun. Of course, it doesn't hurt that the film also features two helpings of eye candy—tasty blonde Betty (Kristina Hanson) and dusky island beauty Chica (Lucita Blain)—to hold one's attention whenever the dinos are off-screen.

I must confess that I, a middle-aged "adult," learned a valuable life lesson from the juvenile film "Dinosaurus." That lesson is, if you're ever building a harbor on a Caribbean island, and dredge up a perfectly preserved T. Rex and brontosaurus from below the ocean floor, do NOT leave them lying on the beach during a thunderstorm, as a freak bolt of lightning may revive them and lead to all sorts of trouble. Yes, that's just what happens in this cute little film, with the added attraction of a grunting, Alley Oop-like caveman getting revived as well. This Neanderthal is basically used for comedic effect, especially when he invades a modern house on the island and runs afoul of waxed fruit, mirrors and up-to-date plumbing. Gregg Martell, I must say, is perfectly cast as this confused misfit. Less impressive, however, are the two dinosaurs. This is no "Jurassic Park" or Ray Harryhausen movie, and the creature FX are unconvincing; a serious suspension of disbelief will be required for adult viewers. The kiddies should just eat this one up, though. There's a cute little boy character for them to sympathize with (he befriends the bronto, and even rides atop him!); one, fortunately, who's not overly annoying for older viewers. The bottom line is that "Dinosaurus" is good, goofy fun; put your brain on hold and enjoy it, preferably with your kids or your young nephew. Oh...as for that title, it's what one of the characters, Dumpy(!), yells when the T. Rex approaches. Don't ask me why.