Baby: Le secret de la légende oubliée

The paleontologist Susan Matthews-Loomis (Sean Young) moves with her husband, the unemployed journalist George Loomis (William Katt), to the Ivory Coast to work with her former professor, Doctor Eric Kiviat (Patrick McGoohan), and his assistant Nigel Jenkins (Julian Fellowes) in an archaeological site. When George is invited to work in a newspaper in the United States, Susan discovers a bone that she believes is from a dinosaur; but Eric tells that she is wrong. However he knows that Susan has made an important discovery and wants the credits. George packs their stuff to travel but Susan wants to check her discovery and leaves a note to him telling that she will investigate further in the forest. George hires an airplane to follow her and he succeeds to find his wife. Soon they find befriend the native Cephu (Kyalo Mativo) and his tribe. When they find a family of brontosaurus in the middle of the forest, they feed the animals and become close to their baby. Meanwhile, Eric hires mercenaries to help him to capture the brontosaurus and the militia kills the male and catch the female. Susan and George help the Baby to survive, but soon Eric finds that there is a baby and wants to catch the little animal for him. Will Baby survive?

"Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend" is a film with a highly entertaining adventure. The story of a paleontologist that discovers a family of brontosaurus but sacrifices her discovery to save the animal is pleasant and with moral values. The special effects are excellent for a 1985 film. However the film is too violent for kids and maybe silly for grown-ups. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Baby, O Segredo da Lenda Perdida" ("Baby, The Secret of the Lost Legend")

Some people are so obsessed with breasts. GET OVER IT! African women don't wear shirts, so why should movies that represent that culture shield anyone from it? Why is this country to sensitive to ethnic nudity? If you think it's too much for your children to see, then don't let them watch it, and most certainly keep them away from the Discovery™ channel, or any other channel that may deal with cultures in which nudity is seen as a sign of beauty and is perfectly natural. People need to stop being so sensitive. Get over it. As far as the movie goes, it's a wonderful story, and it will teach children about good and bad. Kids need to learn that the hero doesn't always rescue the damsel in distress and live happily ever after. It's easier to show them that through movies, that way when something in real life happens that they're not used to, they will be better equipped to handle it.

Let me confess at the start that: 1) I'm definitely fond of dinosaurs and paleontology in general. This interest LONG predates "Jurassic Park". If a paleontology major had been available in my college, in the early 60's, that would have been my choice. 2) I've also ALWAYS been a big fan of animation and related effects, such as the dinosaurs. This movie had by far the best dinosaur effects of any prior to "Jurassic Park", even better than in "The Valley of Gwangi". The baby brontosaurus (actually apatosaurus) was perhaps a little too cutsey with its blinking eyes but otherwise the film captured details of movement, including musculature and skin, very well. This was at its best when the mother dinosaur was chasing the bad guys in their vehicle. Needless to say I was very sympathetic with the efforts of the paleontologists to rescue the dinosaurs. I also enjoyed some of the people "antics" such as the natives spitting out the granola bars (hippy food) from the sides of their mouths while pretending to like it. An enjoyable movie if a little saccharine.

This early Touchstone release from 1985 would probably serve as minor script source material for the later unbelievably bad film "Jurassic Park." This mostly obscure film is only mildly better. Still, it's not something that I would recommend and even though Touchstone is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Pictures, don't think that this is a perfectly appropriate family oriented film (despite its childish plot) as there are some scenes of violence and animal peril.

As a kid, dinosaurs were one of my favorite things and they still are. Back then, I used to watch this 1985 film all the time with the folks called "Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend". In retrospect, I'm surprised I was even able to watch it given that, despite being PG, there is a lot of mature content. Then again, the public's view of PG was different compared to today and the rating PG-13 was just invented a year before. Still, I have a soft spot for this film and decided to revisit it.

Plot: Married couple Susan and George Loomis (Sean Young and William Katt) are in the African jungle on the trail of an old legend locals call Mokele-Mbembe, "he whose body stops the flow of rivers" (which is an actual cryptid). It is here that they discover a mated pair of Brontosaurus and their infant. The Baby befriends the humans, who must now protect her and save her family from the greedy Dr. Eric Kiviat (Patrick McGoohan), backed by his hired army, who is out to catch them all.

Los Angeles Daily News referred to the movie as "A cross between RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and E.T." and that is an apt description. The tone and presentation are very much in line with those films with a mix of light-hearted moments and the action and edge of a classic adventure. Susan and George work fine as a couple with decent acting behind it, though the latter's sports career and initial conflict involving it are quickly forgotten about once the pair begin their journey. Dr. Kiviat is a good if standard villain; he'll do anything to catch the animals alive and will resort to every dirty tactic needed to do so. While many greed-driven baddies tend to be over-the-top, he's at least played straight. Baby is an endearing little troublemaker. Her cute interactions with the couple make me smile, and one scene involving her almost makes me cry. The dinosaurs are brought to life using a mix of men-in-suits and animatronics and, while not always convincing, they're look and move pretty good for the time with the adult Brontosaurs feeling like huge lumbering beasts and the African setting adds to their mystery and allure. There are decent action set pieces ranging from chases, fights, guns and explosions, and one of the dinosaurs smashing its way through a village. Jerry Goldsmith (Alien, Star Trek: The Motion Picture) did the music, which sets the right mood for an adventure and setting like this.

I should note that the film does feature nudity. Many the African tribal woman are topless, which definitely conflicts with the PG rating. Again, the meaning of PG was quite different back then and to the film's credit these woman aren't sexualized in any way. From what I know, there are tribes in the real world that are like that. I've also heard a few people here complain about the blood, but while several people do die there's barely any bloodshed shown.

Honestly, "Baby: Secret of the Lost Legend" is an underrated flick. Sure, its content is a bit at odds with its rating and it's not on the same level as "Jurassic Park" or some of the older films like "One Million Years B.C.", but it has its merits. Watching it today, it still holds up fairly in both narrative and presentation. Plus, I find Mokele-Mbembe to be one of the most interesting cryptids out there and would like to see more movies with it.