The Screaming of the Tyrannosaur

Space aristocrats organize a bloody gladiator match in honor of their marriage.

This is probably one of the most Heavy Metal-like episodes of LD&R. It's got pretty much everything a teenage boy needs: dinosaurs, naked women, and bloody gladiator battles. As an added bonus, it's reminiscent of Taarna in some ways. Certainly not in plot, but it's got the whole "I'm a naked badass chick" thing in spades.

The thing is that there isn't a whole lot to it other than the naked badass chick, which was already done to perfection in Taarna. If you're going in this direction, you might as well push it all the way to 11. Although the art was great, thematically, this was not an 11.

On one hand, it seems to know that it's exploitation. However, it seems to be suffering from delusions of grandeur. This is especially true at the end, when you get this sentimental Big Message. Delivered by a naked chick.

I'm not really sure if Bai Ling was given the correct direction here. She seems to be treating this episode as if it's serious, creating a disconnect between the exploitative content and the serious voice acting. Did nobody tell her that her character was going to be riding naked on a dinosaur?

The announcer did not sound all that good to me. The delivery was probably better than I could have done, but I'm not a professional. It was only later that I saw that it was some YouTuber. That's rather disappointing. I would have thought that LD&R could appeal to big name voice actors.

The big upside to all these complaints, though, is that the art is quite good. It's fast-paced, action-oriented, and suits the story. The aristocrats are appropriately decadent, and the warriors look and act like badasses. It's got a comic book flavor to it, but mostly just in the sense of insane stuff happening for no reason (like dinosaur fights in outer space).

Although this is perhaps the closest LD&R has gotten to Heavy Metal, I think it's more of a pale copy than anything else. Why didn't they get better voice talent? Where's Alberto Mielgo and his incredibly creative, mind-screw episodes? Oh well. At least we got space dinosaurs.

Seriously, all this talent and money, wasted on shorts that tell NO story. There is no deeper meaning, no grand concept. It is just naked gladiators fighting each other and a T-rex while riding Triceratopses on a wheel shaped space station to please some generic nobles. There is not even a surprise about who wins, you would never guess, it is the japanese chick who had any dialogue, unlike the others. But of course first she teams up with the black chick to kill the men, because girls gotta support girls. Not the white chick of course, she can die. And then black chick gets instantly eaten by T-rex. Also took no genius to figure out that maybe the nobles should not fly too close to the ground where a giant Dinosaur is.

I often wonder this rather lackluster series that only produced so far, maybe 4-5 good episodes in 4 seasons, could have been so much better if they took to the classics. Have them animate short sci-fi stories written by Lem, Asimov, Bradbury. Even short horror, written by King. Anything would have been better than wasting our time and their money on blood and nudity.

EDIT: I only learned by checking other reviews that the announcer guy was voiced by this Mr. Beast youtuber, a guy whom like Pewdiepie, I have never watched before, just hear people talk about him. I'd never have recognized him, he is just generic announcer guy. So for what it's worth if you do not know who he is, you'll never guess he is in this.

I appreciate the attempt to infuse the script with Chinese poetic language, but the result reads like superficial cultural appropriation. Take the wolf imagery: it bears no relation to the historical and literary symbolism wolves hold in Chinese tradition, nor does it follow any coherent narrative logic. The monologue is so disjointed that it borders on unbearable for a Chinese-speaking audience. I have to wonder whether anyone with a genuine grounding in traditional Chinese culture ever reviewed the text. The very passage that was meant to anchor the story instead lays bare its hollowness. Invest enormous sums and manpower in the visuals and, for a touch of "exoticism," sprinkle in Mandarin dialogue-yet show no concern for the cultural spirit that Mandarin inevitably carries. It's a dispiriting way to make a film.

What a fitting role for Mr Beast. Showing off people fighting against each other, killing each other for sport and the entertainment of the elite. Others have pointed out that he appears more human in this animation than he does in real life and for some weird reason that is true. He is a despicable thing in vaguely human form and having him appear in any form of entertainment makes me sad. Although, to re-iterate, the detestable role he plays here very much mirrors what he is doing in real life.

I did enjoy the ending, though. Other commenters said the whole thing doesn't make sense. I mean, fair. It's a very tiny glimpse into a world we know nothing about. But I also don't know what else you need to know. Where the dinosaurs came from? They were just there for the entertainment and for spectacle. There's nothing else to it. Sometimes you need to remember that it's just a story and you should really just relax.

Story is not bad and pretty easy understandable, cool gladiator setting in outer space. Visually stunning, the aesthetic of the clothes, patterns, and creatures (dinosaurs) is good. Delivers the core message of the hierarchy and the cruelty in humanity.

Unfortunately the pronunciation and tone of the voice over is so awkward. It actually ruins the whole experience for me as a native Mandarin speaker. Not really understand the reason why behind the voice casting.

Perhaps I will buy the original book since looks fun in the short episode, looking forward to digging the background and characters.