The Dinosaur Project

After reading the negative reviews online I decided to give this film a go anyway after my plans for the weekend were cancelled... And what a surprise it was after expecting another Syfy B movie type film, although not exactly mind-blowing the CGI dinosaurs were fairly convincing if not impressive! And while I've seen better acting out there Kane's performance although rusty at times played out well especially in the "alone with the camera" scenes. I found the story rather silly at times but once I looked past the Sci-Fi genre and looked at the story from a more fantasy perspective I found myself enjoying the movie throughout. This movie has definitely earned my respect and although some scenes failed to live up its' title of "The best dino movie since Jurassic Park" I look forward to watching this title again along with my dino-enthusiast friend. Nice one!

A surprisingly fun "found footage" film, "The Dinosaur Project" is great for dinosaur junkies, or anyone that can handle the POV experience. Much better than than some of the super low rated reviews I've read, I was glad I ignored the bad ratings and rented (VOD) it anyway. Although it's no where near the scale (or budget) of Jurassic Park, it's a well made and good looking low budget dino flick.

A group of archeologists, complete with TV film crew, all decked with Go Pro's (mini HD video camera's that you wear to record your POV-many extreme sports athletes are using them now) head into the jungles of South Africa to find Africa's equivalent of the Loch Ness monster. Of course, on the flight into the jungle some pre-historic birds fly into the blades of there helicopter and the team crash lands in the middle of the jungle (right where the sitings have been, luckily). The surviving team must now navigate through the harsh jungle, and prove whether or not there are still dinosaurs hidden in the jungle that locals swear are there...

The dinosaurs look great, surprisingly since it was a low budget indie film. The acting is, for the most part, good and believable. The story was entertaining, but I felt it got a little absurd in the last act (but its a movie with dinosaurs in the jungle so it gets a pass). It is Unrated but is an easy PG-13, so you can watch it with the kids on family night.

The Dinosaur Project is a great rental with good looking dinosaurs and an absurd but fun last act, so check this film out on your next family movie night!

This movie really had me smiling at the end of it. And thats a good thing, really i could take this over the more recent king Kong any day of the week, this film does not even try to compete with a heavyweight masterpiece like jurasic park and as a result stands up on its own merits.

Forget about the biased cheap scores the review sites have given this film, forget that this film has a cast of relatively unknown cast members, forget that this film isn't scientifically realistic, Just go and watch with an open mind.

Its just so ambitious yet also so modest, one of the few pleasant surprises this year.

Don't let the strangely low rating on IMDb fool you folks. This movie is an entertaining mixture of a dinosaur movie and a "found footage" film. If you liked Jurassic Park and Paranormal Activity then I think you'll enjoy this movie, it's got elements of both intertwined within.

However, don't make the mistake of believing that it's trying to copy either of those movies, it stands out on it's own and is quite unique in many respects. It's highly advisable to not watch The Dinosaur Project with the expectation of seeing Jurassic Park 4, you'll almost certainly be disappointed. Instead, view it as a different twist on the whole dinosaur theme.

It's got moments of humor, moments of horror and 5 different species of satisfying CGI dinosaurs (a few more species would have been nice). There are quite a few great dinosaur shots, including one scene where a dinosaur is filmed from first person perspective while swimming with it's siblings, which I thought was very well done. There are scenes with flying dinosaurs, swimming dinosaurs and land-based dinosaurs, so there's quite a mix of dinosaur material incorporated.

The acting is about average for today's standards, there's a mix of good moments and not so good moments, it's really nowhere near as bad as one of the other reviewers has mentioned, all the actors did an adequate job. I've seen a lot of big budget Hollywood movies with acting that was far, far inferior to this. None of the actors deserve awards for their performances but they all (story-permitting) deserve to be rehired for the sequel.

And one thing to mention is the camera work, I thought it was filmed exceptionally well with some very inventive usage of the first-person perspective, nicely mixed with third-person shots. I was actually hugely impressed at how well it was filmed for the constraints that a "found footage" film puts on the director. From a technical point of view, it's probably one of the best examples of the genre in my opinion. I'm not really a fan of "found footage" film as such, but this movie is a brilliant example of how to use it effectively. And there are a number of people with cameras in the movie, so we get to see different camera angles too.

By no means is it perfect though, there are moments in the movie which are implausible and the scripting could have been improved in places. But I could say the same for a lot of movies I've seen, and many of them are, again, big budget Hollywood blockbusters. This movie isn't trying to teach you about dinosaurs, it's not scientifically precise, it's not trying to emulate the epic nature of the Jurassic Park franchise. All it's trying to do is entertain you, in a sort of pop-corn flick fashion. At the same time however, it's unique, absorbing and well-directed.

With a somewhat open-ending, I'd definitely be interested in watching part 2 if it ever gets produced. Remember, it's not Jurassic Park, it's a different spin on the dinosaur theme but with understandably similar consequences of human and dinosaur coexistence.

If you're a fan of anything dinosaur-related then this is a movie you don't want to miss. Just go into it with low expectations (like I did after seeing the low IMDb score) and you'll probably be pleasantly surprised. I give this one a 6.5.

A British expedition formed by the lead researcher Jonathan Marchant (Richard Dillane), his assistant, a doctor and a TV crew, travels to Congo to seek evidence of a dinosaur. A local guide and the helicopter pilot join the team and the group heads to the jungle. During their trip, they find a stowaway in the helicopter, the son of Jonathan. Soon the helicopter is attacked by flying creatures and crashes in the jungle in the beginning of the last journey of Jonathan Marchant and his team.

"The Dinosaur Project" is a predictable and lame dinosaur movie, a combination of the clichés of "The Lost World" with the exhausted style of the "reality" of "The Blair Witch Project". It is amazing that the viewer can predict what is going to happen on the next scene, and most of the dialogs are ridiculous. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Projeto Dinossauro" ("Dinosaur Project")