Jurassic Tiger : Le Tigre aux crocs d'acier

RELEASED TO TV IN 2002 and directed by James D.R. Hickox, "Sabretooth" chronicles events when a saberetooth cat, cloned via fossilized DNA, is unleashed into the Big Bear Valley wilderness where it preys on vacationers and a group of trainee guides (led by Jenna Gering & Josh Holloway). The two responsible for creating the creature (Vanessa Angel &John Rhys-Davies) hire a great white hunter to capture it (David Keith).

The beginning introduces the main cast and it's too goofy for its own good, particularly in regards to the trainee program group. But the story surprisingly gets compelling, despite the goofiness, and there's a great romantic scene between Holloway's character and Lola (Nicole Tubiola).

The cast is likable (rounded out by Lahmard J. Tate and Phillip Glasser) and there's a nice assortment of females but, for me, they all lacked genuine sex appeal, except for maybe Steffanie Busey (Kara), who is overlooked because her part's so peripheral. It's a fun flick and the locations are great, but the creature is too cartoony to suspend disbelief when its head or body is clearly shown. They should've limited views to quick, partial looks, like they did in the first half.

THE MOVIE RUNS 1 hour & 30 minutes and was shot in Big Bear Lake area, San Bernardino National Forest, California. WRITERS: Scott Vandiver (concept) & Tom Woosley (script).

GRADE: C/C- (4.5/10)

Cheaply made Sci-Fi channel time filler which makes both humans and sabretooth tigers look like nitwits.

David Keith and John Rhys-Davies are the only actors who you'll recognize, and for good reason. Everybody else look like they were grabbed from a middle school "Introduction to Drama" course, (which they all flunked). Even Davies struggles with the brainless greedy rich bozo cliché he is stuck with. How Keith kept a straight face amidst all this is anybody's guess.

Somewhere, some scientist who saw Jurassic Park performs genetic restoration experiments or something, thus reproducing the imposing Ice Age beast, big teeth and all. The experiments fail to make the CGI monster look real, or to do a believable level of acting (well, he fits right in with his co-stars in that department). Keith plays a big game hunter who tries to hunt the thing, while your stock group of screaming group of stereotyped teens (nerd, jock, tramp, sexy intelligent girl, oversexed dumbbell guy etc.) camp nearby and say stupid stuff before they take turns getting munched. The hilarious scene of an idiot trying to fistfight/stab the creature is classic.

Good for a laugh only.

I only watched this cuz' Josh Holloway ("Sawyer")from "Lost" is in it. Other posters' negative comments are right on & more entertaining than the movie was. The part about tranqualizing the tiger SO INACCURATE!!!The writer should've done research on this at the very least. It'd take an average tiger or black bear 15 min. to go down from a trank gun. This thing's size, if you were to dose safely, might take up to half hr. for it to go down all the way. This movie makes it immediate, and not only that, it wears off in 2 min. ??!?!?!? Plus, the fur just made me feel dirty. It looked as fakey,tangled,fuzzy & worn as a hard-as-sandbag moth-eaten, mildew infested stuffed animal "prize" you win at a carnival busting an impotent balloon w/ a dull dart.

Interesting premise, not so good effects. I think they should have used the guys who did the effects for the History Channels Prehistoric Mammals show. And, as usual, really stupid characters...the only one with two brain cells to rub together was the hunter. I kept cheering on the 'cat to kill them all. (Due to the long list of stupidity, I won't bother trying to list them)

Notice the set up for a sequel. "What's wrong? Never hear two cats mating?" Bet that puma was a female.

.... Is what the opening credits read . I beg to differ because I was under the impression that the concept of a prehistoric being resurrected into the present day where it feats on modern man was a concept invented by Michael Crichton . I also doubt if the concept of people getting stalked in a dark forest by a creature with a taste of human flesh is Mr Vandiver`s idea

I`m prepared to ignore the above theory on concepts because SABRETOOTH is far more entertaining than it deserves to be . Vanessa Angel as a scientist ? John Rhys Davies as a Welshman with ambitions to become president of the USA ? You just know Scott Vandiver and co aren`t making a documentary and I`ll give them credit for making the victim list unpredictable . The first member of the hiking party we`re introduced to is a black teenager with a big mouth so right away I thought he`d be the first to get it , but then we`re introduced to a slutty looking latino girl which doubled the candidates for first person to become cat food , and then we`re introduced to the geeky Jewish lad who spends too much time on the computer and I bet you can`t guess who`s the first of this obvious trio to end up as lunch ?

SABRETOOTH is a silly film but an entertaining one , so entertaining I`m prepared to forgive the awful CGI effects